Introduction

What a year this has been!

Here are some of the high-points from the rest of the year:

On January 12, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Paul Herrick's birthday.

We also celebrated Anne's 23rd birthday...

On the last day of February, the old "Birch" gang and friends met at the Yankee Grill to celebrate Bill Schaffer's 50th birthday anniversary.

At the end of March, Paul brought over some hop rhizomes, which we planted.

On April 9th, we celebrated Thomas' 28th birthday with a meal at the Issaquah Rogue Brewery. On Thomas' wish list was a new car. He got one.

On Sunday, May 4, the family gathered to celebrate two birthday's. Valorie turned 50 on May 3, and Carol celebrated her 49th birthday.



For Mother's Day, Ron and Carrie invited the family to share "The Chambers of the Sea" at The Herbfarm Restaurant in Woodinville.

In June, for Fathers Day, we enjoyed the "Summer Brewfest" in Kenmore.



Anne traded in her 89 Cadillac and purchased this 1999 Chevrolet Malibu.

To celebrate Paul's 26th birthday, we went to dinner at Tangletown in Seattle.



The day after her 6th birthday, we had a doggie birthday party for Mollie.

On Sunday, August 10, we gathered to celebrate Ted Cowan's 77th birthday.

On September 20, Paul and Tara were married.

On Sunday, October 5, we gathered at Deane's house in Redmond to watch Paul and Tara open their wedding gifts.

In November, we finally decided to trade in our old Subaru Legacy and got this 2004 Subaru Forester.

Ron and Carrie invited the family to the Herbfarm Restaurant to celebrate mom's 84th birthday. The dinner theme was, "Golden Groves Unleaving".

In mid-November, we visited Brian Grunke at his home in Pasco, Washington.

On December 6, Paul and Joan Herrick hosted a Christmas party.

Saturday, December 13, 2003

I arose just after 3 this morning. It's hard to break the work sleep habit! Valorie was still up, but obviously was getting tired. She asked me if I was going to stay up. At first I said I thought I'd go back to bed, but the longer I was up, the more awake I became. Besides, both Rhys and Mollie were glued to me like magnets.

I spent an hour or so balancing the checkbook and paying a few bills. Afterwards, I spent some time on Amazon.com, and placed an order for a few gifts for Colin, Valorie and Anne. The orders should arrive next week.

At 7, Mollie, Rhys and I drove to the Covington Fred Meyer. I wanted to see if they had any really good bargins. And, I just needed to look around for some gift-giving ideas. I picked up a few floating candles and some spare Christmas light bulbs. Of course, we had to stop at McDonalds on the way home to have a bite to eat.

At 9, I got Colin up and we went to Costco. We picked up some items on the grocery list and I bought some more coffee supplies for work.

After unloading everything at home, we then drove to Bellevue Square to do some Christmas shopping. I got some gifts for Valorie, a couple shirts for Ron, and a few gifts for Sarah and Jason Mack. Colin mentioned that he didn't bring any money with him, so I gave him $60 to spend on gifts.

Colin mentioned that he wanted to go to the mall at Crossroads, but I told him that there wasn't such a place. So, after leaving the Square, and stopping to see Thomas at Office Depot, we went to Crossroads. Sure enough, Colin was right. I found a Frog Calendar for Sarah, and enjoyed the live Christmas music in the mall.

Sunday, December 14, 2003

I arose at 4:30, after Rhys kept scrabbling about under the covers. I started the coffee brewing while I took my shower and shaved.

On this news this morning were pictures showing the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Saddam was actually captured yesterday evening, but it wasn't until this morning that it was "officially" announced.

I did a bit of on-line Christmas shopping, buying a Home Brewing magazine subscription for Paul and some Rainbow-makers.

By mid-morning, after sorting through the gifts for Sarah and Jason Mack, I decided to make a collage for them with pictures of Kayden. It took me several hours to collect all of the pictures of Kayden, and to arrange them. I think they should like it.

After lunch I noticed that the sun was peeking out, so Colin and I got out the outside Christmas lights and put them up. I thought that I was missing one of the bags of lights, since I couldn't find the photo-cell controller. After a long search and rummaging about, I found it at the bottom of the bag of lights for the garage door. Grrrrruuuummmmpp!

It took almost two hours to put up the lights, and by that time the clouds had rushed back in, the wind was blowing, and cold rain was falling. I was happy to be done.

Ted Cowan stopped by to get the corrrect spellings for Kayden, Hayden, Brittney and Austin, along with some mailing addresses so that he can send out his Christmas gifts. He mentioned that Kim and Rick might not be able to arrive by Christmas, because the shipping container isn't packed yet, and they haven't figured out where they can legally park it for over six months.

For dinner, Colin, Valorie and I went to El Caporal in Four Corners.

Things that made me smile today:
   1) The news of Saddam Hussein's capture
   2) Lillie licking my face as I scratched her itchy back
   3) Driving home from dinner and seeing our house with pretty Christmas lights
   4) Watching the last three weeks episodes of "Third Watch"

Monday, December 15, 2003

I arose at 4:30 this morning. Valorie was still up, doing something on her computer.

Today is the busiest day of the year for the post office. Hopefully I can participate in their business!

I spent over an hour putting together a Christmas package to send to Sarah, Jason and Kayden. The first challenge was to find a box big enough to hold the toy popcorn-popper, which I found after rummaging in the attic with a flashlight. I then cleared off the dining room table and wrapped each gift. I almost forgot to include the collage, but remembered at the last minute. Fortunately it fit nicely. I then filled the box with styrafoam peanuts, and used duct tape to secure it from the outside. Since it has to go to a post office box, I'll have to ship it via the US Mail.

Colin arose at 9:30, having heard the loud taping noises. I left the house just before ten, taking all of the doggies. They waited in the car while I waited in line at the UPS Store at Four Corners for over half an hour. The postage cost just over $20. We then headed to the bank for some cash, then to Starbucks to get a "coffee club" card for Jason, and finally to the gas station.

After Colin had his shake for breakfast, we went shopping at the Kent East Hill Target. He bought the game, "Cranium", a CD for Margo, and a secret gift for me. I picked up some replacement Christmas light bulbs, and a photocell timer to plug into the backyard plug to control the Christmas lights on the rooftop.

After Chris got home from school, Colin and Chris spent the afternoon playing video games, and watching the movie, X-Men. I caught the last half of the movie; it was pretty good.

I put together some graphics for a "thank you" card, that I sent via AmazingMail to Paul and Joan Herrick, thanking them for hosting the Christmas party on the sixth.

Things that made me smile today:
   1) Valorie getting up and saying, "did I dream someone was using duct tape?"
   2) Lillie running in circles as I tried to scratch her back
   3) Sending a "thank you" card to Paul and Joan Herrick for hosting the Christmas party

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

I arose at 4 this morning.

After reading my email and checking my web page, I decide to make a picture for Nickki, using the picture of Austin and Kaylie laying on my hammock from last August. I isolated them from the background, and then found some nice pictures of clouds so that it looks like they are floating in the sky. Nickki should like it.

At 10:30, I took Colin to his driving lesson in Kent. While he was on his freeway drive, I went shopping at Walmarts and Home Depot. I found a few stocking stuffers, including a can of Almond Roca, a couple York mints, and two packs of Gobstoppers. At the Home Depot, I found a nice wind chime for Valorie.

I picked up Colin around noon. We stopped at McDonalds for lunch. I told Colin the story about feeding a french fry to a lonely bird, only to find multitudes of birds wanting that fry. So, at the end of the meal, I took our excess fries and sprinkled them on the lawn. In just seconds there were circling birds of all kinds, swooping and landing and making a huge fuss. It was great!

Our last stop before heading home was at the liquor store. I bought some liquor-filled chocolates.

When we got home, Anne had arrived to help with house cleaning. I finished framing the picture for Nickki and wanted to make another which included Hayden, but I didn't have a good one. Valorie just about burst a vessel in her head as she read us a story about an encounter between a motorcyclist and a squirrel. The squirrel was almost run over, but jumped onto the cyclist, biting and clawing as he rode down the street, finally ending up inside the cyclists' helmet!

I suggested going out to have Chinese food, but Valorie had to take Colin to his driving school at 6. Anne and I went to the Golden Phoenix in Covington and ordered four dinners. Afterwards, we shopped at Pier 1 Imports. Anne bought several gifts, and I found two nice good-cat/bad-cat and good-dog/bad-dog coat hangers.

Thinks that made me smile today:
   1) Giving our extra french fries to the lonely sea gull, and then wathcing as a multitude of birds swooped down to eat.
   2) Listening to Valorie read the story of the motorcyclist and the squirrel.

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

I slept in until 5:15. Both Rhys and Mollie were snuggled in bed and didn't want to get up. When Rhys finally did, he didn't want to go outside because it was 32 degrees -- chilly!

I watched the morning news, and snoozed with the doggies for a while. But, since it was a sunny day, I decided to give our Subaru Forester its' first bath. Of course Rhys and Mollie wanted to go, so they sat and cowered inside while I washed and sprayed everything from the outside.

Valorie was up by 10 and off to take Marjorie and her hubby to the train station in Seattle. She returned in time to take Colin to a doctors appointment with Dr. Jordan in Kent.

I spent the rest of the day watching two movies. The first was "About a Boy", starring Hugh Grant as Will Lighman. Will gets mixed up in a single-parent meeting and finally meets a young boy (Marcus), who is a misfit at school. They strike up a relationship that is both funny and heart-warming. I really enjoyed it.

The second was "Where The Heart Is", starring Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. The story is about a young woman, who is abandoned by her boyfriend at a Wall-Mart store. She ends up living at the store and having a baby there. As time goes on, she pulls herself up by her bootstraps and makes a place for herself in the community, making a point that home where the heart is. It was a great story and well-worth the time spent watching it.

Thomas came over to the house, returning with the CD server. He needed to download a Linux Kernel, so he spent some time getting the file from the Internet. We all went to dinner for pizza at Shakeys.

Things that made me smile today:
   1) Sunshine and warmer weather
   2) Hearing Valorie laugh at "The Daily Show", which talked about Saddam Hussein's "hidey hole"

Thursday, December 18, 2003

I arose at 4:45.

Colin had a dentist appointment at Dr. Rude's office at 7:50, so he was up at 6:15. We left at 7:30 and arrived right at 7:50. While he was there, I did some shopping at the QFC and Bartell's. I got a birthday gift for Austin, who's birthday is Sunday, and a few more stocking stuffers. Colin was done at 7:45 since they didn't have to do a root canal.

Thomas stayed the night, previously intending to go skiing. However, he forgot his ski boots, so he spent the day with us.

Meanwhile, Colin had to learn to change a tire. We backed the Forester into the driveway, found all of the tools, and set to work removing the left-rear tire. Colin struggled removing the tire nuts, and again, when trying to get the tire re-aligned to the bolts. All in all, though, he did well.

We decided to go see the movie, "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King". It was showing at 1 PM at the Factoria Cinema. Valorie ordered tickets on Fandango. We left a 11:45 and arrived just after 12:30. The theater was only 1/3 full, so we got choice seats. The movie was fantastic. I thought that Sam was the real hero of the story; helping Frodo to carry on to the end, even carrying him up the mountain-side when he was no longer able to go forth. It was truly an epic story.

After having dinner at Appleby's, I rode with Thomas, while Valorie took Colin to his drivers-ed class in Kent. Thomas stopped at his apartment to get a different network card and a few other CDs.

At home, Thomas spent several hours getting the CD server up and running. With the network card, it now works fine.

Friday, December 19, 2003

I arose at 4:30.

Colin had his last driving lesson at Cook's Driving School, so I dropped him off at 10:50. While he was driving, I stopped at the bank to get a bit more cash, and then headed over to McLendon's hardware to see if they had any good deals on Christams trees. Although they had good prices, they really didn't have any trees that I was interested in. I shopped the store and found a "gizmo" that is supposed to help with checking out problems with strings of Christmas lights. It had a continuity and a bulb checker. The problem is, most tree light strings have multiple wires, and often it is just one wire that has burnt out bulbs. The continuity checker isn't very good at finding the problem unless the entire twisted string were to be unraveled.

Colin was done at noon; he passed his driving test. We stopped at McDonalds for lunch and then went searching for a Christmas tree. We found one in Maple Valley at the place where we got one last year.

At home, we spent the rest of the afternoon putting lights and decorations on the tree. It looks wonderful.

For dinner, we went to IHOP in Auburn, and then made the walk around the SuperMall. Valorie picked up a few gifts, and Colin found one more for Anne.

Saturday, December 20, 2003

I splept in until 5:15. It makes me happy to see the tree with pretty presents underneath. Apparently Tabby also likes the new tree!

I've been worrying for the last week that the coffee station at work was running out of coffee. I had purchased additional supplies at Costco a week ago, but didn't have an occasion for getting them into work. So, I decided to make the drive this morning, and delivered the coffee and Swiss Miss. There was still one can left, but it might not have lasted for the two days of work next week.

I stopped to gas up the Forester, and then headed to the Fred Meyer store. They had a large assortment of goodies, so I decided to pick up enough to make two "snack food boxes", one for Emily, and one for Colin. I also picked up a couple of toys: a cute bear for Hayden and a "Lite Brite" set for Austin. On the way home, I stopped for a sausage McMuffin at McDonalds, and then stopped at Target for a weather station for Ted. "Weather Station", you say? OK, so it's not that great of an idea, but we enjoy ours, so I figured that Ted might also.

At home, I unloaded the gifts and stashed them away.

I managed to get a short nap, interruped by numerous dog-barking eruptions: Kim (from next door) borrowing baking supplies, arrival of the FED-X truck making a delivery across the street, Kim (from next door) asking if we had any odd-jobs, and arrival of the mail-man (delivering the solar-powered rainbow makers for Kim and Deane).

Fortunately, Valorie wanted to go shopping, so we all headed off to Bellevue. On the way, we stopped at the new Fry's Electronics store in Renton. It is huge. Valorie got several gift certificates. We next stopped at Denny's for dinner, and then dropped off a Christmas gift to Colleen and Seth. Our last stop was the Universtiy Book Store in Bellevue. Valorie got an arm-load of Dr. Suss books for Nickki's family, along with several calendars.

Sunday, December 21, 2003

It's the shortest day of the year; is that why I managed to sleep until 6 AM?

This was a lazy day. I spent a few hours updating my web page on Rootsweb. I created new photo picture pages for December, and uploaded several pictures of the Christmas party at Paul and Joan Herrick's, as well as a few pictures of decorating the Christmas tree.

I also discovered a new Bejeweled game on MSN Games, called "Cat in the Hat". It's addictive!

We left the house at 3:40 to attend the birthday party for Austin at Nickki and Justin's house in North Bend. Austin celebrated his fourth anniversary today!

He had a good number of presents, and a yummy cake. Anne got him some bath-tub toys, and he was really wanting to try them out. So he said, "I think it's time for you to leave, 'cause I have to go to bed, but have to take a bath first..."

At home, we fixed waffles for dinner. Yummy!

Monday, December 22, 2003

I arose at 4:15.

Colin had a dentist appointment at 7, so he was up at 5:30. I dropped him off at the dentist office in Maple Valley and then stopped at QFC to get some bacon and sausage. At home, I spent a few moments playing Bejeweled before returning to pick Colin up at 8:10. He wasn't done until 8:45.

At home, I fixed omelettes and bacon for breakfast. It was really good. Colin and I then decided to go shopping. I needed to get some cat food (Little Friskies), and another bag of dog food (ProPlan Chicken and Rice). We stopped at Bank of America and then at Reber Ranch. Colin got two new cat collars; one for Tabby and one for Tater. We then went to Costco, where we found that the parking lot was packed. We just got some essentials, including bananas, eggs, and corn dogs. Ummmmm, corn dogs.....

Costco didn't have Little Friskies, so we returned to Reber Ranch and picked up a sack. From there we went to QFC where Colin got an Amaryllis bulb for Carrie. We stopped for lunch at McDonalds, and then got ingredients for White Russians (Vodka and Amaretto) at the liquor store. We finally stopped at Webers Nursery where Colin found another Amaryllis bulb and I got some Poinsiettas at half price.

At home, Colin wrapped a few more presents. I watched the news and then we went for dinner at Ghorms in Kent. On the way, Anne called me on my cell phone and arranged to come over tomorrow (late morning) to help with cleaning.

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

I arose at 4. Valorie had been wrapping a few presents, so now it is my turn...

I wrapped gifts from 4:30 until 11:30 and was exhausted! On the plus side, they really looked good. Since I hadn't figured out what type of name tag I was going to use, I put a number on each gift to identify them.

Anne arrived around 9:45, and she played with the doggies. They were overjoyed to see her. Of course she had to admire the gifts, but was flabbergasted when she looked at the name tags and only found a number!

After lazing about for a bit, we decided to go to McDonalds for lunch, and brought along the pack. Afterwards, we returned home and Anne began cleaning. We packed the Forester with our recycling, and Valorie and Colin took it away. Anne re-arranged the living room and made everything look festive.

I made name tags for the presents by taking a picture of a Santa hat and adding the name of the recipient of the present. It was much easier than trying to cut out individual tags. Colin helped me go through the presents and add the names for each. He then brought out the presents and arranged them around the tree and under the hearth.

Anne helped make a list of party supplies. Colin and Valorie went out for Mexican food. They picked up and returned with our food. Meanwhile, Ted came over and returned our liquor. Anne finished cleaning by scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom floors. Valorie and Colin headed to the store for supplies as I settled down for a long winter's nap!

Wednesday, December 24, 2003

I arose at 5. The wind was blowing, knocking pine cones onto the roof. Rhys was freaking out, and followed me into the bathroom and everywhere else. The tree and living room sure look nice!

I took Rhys and Mollie and drove to Safeway to get some 9-Lives Super Supper cat food. I had run out yesterday, and substituted wet dog food, but Rhys just sniffed his bowl and walked away. The only ones who ate it were Snicker and Mollie!

After getting a dozen cans, I tried to find a California Duster for Anne, but Fred Meyer was sold out.

At home, I finished wrapping a few gifts and made an 8 by 10 picture of Nickki holding Hayden. The first print didn't turn out well, so I re-did it. I think it was great.

I then put together bags of Santa's secrets for Christmas stockings. I used a nice photo from last year and stapled it to the bags.

At 3 we started getting ready for the party. I cleaned the punch bowl and put out some of the snack food. Paul and Tara arrived at 4:30 and help set up. Ted arrived at 5:45, and Justin, Nickki, Kaylie, Austin and Hayden arrived shortly after 6. Anne and Jason showed up a few minutes later. They had some last minute wrapping to do. Thomas arrived at 6:45, since he had to work until 6 today. We all had sandwiches and tasty treats.

We served Champagne and toasted to Christmas, and then began to open the gifts. Kaylie and Austin could hardly wait!

Kim, Debra and Emily arrived at 11:30. Kim's car broke down about 10 miles short of Buckley, so Valorie and Colin went to pick them up.

Thursday, December 25, 2003

Merry Christmas!

I arose at 7:15. Valorie had done a lot of clean up, so I unloaded the dishwasher and cleaned up a bit more.

Santa had filled our stockings and everything still looked really festive! I spent some time posting new pictures on my web site, and also fed the cats and dogs.

We left the house at 11:15 and picked mom up a bit after noon. We arrived at Ron and Carrie's house at exactly 1 PM. They had a beautiful tree and lovely decorations. Ron was busy cooking for dinner. Anne and Jason arrived at 1:30, shortly followed by Thomas. Thomas and Colin went outside and cut douglas fir needles for use in our fir sorbet. Paul and Tara arrived at 2, having lost track of time while playing Bingo at Deane's house.

We opened presents for an hour. I got several more packages of printer paper, so now I need to get busy and make more collages! I also got a book entitled, "How to Cheat in Photoshop". It has some really good tips. Someone got the book, "Why Paint Cats", which had some amazing pictures of cats that were painted with non-toxic vegetable dyes. The one with Charlie Chaplin painted on the rear end was fabulous! Deane, Ryan and Kiniko arrived at about 3.

At dinner, the group was seated at two tables; one in the main dining room and one nearby in the living room. Ron fixed a number of really yummy courses, along with an abundance of wines. It was a memorable evening.





As we were leaving, there was mixed rain and snow.

Things that made me smile today:
1) Deane asking if the picture of the nude lady in Ron and Carrie's dining room was the Polar Express
2) Ron showing us his "egg cracking" gizmo
3) Seeing a picture of Charlie Chaplin painted on the rear end of a cat

Friday, December 26, 2003

I arose at 6. We had a mixture of rain and snow this morning, but it didn't stick.

I spent several hours updating my web page and editing pictures. The balance of the morning was spent reading my new book, "How to Cheat in Photoshop". The book has several tips that I'm presently not using, so I will have to practice them.

Debra and Emily stopped over at 10:30. Emily is keeping her rabbit here, and I showed her the rabbit watering system and the "selection of cages" that she might be interested in. Of course, when they arrived, it was a perfect "barking opportunity" for the dogs, who managed to wake up both Colin and Valorie.

Colin had a doctor's appointment with a doctor to discuss possible jaw surgery. The doctor was in Seattle, so Valorie and Colin left at 12:30. Debra and Emily finished watching "Finding Nemo" and then left to eat lunch. I managed to take a short nap, and then resumed reading my book and watching the "Dixie Chick's Live" DVD.

Valorie returned at 4, while Thomas let Colin drive his Geo Metro. Thomas is going to loan his Geo Metro to us for a while, so that Colin can have more time learning to drive. Ted stopped by after going to Costco. He is going to the cabin tomorrow afternoon. Emily came over to play vidoe games with Colin and to watch some movies. Thomas stayed for dinner, along with Chris and Kim, our next door neighbors.

Saturday, December 27, 2003

I arose at 6:15. We have a dusting of snow!

I finished watching the "Dixie Chicks World Tour" DVD, which I enjoyed. I then decided to clean up my computer room. I moved the carved pumpkins so that I could stack a few more boxes of old photographs in the closet. I also put the movie masters from our family movies into the fire safe. By moving the SportRider on top of the table, I now have more floor space.

Emily arose at 8:30, and spent some time on Valorie's computer playing on-line games. I watched an hour of the local news.

After lunch, I decided to watch my new DVD, "The Three Amigos". It was funny.

We met Ted and Kim for dinner at God Father's Pizza in Enumclaw. We got two large pizza's. Of course, Ted got one with ham and pineapple. He loves Hawaiian pizza.

At home, I watched the DVD, "X-Men United". It was very well done. Valorie and Colin went shopping at the Covington Fred Meyer.

Sunday, December 28, 2003

I dragged myself out of bed at 6:15. It's 34, but no snow is on the ground.

Debra and Emily came over at 8:30. Debra had used Valorie's catch-em-alive trap to try to catch a rabbit in Ted's back yard. Although the rabbit didn't go into the trap, it did get cornered so that Emily could grab it and put it into her carrying cage. She now plans to quarrantine it before putting it with her other rabbit.

Debra and Emily played video games with Colin all morning. Valorie finally got up at 1:30, and Emily had her look at her new rabbit. They put oil in its' ears, since Emily suspects it might have ear mites. Debra and Emily left at 3, and are planning to go to the cabin tonight with Ted.

I watched the movie, "Two Weeks Notice", starring Hugh Grant as George Wade, and Sandra Bullock as Lucy Kelson. George Wade is a multimillionaire real estate developer who hires Lucy as his chief counsel. After working endlessly for a year, Lucy finally decides to call it quits, and gives George two weeks notice. However, George doesn't want Lucy to leave, so he does everything possible to make it impossible for her to find another job. After everything, they finally realize that they love each other. It was quite enjoyable.

I downloaded a trial version of Macromedia Flash MX. It is a software product that allows the development of multi-media slide shows and much more. I spent several hours watching tutorials. Unfortunately, the software is quite expensive, but it's fun to play with.

Valorie and Colin went shopping for a waterbed matress. They got one on sale for $25. Colin also got a nice comforter. After they got home, Valorie mentioned that Anne is having lots of problems with swelling in her hand. It's so painful that she wakes up at night. Hopefully she can see the doctor soon to find out what's wrong.

Monday, December 29, 2003

Happy Birthday, Kim! Do you feel any older at 48?

I arose at 5. It is only 28 degrees outside. Luckily, however, we don't live in Calgary, Canada. There it's only 3 degrees above zero! Brrr!

I spent several hours this morning watching tutorials about using Macromedia Flash MX. I then played around trying to make a flash slide show myself. I'm finding that it is more difficult than I first imagined.

Colin arose around 9:30. He wanted to re-arrange his bed so that he could tuck is covers in properly. So, I went in there, looked at all the boxes at the foot of his bed, and got to work. I managed to move and store all of the boxes. We then moved the file cabinet to the head of his bed, and move Valorie's desk over several feet. We also took out the matress from his bed and installed the waterbed matress. That involved installing the heater, the liner, and then hauling in the hose to fill it.

We took the old matress (Anne's old matress) over to Ted's house. Since he is at the cabin, we put it on the back porch and wrapped it in a tarp. On the way home, we stopped for lunch in Buckley.

Colin wanted to do some driving, so I rode with him as he returned his library book. At home again, I had him take a look at the engine compartment. We found that the oil was over a quart low, and the car needed more coolant in the radiator.

Colin and I then took his fitted twin-size sheet back to Fred Meyer to exchange it for a queen-size one. The new one cost about $5 more. From there, we went to the Four Corners Safeway where we shopped for dinner, getting some hamburger for meat loaf, and broccolli. We fixed Tater Tots as well.

Valorie and Colin went to Southcenter to get some video games at Game Stop. I watched the news and then headed to bed, snuggling with my warm furry companion, Rhys.

Tuesday, December 30, 2003

I arose this morning at 6. It is only 23 degrees outside.

I spent several hours learning to use Flash MX, following several different on-line tutorials. I'm trying to find out how to make a photo slide viewer, with transitions between photographs. I found one tutorial that seemed to do a good job, but much of the activity was done via coding within the viewer. I'd rather use the built-in Flash tools.

I spent a little time watching the news, and, after lunch, I settled down for a nap. With warm doggies on me, I managed to sleep for a couple hours!

After my nap, I helped Colin put more water into his waterbed mattress. Unfortunately, the garden hose was frozen, so we spent some time twisting it and shaking it before we could get water through. After filling it, he put on his fitted sheets and new covers.

I played Bejeweled for a while, and started getting a game with a very high score. It took me a couple hours before the game ended, at which time we decided to go out for dinner at El Corporal in Four Corners. I had soft taco's with rice and beans. Both Valorie and Colin had the house "special".

At home, I watched the evening news, which had been recorded on our PVR (personal video recorder). They are forecasting from one to five inches of snow tonight!

Just before going to bed, Anne called. She has had a lot of swelling in her right hand, and had to go to the emergency room yesterday. They have her arm in a sling, and are giving her pain medication. Her blood tests show that it isn't an infection; rather it is just a "flare-up" of her rhumatoid arthritis. She isn't sure if she can come up to the cabin or not.

Wednesday, December 31, 2003

I managed to sleep until 7. We have an inch of snow on the ground! I went out and fed Porkie, and managed to take a few pictures of the new snow. I also made a snowman, using pine cones for eyes and a long slender leaf for a nose.

Valorie went to the SuperMall to get a pair of walking shoes. She also stopped at Costco to get some helium so that Paul and inflate his floating disk that he got for Christmas.

Colin and I went to return four video games that he had rented. This was the first time that he had driven in the snow. He did OK.

I started packing to go to the cabin, and I cooked a Lasagne to add to the traditional spaghetti dinner. As I packed, I made a list of the things that I needed to remember to take, like the camera, items in the freezer, and beer. I also started making a grocery list.

Valorie got a back at 2, and we packed the Forester. We left at 2:30 and arrived at 3:30. There is about two inches of snow at the cabin. Paul and Tara arrived just minutes after we did. They drove their new Forester. Of course, Ted, Kim, Debra and Emily were already at the cabin, along with Thomas and Scott. Kim had made a special trip to Arlington to pick up Scott. Thomas had come up to go skiing for the day, and needed to leave for work just after midnight since he has to work tomorrow!

Nickki, Justin, Kaylie, Austin, Hayden, as well as their friend, Mikie (?), arrived at 4:30. They brought two four-wheelers, which they used to haul down their things. A surprise to all was the arrival of Anne and Jason. Anne has her arm in a sling, but seems to be doing fine. Nickki was thrilled to see Anne.

We had a good dinner and plenty to drink. At midnight, Thomas lit off the fireworks, which included three large displays that Ted brought and several aerial bombs that I provided.

I got to bed before one, snuggled along with two warm doggie bodies.

Thursday, January 1, 2004

I arose at 9. Kim and Ted were already up, and had fixed pancakes and little smokies. It is more difficult to clean up the cabin this year, because the pump in the well broke, so we have no water. I hauled several buckets of water from the creek to use for flushing the toilet. More difficult is figuring out how to wash dishes. I heated water on the kitchen wood stove, and used half of it for washing water, and the other half for rinsing.

Ted, Kim, Debra, Emily and Scott left for home at 11. Nickki and Justin left shortly thereafter. After doing a bit of cleaning, Paul, Tara, Anne, Jason, Valorie and Colin went to Crystal for lunch. I stayed to do a bit of packing, cleaning and resting with the dogs. It was very peaceful with the fire and snow falling outside.

Rhys proved to be a real wiennie, because he won't come near the fireplace. The popping sounds really scare him. When the group returned, they all stamped their feet on the porch to clean off the snow. When Rhys heard that, he put his tail between his legs and ran as fast as he could to hide behind the couch. What a wiennie!

We left the cabin at about 4:30. There was a lot of traffic returning from Crystal Mountain, and it was going only about 30. It took an hour to get to Enumclaw, since it was snowing there as well. We got home just after 6. Paul and Tara stopped to get the helium; they also helped us unpack. My snowman is still standing on the back deck, and there is light snow falling. We still have about an inch of snow.

Figaro had made a mess of the bathroom by spitting up a large hairball and leafing tufts of his fur everywhere. Other than that, everything was fine.

I watched the evening news that had been recorded earlier. The big news was the winter storm that hit Portland last night with over five inches of snow. Chains were required on I-5 through Portland.

Here are 2003's top 10 stories, as voted by AP members:

1. War in Iraq

After months of ultimatums and military buildup, President Bush announced the start of the war against Iraq on March 19. U.S. and British forces quickly seized huge swaths of territory, and by April 7 much of Baghdad was overtaken. Bush declared major combat over on May 1, but shadowy insurgents killed more than 200 coalition soldiers in the often difficult occupation that followed. Saddam was captured Dec. 13.

2. Columbia disaster

The shuttle crew's 16-day research mission ended 16 minutes short of touchdown on Feb. 1 when the Columbia disintegrated into fiery debris over Texas. Investigators later said the cause was a chunk of foam insulation that broke off the fuel tank and pierced the left wing on launch day.

3. California recall

Initially, it seemed a long shot. But Californians defied expectations by signing enough petitions to set up an attempt to recall unpopular Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, then -- after a 135-candidate race -- ousted Davis on Oct. 7 and replaced him with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-born body builder and action film star.

4. SARS

The first unsettling reports emerged from Asia in February of a new, unnamed disease. Within a few weeks, SARS was a household name. Cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome spread to more than 25 countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. About 8,000 people were infected; roughly 780 died.

5. Blackout

A computer malfunctioned at an Ohio utility on Aug. 14, and North America's worst-ever blackout swiftly spread through eight states and part of Canada. Millions of people lost power, including all of New York City, Cleveland and Detroit.

6. Improving economy

After a couple of trying years, the U.S. economy showed signs of revival -- the Dow Jones industrials closed above 10,000 for the first time in 18 months; the third-quarter growth rate was 8.2%, the best performance in 19 years. But there was little headway in restoring more than 2 million lost manufacturing jobs, and projections of a record federal deficit kept rising through the year, to $500 billion.

7. California wildfires

Raging wildfires across much of southern California killed 22 people, scorched nearly 1 million acres and destroyed 4,800 homes and other buildings in October and early November.

8. Bush tax cut

In May, Congress handed Bush a major victory by approving $330 billion in tax cuts through 2013 -- the third largest tax cut in history. The measure passed by only one vote in the Senate, after Republican leaders prodded some colleagues.

9. Elizabeth Smart

Nine months after she was abducted from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, 15-year-old Elizabeth Smart was found in March in a nearby suburb in the company of a homeless couple who now face kidnapping and sexual assault charges. By autumn, Elizabeth was back in school and the subject of a made-for-TV movie.

10. Democratic campaign

The field grew steadily to 10, then dropped back to nine, but it was the man leading in the polls -- former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean -- who became the focal point of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. He won the endorsement of former Vice President Al Gore.