The year in Summary

January:
Anne turned 25 this year. We celebrated with dinner at Nells Restaurant, where Jason was working. Debra Betts celebrated her 22nd birthday, and Hayden deCeault turned two. I rode the bus from Auburn to Seattle for two days of jury duty in Superior Court.

February:
Kaylie is already seven years old this year, and we celebrated her birthday with a party at their house in North Bend. Thomas & Christine hosted an open house on Fat Tuesday at their new residence near Greenlake. Later in the month, we had dinner with Paul Herrick, Bill Schaffer and Randy Russell at the Azteca Restaurant in Bellevue. Paul Herrick is really good at keeping the old group in touch. Anne had surgery on her right wrist to fuse the bones. Andy Betts moved here from Arizona.

March:
We gave the red Honda Civic to Andy Betts so that he would have a car to drive. Ron turned 56 on March 9. I got a new new HP Pavilion a830n computer from Fry's Electronics and Thomas helped set it up. Bill & Janet Schaefer celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a gathering at the Maple Valley Community center. Colin is active at school in the GSA club, and we attended the Kentlake Cherry Blossom festival. We celebrated Easter with a family gathering at our house on March 27.

April:
We celebrated Thomas' 30th birthday with dinner at the Sushiman Restaurant in Issaquah. Valorie and I had lunch in Arlington with Robin & Rick Gaynor, Jo & Dick Flickinger, & Terri Malinowski. I can't show you any pictures of our gathering due to requests to not post pictures on the internet. I built a trellis in the back yard. Anne moved to a new house in the Wedgewood district in Seattle.

May:
Valorie turned 52 this year. Sarah Mack was visiting, so we met with them in North Bend at Nickki's house. I found out my blood pressure is high, so the doctor put me on medication.

June:
Debra Betts is inducted in the Honor Society at Green River. I attended the Beerfest to celebrate Father's Day. We also had a family gathering and barbecue at our house to celebrate Father's Day. Valorie, Debra and Colin attend Gay Pride parade and festival in Seattle.

July:
Paul Zimmerman turned 28 this year. We celebrated with a family barbecue (where I hid dollar bills and let the kids play, "Where's George"). We also had a barbecue at Paul's house. Colin's dog, Lilly, had surgery to remove a large growth, and Colin went into the hospital to have surgery on his jaw to correct his bite.

August:
Ted Cowan turned 79 this year. We celebrated with a family barbecue. On August 14, a tornado hits Sarah and Jason's mobile home park in Wright Wyoming. They were OK, but their home was severely damaged. Jason Jones turned 32 this year.

September:
Colin Kasl turned 17 this year, and Scott Betts celebrated his 29th birthday. We celebrated Colin's birthday with dinner at the Palomino Restaurant in Seattle. I spent another week of jury duty at Kent Municipal Court. Anne's cat, Snicker, died.

October:
Andy Betts turned 20 this year. We celebrated his birthday at Nickki's new residence in Hobart. Colin had a second birthday party; he invited his friends from school over to our house. At the end of the month, Colin & Kaitlyn went to Kentlake homecoming dance.

November:
Anne Zimmerman "eloped" and married Jason Jones in Las Vegas, Nevada! Colin Kasl was inducted into National Honor Society. Valorie and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. Paul and Tara hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their house, and we met for dinner at the Palomino Restaurant with Ron and Carrie.

December:
I turned 56 this year. I am still working for the Boeing Company and working in Renton. We celebrated my birthday with a dinner at "The Jones" restaurant in Seattle. Later in the month, Jenessa and Cody Reich stopped by for a short visit; they have been married for almost two years! We celebrated Christmas eve at Nickki & Justin's house in Hobart; Ron and Carrie hosted Christmas dinner at their house in Redmond.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

I am programmed to get up at 3 AM, in time to arrive at work at 4 AM, so naturally I slept in until 4:45!

I loaded the dogs into the truck and dropped off mail at the post office. We then proceeded to the Maple Valley Bank of America where I got some cash and a cashier's check to move some money from savings into BECU checking.

I also inquired about having on-line access to my Bank of America accounts, which led me to set up a checking/savings account. The personnel cleak was a young woman who lived in Covington, and it was remarkable how cheerful and knowledgeable she was. It was obvious that she loved her job.

I made a deposit at the BECU in the Safeway store. There were an extraordinary number of people out and about. I had trouble finding a parking spot! By that time, I was hungry for lunch so I stopped at McDonalds. The fish sandwich was good; the dogs loved their slices of meat from the dollar-menu double cheeseburgers. They were so noisy as they barked and barked, thinking that it would increase their chances of getting extra servings of meat!

At home, Colin was up and wanted to go shopping, so he made a list while I washed the grime from six weeks of dirt. It looks so much better when clean. We drove to Frys Electronics in Renton. He found several gifts there including a USB hub for Paul and several CDs. I picked up a USB hub so that I could connect the two external hard drives, the scanner and Colin's iPod base.

For dinner, we went to Applebee's in Covington. The food and service was good. The waitress' name was "Carin", a different spelling of that name, I thought.

Valorie and Colin went see "Romeo and Juliet", a student play at Kentlake High School. It was the final performance, and Colin had gone last night, too, but enjoyed himself. I was intending to go tonight, but realized after dinner that I was just too tired and programmed to sleep. So I stayed home and watched last-weeks Christmas episode of ER.

Kimberly and Emily stopped by the house. Kim is working several shifts for Seattle METRO as a bus driver. She leaves the house at 3 AM and doesn't get to home to bed until 9 PM. This goes on until February, and she remarked that she wouldn't be doing THAT again.

What made me smile today:

1) The desk lamp made by "Woody" at Fry's. Imagine having that on your wish list, and someone sending an email saying they got the woody for ...

2) The flash program with the big red button with a caption that says, "don't push". Of course, everyone clicks on the button, and off it goes trying to convince you not to push it again. Obviously it is clicked again and again and again. It is very well done.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

I arose at 5 AM. Valorie was still up, but getting ready to go to bed.

I visited the Jacquie Lawson web site and selected several wonderful Christmas cards to send electronically. They are really well done.

I spent a little more time on Amazon ordering a few last items, watches for Rick, Kim and a backpack for Scott.

I spent an hour reviewing the pictures that Colin had taken at the play yesterday. Several of them turned out really well, so I placed three of them on my web site.

With the sunny day, the dogs like to spend some time outside in the backyard, especially if I am out. Rhys came in and was eating his "breakfast" when Valorie remarked, "Phew! WHAT stinks and what's that on Rhys' back?" On inspection, I touched his fur, and found to my dismay that he had decided to roll on fresh dog do-do, which was smeared on his fur. Needless to say, that activity won him a bath in the kitchen sink. Of course, after his bath, he was hyper, running about and rubbing on the sofa.

Since it was a sunny day today, Colin and I put up the Christmas lights on the house. Colin fed the strings to me while I placed them on the eves and around the garage. We now have photocell timers for several strings, so it makes it easier to ensure that all of the lights go on in the evening.

I needed to get another bale of staw to use in Porkies house, so I drove to Reber Ranch. Of course I took the doggies. They love to ride along. I also stopped at Walgreen's and found extra bulbs for the outside lights. I bought (9) packages with (4) bulbs each, thinking that I would then have plenty of spares. When I got home, I started replacing bulbs, and only ended up with (3) extra!

Colin decided to clean his hamster's cage, but found out that he didn't have any new bedding. So we drove to PetCo in Covington. I found some chicken jerkey strips for the doggies. On the way home, we stopped at Taco Time and picked up dinner. Colin was invited by our neighbor, Kim, to go to a movie (Narnia). They left at 5:45.

Colin gave me the "20th Anniversary Collection" of the Oprah Winfrey Show. I played the first disk, which contained Oprah's memories of the early days and how the show developed. It was interesting to see how she realized that people wanted to know HOW to change; HOW to make a difference. It was wonderful!

What made me smile today:

1) Rhys with his smelly fur, having rolled in a pile of poop.
2) Experiencing a wonderful gift in Oprah's 20th Anniversary collection.

Monday, December 12, 2005

I arose at 5. I spent a couple of hours reading email and sending a Jacquie Lawson electronic Birthday card to Austin, who will be six years old on the 21st.

Our next door neighbor, Kim, usually comes over at 7 to walk to the bus with Colin. She arrived a bit early, and went into Colin's bedroom to see if he was ready. As it happened, Colin was still in the shower, and as he came out of the shower, Kim surprised him. Colin said, "Oh my gosh, you scared me!", as Kim laughed and laughed. Later, I caught Kim as she was fishing in the candy-bar jar, getting a bag of Skittles. Nothing like finding someone with their hand in the candy jar! Though, really, I DON'T mind at all. Colin and Kim left for school at about 7:05.

After a breakfast of left-over Chinese food (yes, it is a good breakfast food), I fed Porkie and then headed to Renton to get some CD covers that Colin wanted and a Linksys wireless router for Paul. On the way, traffic was really heavy going through Maple Valley. I think it was because all of the school bus drivers were headed back to the bus barn, and get stacked up at the traffic light.

At Frys, I found the gifts quickly and also picked up a package of Lightscribe CD's for Colin and a battery-operated clock that I can use if the power goes out. The clock automatically sets its own time and date, reading an electronic signal. It will replace a Timex clock that I recently bought, but won't keep the correct time (it runs fast, gaining several minutes each month). I also picked up a package of laser printer labels, which I hope can be used to print tags for Christmas gifts.

At home, I decided to take a short nap on the couch. Of course, the dogs had to pile on top of me. Each one has a specific place. Lilly sleeps at my feet between my legs. Rhys sleeps between my legs, but above my knees, while Mollie sleeps on my chest with her head on my right shoulder. As we drift off to sleep, I hear Mollie start her snoring...

When I awoke, Valorie was up and working on her computer. It was 2 PM!

I started a picture collage for Emily. Some time ago, Debra and Nickki gave me photos of Emily, which I had scanned but never processed. I have quite a few pictures, but it will take some time to arrange them into a good picture.

Colin had an apointment at the Optometrist as a follow-up to getting his new contacts. We all decided to go together, since I thought I could do some shopping at the nearby Bartell's store. Unfortunately, Colin found out that he was supposed to have worn his contacts all day long before the apointment, so he had to reschedule it. Valorie's glasses still had not arrived.

After shopping at Bartell's, we were hungry for dinner. I suggested getting pizza, which Colin agreed sounded really good. Our favorite pizza is the Pizza Hut in Covington. When we were almost there, Valorie suggested to Colin that he call his friend, Jamie, who lived nearby. She could come, so we drove up to her door in less than a minute. She and her mother were really surprised. We had a really good meal, and the lady who served us was funny and helpful. I left her a nice tip.

At home, I continued to work on the collage for Emily. I also printed a sample page of labels. They look OK, but are nothing special. I'll have to experiment more later.

Natasia came over. She and Colin offered to wrap some of my Christmas presents, so I gave them a good stack to work on. They spent several hours wrapping. They looked really nice.

What made me smile today:

1) Hearing Natasia laugh uncontrollably when Colin told her the story of Rhys & his smelly fur.
2) Colin calling Jamie, inviting her to dinner, & showing up at her apartment less than a minute later.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

I arose at 4:20 after Rhys couldn't decide whether to get up or "crawl in". It didn't help, either, to have Figaro come "MEOWING" into the room, jump onto the bed, begin purring and slobbering on me. Yeeeuuuck!

I spent an hour creating a web page from the story that Anne wrote about getting married to Jason in Las Vegas.

The rest of the morning was spent working on a picture collage for Emily.

At 12:30, Colin called from school and was feeling dizzy. I piled the dogs into the truck and picked him up. We then proceeded to stop at McDonalds for lunch.

I finished the collage at 3, but had trouble getting the colors to print correctly. I spent hours trying different settings, verifying the Photoshop color space, downloading the most up-to-date printer drivers, and researching on the internet. I still haven't figured out what's wrong, but I think it has something to do with the color profile that was saved with the file. I'll have to do a "save as" and see if there are any differences.

We went to dinner at Ristorante Isabella in Covington. I had chicken parmesan. It was a huge portion! On the way home, we stopped at the Office Depot, where I found some clear address labels to use for my Christmas present labeling project. We also picked up some ribbon at Fred Meyer.

Colin spent part of the evening wrapping his Christmas gifts.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

I awoke at 5, but was groggy. I tried for several hours to make the Emily collage print correctly, but couldn't make it work.

After it was light, I fed Porkie. It was 29 degrees outside, and her water bowl was frozen solid.

I fixed myself a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast, and watched yesterday's news and Oprah, since the PVR was recording the Daily Show. Oprah was a re-run of her show about "Swinging Couples"; there was nothing interesting on yesterday eveings news.

Afterwards, I spent a few moments and cut down the Bower vine outside the kitchen window, since it had been killed by the frost.

Having bought some clear labels at Office Depot yesterday, I decided to make some gift labels. I tried to keep them simple, with small text and a simple picture with each one. When I printed them, the colors didn't look right, especially the red. That led me to do a test of the printer nozzles. How amazing, two of them weren't printing! Oh my gosh, what if all of my "color space" issues were simply because of clogged printer nozzles? I'm afraid to find out...(beating my head against the wall)!

After fixing a sloppy joe for lunch, I took a nap with the doggies. Of course, just as I was drifting off to sleep the phone rang, and before I could get it, they hung up. Settling down again, I put the phone by the couch, and drifted off to sleep, just as the UPS delivery came to the door and the sleeping dogs erupted from under the blanket in a volcano of barking. I got Scott's backpack and the new Gilmore Girls DVD's for Colin. Valorie also got a package.

Colin called from school at 3, having stayed late to attend an Honor Society meeting. He mentioned that Jamie Williams was there, too, and I asked if she needed a ride as well, but heard her say that she didn't need one. I commented to Colin, "Oh, she must have brought her broom!" I waited about 5 minutes and then piled the dogs into the truck and picked him up.

Natasia came over at 4 and helped Colin wrap more presents. They both like to use lots of ribbons and bows, and they look really nice.

We all went for dinner at Trotter's in Auburn. It was foggy and below freezing, but the roads didn't seem to be icy. We had a good meal and were home by 7:30. I headed to bed shortly after 8.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

I arose at 5 and spent an hour working on this document. I also realized, "It's Payday!"

After setting up my two new Bank of America banking accounts in Quicken, I paid bills. Went to the post office and then to McLendon's hardware. Didn't find anything there, but decided to go to the SuperMall in Auburn. I spent several hours there and found a couple stocking-stuffers, some binoculars that take pictures, and body sparkles for Debra.

On the way home, I stopped at the tree farm near the flaming geyser and got a nice Christmas tree. At home, I vacuumed the floor and then put up the tree. I got out the decorations and lights, and wrapped the tree in over 500 mini-lights. It looks nice. Valorie picked up Colin at school and they went to counselling. Meanwhile, a large pickup truck pulled up outside. It was Jenessa and Cody! They couldn't stay long, but announced that they had gotten married a year & a half ago, and are now living in Vancouver, Washington. It was so good to see them!

Valorie and Colin picked up hamburgers for dinner. Colin put name tags on his presents and placed them under the tree.

Friday, December 16, 2005

I arose at 5.

I paid bills and sent a letter to Dolly Kammer, who had sent us a nice letter a few days ago.

Stopped at Safeway to make my weekly check of my blood pressure. On the way out, I picked up a bag of apples. I stopped at the bank for some cash, and then drove to Federal Way to see if Toys R Us had any good games or toys for Kayden or Ethan. I was un-inspired and everything looked so cheap. Stopped at McDonalds for a Big Mac and then headed to Costco. I picked up some more wrapping paper, ribbon and gift tags, along with a a Ripley's Believe It or Not book and some chicken chewies. I also replaced my old and worn Costco card for a new one.

At home, I decided to take the recycling to the dump, since it is starting to over-flow. Afterwards, I stopped at the Liquor store, wher I got some chocolates and a bottle of Starbucks coffee liqueur. I also stopped at the Lindon bookstore, where I found a book about growing Orchids for Anne, and another pretty book about planing window boxes.

Colin and Nitasia went to a birthday party, after Valorie took them to Fred Meyer to get some gifts. Valorie and I went to dinner at Ivars, and then stopped at Target to look at board games. Target didn't have anything interesting.

At home again, I watched the news and then headed to bed. All of the doggies decided that they, too, wanted to snuggle under the covers, so I was a mummy encased next to warm furry bodies.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

I arose at 4. The wind is blowing, and the temperature is finally above freezing again; it's 37.

I spent the morning watching the latest edition of Photoshop TV, and then took a look at the latest entries on everyone's Amazon wish lists. I noticed that Debra added a wish list for Bryan Hildebrandt, so I copied off the list to see if I could pick up something today or tomorrow. I layed around almost all day. I didn't feel really bad; just not good. The doggies made sure that they sucked as much energy from me as possible. I think they would sleep every minute of the day if they could!

Colin finally talked me into going to a movie. Of course, we spent an hour trying to figure out which one to see, finally deciding to see the "Chronicles of Narnia". We thought we could see the 6:40 showing, so we had dinner at Wendy's. At the theater, we found out that the showing was sold out, so we bought tickets for the 7:30 showing. In the meantime, we went to the mall and did a bit of shopping. Didn't find anything, but had fun looking at funny books, toys and gadgets.

The show was really good, with a great story-line and special effects.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

I arose at 5:30. It is really windy and a large branch is laying on the lawn in the back yard.

Santa has been making a list and checking it twice. And there are several gifts that need to be gotten. I loaded the doggies into the truck and headed to Fred Meyer in Covington. I found several nice gifts for Ethan and Kayden, along with a game that I think Jason Mack will enjoy with his sons. I picked up three strings of outside Christmas lights, to replace the string with the melted plug.

Colin called me just as I was checking out, wondering where I was, and wanting to go to Matt Grunke's to look for his Christmas ornaments. At home, I tried to put up the new string of lights, but found out that they had the clips on the opposite side of the light socket. My solution: duct tape!

Colin and I left for Matt's at 11:30, but stopped in Snoqualmie to have lunch. I had a homemade cheeseburger while Colin had a French dip. It was yummy! At Matt's, Colin found some Christmas decorations, and we sorted through what remained of the items from their old house. There was surprisingly little left. We found some pictures and brought home some other items that were going to get ruined if they remained stored outside in his shed.

At home, Colin started working on his French homework. He had to complete at least five projects to get enough points for an "A". He made a paper Nativity scene, a Christmas wish list, a party invitation, a Christmas card, and a Christmas penguin. Midway through his work, we left to have dinner in Covington at Taco Del Mar.

Monday, December 19, 2005

I arose at 4:45, showered, shaved, read email and worked on this document. Colin got up at 6:30, and was just walking up the hall peeking through squinting eyes. He said, "I hate Mondays and wish I was still sleeping." He only has two days of school left before "Winter break".

This is the first year that our Christmas tree is still using water. I give it several quarts every day.

After Colin left for school, I wrapped more presents. Unfortunately, I forgot that we are celebrating four additional "birthday's", so I'll have to hunt through some of the wrapped gifts to try to find the birthday ones. Bummer.

I spent a couple hours outside picking up the branches on the lawn. It took two large wheelbarrow loads. I also emptied the garbage bucket into the compost. The worms are really enjoying all of the good eats; there are a lot of them!

I also changed water in my fish tank, and used the old water to put on the old fushia plants. They need to be trimmed back and put in the shed if they are to survive the winter.

We went for dinner at Los Cabos in Black Diamond. Afterwards, Valorie, Colin and Nitasia went shopping in Southcenter. I came home, finished watching the news, and headed to bed. The doggies all got an entire Chicken jerkey, which they love.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

I arose at 4. It is 51 degrees outside!

Colin got up at 6:05, stumbled in, and said, "It's the last day of school!". Kim Elsemore came over at 6:55. While Colin was still fussing with his shirts (he couldn't decide which ones to wear), Kim was busy shaking her present trying to figure out what it was. I suggested that she could cut it in half, and open half on the winter solstice, and the other on Christmas. She wasn't pleased.

After Colin left for school, I started wrapping gifts again. I put a baggie of change into a 737 cookie box for Austin, and did the same for a box of malted milk balls for Kaylie. I dug through the wrapped gifts and found the birthday present for Avonleah, unwrapped it, and re-wrapped it in birthday paper.

While searching for the birthday paper, I opened a container that had Carol's notebooks and papers. I found the autopsy that was done after her father had committed suicide, and her notes to her friends just prior to one of her suicide attempts. It made me sad.

Valorie got up at 12:30, and we went to the Black Diamond bakery for lunch. We just missed the 1 PM cutoff for breakfast. I had a meatloaf sandwich, while Valorie had their special broccoli salad.

I layed down for an hour before Colin got home from school. Of course, the dogs all had to find their places. After Colin got home, we left to go shopping. First, however, we stopped at the Valley Medical Center so Colin could get his weekly allergy shot. Our next stop was at Silver Platters in Southcenter. Valorie and Colin found a few CDs.

From there, we went to dinner at the Claim Jumper. Colin couldn't decide what to have and was in a grumpy mood. I had their fish and chips (along with a couple glasses of Fat Tire beer), while Valorie had a seafood salad. Colin eventually decided on a club sandwich.

Our last stop was at Bubble Records. They are having a "going out of business" sale, where you buy two and get one free. They found quite a few CDs. While waiting for them to finish, I was approached by a young man and his girlfriend. They were obviously wet, and asked for some money. It was awkward for me, because you really don't know if they are telling a story or not. Nonetheless, I gave them $20 and was thanked profusely. On the way out, I had Valorie drive slowly the way that they went, but I couldn't see them. I'll take it on faith that they really were in need.

Thomas called from the Factoria Mall, wondering what was on Nickki's and her kids' wish lists. I couldn't remember, so suggested that he call back after we got home. At home, Thomas called again, and I searched through the Amazon.com wish lists and gave him some ideas.

Nitasia came over and helped wrap presents while she and Colin watched the "Family Guy". Just prior to watching TV, she and Colin were wrestling about, and Colin picked her up. Of course she was screaming, so Rhys jumped up and bit her on her leg! Fortunately it didn't break the skin!

I retired at 8:30 as Valorie prepared to wrap presents.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

I arose at 5:45. There is a steady rain falling.

I read email and then visited a site called Draw a Pig Based on the drawing, you answer a series of questions about the drawing, and it gives you a brief summary of your personality. It was fun.

I spent several hours on-line. I like to watch a streaming presentation from "The Photoshop Guys" from Photoshop TV. They give lots of tips and do demonstrations showing how to use Photoshop. I also watched several movies from Russel Brown's website. There were several really good movies showing how to create interesting effects with Photoshop.

Kimberly Betts called at 11, wondering if I had received her check (which I had). She said that Sarah, Jason and family had arrived. Unfortunately, they had their car broken into while they were shopping at the Auburn supermall. Gone were several expensive Buck knives, some guns, their cameras. Jason was really upset, and rightly so.

I went to Costco at 12:30. It wasn't too crowded. I looked for a birthday gift for Ethan, but they didn't have anything that I thought would be appropriate. I picked up a new cordless phone set and answering machine to replace our old set. I also got some CD-Rs for Colin, more chicken jerkey strips, a couple photo frames, some candy, and Costco muffins.

Colin had an appointment at the eye doctor (to check his contacts). We then went to Fred Meyer where I found a gift for Ethan (a dump truck). Valorie picked up some medicine for Colin at Walgreens and we then stopped at Applebee's for dinner. I had their sirloin steak and shrimp, which were really good.

At home, Natasia came over and brought a movie, the Muppets "Christmas Carol". Debra and Bryan came over. Debra paid me her first car payment of $15. She and Bryan visited for a while, recounting more details of the breakin to Jason and Sarah's car. Apparently the thieves jimmied the lock on the driver's door; it won't lock now.

I headed to bed while Valorie wrapped presents.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

I arose at 5 AM. It has been raining hard all night.

Valorie was still up and we reviewed our gift lists. Looks like we need to see if we can get Tara a USB key drive. The tree looks really nice with all of the wrapped gifts under it.

I watched the latest Photoshop TV and visited my usual web sites including my web page guest book, Bebo, and MySpace. I also signed up for a trial offer for ePlaxo cards. I found and sent one to Kim for her birthday.

I finished wrapping my gifts, all except the birthday present for Ethan, for which I need some birthday wrapping paper. I loaded the doggies into the truck and went to Safeway, where I checked my blood pressure (142 over 84), got a roll of birthday wrapping paper, and some night-light bulbs. We then stopped at McDonalds and had breakfast. The doggies got several bites of sausage patty.

After breakfast, I stopped at Dick's Barber shop and got a haircut. I had to wait about 20 minutes, but my cut went quickly.

At home again, I wrapped Ethan's birthday present and then decided to go to Costco to get some AAA batteries and check out prices on their USB flash drive. Again, the doggies piled into the truck and off we went.

I quickly found the batteries, but they only had a 1-GB USB flash drive, which cost $90. I really didn't want to get one that large, so I decided to drive to Fry's in Renton. Fortunately, the freeway was fast.

At Fry's, I looked through all their drives and picked up a 512 MB unit for $30. On the way home, I stopped at Shucks to get an oil filter for the truck and some window-washer solution.

Natasia and Colin were watching the Family Guy on TV, while Valorie was on her computer. They decided that they were going to see the movie, The Family Stone. Before leaving, Valorie fixed melted-cheese sandwiches. They were yummy!

I watched a re-run of Oprah, and then King 5 news. Afterwards, I watched the documentary, "The Crash of Flight 911" on the History Channel. It was really interesting, especially how they went about determining the cause of the accident.

Valorie and Colin got home around 10.

Friday, December 23, 2005

I arose at 4:45.

Part of the morning was spent updating the check book and preparing a bank deposit. I also recorded payments from Scott, Kim and Debra for their auto loans.

I went to Safeway (along with the ever-eager doggies) to get supplies for tomorrow's party. Got two pounds of Chinese barbecued pork, a veggie tray, a half-gallon of whole milk, and orange juice for the orange sherbet punch. Unfortunately Safeway didn't have any orange sherbet or 7-UP, so I went to QFC. They had orange sherbet on sale and had plenty of 7-UP.

At home again, I got out the recipe to make the "adult milkshake". I mixed together one cup of dark rum, 1/2 cup of brandy, two tablespoons of vanilla extract and one cup of sugar. Into that I poured the half gallon of milk and mixed thoroughly. I put the mixture into two half-gallon containers and put them in the freezer. They should be ready tomorrow.

Debra came over and Colin agreed to wrap several of her presents. They spent several hours wrapping, after I found a couple of boxes for the gifts. They really look nice. I don't know why Colin thinks he can't wrap presents; he does a great job.

Colin, Debra and I went for lunch in Covington at Taco Time. Afterwards, we drove to Jamie William's apartment. Jamie is Colin's friend from school. Colin had several gifts for her. On the way back, Debra showed us where she is staying.

I watched my usual programs (Oprah and King 5 news). Afterwards, we went for chinese food. I got their egg foo yung. Colin had a hard time trying to decide, but ended up getting a meal and an order of egg foo yung!

It was raining really hard as we returned home. I was grumpy, probably because I heard a lot of complaining at dinner. Shouldn't we think about how blessed we are, even though there are bad things in our lives? I guess I should point the finger first at myself; why was "I" grumpy?

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Happy birthday, Rick Betts! And, Merry Christmas. I arose at 6. Santa has left each of our stockings stuffed with goodies!

I spent a couple hours this morning installing and then starting the first four lessons of "Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2". It was just what I needed.

We left for Ron & Carries at 2:40 and arrived exactly at 3:30! As we placed the gifts around the tree, a deer head sticking out of a planter in the corner of the room started talking to us! Its head and ears wiggled, and its mouth opened and closed as it spoke. It turned out that Ron was speaking through a microphone from the kitchen, and, as he spoke, the voice came from the deer and its electronics made the mouth move to the words.

Anne and Jason arrived around 4, and Thomas did too. We all had sparkling wine while Ron made last minute preparations. We had a great dinner. Paul and Tara arrived at 5:30, in time to have cheeses and dessert with us.

We opened presents for an hour. I got several nice CDs, TurboTax software, a subscription to Layers Magazine, tickets to "Varekai" Cirque Du Soleil (playing at Marymoor Park on May 16), and several games. Anne and Jason game me a coffee cup, wrapped in a small box, and sealed with yards of tape and twine. It took me over 15 minutes to open!

We left at 10:30. It was a wonderful Christmas day.

When we got home, we found Rhys in the garage. He apparently had went into the garage as we were leaving, but was trapped there when the garage door closed. He had torn at several of the bags near the back door, obviously trying to get inside. Poor guy, he was so tired. (Several days later, I discovered that the gate in the fence was open, and Rhys had simply gone around and into the garage, getting trapped when we left. It was lucky that he wasn't run over!)

Monday, December 26, 2005

I arose at 8. I don't feel well after having had so much wine yesterday evening. My cup of coffee sure tastes good.

I spent much of the morning ripping songs from my three new CDs: Natalie Merchant's "Ophelia", Jessi Alexander's "Honeysuckle Sweet", and Trishia Yearwood's, "Jasper County". After Colin got up around 9, I made pancakes. They were good with melted butter and real maple syrup. Mid-morning, Valorie got up feeling sick and vomited. And shortly thereafter, Colin did the same. Of course, I'm thinking, yikes, am I next? But, no, I was feeling better as the day progressed, but took care not to eat much.

Mid-afternoon I set up the new Panasonic digital telephones and answering system. We now have three units, one at the base near the kitchen, one in my computer room, and the third in Colin's room. I went on-line and subscribed to "OpenLCR". It is a service that is integrated into our phones, that allows update to the phone directory on-line, automatic time and date updates, as well as the local weather, stock prices, lottery, sports scores, and horoscope. The service costs $9.98 for four months, or about $30 per year.

Natasia came over just as I was finishing my afternoon nap. She and Colin looked at all of their presents. She got a lot of new clothes, including cowboy boots and a warm jacket. I fixed a plate of barbecued pork, got a glass of Port, and we snacked while watching the movie, "The 40-year old Virgin". It was funny and made the evening complete.

Valorie was feeling a bit better my late evening.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

I slept until 7 this morning. Even the doggies are slow and sleepy!

I spent some time updating this document and processing a few pictures from Christmas eve and Christmas day. I opened my "Spidy-Gear" truck bed web that Paul and Tara gave me. I attached the clips and then installed extra D-rings to the truck tail gate. It looks good.

I spent an hour with my Photoshop training CD, going over the basics of the program. It's good to see all of the tools, and how they work. I also spent several hours updating photos from Christmas and putting them on my website.

Colin wanted to go to Bubble Records, since they now have a "buy one, get one free" deal. We stopped at the BECU in Covington, where Colin deposited several Christmas checks. At Bubble, we spent over an hour while Colin browsed through all of the remaining CDs. He ended up finding eight that he wanted and spent about $45.

At home, Valorie was up, dressed and hungry. We went to Shari's for dinner. Both she and Colin had breakfast dishes; I had a cheeseburger.

Colin spent several hours copying songs from his new CDs. I watched the news and headed to bed. Valorie heard that Scott, Andy and Bryan also came down with the flu-like illness. I wonder what it was?

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

I arose at 6. It is stormy outside. I spent a few moments unloading the dishwasher and sweeping the kitchen floor.

I updated my web page with the Christmas photos, and reviewed and updated by home page. Also changed the "what's new" page so that others would be notified of the changes. Angel had asked for copies of some of the Christmas eve pictures, so I emailed them to her.

Colin got up at 9 AM. He watched his recorded shows, "The Family Guy" and "Futurama". He then spent time writing "thank you" notes to his relatives who sent him cash for Christmas. We didn't have enough stamps to send his letters. I mentioned that I hadn't bought a new roll of stamps, since the cost of first-class postage is rising to 39 cents on January 8th. We scrounged about and found enough odd stamps to send his notes at the 37 cent price.

Valorie and Colin went to a doctor's appointment at Valley General. I put a new saw blade on my hand saw, burned the trash, swept the dining room & kitchen floors, and vacuumed the carpet. Of course, Lilly went nuts when I tried to vacuum. She tried to bite it or bite the hose extensions. It is such a game! On the way home, Valorie and Colin stopped at Burger King and got burgers.

I played a few on-line video games (rumble cube, gold strike and fruit smash), and reviewed MSN's top pictures for 2005. I called customer service at Bank of America, since I had set up a new checking & savings account, but had never received an access code for on-line banking. As it turned out, they had neglected to send that to me, somehow thinking that I already had access. I should get it in a couple of days.

Nitasia came over, and she, Colin and Valorie decided to go to Seattle to see Brokeback Mountain, "the story of two young men - a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy - who meet in the summer of 1963, and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love."

Paul Zimmerman called, wanting to know where Anne had made wedding registries. I told him that I had found two, one at JCPenney.com and one at CrateandBarrel.com. She also had started one on Amazon.com. Paul and Tara had also come down sick following Christmas dinner, and was wondering if it had been food poisoning. I mentioned that it wouldn't make sense, since Bryan, Andy and Scott also had been sick. In addition, it didn't seem that there was a clear link to food on Christmas eve, and the timing of the illnesses was different. It is more likely to have been a flu of some sort.

I watched the Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". It was very well done with a remarkable plot. The doggies and I headed to bed at 9:30.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Happy Birthday Kimberly Betts! I arose at 5 AM. Valorie was still up, having spent hours on the "Brokeback Mountain" message board. She was amazed by the movie.

I spent an hour finding copies of the different picture collages that I have made in the last five years. Angel sent me an email, and wanted copies of them. I sent her twelve, making a four-megabyte email. I hope she gets it!

I paid bills, then dropped them off at the Black Diamond postoffice at 7:30. Got my blood pressure checked at Safeway, picked up some sausages, apples & catfood, and stopped at McDonalds for a sausage McMuffin. I took Rhys and Mollie, so they each got a sausage patty. At home, since Lilly didn't get to come along, I found a large dog turd on the floor by the front door. Apparently, Lilly had got up just as we were leaving, and this was her way of showing how upset she was! Bad doggie!

Colin and Valorie had to go to Seattle for a doctors' appointment with Colin's jaw surgeon. Their plan was to finish the appointment, then have lunch, then stop for another Dr's appointment, then pick up Caitlin and Daniel for an evening of watching movies. They left at 10.

I needed to get some cash, so I loaded ALL of the dogs, and we stopped at the Lake Meridian Bank of America. From there, I got another bag of potbellied pig food for Porkie. At home again, I decided to clean and wax the main bathroom floor. I used a floor stripper and ammonia, scrubbing and rinsing the floor twice. It was a lot of work. I then applied two layers of acrylic wax. After applying the second layer, I took ALL of the dogs again and picked up more Prilosec at Walgreens, since they had it on sale. We had lunch at McDonalds in Covington. I gave the extra cheeseburger buns to the crows. They circled in mass around the truck, and, as Lilly caught sight of them, she barked and barked. She is so intense when she barks!

At home, I finished restoring the bathroom by polishing some of the kincknacks on the bathroom window shelf, and cleaning the bathroom light fixture. I also cleaned the hall light fixture, vacuumed the floors (while Lilly was locked in Colin's room), and replaced the candles in Valories new tree-of-life candle holder. I also glued together the cutting board on the kitchen sink.

I spent an hour learning from the Photoshop "Total Training" DVD. I am now learning about blend modes, which is something I am not that familiar.

Valorie, Colin, Caitlyn and Daniel arrived at 5:30. Valorie picked up three large pizzas at Pizza Hut in Covington. We had pizza while we watched "Underworld", a movie about a war between vampires and Lycans/werewolves. parts of it were really graphic, and with the sound turned up and coming from our large speakers, it was impressive. When they started watching the second movie, "The 40-year-old Virgin", I headed to bed. I fell asleep while hearing their raucous laughter.

Friday, December 30, 2005

I arose at 5:15 and spent three hours updating the year in summary for this document. It was hard to decide which pictures and comments to make for each month. As always, there were high and low points throughout the year.

I spent most of the rest of the day watching my Photoshop "Total Training". I am only about half way through the series. Although the techniques explained and demonstrated in the lessons seem so straight-forward, when I try them on my own, I never seem to get the same "easy" results. Obviously I'll have to re-do the lessons and play more with the different aspects of the program.

It was rainy all day. I took a nap with the dogs, and checked for the mailman several times, since we didn't get any mail yesterday. It finally came, and I got my access password for Bank of America on-line banking. I logged in and revised my password and reviewed their information. It is a nice site. I also took the first step in setting up the BECU on-line banking so that I could transfer between accounts. That will make it easier when I need to transfer funds.

An hour was wasted trying to solve my new, "One Tough Puzzle". It only has nine pieces, but, according to the box, it has 300,000 wrong ways to be assembled. I must have made it through a couple hundred of the wrong ways. I did, however, find a solution for it on-line, so I made a link and a graphic for my web page, showing how the pieces go together to solve it.

Colin spent the afternoon talking with several of his friends, trying to see if any of them want to come to the cabin for our New Year's celebration. I think that only Megan will be going. Colin watched several episodes of "Charmed". I watched one, and it was quite well done.

Paul Zimmerman called, and we coordinated our menu's for tomorrow night and the following morning. He is bringing a salad for dinner, and bacon for breakfast. I will cook a lasagne tomorrow and re-heat it for dinner. He is bringing beer and bottles of champagne.

Saturday, December 31, 2005

I slept until 7 this morning! My gosh, if I am trying to work my body back to my work schedule, I am really going the wrong way! Colin left me a note saying that he couldn't update his iPod. It was still flashing, "Do Not Disconnect". I used the USB disconnect program to stop the iPod, and then opened his iTunes, re-connected his iPod, and it worked fine. I'm not sure why he had a problem.

Megan came over last night, and I heard them talking until almost 3 in the morning. I wonder when they will be getting up?

I put the lasagne in the oven to cook. It takes two hours to cook, so it should be ready by about 9:30. It already smells good.

We started preparing to go to the cabin at 11, using a list to help me remember what to take. Although Paul and I coordinated on food, it seems that we are taking way too much. Colin and Megan both had an armfull since they are taking blankets, CDs, personal items and so forth. We were on our way at 2:30, with the back of the Forester packed almost to the ceiling. We stopped at the liquor store and QFC in Enumclaw, picking up snacks and ingredients to make gin and tonic.

We arrived at the cabin at 3:45. There wasn't much snow; only a little patch on the grass in front of the cabin. That made it nice since we could drive down to unload.

Paul and Tara, Debra and Bryan, and Ted had already arrived. Debra was busy making a layered bean dip, and it looked delicious! Ted was not feeling well, and was sitting in the living room listening to music (very loudly). I mentioned to Paul that it was funny thinking about the volume that people play music. When they listen to it as teenage kids, the music is loud because they want to feel the beat; when they listen as older adults, it is loud because they can't hear it!

Bryan had brought along his dog, Rocket, and we had an interesting time introducing our dogs. We let Rocket smell the rear ends of each of our dogs; it's amazing what a difference that made! It ended up, however, that Bryan put Rocket on a leash to ensure that there were no dog fighting incidents.

I brought up a night light and extension cord so that our room will have a bit of light at night. I plugged it in and set it on the shelf. It has a light-sensor on it, but it is so dark most of the time in the room that it is on constantly.

I put the lasagne in the oven to heat at 5. It is a good thing that I brought it, because it didn't seem that anyone else brought ingredients for dinner. Jill and Andy arrived at 5:30, followed by Rick and Emily and Kim. Thomas arrived around 7, having driven straight from work. Kim brought up several frozen pizzas, and Paul and Tara added a nice salad.

Several games were played including Balderdash and Imaginif. Everyone had fun with both. I took a nap from 10 until 12, with the dogs really liking to snuggle in the bed. Ted and Emily shot off fireworks at midnight to welcome in the new year.

Sunday, January 1, 2006

Almost everyone stayed up until 3:30. I slept until 7. Emily was asleep on the couch in the kitchen, so I waited an hour before turning on the light. I spent much of the morning washing glasses and cleaning up from last-nights party. Even Ted slept until almost 11! He was feeling much better. Thomas had to leave at 7 in order to get to work, so I fixed him some scrambled eggs with cheese.

No one was going to stay over, so we all started packing shortly after noon, having a small breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. Paul and Tara were going to do some snowshoeing, so they were going to come by later to pick up their remaining things. We left at 2:30 and were home by 3:30. Porkey was glad to see me, along with a bowl of food. Figaro was also happy to have people around.

We all went to lunch/dinner at the Red Robin restaurant in Kent, and then dropped Megan off at her house. Natasia stopped by to introduce us to her father, who had just taken her to dinner at Los Cabos in Black Diamond. She came over later and watched a movie with Colin. I headed to bed at 7, trying to get my body back on an early-early schedule.

Here are 2005's top 10 stories, as voted by AP members:

1. HURRICANE KATRINA: Days in advance, America knew it was coming. But even though Hurricane Katrina weakened slightly from its frightening Category 5 strength, its impact was stunning. It killed more than 1,300 people in five states, ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast and set off flooding that submerged 80 percent of New Orleans, forcing the largest urban dislocation in U.S. history. Hurricanes Wilma and Rita also inflicted severe damage.

2: PAPAL TRANSITION: John Paul II's death marked the passing of the first non-Italian pope in 455 years and ended a 26-year pontificate, third-longest in history. In a remarkable show of affection, many millions attended services worldwide on the day of his funeral. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, expected to continue a conservative doctrinal approach, became the new pope and promptly waived the normal waiting period so John Paul could swiftly be considered for sainthood.

3: IRAQ: As in 2004, news from Iraq ranged from the grim, including a devastating wave of suicide bombings, to the promising - Iraqis voting for new leaders and thrashing out differences on a new constitution. The U.S. military death toll surpassed 2,000, and President Bush estimated the Iraqi toll at 30,000, but he insisted U.S. forces would stay until Iraqi troops could contain insurgents on their own.

4: SUPREME COURT: Not since 1994 had a Supreme Court seat become vacant. Suddenly there were two openings due to Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement and Chief Justice William Rehnquist's death. John Roberts was smoothly confirmed to succeed Rehnquist, but President Bush's next nominee, Harriet Miers, had to bow out amid conservative complaints. The right liked the next choice, Samuel Alito, but he could face tough Democratic opposition at confirmation hearings in January.

5: OIL PRICES: Crude oil prices hit an all-time peak of almost $71 a barrel in August before subsiding. Costly gasoline prompted some motorists to rethink their driving habits; the beleaguered U.S. airline industry had to spend $9 billion more on jet fuel in 2005 than in 2004.

6: LONDON BOMBINGS: Attacks on three rush-hour subway trains and a bus killed 56 people on July 7, including four bombers with ties to Islamic militants. Authorities said three of the alleged bombers were born in Britain to immigrant parents from Pakistan; the fourth was from Jamaica.

7: ASIAN QUAKE: A massive earthquake near the Pakistan-India border killed more than 87,000, and left more than 3 million homeless. Worried relief officials appealed for more emergency aid as winter arrived in the stricken region.

8: TERRI SCHIAVO: A family feud escalated into a wrenching national debate as the husband of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo struggled and finally succeeded in getting clearance to remove the feeding tube that had kept her alive for 15 years. President Bush, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and members of Congress joined Terri Schiavo's parents in efforts to have the tube reinserted before she died.

9: CIA LEAK: Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, was indicted and several prominent journalists were entangled in complex offshoots as a special prosecutor investigated the Bush administration's leaking of Valerie Plame's CIA status to the news media in 2003. Plame's husband, a former U.S. diplomat, had accused the administration of manipulating prewar intelligence on Iraq.

10: BUSH'S STRUGGLES: Multiple factors, including public doubts about Iraq, a flawed response to Hurricane Katrina and a failed Supreme Court nomination, drove President Bush's national approval ratings below 40 percent, the lowest of his presidency.