A Blessed Event

My nephew (brothers son) and his wife just had a baby boy. The pictures are amazing, and I am sorry that I can't make the bris, but am glad to be going to Orlando on vacation. What was really touching about the birth is that his middle name (and last name) together make my father's name. I got choked up when I heard and then saw the name in print. Almost a week later, and it still makes me both happy and choked up (in a good way). I am so glad that my father's name will live in this new addition to the family. Mazel Tov to father, mother and son, and to all of his immediate family.

Power Failure - Again!

After 4 days without power weekend before Christmas, we went out that Monday and bought a generator. Of course, then our power came back on, and we didn't use it. But, we were prepared on Christmas Eve when our power went out due to high winds at 2:00 am. We didn't try to start it then, but Dana fired it up that morning and we had our refrigerator humming, were able to make coffee and had some lights. After throwing away quite a bit of food, last weekend, it was nice to keep the new food we had bought. Heat isn't a problem with a gas fireplace and a gas stove to cook on. The generator was relatively quiet (Honda), and I am so thankful that we now have one. We got our power back around noon on Christmas day. Oh when will they come up with a better method of running power lines?

Snow Pictures

I finally got my picture software loaded onto my computer, and downloaded my snow photos. I love my new 12 megapixel camera with lots of options (but not too many for me to handle). I ended up getting one without a view finder which is the hardest change for me to handle, I have trouble figuring out which way to hold the camera to get what I want in the picture. (For anyone who cares, it is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-CR1with a Leica Lens, and 8X optical zoom). Picture to left is neighbors house, then Panda playing in the snow.

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Not sure why these penguins are hiding out inside, when they should be out in the snow. But, here they are being grateful for being displayed once a year. (They are part of a large penguin collection that I have). The bear thought that dressed as a penguin he could be part of the grouping.

After the new year we are heading to Disney World. Am looking forward to new camera and being able to download pictures and viewing during our vacation.

Technorati Tags: Snow,Dogs,Penguins

Snow Part 2

Friday we lost power about 3:00 pm and we just got it back today, Monday at about 6:00 pm. Phew, what a weekend! Fortunately after the last blizzard years ago, we installed a gas fireplace and gas stove as part of our remodel. So, we were warm and could cook... cook the food that was going to spoil out of the refrigerator and freezer! We got out yesterday for about 5 years, checked into a hotel, showered, watched movies, and so forth. Then came back home. Played lots of board games, read a lot of books and generally got massive cabin fever. We had about 12 inches of heavy wet snow. The type that takes down trees, (not sure how many we lost), tops off bushes (including some of our favorite) and so forth. I have some pictures from when it was pretty out, but am too fatigued to post. Right now we still don't have water out of the faucet, but still have plenty from the big jugs that we keep in the house for drinking, etc (and melted snow for the flush).

It's Snowing

They say that this will be the snow of the year, worse we've had in a number of years. Do I believe the weather people? Ask me again tomorrow night. At any rate, we are down to almost no one in the office. Think I'll eat a bag of mixed nuts for lunch instead of trying to brave the rain/snow and bad weather.

I got a new camera about a week ago, and took some pictures to post... do you see them? Well, that was my best intentions anyways. It is so cool. I took a picture of Panda in the dark, and the flash made the picture look like there were actually lights on! So, today, I am looking at all the nice white snow on the trees and wondering why my camera isn't in my purse. That was part of my idea - have the camera with me at all times to capture events. But, first I need the case I saw at Best Buy but didn't buy yet. I promise to do better. Really.

New Vehicle

I hate vehicle shopping. I don’t like to test drive cars, especially with the sales person in the vehicle talking to you while you are trying to not wreck the vehicle. But, we needed to replace a 16 year old pick up truck. I pretty much avoided some of the trips out with Dana, but Saturday I really had to go with him. I refused to test drive two vehicles, but the last one I drove around the parking lot. We got a great deal, a car that had about 7000 miles, just driven by a dealer person, and they extended the warranty to 5 years, 60,0000 miles. It is a VW Tiguan, which is basically a small SUV. Will haul quite a bit, not quite as open as a pickup but still a wonderful vehicle for us. And, trust me, a really good buy. It is a bit fancier than originally anticipated but with a tall family, need something a bit larger for the guys to fit into. And best of all, no yucky new car smell! We really wanted a red vehicle, but this one is white. Salesman told us it was the safest color on the road.

Nature Center Holiday Celebration

We have long been members of the Nature Center, and decided to do their winter holiday lights Friday. First we went out for Indian Food (yum) and then over to the Nature Center. Boy were we disappointed in the happenings. Yes, there were lots of lights, but not many activities. What was fun was a nice brisk walk at night around the grounds. The nicest part was the cabin were they had decorations, and a Santa Claus. I think that they had something going on about once an hour, but there were no carolers and so forth. But, here are some pictures of some of the lights, and a camel that just wouldn't pose. They did have 2 camels in for the occasion.

Movies

So, what did we see last weekend? Amazingly only one live action movie. First we saw Disney's Christmas Carol in 3-D which was really awesome. It more closely followed the book than other recent movies of the same title, and some people didn't like it because of some of the things that they were "used to". That same day we saw Old Dogs with Robin Williams and John Travolta. Nothing great, but fun. Has not been well rated, but would recommend seeing on DVD.

Day after Thanksgiving we saw Planet 51 and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Both movies were packed, as was the whole movie theatre complex. Planet 51 had a lot of inside jokes that you need to be a regular movie goer to get. But, it was a lot of fun. Our favorite was Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was stop action and was definitely an adult movie. It is based on a Ronald Dahl book, and was absolutely fascinating. It is so amazing the different techniques that can be used to create a movie. In between movies we checked out a new Barnes and Noble (very nice), and afterward tried out a new Italian Restaurant next to the theatre. The place was packed, but with reservations got seated within about 3 minutes. Good food and service.

Our next big movie weekend will be before Christmas. Not sure what we will see, but I am sure that our son will make good recommendations. I am fairly certain it will include the Princess and the Frog and Avatar (but not sure if I will see that one or not). Hard to believe it is already December. Where did this year go?