I felt like playing around a bit, so I created an animated gif to capture the transformation of this year’s Christmas tree from bare to decorated to twinkling.
To make the animated GIF, I used the web-based tool Picasion.com. Note: before I created the gif, I reduced the size of the original images down to the size I wanted (i used the width of my wordpress theme as the target image width). Then I created the gif w/ Picasion.
We went to Laura and Arnie’s Christmas party tonight. It’s become a tradition, and a most fun one at that. Everyone ends up gathered around the piano belting out Christmas songs. Some scenes from the evening:
C’mon over!
Julie took her last final of Fall semester today – and is headed home for the holidays tomorrow. Tonight we went to Painting with a Twist to create a work of art. This is my version. Not bad. A little festive. Probably worth hanging on the wall for a week or two (?) 🙂
I’m at SeaTac, ready to board my flight back to Austin. I need to come up here more often.
The D Concourse has some very large glass artwork in the windows. Here’s a couple of peeks. Both of these are by an artist named Dick Weiss.
I’ll be home in a jif!
Today Noreen and I went to a glass fusing class in Tacoma. We each made 5 glass Christmas ornaments. I have to wait another week or two to see how they turned out… until they are fired, and they’ll mail them to me. But we had a lot of fun.
Afterwards, all my sisters and my brother met to spend some quality time together and yuk it up a bit. I had a really nice time. I have lived away from home for over 30 years, and though we get together every now and then, it never seems like enough. I’m glad we spent today together.
We ate lunch in a bar / restaurant loaded with Seahawks paraphenalia. They play tomorrow, but I’ll miss it – since i’m flying while they’re playing. I hope they make the post-season, so I have a chance to watch them on TV from Austin. Go Hawks!
After work today, Noreen and I met up with Francine to watch one of her soccer games — they can play year round in a really nice indoor facility. Fran’s been playing soccer since she was a wee lass. 30+ years later, she’s still playing, and turning her kids onto it as well. Pass it on…
When I was growing up, my mom would make Chex party mix every year around Christmas time. I spent many a New Year’s Eve playing board games with my family – and there was always a big bowl of party mix on the table.
Though I rarely make it, it’s something I identify with the holidays. Today mom and I made a batch.
Here’s the recipe that’s made the rounds in our family:
Party Mix
1 small box (~14 oz) each: Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Cheerios
1 bag pretzel sticks
2 lbs mixed nuts
1 1/2 lbs butter, melted
3-4 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
Garlic salt
Mix ingredients in big brown paper grocery bag. Melt butter on low heat on stovetop and stir in worchestershire sauce. Place dry ingredients in shallow pans. Pour melted mixture evenly over dry ingredients.
Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes. Sprinkle with garlic salt between stirrings, to taste.
Mom and I set up her tree today. It looks nice. I took several photos of it, hoping for one to post here. On this one, the autofocus was a bit whacky. And it turned out blurry. But I like the bokeh effect of the lights. So… this one is the winner.
For inquiring minds: here’s a definition of bokeh on wikipedia
Last night my mom and I went over to Noreen and David’s for dinner. Colleen and Jake drove over and joined us. After dinner we all sat around just telling funny stories for a couple hours. It’s nice to laugh like that. Everyone in my family is a comedian it seems…
Instead of driving all the way back to Seattle, Colleen and Jake slept at my mom’s, as we were planning on going to Francine and Art’s in the morning to watch the Seahawks game… a rare treat for me, since in Texas all that is usually on the networks is the Cowboys or the Texans (ho hum).
When I went out the front door to get the paper I was greeted by this stunning view of the Olympics. They seemed particularly white today.
Francine whipped up some biscuits & gravy and mimosa’s — breakfast of football divas 🙂 Noreen and David came over after church and we all cheered and screamed at the refs until the Seahawks won in overtime. Awesome!
My mom has been on my mind lately, so earlier this month I decided to make a trip to spend some time with her before the Christmas bustle. I can work from her house there and spend the evenings with her.
So today, after work, I hopped on a plane. It is pouring rain here, and is expected to do the same all week. I wish i could bring some of this water home with me…
I’ll also have a chance to see my sisters and brother while i’m here. An added bonus. Noreen gave me this beautiful leaded glass piece that she designed and made just for me. Celtic knot… love it! She does beautiful work. I can’t wait to pick out a place to hang it at home.
Went for a bike ride around the neighborhood today. There are a handful of pecan trees nearby that are on common grounds in the neighborhood. We stopped by to gather a bunch of pecans that had fallen. We have several pecan trees in our own backyard, but they don’t bear much fruit – at least not any of the years we have lived here. So it’s nice to find a few that we can harvest from nearby. They are very sweet this year.
Julie and I rented a movie from a nearby RedBox last night – The Amazing Spiderman. It was a good flick. Stop number 2 on the bike ride today was the RedBox to drop the movie off. Then we rode to Academy to see what we could see. Then we stopped by the local pet store to check out the birdies. This is one of two very friendly macaws that live there.
We went for a sail today, the winds were 10-15 knots. A nice sail up towards Lakeway, and then down to Arky South, where we dropped a hook and ate turkey sandwiches. Then back to the marina before sunset. Julie and Joel joined us. A very nice day. I wonder why they call this Black Friday?! 🙂
Sheila365 