Vacation Pt 1 - Oh the Panic & The Pictures

The joys of vacation,

1) I started out with a panic attack that I wouldn't get to Ducky's 40th class reunion on time. Work was challenging to say the least. I tell people that radio stops for no one, yes I work all three-day-weekends, yes I work Christmas morning, and yes, I voice track Thanksgiving afternoon. This causes a bit of tension but I remind Ducky that I was in radio when he married me, he knew what he was getting. So Friday we have not one, not two, but four events happening at the station.

A) The wrap up to the first of two major summer promotions - The Summer Entertainment Giveaway. A program where we give away thousands of dollars in concert tickets and admission passes. This final drawing means giving away twenty packets, calling the winners, making out the envelops, and mailing a portion of them now.

B) A live remote from the Florence Relay for Life (I worked the board, the news guy did the remote - while I made all those phone calls and did the envelops.)

C) A synchronized fireworks presentation with the Three Rivers Casino, they set off the fireworks, they choose the music, we make sure the music plays as planned. This folks is never an easy task regardless of how easy it should be.

D) The final production and run up for this Friday's Hot 100 Auction. - now you're saying it's this coming Friday what's the deal? 1) I had three small ads to design and place in the paper, (2 ready the huge ad for the paper for next Wednesday (yes tomorrow next Wednesday (as in write up, edit, and all the other stuff that goes with it 3) Place all materials on the website 4) make copies of everything 5) Design and print up gift certificates for all the sales people's items.

Then make it to Ducky's class reunion - 60 miles away - on time. We had a great time, this is the first class reunion he has been to, since we've been together.
I finally got to put face and name to the stories and people I've heard about for the last twenty years. It was awesome.

For my girls let me say that the man to the right is the dad (Rick) in the refridgerator family - Mom (Marla) was taking the picture. The lady to the left of me is Connie, the girl who just about single handedly got Ducky through high school (he denies this, I know it's the truth.) A joyous time was had by all until the end of the evening when we learned one of the girls who'd not made it to the reunion that night had been found unconcious by her sister and rushed to the hospital. The next morning we were told she'd passed away. She'd been suffering from childhood diabetes.

Day One of my vacation - no pictures, I spent six hours at work finishing up what I didn't on Friday for the Hot 100 Auction. Now before you say anything bad, I did get to accomplish something I'd set as a vacation goal. I slept in until almost ten. No, do not bring up the fact that I'd been up until after midnight.

Day Two - no pictures - despite it being a vacation day, I woke up at 5am - who in their right mind wakes at 5am on a vacation day that is not filled with things that need an early rise? Who? Me apparently and it sucked. I drug my ass out of bed at 6, made fresh coffee (because Ducky drags his ass out of bed at 2 and makes coffee which he leaves until he gets back up at whenever. He is a sick sick man) We spent a portion of the morning at my mom's as Ducky mowed her lawns, Mom and I chatted and I was hit with the realization that My Mom (the lady who taught me to be a good steward of the earth - leave things better than the way you found them, don't litter, and all that stuff) doesn't believe there is "Climate Change". No she believes it is natural cycles (let's ignor the brown haze that gunks up the air from LA to beyond Phoenix. That polar ice caps are melting, and polar bears drowning. That Glaciers are melting at an alarming rate to never reappear in our life time.) The remainder of the day was spent wishing I'd been able to sleep past 5am. And answering a billion calls from the Yankee who was having problems editing a show for a client, which eventually drug me down to work for an hour.

Day Three of my Vacation - he comes the pictures. Burp had a mini swim meet. Now you have to understand, he's not on a swim team, he's in pre-team. The next step if I understand is Novice where they learn actual competition style, right now he's learning technique and building endurance. Psam and Burp knew I was coming, but were suprise to be greeted at Willamalane by Ducky, Miseray (who for getting married on Friday was looking rather Zen-like) and the Brit. I got lost. Now who gets lost in Springfield? Me apparently. The meet is done in heats of three or four per event. Each heat awards a blue (1st), red (2nd), and white (3) ribbon. With no apparent regard for starting at the actual start of the heat, with no real focus on the finish line until say it's ten feet away (Burp is too busy paying attention to where everyone else is), and finally to turning at the end of the lane, pausing, then swimming some more
- Burp came way with several first place finishes and two seconds.

One of the boys in Burp's group - Shane - was amazing to watch, I'm not sure how long he's been swimming, much longer than Burp, but he had style, power, and grace for such a young swimmer. A pure joy to watch, I can't wait until Burp swim's like that. Burp is already showing ability, but it's far from being as in tune as Shane, he'll get there if he doesnt' lose interest and he has the right mother to push him. His heat times already show improvement:

Race.....................Last Meet...This Meet
25 Meter Freestyle......28.91.......26.67
25 Meter Backstroke....35.56.......30.06
25 Meter Breaststroke..42.46.......39.4

50 Meter Freestroke...1:08.47......56.65
50 Meter Backstroke...1:25.42....1:08:00
50 Meter Breaststroke.1:32.16....1:24:00

100 Meter Freestroke..2:31.19....2:07:00
100 Meter Backstroke..2:56.95....XXX (didn't race)

Day four of my vacation began with this blog, I hope there is peace, harmony and some beading in this day somewhere. Until then, Ciao, bona futuna.

Sith,
Cele

Now folks this is rejuvenation… right after my back quits hurting

It was our weekend with Burp, and sadly Ducky had to work. This was made worse by our plans to take Burp to the third annual Wings and Wheels event, something Ducky was really looking forward to. Earlier this week we did a story on tide pools and it reminded me how incredibly long it had been since I’d been to the tide pools or that matter the beach. Is this the wrong time to mention I live a mile as the gull flies from the ocean? Really. Ages since I’d been to the beach.

So at eight Saturday morning Burp and I headed north to the tide pools of Bob’s Creek (that’s about 18 miles north of Florence.) A beautiful spot that is made up of sand and basalt rocks, Bob’s Creek is a bit of a rocky access, next time we will go further to Neptune and maybe even Cape Perpetua.


There is no trip north of Florence that doesn’t require a picture of the Heceta Head Lighthouse. Or five.


The difference with this tide pool adventure is that we were both armed with cameras. And we both had blogs to write. We were both wearing bad footwear, honest next time I’m buying myself a pair of watersox just for the occasion.

The day was beautiful. We arrived at the tidepools just at low tide. Honest, if low
tide had been at say 9 to 10am we’d have had more time, but I didn’t drag my butt out of bed until 7:30. After two or three bad starts on the rocky beach we finally made it to some good standing pools. In just over an hour we discovered…

Both the Green Anemones shown to the side and Aggregating Anemones (shown in a picture below - very similar.)


Hermit Crabs (okay just one crab in this picture, but honest there were more.)


Ochre Sea Stars (both orange and purple) look close, while the orange one is front and center basking amid the barnacles, there are purple ones above and beyond him.


California Mussels and Gooseneck Barnacles.



Coraline Algea, seagrass, rockweed, and bull kelp. You can see the Aggregating Sea Anemones in this one too. We also found periwinkles, limpets, and several sea snails. But no sea cucumbers. Drats!

Besides being a fabulous morning, I got to spend it with one of my favorite people on the whole earth, who turned out to be pretty darn good at tide pooling.

I'm blessed.

Sith,
Cele

Welcome Twenty Eleven, Nice To Meet You

Now get off my toe. Yesterday Harley made a comment on air about December 31st being the Feast of Sylvester (I kid you not) and if an east wind is blowing it bodes calamity for the New Year. Yesterday’s weather forecast for the central Oregon Coast: Partly Sunny (it was cloudy) East winds … through Tuesday – highs 40 to 45 degrees…. Clear skies, east winds, lows 30 35 degrees. We had clouds all day and 47. Rain last night 33 degrees. And Friggin’ east winds. What the Frell is that about?

I actually made midnight and a few before I went to bed this morning. This morning began at six after six with dead air on my FM dial. I called the Smurfette got a run down and went back to bed until she called me at 9:30. I spent the next forty five minutes at work rebooting computers. And then treated Ducky and myself to mochas and chocolate chocolate chip muffins. It’s not crispy hash browns, but it works.

So to close out Two ought ten I had one part timer out for a week because he was having trigeminal surgery. He’s now out for four week’s because in English, he had brain surgery, I’m not bitching, he talked his doctor down from six weeks out. My main hand man, the ying to my business yang, had a nasty ass ear infection to close out two thousand ten, he’s now kicked off twenty eleven with nasty ass ear infections in both ears. My third part timer, who has a full time job at the local Kroger, is helping with part of the basketball games, but we cover three teams… ouch.

So I tried to hook up Ducky’s Wii. I’m the techie of the house. I apparently don’t speak Wii. I hate when I have to call my bro inlaw for techie support, it’s what everyone else to who he is related does. I feel like I’ve failed – really it can’t be that difficult. I hooked all the appropriate cord to the appropriate Wii orifice. Took the appropriate audio/video RCA plugs and put them into the appropriate DVR audio/video Inputs – Nada. Yes, I sync’d the remotes. Despite being preloaded with Wii Sports I have no menu. I put in a game disc ( Link’s Crossbow Training) hit the home button. Nada. I punched every button on my remote. Nada. I stood on my head and spun three time to the east. Nada. I walked away and cooked dinner. Still nada, but I’m feted.

Ducky got me these kewl Christmas socks in my stocking.
Pandas. They totally rock. I’d gotten Burp monkey socks for his stocking, and Ducky got Psam frog socks. I really wanted a picture of all three pairs of Christmas feet. Drats that didn’t happen.
I pulled my Christmas Panda socks out of the dryer, to find out they’d begun coming unsewn. I whipped out my needle and repaired my socks. But oops, I got one of the feet wrong. But the socks fit even better than they did before being washed.

My Christmas tree is still up, my Christmas decorations are still up, and my roots are two weeks past due. But I’m good. I burnt my has browns, but TCU won and I’m good. Go Uconn.
The wind of twenty eleven is calm right now.

Sith,
Cele

Ack! It’s a Tuesday in August

Ack! It’s a Tuesday in August, worse I think there’s more than one.

I had all these wondrous ideas about last Thursday’s Talk Thursday topic. It was a stroke of genius – 7 topics, one week. Well I let that one slip by. Maybe yet.

Today is Burp’s ninth birthday. Nine, can you believe it? It’s blown by and that scares me. Psam’s childhood seemed like a fleeting moment and I miss it so much. But as the Beatles would say, Ob la de, ob la dah, pass the bong. Except please don’t, I’m allergic. Really I need a new saying. Ob la de, Ob la dah, I’ll take another margarita isnt’ catchy.

So, anyway, today is Burp’s ninth birthday. My thing is to call family and friends in loving hit and run episodes of the notorious Birthday Cake Polka. Except, I only sing part of the song that I remember from my childhood. Aren’t people lucky? Lately I’ve begun playing the Sheriff John mp3 where he sings the whole thing with the correct lyrics. Burp was my most recent victim.

I adore him. Saturday night he gets to have a birthday sleep over. Oh, Psam you gutton for punishment. A living room full of sugar addled seven, eight, and nine year olds – what joy. They are having a movie marathon – Toby Tyler or 10 Days in the Circus and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He borrow those and the Last Starfighter from Ducky the last time he was here. All three movies are Ducky’s favs, Burp seems to love them too, he said Willy Wonka was better than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sadly, Burp’s grandma hasn’t figured out what to get him for his birthday, besides tickets to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and I get those for free. Back to school clothes seems like a cop out, needed, but a cop out.

I know Ob la de Ob la dah. Life goes on – onnnnnn - la la how the life goes on.

It’s Tuesday night and in a total stroke of stupidity I went to Grocery Outlet to find what tasty dash of hell I could eat to make my thighs and butt fatter. Who came up with the Dove Ice Creams that have the layer of solid dark chocolate on them? I bought one and stuck it in the freezer. When the munchies hit me I pulled it out. Deviously chuckled to myself because Ducky wouldn’t be able to catch me eating it.

And, what the bloody hell?

Who’s friggin’ bright idea was it to freeze a layer of unbreakable dark chocolate on top of the ice cream? I suspect a dieting guru. Truly. A diet genius. It was rock hard. While I was hit by a wave of late summer-spring-cleaning I let it thaw. An hour later the chocolate layer is still hard as a rock and the ice cream is less than milk shake consistency. My hips and butt have been saved to blossom yet another day.

Ob la de, Ob la dah, life goes on brah! La la - did you know John hated this song?

Life at work has been crazy. We have just finished our huge Summer Entertainment Giveway (tickets to everything we could get our grubby little hands on, given away everyday, with a massive grand finale drawing on the final day – which would be why it’s called the finale drawing.) You know what thirty drawings are followed up by? Thirty phone calls – and you know how I love the telly. Then I get to address and lick thirty envelops. Oh what joy and fun. No wonder I’m fat. Now were are in the final leg leading to Friday’s Hot 100 Radio Auction. You know what that means? I got to put 100 (plus warm up) items on the station’s website. Turn it all into reams of paper work and then sniff dry markers until they are all sold (the hot 100 - not the dry markers – really who came up with those things they reek?). This is all followed by thank you letters to our Summer Entertainment Giveaway venues, and FOOTBALL SEASON!

I’m taking vacation in September. I think I will be really, really tired.

Paul said it best, “Ob la de, Ob la dah, life goes on brah! La la how my life goes on!

Sith,
Cele

Happy Birthday from Burp... the musical!

Back in February I told you Burp had called me for my birthday.
I took my cellphone into the studio and saved this recording.



I can't get enough of it.

Friday Photo: Young and Old

I know a wee bit late, but still I'm here. While Burp certainly is young, Ducky isn't old, but if I have to say one is the other then these two are my favorite - Young and Old combination.

Shhh, don't tell Ducky I posted his picture.
Sith,
Cele

Sage is a Youthful Mind

It is wonderful to have a young mind to nurture; to pass along all the long stored knowledge gleaned over the decades since my birth…from all those nurturing people in my past. For years I have worked with high school students, passing along my know-it-all of radio and music, which they gleefully ignore with wild rolling eyes.

To have a grandchild is a power untold. Oh, the possibilities are endless. For years I have had the joy of sharing my copious know-it-all with Burp. First we would play Funny Bugs (a game of concentration) and I would delight in kicking his cute little butt. The best part would be hearing him “Aah” every time the Firefly would be turned over in all her glory. Now he is mastering the wickedness of Chinese checkers with an adroit ability to jump three times sideways and still make it three spaces forward. That’s My Boy!

He delights in pounding nails with Ducky, measuring space and length time and time again to make sure everything is coming out right.

Finger-painted masterpieces adorn my refrigerator. Often his mom’s present at a birthday or Christmas will include something hand painted by Burp himself. He and Psam often hand make their Christmas presents.

He plants bulbs with me each fall. Deadheads every posy in my copious and growing gardens from May to October. And helps tote pavers for whatever path and courtyard I’m designing at the time. The boy is a workhorse.

Our cooking forays began early with oatmeal, chocolate chip, coconut cookies. The kid is a cookie maven. His Halloween pumpkin, cream-cheese frosted sugar cookies are to die for. He has helped me make gravy…from scratch (we’re still working on technique,) candied sweet potatoes (I’m sure as many marshmallows go in him as there are a top the yams,) and he knows to roll up when making pie- crust.

He loves breakfast for dinner. Okay, no, not as much as a 6 piece McDonald’s Happy Meal, but still – it’s breakfast for dinner with all its sausagy-syrupiness. So imagine my surprise Saturday evening, as I was pulled out my waffle iron, that when Burp asked what we were making for dinner and I replied, “Waffles.”

He replied with the sage nonchalance of youth, “Oh, easy. That just takes a toaster.”

Sith,
Cele

This is my brain on….

In the days of yore, I was able to effortlessly bounce back, now at 52 I’m finding it takes me days to recoup. For the last two weeks I worked double shifts. I am a person who requires a minimum seven to eight hours of sleep, being menopausal means I’m lucky if I get 4 hours unbroken, but usually I get two hours straight. Friday at the end of a marathon of work schedule I was barely able to stand on my own two feet, let alone keep my eyes open and my brain cognizant.

A storm was forecasted for Friday night, but the northern coast was expected to get the brunt of mother nature’s angst. That didn’t mean we wouldn’t get some dips, bumps, and bruises along the way. At 10:44 my station’s silence sensor calls me. At 11:02 I’m up on the mountain (a misnomer because it’s only a few hundred over sea level) fixing a jammed STL Receiver (a computer that talks to it’s counter part at the station to broadcast the signal.) I was back home by 11:45, sadly I had to be on air at 6am. Now you all know that I love my job, but I love enough sleep even more.

When I arrived Saturday morning at the station for my airshift it was eyes at half mast and brains half past scrambled….to find an FM computer/playlist that wasn’t syncing with ABC News at the top of the hour. On top of that the AM computer and my production studio were off line. A fact not easily discernable to the attentive ear because the satellite feed will stay on the air, but the commercials not air. I was so tired I took out both computers thinking I need to replace the powers sources. Luckily I plugged the AM onair into a power strip to find it booted right up. It was the UPS that died not both computer power supplies, but no I was ready to break them down…This is your brain on lack of sleep…it’s as deadly as, say crank.

I love winter, it means no yard chores- even though my paver courtyard isn’t finished, I want to put in another lily garden and tulip beds, I was glad to have the weekend to vegetate. The most I might have to do is hold the ladder for Ducky while he cleaned gutters. And laundry, and dinner, and dishes, and vaccuming, and well the regular chores. During college football season the remote belongs to Ducky, it wasn’t too heartbreaking to fall asleep on the couch somewhere between USC wiping their feet on my Ducks and stuffing their beaks in the dust of the Colliseum.

Burp and I did get some cookies baked Sunday afternoon before his mom picked him up, some delicious oatmeal chocolate chips, all they needed was some coconut. Thankfully he’s into doing all the measuring all I had to do was pour in my spices and mix (I don’t believe in measuring spices- what sort of example am I, really?) Our nutmeg spiced chocolate chip cookies are divine.

The effects of the cookies are narcotic. I’m not much of a TV watcher, but I blundered into a Starter Wife marathon on ?USA? network. I’ve meant to catch an episode in the past, but it’s never been a barn burner must. What a great show. I love the characters, the chemistry, and storyline. Unlike Pushing up Daisies, which I caught Wednesday night for the first time before my eyes closed into a coma, it held my attention, I wanted to know all the whys and hows, and what will happens when the new season starts Friday night. Then I passed out.

So what is the point of this whole rambling blog? Good question. It started out with how I don’t physically and mentally bounce back like I did when I was younger. I use to be on the go constantly, but now I relish dark, stormy winter weekends. Days falling asleep on the couch in a cookie induced coma. And every once in a while a new TV show. But most of all I am realizing that I am changing, how I’m not exactly am sure, except for age—I am getting older and while I don’t mind, I am definitely noticing and ruing some of the losses. The loss of energy. I miss my friends of childhood. I will soon miss Burp wanting to bake cookies with his grandma, or cuddling with me during a Duck’s game. And I rue the days when I don’t bounce back and it makes me emotional and bitchy, despite how hard I try to fight it. I’m just glad Ducky still wants to hold my had and eat my cookies.

Sith,
Cele

2008 Reedsport Chainsaw Sculpting Championships

This weekend, well, really starting Thursday, June 12th, was the Ninth Annual Chainsaw Sculpting Championships in Reedsport. The four day event is the first stop on the Echo Cup Challenge circuit. For me and Burp this is a must do event Ducky is suffereing a bad cold so didn't go with us this year, instead my mom went.


The talent comes from across the globe, this year there were several artist from England and Japan, one or two from Canada, Germany, Austraila, and of course many from the states.

This year's Championships carving theme was A Fish Tale. So the main carving pieces held some sort of a fish related theme. My favorites are the ones that weave in comical moose and




bear into the scene,


because really what is a chainsaw carving Championship without a flycasting moose, or a scuba diving bear?







Several carvers drew on real life charactures, from literature, and movies. A splendid sculture of the boy riding the water horse didn't photograph well enough to show you the detail.








A sculptor from Eureka, California captured this wonderful Neptune and a sea serpent.


I thought my mother was going to buy a bench at one point, it would look beautiful on her property. But she walked away without one. Now I am waiting to see if she will go back next year and make up for the one she didn't buy. This one has water fountains in the arm rest.

Overall Burp thought it was a good day, of course that is because it came with exceptionally good hot dogs.

Sith,
Cele

I Wish This Was A Diet

We finally got our hot tub in. We’ve been giving this to each other for a few anniversaries past and knowing the total price, a few future ones as well. But ahhhh, it is so worth it. My sister and brother-in-law have had one for years, in fact half of mine and Ducky’s first real date was spent there (after a really bad movie, they’re right White Men Can’t Jump.) Ducky’s sister and our Bro-in-law have had one for about a year now. And of course Sid and Scott have one and a pool. But I’m not going the pool route, I mean this is the Oregon Coast, with our high water table pools pop up out of the ground or flood with sediment.

So Ducky and Burp! Laid out and dug the foundation.








Then we had a guy pour the pad.








Then they delivered the hot tub.




Then Bro-in-law and Ducky did the wiring. (Ducky's picture removed from here)

Then I filled it. And ahhhhh! Burp jumped in.



Last night I floated in the tub for an hour (because you know fat floats.) I’d turned the spa’s light out and just floated in the dark. Ahhh, what heaven. A light rain was falling (I borrowed one of Ducky’s ball caps) and interesting experience I’d not been sure I’d like, but wow, awesome.

I still don’t have a privacy screen, but we turned the tub so the cover offers some seclusion. And of course I turned out the lights.

Now if this was a diet, I’d do it for life.

Sith,
Cele

I will not whine, I will not whine, I will not whine.

Part of my 2008 New Year’s Resolution, a scant two months past, was to not whine. I’ve been holding up my end of the bargain, which makes me think I missed the mark.

Remember the easy days of resolutions made and broken a mere three days later? To not chew gum or ice—well I was wearing braces at the time…for eight friggin’ years. To not pig out on chocolate. What did I think, it was Lent? I’m not even Catholic. What, I thought my resolve better than my hormones or my Sweet Tooth? Or to not litter. Okay, I still don’t break that one. Er… it is not littering if its bio-degradable and not lit. To lose weight. That’s a train wreck waiting to happen, unrealistic, masochistic, and just plain old hateful.

So, no whining and I’m doing pretty good. I am indulging on all sorts of things to keep myself happy.

Spend, Spend, Spend. In fact, we finally bought that hot tub we’ve been giving each other as an anniversary present for several years running. Thinking that we would have weeks to prepare, we’d been waiting for good weather to begin digging the slab foundation. Remember this is the Oregon Coast. But Saturday afternoon we found out it will be ready in about two weeks. So now poor Ducky is digging like a mad badger. Setting up the frame and thinking about the wiring and permits.

I on the other hand am thinking out why I didn’t resolve to lose weight, so my triple elastic size butt will fit in to a bathing suit. Oh, shit! I’m fifty two, that means I will have to wear something age appropriate. If I buy purple and or red shoot me, please. Ducky says just go suitless. It could be he’s delusional or I won’t let him get his eyes tested.

We do have our best helper on the job


Burp wants a diving board.

Sith
Cele

Holiday Lights At ShoreAcres

Last holiday season Ducky and I had wanted to take Burp south to Coos Bay for the Festival of Lights at Shoreacres State Park. The last time we’d gone (I don’t do Coos Bay often) was when the girls still lived at home – so sometime in the early nineties. Some changes have been made. The pictures come from the Shoreacres website.

Burp at age six, we figured is perfect for the lights. I mean what kid isn’t? At fifty-one I still marvel. Both Ducky and I had to work early (he leaves at 4am,) and he still didn’t get home until six (it’s a long commute), so we didn’t get on the road until almost 6:30pm. Burp and I had been at the radio station before 6am, and worked on our Christmas Message. So between work, shopping (he found beautiful bracelettes for his mom) a visit to Big Pa and Big Ma's and hair cuts, it was a full day and poor Burp was pretty worn out. I mean he immediately fell asleep in his jump seat. Poor kid.

We arrived at Shoreacres at 8:15pm to see the new LED’s glowing the most wondrous colours. The bright blues were amazing, but even more amazing were the new light sculptures. Flying pelicans, diving whales, leaping frogs, and spawning salmon were decked out in rope lights that were time triggered to create movement in the sculptures. If you look close you can see the flying pelicans left mid picture.

The temperature was 35, Burp had been asleep, so the poor kid wasn’t really enjoying a lot of the great, colourful out of doors. Poor kid just wanted to climb into be and back to sleep. But we did a grandchild death march through the forest of fabulous lights in there bright blues, purples, greens, reds, golds, ambers, and all in between.

So very much worth the hour and a half drive and $3 parking to walk in the forest of lights. Maybe next year we can do it again, but start out earlier so Burp will stay away and enjoy the whole trip, the cookies and cider in the keepers house, the carolers in the performance gazebo, and dinner afterwards. He does remember, which surprises the heck out of me.

Maybe next year

Merry Christmas
Cele