Happy New Year

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.



A health to you, a wealth to you, And the best that life can give to you.



May your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, but never in want.



May the best of this year be the worst of next.

May you never lie, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in each other's arms. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink with all of us because we love you.



Love to one, friendship to many, and good will to all.

Happy New Year, friends. May the New Year always be better than the old.

December 12 of 12

Time again for 12 of 12, five years in the running and created by Chad Darnell. You can find links to other 12 of 12 blogs from around the world at his site.


All good intentions I had of making this an interesting 12 of 12 entry have gone out the window due to the flu or something striking our house. Scott came down with it first, then like always I followed suit a few days later. Ibuprofren, DayQuil, NyQuil ... we now own them all. So even though 12 of 12 fell on a weekend this time, I was housebound. Oh well.


Let's get on with it, shall we?


These pictures were all taken on Sunday, December 12, 2010 in a very specific section of Seattle, Washington. Our house, to be exact.

Changed my desktop image to a lovely winterscene. Images later of the blizzards in the Midwest made me wonder if I made something happen ...

HUGE amounts of rain today in Seattle. Yes, we have a reputation to uphold, but honestly, it rains more in Atlanta and New York on average than in Seattle, we just have more days of drizzly, misty gloom. Monsoons like this are unusual. This shot is of water overflowing our gutters and dumping down outside the guest room window.

Yes - we're well aware.

Kali loves to get up in Scott's chair in the office when I'm in there. She doesn't quite fit, since she's about 105 pounds. This picture is funny because she's not at all fat - very muscley - but this pose looks like she's got a big gut.

Nice winter adult beverages. Bailey's isn't good when you've got a congested head, but I tried some Amaretto, thinking it might clear the sinuses a bit. Eh. Went back to tea for a while.

Stoli asleep on her bed upstairs. She's about 14 years old and doesn't like being outside in the rain, so she stayed inside with me.

Uh oh. Water is coming into the basement. Had to move some things around. Luckily it all kept draining and nothing got ruined.

The Christmas tree. It took us four days to get it decorated, with work and illness and all. Its not tilting as much as it looks, I think the trunk is a little crooked. But I think it does need a little adjustment.

Good night for comfort food. Meatloaf it is. Didn't have any bread, so had to use stale sourdough English muffins for a binder. Worked pretty well, actually.

The way my Mom always made meatloaf - line the pan with bacon first. When it's about done, turn it over and out of the pan, then broil it to crisp the bacon. I can't eat it any other way!

Silver reindeer candlholder in the living room. Cool.

Dinner's ready. Mmmmm - health food!!

That's it. Happy 12 of 12! Please exit through the gift shop to your left.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays of every kind to you all. Until next month ...

Happy Thanksgiving

We're heading over to Sammamish, in the east suburbs of Seattle, to share Thanksgiving dinner with some incredible friends and perhaps some new ones. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the snow and ice will be washed away by some new rain. This has been an awful week, weather-wise.

We're lucky and thankful to have survived dangerous commutes this week. To have our wonderful pets for one more Thanksgiving, although we miss Kitty, who we lost earlier this year. We're grateful that we have the health that we do, the jobs that we do, that as hard as things are for us our lives are so much easier than many others. We're grateful for all of our friends, near and far, actual or virtual. For family, whether we see them often or rarely. All of this is a part of who we are, and we'll say thanks for all we have today.

May you all be as lucky and thankful as we are.

"A toast. An affirmation, a prayer of thanks. I want you to know that wherever we find ourselves in this world – whatever our successes, or failures – come this time of year, you will always have a place at my table, and a place in my heart."

– Lila (Jacqueline Bisset), Latter Days

November 12 of 12

Welcome to the November 2010 version of 12 of 12 - the love child of the wonderful Chad. While I did remember to bring my camera to work today, I forgot to take any daylight pictures ... so my 12 are all from after 4:30 p.m. Welcome to 12 pictures of my fantastic Friday night. This is how I rock.

Sunset from our balcony. This is facing west - notice how far south the sunset is these days. Damn winter must be coming.

Cool clouds.

Thinking about what kind of fun to have tonight. Scott is working late - you know what kind of trouble I can get into without supervision!

The cool old buffet our neighbors gave us last weekend, since they're moving - still has lots of scratches to buff up, but I'm really liking it.

Guess what I'm about to do. Woo-hoo ...

Down to the basement where the litter boxes are ...

These boxes are all Halloween decorations. Seriously.

The back yard and pond from the balcony. It's dark out.

Saying "hi" to the birds in the aviary.

Friday night feast. Grilled cheese (Wisconsin white cheddar and Oregon Tillamook sharp cheddar) with bacon.

Mmm ... toasty. Okay, a little charcoal-y.

Aaaaand ... starting housework. Welcome to my Friday night.

Next month, the 12th is on a weekend. Expect big things from me. Perhaps a theme ... or a Special Guest Star ... hmmm.

Happy 12, y'all.

This IS Halloween!!!

Time to get the house ready to scare the neighborhood ...

Enjoy, kids.

It's tomorrow, you know.

This is MUCH better than the American version ...

Scared. Yes, now I'm scared. Two more days ...

Almost here ...

Scary, Mary ...

Six days ...

Halloween: Seven Days.

Yes, I repeat myself every year. Oh well.

Spooky.

Halloween Week. Be Afraid.

I'll be gentle at first ...

43.

It happens. Meh. I should be happy it hasn't stopped adding up, eh?

October 12 of 12

12 of 12 time! You know - Chad's idea. Seriously ... join in next month.


Even though I charged my camera battery the night before ... I forgot about what day it was until that evening. Still time to get some pics in, though. Here we go.

View of the fall sky from the back of the house:

The yard:

Kali's famous "Oh please throw the toy" look:

The koi pond - they're all pretty fat and healthy ... ready for the cold snowy winter predicted:

Rudbekia still blooming:

The shed that needs replacing:

Halloween decorations starting early:

We have lots of seasonal night lights that we put in the kitchen:

The new tile we put in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago (all by oursleves!):

Halloween again:

Hunter, in profile:

Batty:

That's it, y'all. We're having a little party on Halloween night if ya'll wanna stop by!

Why I'm Voting Republican

A repeat from 2008, but worth it. Thanks, Joe.

Promise Me You'll Always Remember

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

(Christopher Robin to Pooh) -- A.A. Milne

Note to self.

September 12 of 12

Again, I'm late. Meh.

These pictures were all taken on Sunday, September 12, 2010 in Seattle, WA. Do it next month.

The back yard and pond from the upstairs deck.

This unbelievably incredible book that I'm (slowly) reading.

Rudbeckia blooming in the backyard. Summer and fall flower.

Lantana. Tropical-ish, one of Scott's favorite plants. Purty.

The yard and house from the end of the yard. Kali would like you to throw her toy for her, please.

Kitty's memorial.

Rusty, falling-apart pink flamingo wind ornament we got in Hawaii a few years ago. I really do like it better the more it ages. Kitschier.

Gardenias, which don't bloom in Seattle. Heh.

Lots of happy koi in the pond.

Looking at the yard from the deck. The light is much farther south these days.

Your host, Me.

We had hoped to be a part of this flash mob today. Maybe next time.

Thanks for visiting my 12 of 12. Y'all come back now, here?