Update

We've had a busy few days.

On Tuesday, Denver went to the vet to recheck her kidney function. The treatment seems to be working well. All of the kidney test results were better that last month -some were even normal. Unfortunately her liver enzymes are up to 3x normal. That is a big increase from the very slight increases we saw earlier in the year. She will have an ultrasound of her internal organs and a liver biopsy on Tuesday, when both dogs go get their teeth cleaned.

On Wednesday both people got their teeth cleaned. We drove to the Bay Area to go to the dentist, so that was an all day event. I have had bad experiences whenever I have gone to a dentist other than Dr. Clark. He ruined me for other dentists, so I gave in and decided to travel to go to the dentist.

On Thursday, we put the boat in the water. We practiced maneuvering the boat to a dock, so that we won't embarrass ourselves too much later on. I'm sure we still have a way to go! It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time on the lake!

Not much has happened at the house. Trim and tile continue to be installed. Our street was closed on Wednesday for pavement sealing or something, so there was no access for the workers. The kitchen counter tops are supposed to go in today, which should be really exciting.

Oops!

This is the tree stump that ambushed me today. It was hiding under the snow, totally invisible, totally sneaky. I made a turn, my ski hit the stump and stopped dead. I was ejected face first into all of that wonderful fresh snow. While digging in the snow, looking for my ski, I found the stump. And see the ski? The tip is just visible above and to the right of the stump. On the next run, Tim fell and there was another member of the sneaky community hiding nearby. This time it was a rock and his arm hit it hard when he went down. We decided that wasn't the most friendly stand of trees, and to stick to designated runs. Not much happened at our house today. About half of the guys on the job were out skiing today. We even saw our plumber out on the hill.

Daylight Update

Today is the shortest day of the year, they say. In Seattle, daylight is 7:17 long. Here's the rub: tomorrow has the exact same sunrise and sunset. So don't expect much change yet, less than a minute more daylight. However, by Christmas day, there will be 4 more minutes of daylight in Seattle.

I went to a naval web site to get more accurate info than the weather channel. They actually show 7:16 today. I still say that the change is probably less than a minute.

Early Christmas

Isn't this beautiful? This is what Valerie gave us for Christmas. Made of Manos Del Uruguay! I told Tim, "It's like manos, but softer. I wonder what yarn she used?" Well, Valerie has a special treatment that she uses, and it is soft enough even for my sensitive skin. Could it get any better? The colors are great with our couch, and it will be sooo cozy in our new Tahoe abode (which was obviously her plan). Thanks Val!

And it gets better. The picture was taken with my new camera (Thanks Dad).

Tim opened his present from my dad earlier this week when they saw each other in Tahoe. The chainsaw didn't need to travel around with Tim. We had the package from Val arive here. Then we got a big box from my sister. We decided to open these presents, which were too big to travel with us. After that, I rationalized that I should get to open my present from my dad, since Tim already opened his, and we'd opened the presents from my stepmom and sister. Of course, their presents are all in FedEx limbo, waiting for the Denver airport to open. Now we're off for Christmas with Tim's family.

Christmas

OK, I'm ready for Christmas! Wohoo!! I did all my Christmas shopping in 2 days, and mailed off packages to my family in Colorado. Tim was a wrapping fiend! Should get there tomorrow (Friday), but with the Denver airport closed, they may not make it for Christmas. We also got all of our Christmas cards out today. I haven't gotten them all out in a couple of years, I think. Again, Tim was a big help. Tomorrow we will brave the airport and holiday travel. We're going to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with Tim's family. I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas!

That Extra Hour

It is that time of year again. Seattle just seems dark and gloomy even during the few daylight hours we have. This is the time of year when I fixate on the amount of actual daylight and compare it to home. In the San Francisco Bay Area, 9 hours and 25 minutes separate sunrise and sunset. Here, there is an entire hour less of daylight (8:25). And I use the term "daylight" loosely. There are a lot of days that seem stuck in twilight this time of year. OK, those from the northern part of the country may be used to this. Go ahead, call me a wimp, I'm OK with that. Many people may not mind it, but I DO! I'm from California, and this is hard for me. Even in the summer, the sun is not as bright and strong here. Yes, this climate is better for my skin and appropriate for my British mutt genetics blah blah blah. Just because my genes like it here doesn't mean I have to! So, this time of year I fixate on what I'm missing (yes, I am both wise and mature). I imagine that extra hour of daylight, so bright that my eyes can barely take it. And the sunshine is warm, too. Never mind that today's high is forcasted to be 55º in The Park today and the UV index is only 1. I imagine a warm sunny day. I also imagine that extra hour in Tahoe. It is even brighter there because of the elevation and the snow reflecting the sunlight. Of course it is bright and sunny and warm. What is it really like you ask? It is currently 18º, but feels like 11º, with a forecast high of 34º and "plentiful sunshine". OK, UV index of 1. And there is no snow to reflect the sunlight. Both places are still brighter than Seattle, where the UV index is 0. And there is that extra hour.

I know that the solstice is only a few days away, but that doesn't help. I'm fixated. The extra hour... bright sunshine... that hour... i'm missing it... the hour... a whole hour...

Freedom and Christmas Cards

I'm free, to do what I want, any old time... Imagine Mick Jagger, not me, singing it; it'll sound better.

It doesn't feel quite as good as I would like, probably because I will keep going in to lab to finish a few things up, but NOT full time. Yesterday, my first day of freedom, I didn't go in to lab at all. Instead, I got started on my Christmas cards. I used to be really good about sending out cards every year, but not since graduate school and marriage. Of course there is the whole thing with graduate school taking up so much of my time and energy. And what the stress of it does to my efficiency. I also think marriage had a lot to do with my poor record with Christmas cards these last 6 years of marriage and science. First of all, the number of cards increased. That first year, I was gathering addresses from Tim for some of his relatives that I had met, thinking that it would be no big deal to add 5-10 cards to my list. Tim, who didn't send out Christmas cards, thought it was great and started adding some of his friends to the list as well. He was really good as adding names, but not as good at adding addresses, so then there was this big address gathering event before the cards were done. Each year, there have been more of his friends added, as well as new friends of ours that we have met, so the job keeps growing. The other thing about marriage that made the Christmas cards a more formidable task is The Christmas Letter. Now that there are two of us, there is more news each year, and it made sense to include this update with the cards. The first year, we needed to explain our wedding/marriage and describe the new unknown member of our union to the recipients. We married 9 months after we met and only invited immediate family to the tiny ceremony on a mountain. We just slipped it in the same week I started grad school. There were people in our lives who didn't know any of this until they received the announcement in the mail after we married, instead of the invitation beforehand that they would have received if we had a normal wedding. It was important to let them know that they were not individually excluded, but that we didn't invite anyone. We also had the move to Washington for me to attend graduate school. It all makes sense, but it made the Christmas card task even greater. Well, I started sending cards out late, and some years I just never got them all finished. Tim started helping by stuffing and signing the ones for his friends. Last year I was really overwhelmed, so Tim wrote The Letter. It was great, by the way. He has a great sense of humor. This year, once again, we have much to tell, and I really want to get them sent out, but I just started yesterday and we leave for Pennsylvania on Friday. I really hope to get back to my old ways of organization and completion!

misc ramblings...

Jack has his own blog now. Note the link over on the right. He'll blog on all of his mischief.

I'm back from Cabo, with a raging headache and very sore neck. It isn't that bad when I lie on the couch and keep my head still, so that is what the doc advised. It isn't so bad when I take some of the oxycodon left over from my shoulder surgery either. I wouldn't even go to the doc for this, except it has been going on for 6 days! It started at Sammy Hagar's show, actually. Anyway, not a migraine, probably viral.

Updates: When I got home from Cabo, there was only one package of socks waiting for me. The pair for me to finish! I have not received a finished pair...yet, so I'm still in the sockwars game. My current couch assignment leaves me with time to finish the lovely olive green pair that came all the way from Scotland.


I also have some work to do on the everlasting pomatomous project in Socks That Rock. I knit a bunch on the flights down to Cabo, and for the first few days, but then I realized something was amiss on the top of the foot. I kept trying to figure it out, and I finally decided to just rip out 7 rows from that needle and knit it correctly.


and finally, I'll leave you some pics from beautiful Cabo San Lucas...