This is the second year that I have decided to capture a few thoughts about my life in the late 1990's. Everyone here has convinced me that I am really 46 this year (not 45). If you'll remember, last year I explained how I couldn't possibly be as old as I am. I guess youngsters just don't understand how logical my logic is.

We're still living in 101 Pines (Kent, Washington). Tom is 20 now, Paul is 19, Anne is 15 and Valorie is 42. There has been a lot of talk this year about whether we should put our house up for sale and move north closer to Everett. At work all of the Engineers who I work with have been transferred to work at the Everett plant and it seems inevitable that I will soon be driving to Everett to work with them. As it stands, our group is still located in Renton, but I can't imagine that it will stay that way for long. Tom and Paul would like it if we lived closer to the University of Washington since they both have plans to continue their education there. Tom just has a few more classes to take at Green River Community college to finish his requirements for a two-year degree. Paul is getting close as well. I just realized that none of the kids have memories of living any place but where we are now. Tom was one when we moved here.

Valorie has been hard at work doing Genealogy research. She gets electronic mail from a genealogy database called Roots-L and searches it for our relatives. She is currently the editor of the South King County Genealogical Association newsletter. They publish a twenty-page newsletter bi-monthly.

Anne got Valorie a puppy dachshund named Rhys. He is reddish brown with cute floppy ears. He sleeps in our bed under the covers. Every morning when he crawls out he shakes his head making his floppy ears flap together with a raucous noise! He loves pestering Cookie and has a great time when Cookie chases him around the house.

In January we had an earthquake. We accused Anne of causing it. She was hauling a bale of straw into the shed in the back yard. At 7:11 PM, just after she dropped it, the quake started. It registered 5.0 on the Richter scale. We didn't have any damage, but I sure could feed the "bump" as the shockwave passed underneath.

Paul had his wisdom teeth removed this summer. The surgery didn't seem to affect him other than to inhibit him from eating solid food for a week. The biggest impact was to my budget since our insurance only paid half of the cost.

Anne has become an avid Seattle Mariners baseball fan. We started attending the home games in August. In September, the team started winning a lot of games and ended up winning the pennant for the American League Western Division.

Anne also finished a defensive driving class. She and Nickki took the class together and are now just waiting until their 16th birthday so they can get their licenses. Anne has been driving the Volkswagen. She presently drives around the neighborhood with Brianne (our neighbor) as she delivers the Seattle Times newspaper.

I finally decided to call it quits on the Puget Sound ADAM Network newsletter and ADAM computer user group. I had been publishing a monthly newsletter for over ten years, but the interest has been fading year by year. I finally got down to about twenty subscribers and it was becoming more and more difficult to find interesting information to pass along. I decided to hold off publishing the August edition just to see if anyone noticed or complained. I didn't hear a word. No one even seemed to notice. So, I packed away the ADAM and closed the savings account.

I have been helping Jeanne Vandeberg with her Horoscope program. She can converted it from and ADAM Basic program to a QBASIC program which runs on a DOS computer. We have worked together to modify the original program to print out astrological information that she previously had to look-up and write in by hand. She is now working on a scheme to try to market the program. She's had no luck so far.

The U.S. Forest Service is trying to raise our lease fee for the Cabin site from $450 per year to $4400 per year! We have had two cabin meetings so far this year. Ted Cowan and Ken Barr have been doing some research to try to find more suitable comparables to use in providing a reliable update to our lease agreement.

Thursday, December 14

I got up at 4 AM to let the dogs outside. It seems to be their ritual now. Go outside, do their "business," and then come in and get breakfast. Cookie is really starting to show her age. We just noticed yesterday that she has a cataract in her left eye.

Paul had his last final today. Tom is finished for the year.

I drove Anne and Amy Rouse to Maple Valley High School at 9:20. Anne has class from 9:45 until 11:25 every day. Tom rode with us. I stopped in to work to get my paycheck. I said hello to everyone and then headed back to pick up Anne.

We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and then came home to get Valorie so we could go to Costco. Valorie was just getting up since she had stayed up until 4 AM last night talking with Thomas. I took the opportunity to take a little snooze.

At Costco we did some Christmas shopping. Our microwave just went out two days ago, so our first purchase was to get a new one. Costco only had three models to choose from, so we selected the one with the largest cooking volume. It is a Panasonic and it seems fairly easy to use.

We picked up a copy of Flight Simulator for Ted since he got a new computer this summer. He has yet to set it up at his house, but we did have it working on Labor Day after we had cut our wood for the winter at the Cabin. Ted was mentioning the other day that a friend of his was really impressed with a flight simulator for his computer so we thought that Ted might like a copy for himself. We'll see.

At home we unpacked our stuff. Anne and I got busy baking herbal dog bones for the Herbfarm. Carrie had asked Anne if she wanted to make some money and of course she said "yes." I really think that she didn't want to bake them, but hasn't learned yet how to say "no" to someone. Our problem with baking the bones was not in the baking but in finding a cookie cutter. We hunted in all of the kitchen stores in SouthCenter as well in all of the pet stores looking for a two-inch cookie cutter. No luck. We finally decided to try to make them by hand, squeezing the middles and shaping the ends to look like bones. It didn't work very well, so we asked Paul to modify a three-inch cutter. It worked much better and Anne and I spent the next four hours mixing batter, rolling it out, cutting the bones (44 to 48 per bag of mix), setting them on trays, and baking them for 40 minutes. Valorie got our dehydrator back from Darby so we have it loaded right now with dog bones. (We were told that the bones really need to be dry to prevent them from molding.)

Friday, December 15

I arose at 4 AM this morning and went through the doggie ritual. The food dehydrators are all humming as the dog bones loose their moisture. I see that Valorie and Paul were busy last night wrapping presents. There is a good number of them under our tree now.

Anne arose at 7 and we gathered the dog bones together and counted them--784 bones. Anne wrote out a bill which Tom will take with him today when he goes to work. She will get $.05 for each bone.

At 9:20, I drove Anne and Amy Rouse to school. Paul and I then drove to Enumclaw to do some Christmas shopping. We stopped at the Crystal Mountain office and I bought Scott Betts a gift certificate good for one day of holiday skiing. I hope Scott still has his ski board!

We then stopped at an office supply store and Paul ordered a replacement mechanical pencil that Carrie wanted. I noticed that they also had some good books on painting that Anne might be interested in.

At 11:25 we picked up Anne from Maple Valley High School and stopped for lunch at McDonald's. After coming home and lazing about for a while, Paul, Anne and I went shopping at SeaTac Mall. We managed to spend five hours wandering around stores without being enticed to find any gifts.

Ted and Lola Cowan came over at 7 and brought Nickki Betts with them. They all went shopping after Ted and Lola left.

Saturday, December 16

I arose at 5:15 AM this morning, showered, shaved, fed dogs and made coffee. I kept checking for the newspaper before I realized that we don't get a Saturday paper! I was able, however, to get yesterday's mail which no one remembered to bring in.

I spent the morning exploring a CD-ROM "sampler" that was on Tom's desk. It gave previews of all of Microsoft's CD software and also included eight games. I especially enjoyed the art and music CD's, but really got hooked on the game Fury3. It was only a "shoot-em up" game, but it was fun and challenging, especially on the easy level.

While I was playing, Paul and Anne went to work at Terry Spencer's. Anne was doing some housecleaning and Paul was doing his usual-- what, I'm not really sure.

At 11, Valorie came in and we went to Costco in Federal Way to do some Christmas shopping. We got an electric blanket for Lola Cowan, a computer game called Shivers for Carrie, and a number of books at Crown Books. Picked up some painting supplies at Michael's We also discovered a really good place to eat called The Village Inn. They had really good food and good service.

Back home, we watched The Rain Man on TV. Afterwards Paul and Valorie headed off to do some more shopping at Target. I was really tired so I headed to bed while Anne painted a 3-inch Santa figurine.

Sunday, December 17

I got up once to let Rhys out but went back to bed to see if I could fight off a cold that keeps knocking at my door. I awoke at 6:45 and got up, lets the dogs out, fed them, showered & shaved, and got the Sunday paper. Yes, we do get the Sunday Valley Daily News.

Paul got up at 8 and we went to breakfast at the Black Diamond Bakery restaurant. I had their Italian Scramble which is scrambled eggs with potatoes, onions, spinach topped with cheese. Paul had their cheese and sausage omelet. Afterwards Paul went to work at Terry Spencers; I came home.

Anne and Valorie went to breakfast after Anne and I wrapped my presents. I spent part of the morning playing Fury3. Tom got home at 11:30 and loaded a game on his computer that is much better than Fury. I spent the rest of the morning playing that. Tom headed off to an HerbFarm Christmas party just before Valorie and Anne got back from breakfast and shopping.

Anne talked me into going shopping so we went to Auburn to the Fred Meyer store. Anne looked for a CD for Rick but couldn't find anything. We did get some foil Christmas wrapping paper. After dinner at McDonald's, we went to Federal Way and found some CD's. Anne got the "Best of the Beatles" for Rick and I found a couple of CD's for Valorie. We then went to Home Express and found some covers for Anne's bed. Anne also found a cup warmer for Valorie.

I also found out the there is an Egghead store right next to Home Express!

Monday, December 18

I arose early this morning: 4:15. Went though my usual routine and then watched two series of ER which Anne had recorded for me. They were wonderful!

Just heard the news that the "non-essential" government workers were sent home this morning since Congress and President Clinton can't agree on a budget. This is the second time this year that government workers have been furloughed.

Tom, Paul and I took Anne and Amy to Maple Valley High School. I stopped off on the way to make a bank deposit for the Hearthside Cabin Association. We then drove to the Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU) where both Tom and Paul made some deposits. From there we stopped at SouthCenter where we looked for a car radio at Best and Target. Neither store had anything. We then found one at Sears that looked OK so I bought just the radio there. They didn't have any good speakers--at least ones that would fit in the VW. In the process, Tom lost track of Paul and I and started looking for us. Paul and I had wandered over to the computer section and were looking at a computer with a TV adapter card. When we were done, we went looking for Tom. He was nowhere to be found! So I ended up sitting in the car while Paul hunted for Tom. He finally found him as he was starting to go into the mall. Whew, close one.

We went to Bellevue Square where there were already hoards of shoppers. Ate lunch at McDonald's and then, as Tom said, "wandered about looking for that perfect gift." Tom got some RCA cables so that he could hook up his computer to his stereo. I stopped at Talls Camera and got a "point and shoot" camera for Anne. We kept looking for some MicroFiber mittens for Carrie, but no one seemed to have anything. We did find a sales-lady at Nordstrom's that knew what they were and she suggested that we go to Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI). We decided to stop at the University Bookstore. Found a couple of interesting books for Valorie. Tom got several books and a video tape of Northwest Best Places which featured a section about the HerbFarm which briefly shows him working!

Paul offered to drive so he acted as chauffeur for the rest of the trip. Drove to REI and looked for that elusive MicroFiber mitten there. Found a pair of mittens that had another type of fiber, but Tom decided that it must be what she wanted. "Besides," he said, "she can just take it back if she doesn't like it." Okay, whatever.

From REI we went to Target to look for some car radio speakers. By gosh we found a set! So I snatched them up and suggested that we stop at Drug Emporium to get me some deodorant. I usually have to wait in line there to check out, but today I just walked right up and finished in record time.

Our next stop was Home Express where I got some "piggy" stuff that Anne saw yesterday. I also got her a black towel and got a new shower curtain for the main bathroom. By now we were ready for dinner, so I suggested that we stop at the Village Inn where Valorie and I had lunch yesterday. Paul and I had Prime Rib and Thomas had a turkey and bacon sandwich. The food and service were good. Paul and Tom rounded out their meal with a piece of pie. It was strange, but I saw a lady there that was simply enchanting. She reminded me of one of the people who used to be in our John Birch Society group years ago. Perhaps she caught my eye because she was so animated. She was there with a lady-friend and they were sometimes laughing, sometimes crying. Odd that it affected me so.

We decided to call it a day so we headed home. Anne and Valorie and spent the afternoon at home. Anne had wrapped several gifts in the foil paper that we had purchased at Fred Meyer. It looked wonderful. Of course, Anne wanted to "help" wrap some of the gifts that I had purchased, but, of course, that was not possible. Good try, Anne.

Paul offered to put together his old 486 computer motherboard with his old video card for $260. I would just need to add memory, a hard drive, a floppy drive and a monitor to have my own computer. Hummm, tempting.

Tuesday, December 19

I was awakened by the dogs at 1 AM this morning so I got up and talked with Valorie. She was working on the computer, downloading some messages from the Seattle Community Network bulletin board. Usually she can access SCN via the library, but tonight the router which connects the library with the Internet was down. So she ended up calling long distance to get her packets. The packets are contain genealogy information routed to SCN via the Internet. She is a subscriber to several mail servers.

I went back to bed and slept for several more hours before arising to do my usual routine with the dogs.

Today is Anne's last day of school for the year. Last year they had a party at school on the last day, but this year she had not heard anything about a party. Tom and Paul came along as we dropped off Anne and Amy. We drove to the 7-11 so Paul could call the office supply store in Enumclaw about the mechanical pencil that he is trying to get for Carrie. As it turned out, the call was long distance so he decided to wait until we stopped by the house. We next drove to Fred Meyer in Kent where I picked up the wall calendar with Pot-bellied pigs pictures. Tom got several items including a dart board for Scott.

At 11:25 we returned to school to pick up Anne. Nickki was supposed to come with us, but she came down sick at school and had gone home early. Anne was one of the last ones there since most of the other students had gone home early. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and then went home so Paul could make his call to Enumclaw. He found out that the store there could not get the pencil, so he tried calling the store in Issaquah. They offered to do some checking around and call him back, but, of course, they did not return his call.

We decided to go shopping in SouthCenter. Tom stopped to give blood so Paul, Anne and I went to Eagle hardware to get a "swivel sweep" broom for mom. Found one that was similar to what she wanted, so we got it.

Picked up Tom and stopped by Circuit City and Bosleys. Didn't find anything at either store. Bosleys is a used computer software and hardware store. It seemed really depressing to me, although it could have had a lot to do with the poor lighting in the store.

Our next stop was downtown Kent where we visited the local Pawn Shop. They really did not have anything of interest and their prices were much too high. We walked over to Penny's where Anne found a Sonic's Basketball jacket that she really liked. It is reversible too. Unfortunately, it was only available in children's sizes. We walked around the stores downtown, but they really didn't have much to offer. So we headed toward the Auburn Supermall. On the way we stopped at A&W Rootbeer and had hamburgers and frosty's. The food was good.

We spent several hours at the Supermall. I stopped at the Black Hills Gold store and bought some pretty ear rings for Carrie. Both Anne and Paul found some books at the discount bookstore there and Anne got a CD for Thomas.

With feet aching and tired legs, we returned home. Valorie had gone shopping so Anne got busy and wrapped some gifts. We're planning on going to Bellevue Square tomorrow with Nickki.

Wednesday, December 20

I arose at 5:15 and went through the usual routine. Heard that the stock market took a 100-point drop yesterday, the largest drop in over four years. I think everyone was expecting it since it had risen so high so quickly in the last year. (It has been closing at record levels.)

I fixed French toast for breakfast and we then left to pick up Nickki. Went to Bellevue Square where we spent three hours Christmas shopping. Tom shopped by himself. Nickki and Anne teamed up and Valorie and I browsed the stores. Found some really pretty earrings for mom at the Bon and a book for Paul at Walden Books called The Wealthy Barber. Had a latte and then headed for Tower Records. I became really upset about the traffic, especially since it was only a Wednesday. Why do all of the people also have this time off? It doesn't make sense. I won the "Scrooge" award from Anne. We looked for Costco in Bellevue, but no one had been there and we couldn't find it.

Drove to SouthCenter and finally found a parking place at the Costco there. I got some batteries (for the smoke detectors that Valorie bought for each of the bedrooms), and we got a few other items for dinner. Stopped at Jack-in-the Box for lunch before coming home. Paul had loaded Tom's truck with recyclables, but he didn't have a key to take them. Paul had been busy installing his old 486-SX25 motherboard in his old case along with his old video card.

As we pulled into the garage I noticed that there was still a puddle coming from the storage wall. I had noticed the water when we had left, but I thought that one of the jugs of drinking water that we store there had perhaps leaked. However, I now could hear a hissing of water and found that the hot water heater line had developed a pin-hole leak and was spraying water all over! I shut off the water to the hot water heater and removed the flex hose. Thomas drove me to Four Corners and we found a replacement pipe. Re-installed the pipe and had Tom help me re-light the pilot light. Now all I have to do is to make sure that all of the hot water lines are flushed out.

Valorie took Nickki home and went shopping with Anne. I took the opportunity to wrap Anne's gifts and my remaining presents. It looks to me like we have really gone overboard this year with presents. We'll see. Anne brought me an early Christmas present: a bottle of "Scrooge" pills!

Thursday, December 21

I couldn't sleep so I got up just after 4 AM this morning. Had a strong cup of coffee after the usual routine. This is the first day that I don't plan on going shopping. Actually, it would be a good time to think of going skiing.

The stock market took another 50-point drop yesterday, but I think the worst is over since the FED has lowered interest rates by .25 percent. The President and Congress still cannot agree on the Federal Budget, so many of the "non-essential" government employees are still on furlough.

I need to make sure that Tom and Paul get the garbage taken to the dump and the rest of the recyclable garbage recycled since Tom goes back to work today and will be driving the truck. Perhaps I can also get the yard cleaned up and the car washed too?

Lo and behold, I was resting my eyes while watching the news and Paul comes out and says, "Are you ready to go?" We drove the recyclable garbage to Coopers Corner, but found them closed. So we returned, unloaded the aluminum and loaded up the garbage cans and other garbage. Drove to Enumclaw and dumped it at the transfer station. Came home, re-loaded the aluminum and took it to the Jones Road recycling center. I got $29.10 for the aluminum!

At home again, I picked up branches from the yard which had fallen during last week's windstorm. The windstorm was supposed to be the worst storm this century, but fortunately we only lost power for about 8 hours.

I also swept off the roof and cleaned the gutters. The next project was to wash the car. It was really dirty.

While I was busy with the yard and car, Anne was busy cleaning her bedroom carpet with a rented carpet "steamer." She spent several hours on her floor and another hour cleaning Paul's carpet. I admit it looks a lot better, but the smell of urine is still there. Cookie has used her carpet several times and it is almost impossible to get rid of the smell.

I told Valorie that the pipes needed to be flushed to remove the junk that got stirred up yesterday when I replaced the hose at the hot water heater. I tired to remove the shower nozzle, and was successful. Unfortunately, it did not screw off like I expected. Rather, it broke off. Fortunately, there were enough threads left to allow another nozzle to be screwed on.

Nickki came over and we finally decided to go to dinner at El Corporal. Anne stayed in the car and slept.

Friday, December 22

I managed to sleep until 5:15 this morning. The cats were kept out of Anne's room at my suggestion. However, I forgot that she has kept a litter box in her room and the cats are accustomed to using it. Instead, Shadow made a gooey poopey just outside of Anne's door and Snicker laid a log just under the piano! Needless to say, I abruptly threw the cats outside while thinking its like closing the barn door after the horses have left.

In the news this morning, there appears to be about six survivors in the American Airlines 757 crash in Cali, Columbia. This is the first crash of a 757 since it went into service. At present they have not determined the cause of the crash, but they have not ruled out the possibility of terrorism.

Anne, Paul, Nickki and I went shopping in Issaquah. Paul has been trying to get a replacement Tombo mechanical pencil that Carrie wanted. Northwest Office Supply in Issaquah was the business that Paul had been talking to about ordering one. He decided to pay for the pencil that was on order and then make up a gift certificate to give to Carrie on Christmas.

After browsing through several of the other shops and having lunch at McDonald's, we stopped at Eagle Hardware. Paul found a round, white plastic garbage can lid that had a pivoting top. He put it on Nickki's head and dared her to walk around the store. When placed on her head, the door pivoted so that she would look out. It was hilarious!

Anne and Paul wanted me to drive by our Pine Lake house, so I took them by. It was hard to see anything from the road side, and the house looks a lot different from when we left. I pointed out where I had run into a ditch one time while trying to avoid a cat on the road, and also showed them the fire station where I ran across the field and was tripped up by a wire fence.

Drove to Enumclaw and visited the liquor store there. Found a few items for Valorie's stocking and got a bottle of Creme de Cacao and dark Rum. Also went into the Payless and got some stocking stuffers.

After sitting around the house for a while, Valorie and I went to Covington to try to find a book for Kim and Rick. No luck. Went to Reber Ranch and picked up a sack of Pro-Plan dog food and then to Bosley's Pet store where Valorie exchanged a dog sweater for a size larger. The sweater is for Rhys.

Stopped by QFC on the way home to get some French bread. Bought a bottle of Cella Lambrusco wine and some sausage. Anne and Nickki fixed spaghetti for dinner along with warm bread and peas. It was yummy.

Since it was the solstice, we opened one gift each. Valorie got some water candles and a Melissa Etheridge CD called "your little secret." Nickki got a CD by The Police called "Live!" Anne got a Yashica 35mm auto focus camera. I told her she needed to take the first roll of pictures and get them developed as soon as possible so that she could see how the camera works. Of course, she immediately did so. I got a Humbug massager from Anne. This is a cute plastic bug-like device that runs on batteries and vibrates. It felt really good.

Nickki played her CD and then she, Anne and Valorie went shopping for dresses. Paul had previously left with Matt Weber to go shopping.

Saturday, December 23

I got up at the same time this morning as I did yesterday. Went through a similar routine. Made a fresh pot of coffee and updated these records.

Anne got up at 7:30 and took Brianne around the neighborhood on her paper route. I went to SeaFirst Bank at 9 and got some cash while depositing my paycheck. Stopped at the Wilderness Cafe and had breakfast. Both Anne and Nickki had French toast; I had their "regular mess" which was a mixture of eggs, potatoes, onions, peppers and ham.

Took Nickki home and then came home. I had to wash white paint off the drivers side of the car. Last night, while driving through Ravensdale, Valorie drove through what she thought was an icy patch. Instead, someone had placed a bag of white paint in the road which splashed on the tires and along the side of the car. I also took the opportunity to sweep off the pine cones and needles from the road in front of the house.

I stomped around on the lawn in the back yard with some spiked shoes that Paul had got for me on my birthday. The idea is that the shoes will help aerate the lawn. Drove to the store in Black Diamond. Got a Christmas present for Brianne--some Pez. Anne stopped at the feed store and got a bale of hay for Porky. This morning I found Porky's blanket out by the wire fence. It must have been a cold morning for her without it.

We all managed to take an hour-long nap this afternoon. It really felt good. Went to Costco where we got a few last minute presents. Bought some cookies for tomorrow night along with some cheese. Bought a replacement ink head for Tom's printer.

Drove to the Village Inn and had ice cream and pie for dessert. Then stopped at Home Express where Anne and Valorie both bought some presents. Anne was looking for some Mandarin oranges for Ted and Lola so we went to the Fred Meyer store in both Kent and Auburn looking for them. Couldn't find any. It was icy on the way home, but we didn't have any problem with the all-wheel drive Subaru.

Thomas got home last night. It was very late and I was still in bed. Valorie was up very late.

Sunday, December 24

I slept until 6:15 after a long restless night. Anne got up at 7.

We spent most of the day cleaning. I cleaned the main bathroom ceiling and walls to get rid of the mildew. Anne vacuumed the Subaru, dusted the piano, and vacuumed the living room and hall.

Tom baked fog cookies today--all day. It turns out that the merangue must be cooked at a low heat in order for the cookies to turn out OK.

I made several trips to the Red Apple grocery store. Once to get eggs, brown sugar and other baking supplies and once to get some munchies and for Anne to get some nylon stockings.

Valorie got a bunch of veggies and cut them in preparation for tonights gathering. Everyone got here early, catching us off-guard. We did have some wonderful mulled cider and punch, along with Rick's traditional six-foot long submarine sandwich. Had stuffed olives and chips as well as a large assortment of cookies.

We started opening gifts somewhere around 5:30. It was a mad-house and I missed most of the prenent opening action. Nickki really liked her gift of a day of skiing at Crystal Mountain and so did Scott. Tom hooked up his new laser-jet printer and got it working. The test page was really impressive. Ted liked his gift of a flight simulator and Lola Cowan enjoyed her gift of the electric blanket with a brain. Of course, Anne liked her car radio and piggie stuff.

Both Paul and Tom loaded their new CD-ROM games. Paul got The 11th Hour and Tom got Phantasmagoria. They are both really interesting games, but Tom's was fascinating and we played it until midnight.

I got a new sweater from Valorie and a shirt from Ted. Tom gave me a magic trick booklet with some coins. Paul gave me a new electric clock. Anne gave me a flannel shirt. Angel gave me some blowpops. Also got a Clapper, a candle, and a flavored spoon.

Monday, December 25

I arose at 6:15. Took Nickki home at 9. We managed to leave here at 10:10 and arrived in Preston at Ron and Carrie's at 11. Unpacked our gifts and marveled at the number of presents around the tree! Eva, Carrie's mother, was there for the first time. The dinner table was also impressive with its silver and plates filled with goodies.

We opened gifts for several hours. I got four shirts, jeans, dress slacks, a coat, a book on Excel, a coin counting machine, a video about Einstein, a cooking thermometer, a seat vibrator, a popcorn popper, and a bread-making machine. Tom and Paul also got an enormous number of gifts and Valorie seemed to have a ton of things.

Dinner was a five-course affair. The first course was seafood including mussels, lobster and oysters. The next course was lamb chops and potatoes followed with salad, a cheese plate and then dessert. The dessert was a chocolate log with chocolate sauce Wine was plentiful and pleasing. I concluded the evening by doing a magic trick to levitate an English penny through a water glass.

Tuesday, December 26

The day following Christmas is always a day to catch your breath. I watched the Einstein video--well, most of it since Thomas wanted to show Paul and I his new computer game. I did a little reading in my Excel book, popped a batch of popcorn in my new microwave pop corn popper, and fiddled around with my change counter.

Anne got Paul and I to install her new radio in the Volkswagen. The job was more involved that I had remembered. We first had to figure out what wires to connect the radio to and fooled around testing things until we found the right combination. We ended up taking out the drivers seat and the back seat cushion so that we could get the wires routed properly from the radio to the back speakers. Of course the speaker wires weren't quite long enough, so we had to splice them. I took the opportunity to vacuum out the car as long as the seats were out. With new seat covers and a radio, the car is pretty nice again.

While Paul and I were installing the car stereo, Anne got busy and started taking down the Christmas tree. By the time we were done all that was left to do was to drain the water and take the tree out. Anne and I carried it outside and I cut off the branches. The trunk on the tree must be almost four inches in diameter!

Ted and Lola stopped by to get some chairs since Rick is expecting some guests and didn't have any way for them to sit.

Tom, Paul and Valorie left at 2 to return some duplicate gifts. I decided to try my hand at Tom's computer game, Phantasmagoria. I spent the rest of the evening exploring the old house and got to the end where I'm being chased by a demon-possessed man through the house. Unfortunately, I still was unable to make the right moves and always ended up getting killed.

Wednesday, December 27

I slept until 7:30 since I didn't get to bed until 12:30 last night. I opened a new bag of Pro-Plan for Cookie. She seemed to really like her new food. The weather has been clear and sunny all week with high temperatures in the upper 40's and low 50's and lows in the 20's. This morning, however, there is a light cloud cover and the temperature is almost 40.

It was a bad day for Cookie. She would hardly lift her head and kept bumping into things when she did walk about. Anne couldn't get her to eat or drink anything.

I decided to make a loaf of bread, so I read all of the directions for the new bread maker that we got for Christmas. I threw in the water, the bread mix and the yeast and turned it on. It was fun looking through the little window and seeing the bread ball take shape and then to see the bread rise, and rise, and rise, and rise. It rose all the way up to the window and threatened to stick to the top! Tom came in and said that "grandpa had discovered that one yeast packet with the bread mix was too much." Nice to know it now! However, Tom simply opened the top and cut into the bread and it fell to a respectable distance.

I did some reading in the book on Excel that Ron got for me. It has some good tips for faster data input, but unfortunately a lot of the information is for a version of Excel that is newer than the one I am using at work. Bummer.

I also opened my "Clapper" that Valorie got and hooked it to my bedroom light. Clap twice and the light come on. Clap twice again and it goes off. I also set it to "vacation" mode where it will turn on a light for five to fifteen minutes if there is sound. It was funny hearing Valorie clapping trying to get the light to turn off when all the device was trying to do was turn the light on!

I also managed to update the Hearthside Cabin records for the year and sent off a check to the Forest Service for $450. I had to copy the bill, so Rhys and I went to the store. Rhys did not want to be left in the car and I had to trick him into the back seat so I could get back in the car when I had made my copy. He needs more travel time.

Tom enticed me to continue working to finish his game, Phantasmagoria. I had to replay it from the sixth CD since the last one is the chase. Anne finally suggested clicking on the skull to get a clue when the lady was being hand-cuffed to the execution chair. Lo and behold, it gave us the clue we needed. We simply gave a snowman to her husband and, while he was looking at it, we simply pulled the lever to let the knife stab him in the back! Gory, huh! From there, the lady has to run from the Evil that comes from her husband and she is able to perform the necessary vows to eliminate the demon. Game finished!

Of course, Paul wanted me then to work on his game 11th Guest. I did solve one of the puzzles, but the game seems to move very slowly compared to Phantasmagoria.

Thursday, December 28

I slept until almost 8 this morning. Cookie was still alive and kicking. I took her outside and she seemed better. She even ate some food and drank several times.

Made another batch of bread, this time it was herb bread. I got smarter and added just a little bit less yeast. Took the opportunity to package Anne's chocolate chip cookies in a cookie tin.

Ken Barr called and wanted to change our get together to tomorrow morning or afternoon. It's OK with me as long as we get done tomorrow. I do intend to head to the cabin tomorrow evening.

Read for a while in The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. It is an excellent book about personal finances and is written in a way that just about anyone can understand. I would recommend it to anyone.

We took Cookie to the Covington Vet to have her eyes examined. She had cataracts in both eyes and glaucoma. They gave us eye drops. One is just like regular human eye drops to help with the inflammation. The other is cortisone to help with the swelling. Cookie is completely blind in her left eye and partially blind in her right one. They told us that if the swelling doesn't go down that Cookie might have to have her eye removed. While Valorie was waiting at the Vet, I took Anne and Nickki to Safeway where Anne dropped off her film. They both ran over to Subway and got submarine sandwiches.

There is a storm coming in and a winter storm warning for the mountains. I hope this doesn't spoil our planned skiing trip for Sunday. At home I had everyone try to get their skiing equipment together. Nickki remembered that she didn't have any ski goggles or gloves. Fortunately Thomas had a pair that she could use along with some gloves. Tom won't be able to ski because he has to work at the HerbFarm. I got down the ski rack and tried to find a key. No luck. So I hunted around in my bedroom and they re-tried all of the keys to no avail. Paul, who had been over at Terry's paying some bills and checking Terry's house out while he is on vacation, commented, "Why do you have the Volkswagen ski rack down?" Yeachhh! What a bozo. As soon as I put the rack back up in the rafters and got out the Subaru ski rack, it was easy to find a key that fit it!!!

Valorie, Anne and Nickki went to a movie. After the movie they went to Target and Payless to get some decorations for Kim's fortieth birthday. They plan to decorate the cabin with black decorations.

Paul and I watched the news and then went to Mexican food at El Caporal. Also put gas in the Subaru. When Anne came back from the movie she realized that no one had done Brianne's Seattle Times paper route, so Anne drove the papers around.

Thomas drove his truck to the cabin and took his computer. Valorie, Anne and Nickki left an hour later and plan to come down tomorrow evening to get the skis and more food. I hope there is enough parking for the crowd this New Year.

Friday, December 29 (Kim's 40th Birthday)

I arose at 6:30 after having let the dogs out at 5:30. Cookie is doing fine but still sleeps a lot. Rhys found that he can play with the toilet paper. I just caught him running from the bathroom with the toilet paper in his mouth and a long string leading back into the bathroom. Bad dog, No, No!

I spent the day cleaning the house which included sweeping the kitchen floor, cleaning out the referigerater and vacuuming the floors.

Ken Barr arrived at 6:30 and we spent the next several hours putting together some charts to come up with "comparable values" for the Forest Service for the cabin site. I also modified our original letter to the Forest Service. Ken was not done with his followup letter, so we wrapped things up at about 9PM. Valorie and Anne came down from the cabin. They showered and few animals. We loaded the car with skiis, food and clothes and wondered how we were ever going to get everything back again from the cabin.

The drive back to the cabin was difficult. There is a strong rain storm hitting the area and the visibility was really poor. It was difficult to see the painted lines on the road. Fortunately, Paul had volunteered to drive.

Anne and Nickki had decorated the cabin with balloons and black ribbon for Kim's 40th birthday. The ballons turned out to be dark green rather than black, the it's the thought that counts. There was a large cake and everyone sang "Happy Birthday." I was tired, so I declined to have cake and instead went to bed.

Saturday, December 30

I had a good nights sleep, even though people at the cabin were up until 3 or 4 AM. Had some French toast for breakfast after everyone else had eaten. Both Ted and Thomas have their computers set up and both are almost in constant use. Paul showed Ted how to set up the CD player in his computer so that it would automatically play a CD when it was put in the drive. Unfortunately that allowed everyone to play their music CD's all day and all evening long. (Tough to fall asleep at night when music is blaring.)

Paul and I drove up to Crystal Mountain to see how skiing conditions were. It was raining at the base and the lodge was packed. We noticed a lot of people getting "rain checks" so the skiing must not have been good at all.

Anne, Nickki, Paul and I are going skiing tomorrow so we fixed our lunches before going to bed. I brought up my old electric clock so I don't have to worry about oversleeping.

Sunday, December 31

I arose at 5:30 and fed the dogs, gave cookie her eye medicine and cooked blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Everyone got ready and we left for skiing at about 7:40. We were one of the last cars to park in the upper parking lot.

Paid for our tickets. Mine cost $33 since Crystal is now charging holiday rates. Nickki had to rent skis, boots and poles so I went through that process with her.

Paul and I skied together all day. We first went up midway and came down the lower part of the easy runs. There was about two to three inches of new, wet snow and the skiing was difficult. Paul laughed when I took an uncoordinated spill on the easy slope.

We next headed to the top up Rainier Express. The snow at the top was much better (not so heavy), but there were a lot of people. I was having a lot of trouble with my goggles. They kept fogging up and I couldn't see anything. This, coupled with the fog, made skiing difficult. Paul finally traded me his goggles and kept my glasses. That helped a lot. We made several trips to the top and decided to finally try to find Anne and Nickki during our lunch break. They didn't come to where Paul had left his lunches so we headed back up the mountain and took one trip down Iceberg Gulch. It was steep with lots of moguls, but we both did OK. We next went over to the base of Campbell Basin and made several runs there. It was pretty good skiing, but I could sure feel the strain in my legs. I kept having to stop and rest, and of course, Paul wanted to go straight down every run. He would ski ahead and then wait for me. By the time I reached him, I was ready to rest, but he was already rested!

We finally headed back and found Anne and Nickki still on the "bunny hill." Apparently Anne couldn't talk Nickki into taking any of the intermediate runs. Paul, Anne and I went up midway and came down. Anne proceeded slowly, so Paul decided to go ahead and make the same run again and catch us before we reached the bottom. Unfortunately, he managed to crash and sprained his thumb. His version of the story is that two skiers cut in front of him and he had to turn and hit a patch of uneven snow. At any rate, he went flying, lost both skis and bent back his thumb. I told him to put ice on it, but he kept bellyaching about how the snow would melt and drip on him.

We got back to the cabin at 4:30. Had spaghetti for dinner. Leo and Leonard Towne arrived at 7:30. Paul Herrick and his wife stopped in. They couldn't stay long but it was good to see him again.

I took a nap and slept until 11:30. We celebrated the coming of the New Year with champagne and a kiss. The party continued into the wee hours of the morning. Fortunately, I slept well. Since Monday is a holiday, and Tuesday is a workday/schoolday, everyone had to pack up and head home. We left the cabin just after noon and spend the afternoon unpacking and getting psyched up for the start of a new year of work and school.