In what was a very lovely break from work and winter weather, and a wonderful chance to visit with family, Dave and I spend Christmas and New Years this year (or last year, or whatever) in California with his family.

Christmas and New Years were both very properly celebrated with chocolate and wine and ham and lots of goodies.

Touristy things were visited.

The Hollywood sign from Griffith Observatory.

Sunny and smoggy downtown LA from Griffith Observatory.

Personally the most exciting touristy thing over vacation was getting the change to see a gray whale migrating off the coast.  At Point Vincente, volunteers track the whale migration.  This time of year the whales are heading south to birth their young.  We had been to this spot before for whale watching, but despite our previous hours of patience, had not actually seen anything.

This time around we were treated to a gray whale upon our arrival.  I know it looks small…it’s cooler in person.  Really.

Christmas presents were played with.

No, this isn’t a picture of the family contemplating the skies or the meaning of the Korean Friendship Bell.

They’re checking out Dave’s kite, with it’s 9′ wingspan and 50′ tails.

Quite honestly, I’m shocked that the kite didn’t fly away or launch one of us into the Pacific Ocean.

But the most important we got to do in California was visit with lots of family and friends!  I only wish we lived closer so that we could visit more often.

Now we’re both back in the swing of work, and almost over the colds that we got after returning to Chicago.  Blah.

Not being in Chicago for Christmas this year didn’t stop us from getting our own tree.  And thanks to our parents who collected and kept safe all of the ornaments from our childhood, we were able to decorate the tree with great memories.

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas.

Dave and I spent Christmas in Indiana with my family.  All six siblings, plus their respective significant others were in town, which is a rare occurrence.  As you can see, my parents purchased a very large tree to celebrate the occasion.  Having everyone together was crazy, and lots of fun.  We maintained our sanity by staying at a hotel.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve in Chicago with my sister Amy and her husband, my sister Maggie who is staying with us for a while, and my brother Michael.  Maggie helped me make cabbage rolls for dinner, and Michael hosted the party with champagne toasts and everything.  We actually spent most of the evening in a very heated game of Settlers of Catan.  We did, however, take a break to properly ring in the midnight hour.

All told, the holidays were busy and great.  It was really wonderful to visit with my whole family.  Insults were flying the whole week, of course, but no one ended with a black eye,  so I’m going to call the holidays a success overall.

Happy New Year!

When I was a kid, this was one of my Christmas presents one year.  From my 7 year old perspective, it was just about the coolest thing ever.  And while I lost track of the original gift a long time ago, I have often wished that I still had it.

So you can imagine my surprise last Thursday when I came home from work to find this present on my doorstep.  My sister Amy found the penguin toy online and ordered it for me.  Awesome!

You’re the best Amy.  Thanks for the great gift.  Those sliding penguins still make me just as happy as they did in the ’80s!

Santa Clause didn’t know that Dave had his arm in a sling when he put a Wii under the Christmas tree.  But a sling didn’t stop my husband from playing the Wii left handed.

The day after Christmas, we did finally make it out of town to visit my family in Indiana.  It was a nice, relaxing and quiet trip.  Great presents were exchanged.  My parents loved the wedding album we put together.  And everyone tried their hand at a Wii Sport game.  A few became fierce competitors.  You can see here a picture of Dave and my sister, Morgan, competing in baseball while my brother, Michael, looks on.

Dave’s arm is doing better.  The doctor pronounced it as seriously bruised.   There is no lasting muscle, ligament or bone damage.  It is still very sore, but should start to heal itself within two to three weeks.

Thank God it isn’t broken!

Oh, and Dave surprised me and shaved for the Christmas break.  My Mom’s reaction when we walked in the door on Friday, “Oh, Dave, you look so young!”

I think I am losing the war.

Dave and I spent Christmas Eve in the ER.  We had the presents wrapped, the car packed and we were walking out the door to drive to my parent’s house.  Dave fell on the ice.  He heard a crack.  We drove to the hospital.

The good news is that there are no broken bones.  The doctors were worried about a contusion and put Dave’s arm in a full temporary cast.  We are going to an orthopedic doctor tomorrow for a follow up appointment.

The other good news is that we have had a very quiet and very relaxing first Christmas alone together.

Chinese take out anyone?

My thoughts on getting a Christmas tree – We don’t really need one.  We live in an apartment.  We are not even going to be in the apartment on Christmas day.  This sounds like a lot of work.  We should spend our time and energy on unpacking all those boxes in the hallway, and the living room, and the office.  The cat will knock it over.  We would have to buy lights.  We would have to buy ornaments.  We would have to buy a tree stand.  This sounds expensive.  This sounds like a fire hazard.

Dave’s thoughts on getting a Christmas tree – Santa Clause will not come if we do not have a real live Christmas tree.  We might as well just not even celebrate Christmas this year.

Yes, I know, I am the grinch.

I woke up early on Saturday morning to go out Christmas shopping before the shopping rush.  I came back with a tree stand, a couple strands of lights and a real live Christmas tree.  It’s a little tree.  At five feet, or so, I was able to slide it into the back of the car without any trouble, and just a little mess.

Dave’s reaction, “I love you a little bit more.”

Moxie and I both love the tree too.  It turns out that a little extra Christmas spirit and a little extra marital harmony are both well worth the trouble.