Subtlety? Yeah, right!



By the way, if you haven't clicked on this link recently, I've updated my list. My wife complained that all I had on my list were boring books about carpentry, etc. Now I have boring books about investing, too! Oh yeah, and quite a list of XBox 360 Games and accessories.

Did'ja Miss Us?

Well, we're back from Texas/Oklahoma. Which is to say, I'm back in Washington DC and Lilah is Back in Washington. We got into Seatac on Saturday evening about 6pm so that I could fly out on Sunday for DC. It's a long and frustrating tale about cancelled Travel plans from my Employeer, etc, but in the end I got a better trip on Alaska Airlines (come on MVP status!) that got me back here at a much more reasonable 5pm, vice my originally scheduled 11:30 pm arrival on United Airlines... through the DREADED Chicago, the great and all powerful cess pit of late (United) flights. Sorry to all my native Chicago friends, but I've yet to ever leave the O'Hare airport on time. Ever. Not even once. If someone sneezes too hard they shut the airport down; and their baggage handlers must have one iron clad union contract because the last 5 times I've flown through there the reason we were late was because of baggage. Not to mention the time earlier this year when I was stranded at O'Hare along with 100,000 of my closest friends for 3 days because of delays caused by... rain.

I digress. The point of the story was that when we woke up Sunday morning and went to check out, there was SNOW!!!! Not just a little snow, but big fatty flake snow! The first snow of the season and Lilah and I got to share the moment together. Now that's God smiling down, eh?

Of course, if you're a Monday night football fan, you saw the Seattle white stuff in all its glory. Not the glory of Jeremy "butter fingers" Stevens, mind you. Sure, he caught a touch down... eventually. But after his Superbowl performance I expected him to make a point of not dropping another ball for at least... oh I don't know, a decade, or something. So when he stopped running the route while crossing the endzone?!? JEREMY STEVENS! How could you? Now, Shawn Alexander... WOW BUDDY! How's that for a triumphant return? 201 Yards on 40 Carries?!? Yes! My only regret is the 3 hour time difference that sent me to bed steaming mad at just after the half. Thankfully, there's TIVO. Sure, I know the score, but I'll still be watching that glorious second half this afternoon after work.

Well, anyway, the next trip home is actually next Monday. I'll be in Bremerton for a week and a day: long enough for a conference and to take care of Lilah as she braves the removal of her last wisdom tooth, via surgery that will result in cracking the tooth into 3 or four pieces and then removing them right off the root. Keep us in your prayers.

Just a short two weeks after this return to DC, I'll be heading back to Bremerton for Good... or is it? We're still waiting on an offer from both Japan and from NAVSEA. Round and round and round we go... Where ever we stop, there better be snow!

Take care everyone. We'll keep you posted.

The Official Holiday Plan

Thanks Giving will be spent in Texas with a trip up to Oklahoma. In order for this to happen, I will be leaving Washington DC on the afternoon of Thursday Nov 16th and arriving late in the evening in Seattle. Me and the Missus will be getting a hotel in SEATAC to save a couple hours of travel time and ... snuggle. We fly out 8am on Friday and arrive in Dallas at 2pm in the afternoon. We then have to drive to the Avis Car Rental place at 15804 Addison Rd in Dallas. That a 20 mile drive, but it was a saving of over $100 compared to the airport so that's that.

Our current plan is to leave on Monday for Chickasha and stay Monday and Tuesday and either come back Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning to Farmer's Branch. On the return trip we leave Saturday afternoon at 2:43 pm (but we can drop the rental car off at the Airport without penalty) and arrive back in Seattle at just after 5pm, where again we will be staying in a hotel vice heading to the house because I have to be up for an early morning flight back to DC on Sunday.

For Christmas we're flying mom (Troxel) up for the week of the 22nd through the 29th. I'm supposed to fly back from DC to Washington on the same day, so we'll car pool it to the house. That doesn't leave a whole lot of time for cutting of the tree, setting it up, decorating, cooking, etc. but them's the breaks.

My lovely wife has expressed interest in doing a three day dog show in San Franciso for New Years, and that has kind of caught my attention. I know Calla had a weak season this year, but I think that was more because of my lack of grooming experience than her not being a great dog. I'm going to have to give Barb a call and see what she thinks, but that might be our plan for the new year. I still need to get firm dates to make sure we can get there and back in time, but it sounds neat.

So, that just leaves Veterans day this Friday. Hey Pattie! What cha doing this weekend? Is it snowing there yet? Want company?

:j