Commissioning, Decommissioning, Make Up Your Mind!

Cora and I slept in. My dad called and said the commissioning of the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) was on CNN. So, we got up and watched it. A few presidents put in an appearance, and some admirls mde some speaches. It was very interesting to me, but neither Cora nor CNN seemed able to stay focused. Oh, well.

I then put two and two together and it dawned on me why this and the decommissioning were taking place at this time. The GHWB will replace Kitty Hawk as a unit in the Navy. It allows the navy to stick with the 11 carriers alotted them and move the old crew accordingly. For a short time, two weeks, the US has an extra carrier. We used to have 13 Carriers...amazing what the loss of a full-time enemy does.

Cora and I cleaned up. She did the laundry and I did the dishes. I cleaned the kitchen while she paid bills. I was not about to complain, as I despise the bill paying.

We decided to go to town for some groceries and to finally take Grandma her Christmas gift from us. I think she liked the gift card to Borders. We also got lunch at Panda Express. Apparently, Yakima was in desparate need of a Chinese restaraunt...I think we mentioned that earlier last year...because after being open almost a month, it is still packed.

Now, we are back. We neglected to get groceries, but there is always tomorrow. Overall, it was a relaxing day.

I think we have enough beer to last the night and fixings for a simple dinner...what more could we ask? Hmmm, not so sure about the beer...

I will leave you with the Sedona Skyline.

honey, do we have any more beeerrrr????

The Tree Is Gone, It's On The Streets!

Yesterday, I was a bit under the weather. I had a headache and nausea...it never fully went away until after I went to bed. Today, I felt fully alive...err, well, better. A good deal better, actualy, since I felt up to going to town for groceries. We got some goodies and some necessities. When we came home we put put the groceries away and then took down the tree. We had planned on rearranging the living room but, after lovingly putting the ornaments away, and dragging the hostile tree outside, neither of us felt up to it. Sometime this week, our living room will be more Wii Friendly. It isn't bad now, but it is considerably shorter in length than it used to be.

I am more than normally happy to see the tree gone. That thing was as prickly as an epileptic porcupine...and nearly as dangerous. Everytime you passed by the damned thing it tried to reach through your jeans and stab you. Most times it was successful. You did not even have to rub against it. All you had to do was stand nearby and somehow it would nab you! It looked nice from a distance, but you could not trust it!

One of the things we got was more cheese. We bought some more Tillamook sharp cheddar and some swiss cheese for smoking! I am in love with smoking cheese! I was surfing the net last night; curious about smoking. I found out some more about it and now I want to smoke a chicken or a turkey. Sounds yummy and I like a challenge!

We had a minor disaster the other day. It was the day after Christmas. We were sitting here thinking about getting ready to go when I noticed the fish tank was bubbling. I asked Cora to pour some water in it, but she quickly informed me there was more to it. When I got over there I noticed an electrical smell...the pump had clogged and was sending water over the side... Sometime in the near past one of us had removed the power strip from the wall and had forgotten to put it back...it was right in the drip path. We averted disaster! I cleaned it out yesterday and everything is back to normal. The corals are happy and so are we!

Grandma has had more widespread publicity than originaly imagined! She has hd her article run in the Seattle news paper, and on the KOMO news site. This morning, she said she got interviewed by CNN Radio! How awesome is that!?? Way to go Grandma!

Well, back to work tomorrow...yay.

Christms Act Three And The Recovery

Well, Christmas:Act Three was GREAT! I got the Wii gun, so now I can take Pacific Islands and European cities with ease! I got one of those picture hanging levels, too. I got a flask and numerous other things! I made out like a bandit!

Cora went to town with her sister and her mom for some shoes (I was supposed to get her shoes...but, jeez, that's not fun, so she had to get them herself).

I gave out my smoked cheddar as a gift. My dad called tonight to ask about smoking times...apparently, my smoked cheddar did not last very long! It seemed to be popular with everyone.

Cora's Grandmother is becoming famous! KOMO news on the West Side covered her story! I figure it's only a matter of time before she is on Good Morning America! You can view her coverage by KOMO here. Congrats Grandma!

Now we have to recover from the holiday mess!

UPDATE:

I've got some pics!

Yesterday dawned bright and sunny, however, the night before was foggy and cold...the trees were covered with rime.

I took my beer/cider...Everyone who tried it seemed to think it was alright. Ryan is modeling it, here:

Here you see what appears to be part of the family suddenly asleep while unwrapping packages...I think they all blinked at the same time...good timing?

Not everyone was thrilled by the gifts...

Here are the three sisters...not shown is the gooey chic-flick they were watching.

And we sit around the remains of dinner...note what had once been a plate piled high with ham...we devoured it.

Grandma's Blog!

So, today was a big day for My wife's grandmother (I also claim her as mine, but Cora had her first, so I really have to take seconds, I suppose.). The local newspaper ran a story on her. Apparently not all 80 year old women have their own blogs...if they don't, I think they ought to. Here is a link to the story... You all better think she is the most awesome, or I am coming to see you with a baseball bat and a sledge hammer...just kiddin'! But, you should check out her site, if you haven't already.

Cora and I stayed in. I did go out and shovel the walk and get the paper. Cora made candy and goodies, while I looked on...eager to lick the fodge bowl. YUM! She can make some mean fudge! I was mostly in charge of making sure we were watching a movie at all times.

In 1994, a movie came out, which is not so surprising, because many movies come out each year, which makes that kind of dumb statement, unless I am introducing a movie that I think deserves particular attention, which I am. It was about the time that Hugh Grant began to become popular and quite awhile before his experience with a call girl and TV cameras.

It is a tale of woe and happiness. It is a tale of four weddings and a funeral, hence the name: Four Weddings and a Funeral. Ever since we first saw it, we both loved it. Some of the best scenes show how the main character Charlie seems to have bad luck with women. It is a great window into Birtish humor.

The winter weather continued to hound us. We have picked up an additionl inch or so since this morning. I shoveled the walk a few times, still, I will neeed to do it again in the morning. I also made soup for dinner...chicken and potato soup. Yum! It was excellent. I also chopped up some BBQ pork and some cheese and we had a light lunch. Cora's goodies were...well, they may not make it to the holidays!

Cora wrapped gifts and I helped where I could, mostly I helped her out. We watched movies all day long. Which leads me back to Four Weddings and a Funeral. After my best friend passed away, the eulogy that is delivered during the funeral part seemed to take special meaning to me.

It is called the Funeral Blues, buy W.H. Auden.:


Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin,let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H. Auden


I hope I haven't brought too many of you down, I just like the poem. I also had an excellent day! I spent it with my wonderful wife and we took it easy while watching the quail break bread on our walk. I had a good day! I hope yours was the same!

I Know You Want It!

But...not tonight, Honey!

We went to Grandma's 80th birthday party. It was fun. We had lots of family and lots of food...the best part was the Steelhead. My Mother-in-Law caught it, my Father-in-law prepared and cooked it...and I ate it...ah, now that is the way things should be! (after all, I took one of their daughters off their hands...not only that, I was first, so I have seniority over the others!)

There were a few things said that you don't expect to hear at an 80th birthday party. My favorite was where Grandma asked her great-grandson to show us is nipples...

Grandma:
"Show us your nipples!"

Us:
"GRANDMA!"

"Did she say what I think she did?"

"What did she say?"

"Why did Grandma use the word nipples?"

"Did someone hire a stripper?"

"Crap, I don't have any dollar bills!"

"Aunt Karen, why are you pulling money out of your purse? She was talking about nipple-rings!"

"Uncle Dennis, put your wallet away!"

Looks of surprise and consternation...then it dawns on us what she was REALLY talking about. The boy had some body art, which was terrifying in that it had taken the tatoo artist 3 hours to perform, and he had ear-rings. Finally, he had nipple-rings. Ah, that's why Grandma wants to see his nipples...weird.