Friday Dec 27

We had a slow start today.  We had a few odds and ends we were trying to take care of.  Like trying to get the UPS to deliver some of our Christmas packages before Jan 6!! May not happen. Oh well.  We finally headed out.  First stop was to a home where Rebecca is doing cat care for a friend.  She has been going twice a day to feed the kitty and make sure the Christmas lights are going on or off.  Then we went to Gravity Park.  What a blast that was.  The black squares are the trampolines.  I must say that it was harder than it looks.

It was very difficult to get pictures because with all the movement I could not get them to be in focus.  But some of my movies turned out.  I did not think that I would be able to do it for an hour but the time went by quickly. George went grocery shopping while we jumped.  None of us did the fancy flips that others were doing.  After the Gravity Park we did a few errands on our way home. Played a game of Cranium in the afternoon.  We did some of the initial stuff with making boudzas (though I hear that the correct spelling is bauzi.  Been spelling it wrong my whole life).  Then we went to the Taaj Palace for dinner.  It was good, not great but good. Pet care on our way home.  Played another game after dinner.  All in all a nice day.

"our" Christmas Dec 26

the luminarias were lit right outside our window last night

Nathan was feeling better after a good night sleep.  Christmas morning started around 7 am. Sharon, you may get a kick out of this - Nathan came down saying "Not a lot of zoo cats now".  Took me awhile.  I am just slow (notalotza zu katza zao - merry Christmas in Marathi).

We did our usual routine of stockings and then sticky buns.  I was alittle disappointed in the sticky buns.  I added some time due to the high altitude but not enough so they were underdone so then I cranked up the heat and added more time - and then they were burnt.  Oh well.  They tasted good but not very picture worthy.

Then we did gifts by the fire. It did not seem to warm up the place, though.  We relaxed a bit and then cleaned up before going to a nature park for a walk.

We went to see "Frozen"  which I really enjoyed and then we joined Steve and Jennifer for dinner at the Holy Cow.  I had a very good child's sized burger.  

Home to play a card game and then off to bed.  All in all a very nice Christmas day.  Rebecca got a nice gift from Patty.  

Christmas Day in Albuquerque

We left the house about 9:15 am.  Madeline gave us a ride to the MAX station.  We got to the airport by 10:30 am.  The only line was at Southwest but it moved fairly quickly.  Then we lucked out and got put in the new random line at security.  We did not have to remove shoes or coats, nor did we have to remove laptops and liquids.  So we zipped through that line.  So we had plenty of time to wait for our plane.  The flight was full but uneventful.  We rented a car and then drove to Rebecca's.  Nathan's trip was not so uneventful.  He ended out having a 5 hour delay in LAX.  He stopped at a restaurant for lunch.  But something did not settle right so he spent today being sick.

We went to my brother's for Christmas dinner.  There were 12 of us in all.

Rebecca and George playing with baby Avery

Steve's tradition is a Christmas umbrella complete with fake presents.  

My sweet/sour mustard sauce was a hit.  It survived the journey.  I am glad that Nathan felt up to joining us though he did not eat much.

Home safely

The flight home was uneventful.  We were slightly delayed coming in to Portland.  When we got home I just went straight to bed.  Unpacking and laundry can happen in the morning.

heading home

There is a lot to do to close down the condo.  Dorothy will be here next month to continue this process.  After 4 trips to Salvation Army, 1 trip to the recycling center, 1 trip to Staples to shred some papers and many trips to take trash out there still will be plenty for Dorothy to do.  We turned in our rental car and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  We have one extra suitcase and an extra bag.  Because of the extra bag I got to use my travel vest.  No need for a purse.  Unfortunately it is warm.  This gave me a taste of what wearing my travel vest to India might be like.

Nathan, you will be happy to know that George did catch a baby alligator just for you.

We are going through Chicago and won't be home until about 11pm.  I am glad that I came, we got a lot of work done and it was nice to feel connected with Jane as we were going through her things.  We are taking home some treasures.  

 

Monday, Nov 18

Today will be hot but this morning it was cool and clear.  Finally could get a picture of the full moon.

No, this picture is not upside-down.  I left a little bit of grass to prove it.

A lot of pretty flowers around.

This morning a wood stork was at the door.  It did not even flinch when I opened the door.  I think that he thinks that he will get some tuna.  

Personally, I think that they are kind of ugly.  I took a movie of it.  But I can't seem to upload it to the blog.  Probably because of the type of wifi here.  Very limited.  

Right now we are at the rec room.  The laundry is in this building so we are waiting for it to be done before we do the next things on our list.  

Sunday continued

Sunday was another busy day of sorting and cleaning.  George spent some time in the rec room on the computer to send out obituary notices to all of Jane's churches and schools and other groups.  In the afternoon we took a load to the recycling center and a trip to Staples to do some shredding.  Then we headed off on a 2 hour drive to Amrit Palace in Ocala for dinner.  

We were meeting 2 of my high school classmates.  Shanta (right) and Cheryl (left).  I obviously did not get the memo on what to wear.  

Dinner was great.  We were keeping up with our international theme meals.  This was Indian.

The drive home took quite a bit longer - for some reason the freeway was a parking lot.  Then all of a sudden it cleared up.  No evidence of an accident or construction.  We were home by 10:30 pm.