Getting Christmas-fied

It's finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here thanks to Chris, who put up the 9' artificial tree, star, and lights. The tree won't make the trip to Seattle, but it sure came in handy this year with Wayne gone and no way to go out and buy a tree.

Snow Day in Redmond

Wow, record snow and cold in Washington. Luckily Microsoft lets staff work from home! Everything was closed today and most likely will be for a while.

Turns out Lady really likes the snow. She'll take a running leap into the deepest pile of snow she can find. Far cry from Chee who shivers when I take him out at 5 in the morning.

The Ice Storm that Wasn't

Okay, the kids got out two hours early the other day and not a drop of precip fell. Still, the Ice Storm Warning stayed in effect. Chris was certain school would be canceled. I told him not to get his hopes up because the Doppler showed things were off track to hit here. Even so, he was pretty grumpy when I had to wake him at 5 a.m. as usual.

The photo above is an amateur hack job of two photos we took while walking Puget Sound over Thanksgiving. I couldn't resist trying to piece together a family photo. Of course the kids look like mutants since they're so much smaller than us, but it was a cool idea anway. Not bad for a blind person (snicker)!

Freezins Greetings! Literally.

Here's a bit more festive image of our avatars.

The kids actually got let out of school two hours early today because we have an ice storm warning. Fun, fun, fun. I hope the power and the internet survive!

Have an Xbox Christmas

Now that Wayne works with the Xbox team, we felt we all had an obligation to build Xbox avatars--online representations of ourselves. Above, you'll see Wayne, Samantha, Christopher, and me. I only WISH my hair were that crimpy, I was that thin, etc., etc....

Anyway, Xbox time has become quite the family thing lately. It used to be Chris's deal mostly, but now Sam and I fight for time to play Lips or American Idol (singing/rhythm games), and Sam can often be found taking study breaks by playing the guitar with Rockband. Serious fun! Wayne likes Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones as well as various puzzle games. But because he works there, he's attempted to broaden his horizons. He played Halo 3 at a Microsoft team Christmas get together, has been following the storyline in Fable II, and even joined the kids and I for a little Lips karaoke action over Thanksgiving! CJ still likes the shooting and driving games but is also branching out thanks to recomendations from the guys Wayne works with.

It's safe to say a few Xbox games will find their way under the tree. May your Christmas be merry and bright and filled with fun!

The Weirdest Thanksgiving

Since the year's been kinda screwy, we decided to go nontraditional for Thanksgiving. Well that and the fact that Wayne has like two pots in his apartment, but still... Anyway, the plan was to go to Outback, a restaurant we can always count on for a great meal. What we didn't count on was them being closed over the holiday. Oops. Enter Plan B. We went to Safeway, got a turkey roast from the freezer section, a tube of crescent rolls, some nukable stuffing and mashed potatoes from the deli, frozen corn in butter that could be nuked in the bag, and the AMAZING layer cake you see above.

The other bonus was Wayne did the cooking this year. It was kinda nice having the holiday off this time around, but funny watching him rotate everything through the microwave. We missed the pumpkin bars (Sam and I made a batch before we left home just to get our pumpkin fix), but boy was the cake yummy! I know where we'll be getting all our birthday cakes from now on!

Hangin' with "The Master"

Any Halo video game fans out there? Chris and Sam got to visit a statue of the lead character, Master Chief, at Xbox headquarters. Believe it or not, the guns point right at Wayne when he's sitting at his desk (laughs)!

It was fun to see where Wayne works, but we couldn't see much because of all the top-secret stuff going on there. Microsoft really takes good care of the gang with its pop coolers, Starbucks, bottled water, and huge cafeteria. Things'll be even nicer when they get to their new digs this spring.

Greetings from Lades

Lades was excited to have new playmates for a week. Sam was really impressed that Lady knows her walk route around the Redmond apartment complex. She took the dog for a walk the day Wayne went into work, got a little lost, and Lady led her home.

We just secured Wayne's ticket home for Christmas. He gets in around 7 Christmas Eve night and leaves New Year's Day. That gave us the best fare AND the least amount of time away from work. And so as not to have our family in two states over the holidays, Lades will have her first in-cabin plane ride. It'll cost less than boarding her, and I'm sure Chee will love seeing his girlfriend again.