The holidays are winding down. We had a great Christmas, twice. New Year’s Eve has come and gone. Now it is 2013. Hopefully, it’ll be another great year for us. So let’s get caught up on the holidays.
Christmas is a quiet, family affair at our house. It’s just Rich, Rick, and I. Oh yeah, I’d better not forget Sascha in there. We had a quiet weekend before Christmas. This year, the guys had completed their shopping way ahead of time. All the gifts were wrapped and waiting under the tree. Me? I’m usually done by end of October and only buying odds and ends that come my way. My gifts were wrapped and ready a couple of days after the tree goes up.
On Christmas Eve, we had a quiet night. We observed the eating holiday with Polish foods. We had pierogi, sausage, and Rich’s homemade rye bread. We did take a really cute picture of ourselves wearing Santa hats. Even Sascha wore a hat. That was definitely a memory keeper.
Christmas dawned with cloudy skies. That’s doesn’t dampen the Christmas spirit though. Sascha and I got up early and started coffee. I almost had the paper read by the time Rich and Rick got up.
The first gift we opened was for Sascha. She got a new set of tennis balls. She loves to toss them and roll them around the house. Trouble is, she loves to shred them. Her gift kept her busy while we opened all of our gifts. Rick acted as Santa and distributed presents out to everyone.
Rich did pretty well. He got a New Mexico care package that contained green sauce, red salsa, spices, and other goodies. We had wanted to put up a mural of a mountain scene in the bathroom. I got Rich a wall decal of Swiftcurrent Lake in the Many Glacier region of Glacier National Park. It’s very nice and represents some place we have actually seen. It fit on the wall above the tub very nicely.
Rick picked up a Ganesh statue while we were in San Franscico. Rich has been wanting one for a while. Besides these things, he got his annual beer calendar for his work desk, Blues CDs, and a couple of beer related t-shirts. He also got a new Kansas polo shirt to wear for NCAA tournament time this year. Also, he received the usual undies from Santa for being a good boy.
Rick did very well. At Ren Faire this summer, Rick saw a norland axe that he so wanted. I couldn’t think of one possible reason that he needed such a thing. Rich thought differently and wanted him to have it. I had to order it from their location in Minnesota. This turned out to be the prize gift this year. I still wonder what he needs with such a thing.
Among the Christmas treasures were Aperture Labs items, Various t-shirts from video games and sci-fi shows, Code Complete reference book from Rich, assorted root beers, teas, and hot chocolates. I was being funny this year and got Rick a Red shirt from Star Trek. Just trying to let him know that he is expendable now. I also found him a retro handset for his phone. No idea why that was a popular thing.
This year, I made out my Christmas list on Amazon. All Rick had to do was purchase everything on the list and get the money out of his Dad. I needed a couple of items for standing desk, so I ordered a new chair and an articulating keyboard tray. I got new slippers and my usual Beagle and Quilt calendars. The guys were thoughtful enough to get me Mint Meltaways.
Christmas dinner is always a rib roast with Yorkshire pudding. This is one of Rick’s favorite meals. I have to say, it is really good when Rich does the cooking. We ate and ate. Then it was a quiet evening around the house with all the new toys. Rick put together my keyboard tray. He had already assembled the chair in advance.
Rich decided to treat Sascha to a scooter run at the local preserve. The state park was closed for the holiday so this was new territory for Sascha. We rode over in Rich’s truck. This was Sascha first trip in the new truck. She didn’t seem to mind the new arrangement. Now the truck has been initiated with Husky hair.
See our Christmas photos at the house at: Christmas Holiday Hills Photos
On the 26th, we packed up and dropped Sascha off to the kennel on our way out of town. We headed to Michigan to have a second Christmas with the Michigan Zureks. We got to almost Kalamazoo before we ran into the Winter Storm Euclid that was sweeping through that part of the country. It was slow driving for a while. It only put us an hour or so behind. The wind was horrible to drive in and the blowing snow blocked the roads at times.
We got to Okemos and checked into the hotel. Then we had to trek over to Alex and Kelli’s house. The roads were pretty bad. Rick was staying at their house, so we had to make our way over. We still went back out for dinner. I think I was getting used to winter driving again. All said and done with, there was about 6 inches by the next morning.
We slept in a little and then headed over to Vanessa’s house to check out the new renovations in the basement. Very nice. It was a nice space for them. Then we headed out for lunch. The first place was closed, but that sent us over to Zukey Lake Tavern. This was a nice restaurant and bar right on the chain of lakes. I loved their t-shirts: Zukey Lake Tavern on the road to Hell Michigan. Just had to have one.
That evening, we all ended up at Alex and Kelli’s for dinner and just to hang out. I know I’m supposedly getting old, but the volume in the house was turned way up. I was having trouble with, but the Zureks seemed to be fine. That’s OK. They all seemed to be having a great time. At one point, each person was telling an embarrassing story about themselves. Rich’s was about me and not him. That wasn’t fair. Oh the things that I could have said and didn’t.
On Friday, we slept in again. I didn’t have kids and I was tired. Vanessa and Chris brought the kids over to swim and we headed to the house for the day. Jon, Patty, and Patrice had arrived. We hung out and ate some more. After dinner, we had our second Christmas with the Michigan Zureks. I think everyone was pretty happy with the outcome. After Vanessa, Chris, and the kids left, the night wound down slowly. Most of the Zureks were watching an old Garbo movie. We had been worried about Rich’s reaction to the cat at the house. He reacted a little, but not much. Unfortunately, I reacted quite a bit. I never know when this will happen. It seems to be sporadic, but enough that I could hardly sleep that night.
Oh yeah, Pete D, the contractor, called us during breakfast on Friday morning. He wanted us to know that the column caps for the garage didn’t turn out at all. He was having the aluminum guys come out on Saturday to wrap the columns. The catch was that he would be coming by on Sunday to pick up the check. Oh no! Rich was dreading the big check and here it was time to write it out.
The next morning we had to get up and at them. We checked out of the hotel and swung by to have breakfast at Alex and Kelli’s. After that, we headed down the road to South Haven and lunch with Busia. For 90, Busia still does pretty well. We took her to Clementine’s in downtime. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to go there. It was still very nice. The food was pretty good.
Then it was time to hit the road again and head home. On the way, we ran into lake effect snow twice. One time was bad enough for all of the traffic to slow down to a crawl. We finally got through Michigan, across Northern Indiana, and into Illinois. Thankful to be home, we emptied the car and collapsed around the house.
On Sunday, I was still reacting from the cat and had to have Rick take me over to pick up Sascha. We walked in and had to wait as another customer was ahead of us. The conversation at the desk turned to beagles and I had to join in. Sascha must have heard my voice because she began to bark and howl. At least I knew she was still there. We gathered up stuff and headed home. We did stop by the car wash on the way back to clean off the slush and grime. Sascha wasn’t too sure the car wash was safe for huskies.
True to his word, Pete D stopped by in the afternoon to sign off and pick up the check. I guess this means that the garage is done. In the spring, the concrete guy will be coming back out to treat the floor for stains and wear for free. We have to wait for the temperature to be above 50. That might be April. So the garage is completed!
Rick took my photos of the garage and created a cute montage, which I posted at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFd9AGukxjU
New Year’s Eve day, Rich took Sascha for a 3 mile run over at the state park. They were going to be closed the following day and the temperature was supposed to be very cold. I rode over to hang out and help with the departure and arrival. Sascha was so tired, but quite happy. They say a happy Husky is a tired Husky.
On Monday evening, we prepared our snacks and headed over to Diane and Pat’s for a New Year’s Eve gathering. It was small, but lots of laughs. There are posters up throughout the house to collect sayings, thoughts, and resolutions. We end up writing down bits and pieces of the conversations. It makes for interesting ready next year. It took a while to decipher the phrase, “No bunnies in 2012.” We filled 3 posters with saying this year. Thanks, Diane and Pat for a great New Year’s Eve!
So here it is New Year’s Day. We hung out and were very low key. Rich cooked a duck dinner for us. He can sure cook a duck! By the way, Rose, Rich says you have to master duck before you can call yourself a domestic goddess. I think there is more to master, but doing duck would be a sure sign. So now the dinner dishes are done and we are trying to decide what movie to watch on the TV downstairs. With streaming Netflix, we have a lot of choices.
Wishing everyone out there a Happy New Year! Back to work tomorrow. Oh yeah.
Alex and Jon were cooking tacos while Chris was helping. Vanessa snuck in to do guacamole.
Final picture of the garage. It’s done. Sascha approved.
