- Saturday December 31, 2005 -
The day of the party. Larry and Robin (friends) were staying here and helped decorate the house. Larry and I made a trek to nearby Elk Grove to pick up some delicious Punjabi Pizza for the party from Todo Un Poco. And the rest of the day was getting the house and all the rest of the food ready. Petra worked hard to make it a good event and the party turned out to be a lot of fun. Good friends, good food, pool (billiards, not swimming), lively conversation, and karaoke. Lookout!

- Friday December 30, 2005 -
We are having a small party for New Years Eve so we are busy getting ready for that, decorations, food, hooking up the karaoke machine(!), etc. But today our (friends) Larry and Robin came into town for a couple days, for the party and for tonight's Sacramento Kings game. And the Kings actually won!! We had dinner at Strings before the game so we were well-fed. Tomorrow we finish the last-minute preparations for the party.

- Wednesday December 28, 2005 -
Another birthday and I am now officially older than dirt. Well, some dirt anyway. Thanks to all who sent a card or email, I appreciate it. Better do it while you can, I'm not getting any younger! Petra and I went out for dinner at Todo Un Poco, a great restaurant in nearby Elk Grove.

- Tuesday December 27, 2005 -
OK. The closet is done. Now the real work starts, for us anyway. We have too many clothes and will have to decide what to keep and what not to keep. That will mean sorting through each and every item and lots of trying on. Amazing how many items have shrunk as we get older!

- Monday December 26, 2005 -
Granddaughters Josephine and Jasmine spent the night here last night after the holiday event. They are adorable kids. We spent the rest of today emptying out our large walk-in closet. We are having it 'done' tomorrow, with lots of organizers and shelves and drawers and hanging areas and etc etc etc and so it has to be COMPLETELY empty. Big job, but not nearly as big as the one after it gets 'done'.

- Sunday December 25, 2005 -
And so this is christmas. I'm thinking of John Lennon's 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". But no such luck for the men and women that our government sends to their death in a stupid invasion of a country that was no threat to us. Repeat after me, "Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11!!!". Most people in America now know the war was a bad idea but yet the killing and maiming continues. It's time to send Bush's daughters to fight in Iraq, wanna bet his war would be over sooner? Regardless, it is a good time to remember the poor unfortuate men and women who have given up their time, their lives, and in wome cases their body parts in this misguided war. Shame on our leaders.

But it is the holiday and all, so let's focus on the positive. We had the family over for dinner and the annual gift exchange. The daughter, the boyfriend, and the grandkids were here this year too, back from far-away Florida. It was a nice sight to see the joy on those little girls' faces. And it is nice to see the family, many of whom we don't see that often. Brother John tasted the whiskey to make sure it wasn't poisoned. Of course, you need to check all parts of the bottle to be sure! The boys played pool, the girls mostly hung with the kids and talked and practiced some moderation in their partying. We were happy to have the parents here, since they don't get out as much as they used to. All in all it went well, and I think everyone was pretty happy.

The one thing we didn't get time for this season was our annual viewing of the DVD Home For The Holidays. Check out this movie with Robert Downey Jr, Holly Hunter, Claire Danes, and more. It will make ANY family look normal by comparison!

- Saturday December 24, 2005 -
Karl and Betty (friends) invited us to their annual family tamale feast and party. Yes, they had some vegetarian tamales (five different kinds!) and lots of people. It was fun, including a 'yankee gift exchange'. That is where everyone draws a number and then the gifts are opened in order. But a person can optionally take a gift from anyone who has opened a gift before them. Some gifts go through many people before the end of the exchange. But if anyone can tell me why it is called a 'yankee' gift exchange, let me know here.

- Friday December 23, 2005 -
Tonight was the holiday celebration at the in-laws, along with them, Petra's brother, his wife, and our niece and nephew on that side. It went well, I even got some Beatles gifts and you can't really go wrong with the Fab Four. Thanks!

- Wednesday December 21, 2005 -
I am off from today through the end of the year. Now for some last-minute gift shopping and more preparation for xmas day. The family is coming over and we need to finalize the menu and get to Costco and Raleys too.

- Tuesday December 20, 2005 -
A dentist appointment to get fitted for a crown. The excitement never stops at stevenology.com

- Sunday December 18, 2005 -
Back from Santa Cruz. The weather there was miserable but the trip was great. Now we have to finish the shopping, the preparation, the usual holiday madness...

- Saturday December 17, 2005 -
We zipped down to Santa Cruz for Larry and Robin's annual holiday party. It was great as usual, with lots of vegetarian food, beverages (yes, those were vegetarian too), and most of our friends and theirs. Kudos to them for another great party and thanks one million times for letting us stay there overnight so we wouldn't have to make that three-hour drive home.

I got my new car a while back and today Petra got hers. We haven't bought christmas gifts for each other since 1992 so this should make up for it. She got a Toyota 4-Runner SR5, white with black trim. Plenty of room for car seats for Gramma and a nice looking car to boot.

- Friday December 16, 2005 -
Tonight we went to a retirement dinner for Doug White, longtime DOJ employee and all-around good guy. There were over 150 people there, more than usual for this kind of thing. He was liked by nearly everyone.

- Thursday December 15, 2005 -
I want to be sure to mention that as of December 1, Petra has been promoted. Yeah, baby! Associate Programmer Analyst. Yow!

- Wednesday December 14, 2005 -
We went out for dinner and a couple drinks with friends John M, Mike D, and Corita. Cosette also showed up later. It was a pleasant couple hours, always nice to touch base with these folks.

- Monday December 12, 2005 -
Petra had her last glass-related class (for a while anyway) tonight. It was learning wire-wrapping and she really enjoyed it. It was a long day for her but worth it.

- Sunday December 11, 2005 -
Larry and Robin went home today, and so did the gradkids. Enjoyed having them all! KC the dog didn't know what to make of all those people in different rooms. How can you herd them?

- Saturday December 10, 2005 -
Happy birthday to Betty, same age as me!

We are watching the grandkids today so that their folks can go shopping. We get to keep the kids overnight, it will be the first time they have stayed here since 2004 when they moved to Florida. Petra is really looking forward to it.

- Friday December 9, 2005 -
Larry and Robin came into town from Santa Cruz for the weekend and Robin's work holiday party tomorrow night. We let them stay here, they get the special 'friends' rate at this hotel. And free wi-fi (wireless internet) too!

- Thursday December 8, 2005 -
Today was the annual eye exam. The good news? No glaucoma, retinas are great, still have two eyes, one on either side of the nose (the preferred placement). The less good news, I will be getting some 'progressive lenses'. Petra has these and hated them for most of a year. But now she loves them so maybe I will get used to them too. They have to be ordered, of course, so I can put that 'getting used to' off for a week or two.

- Wednesday December 7, 2005 -
Work work work. It is the weekend yet?

- Monday December 5, 2005 -
Happy birthday to Petra's father, Fred. Hope you had a great day.

- Sunday December 4, 2005 -
The daughter and her family came by for a visit, most of the afternoon actually. It's always a pleasure to see the grandkids, and their parent were trying to be pleasant too. Charlie, the boyfriend, tried hard to be nice and friendly and said he wanted a good relationship. We will see how it goes, but the day was better than I expected.

- Saturday December 3, 2005 -
As members of the Montevina wine club, we get sent three bottles every three or four months. But this time they were offering a free event at their winery for club members so we drove up and picked up the shipment. This almost saved us money by skipping the shipping charge. But we did buy a few bottles extra. But then again, there was the free event with wine tastings and food/wine pairings. Not enough vegetarian fare but then the whole world has that problem. Damn carnivores! Anyway, it was a fun day and we need more of those.

- Friday December 2, 2005 -
We went to the Kings game tonight. They lost to Miami. I should say, they got beat by Miami, since they were clearly the worse team. I am not linking to their site again until they start winning!

- Thursday December 1, 2005 -
Happy seventieth birthday to one of the best filmmakers of our time, Woody Allen. From his hilarious comedies to his deep relationship-based dramatic films he has proven over and over his talent. Many if not most of his films are genuine works of art. His latest drama, Match Point, opens soon. A few Woody witicisms from his early days: "I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens.", "I don't believe in the after life, although I am bringing a change of underwear.", "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.", "I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me.", "Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon." - Happy Birthday, Woody!


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