There's only one more sleep til Christmas!

And I have a ton of stuff to do!

So MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!

Today in the snow, Now with EXTRA ZACH!!!

Today we took Zach dog sledding, Holmquist style.

Unfortunately the snow is really deep these days, and Abe absolutely loathes deep snow. Loathes it. Fortunately the street is snow-covered, so Zach got to experience dog sledding anyway.



Tor gave it a try too, and we were momentarily concerned that one of them would be damaged...the dogs were really moving out, and coming to a stop was rather problematic, since the dogs stopped before Thor and the sled...


Zachary has been living in Tucson, where it was 60 degrees last week. It was closer to 6 degrees this afternoon. This is Zach's face on cold:

And the familia, in the snow. Mark was making goofy faces when Abe was looking at me, and as soon as I got Mark to start smiling, Abe was fascinated with something behind them. Of course.

Snow Removal

Snow removal and storage is a big deal here. We get lots of snow, and they need to do something with it...so they load it into dump trucks and haul it to vacant lots, big fields, special lots designed specifically for the snow, and stash it there.

It's a big deal, because the snow really piles up. We got about a foot of snow, and they hauled ten or eleven dump trucks worth of snow off just my street, which is probably two blocks long.
In the photo above, you can see one of the lots they use for snow. It's mid-December, and there is a shocking amount of space left for snow...Everywhere we go, I see huge piles of snow, and lots that are like a quarter full of snow. I am thinking this winter has a very long way to go.

Good thing I am still thrilled to have snow!

Also, you can see the sun going down...I think I took this photo between 2:30 and 3:00. The sun sets at 3:30. Still weird, that. But there is sun sometimes, which is very important to me. It's also very important to those around me. Very very important to those around me...

I am not alone...

Several people have admitted that they too misplace presents.

(I found the expensive one for Mark, the little very flat and easy to tuck away one, the one I bought and stuffed somewhere and promptly forgot where, Ifound that one. IPod Touch This very afternoon I am going to wrap it and put it under the tree. Then it will be Mark's responsibility to keep track of it. Whew.)

Tess has finished her shopping. Zach has finished his shopping, except for the most important one, for his girlfriend (Hi, Jessica. I have tried to help Zachary figure out what to get for you...I really hope you like it!) Mark IPod Touch and I have finished most of the shopping for the kids, and I have given Mark BIG HINTS about what I would like ...

Just in case you have forgotten, though, honey, here's the list once more:

An IPod Touch. It doesn't come in Orange, the way the new Nano does, but I can always get a skin for it.

One of those little teeny laptops. Handy for email and surfing teh internets.

A new espresso machine, since my old faithful has finally bitten the dust.

I cannot remember the other thing, so you might as well buy me the IPod touch...

We found a great present for Zachary, but I cannot tell you what it is because (Hi, Zach!) he reads this sometimes. After Christmas I will fill you in.

Thor is still thinking about whether or not he has all his presents. Apparently not. So we still have a little shopping to do. Argh. Unless of course it is a present for me, in which case Mark and Thor have some shopping to do. I can go along and wander off to a bookstore or Starbucks while they try to figure out exactly what they are going to buy me. IPod Touch...I am sure they have some nice potholders and wooden spoons at Target. (And IPod Touch, too...)

If I were a truly good person, I would mention to Mark that I got an $75 digital photography program that he thought would be a good Christmas present for me, and which I opened and started using a month or two ago. If only. IPod Touch.

And the Daily Joools photo...We were shopping at Target the other day (and man, I am so very very very very very very very very very very very very very happy that Target has finally come to Alaska!!!!!!!) and we saw these ravens in the parking lot as we were leaving.

And a bonus Daily Joools photo. Just because.

Oh, yeah, IPod Touch.

It's Thursday.

Woo. I have gotten most of the Christmas presents for my kids. Yesterday we mailed off the packages we need to mail.

Have done no Christmas cards at all yet. Not a single one done. Guess that's this weekend's job.

And I bought something for my husband, and promptly misplaced it. It's flat and small and I could have tucked it in many places. I have a few days to find it...I think I stuck it somewhere downstairs, which means it could be in the kitchen cupboards, the computer cabinet, the several bookcases and cabinets with books and dishes. Sigh. I stuck it somewhere and then instantly forgot about it.

Classic me. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have misplaced something. My kids have gotten presents a couple days after their birthdays because I just found something. And a couple times I have stuck whatever I just found back in its hiding place so that I could give it to them for the next big giftie day.

We have Christmas Day food taken care of. I do not cook on Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is our big crazy day. We go shopping during the day, pick up last minute tiny little gifts, the whipping cream or other indispensable food I have forgotten, wrap the last few presents, and make a big meal. This year I think we are gonna do steak and potatoes. Never ever turkey, because once we finish eating, EVERYONE helps clean up, as fast as possible, because once the kitchen in clean, we get to open the presents. It's the way my family has always done it.

Christmas Day starts early, because the kids dig into their stockings, but they have to do it together, and Mark and I have to be there to watch too. The stockings just have small things in them, little goofy toys and gum, candy, maybe some socks and underwear.

Christmas Day is spent hanging out. We play the new games, check out our gifts, watch the new DVDs. Food is our favorite appetizers and deli sandwiches, soup I made a couple days earlier. Anything that does not require me to spend my time in the kitchen preparing a big meal and then cleaning up again. It's my day off too.

The Christmas Eve menu is still way too vague...Steak and potatoes. The kids would be fine with this idea, because they don't want a big meal with lots of clean up after. Less we eat, less we serve, the faster we get to the presents. But it's so much more fun to torture the kids with the reality that we must sit and eat and chat and laugh and spend some real time over the meal, and every single thing -- every fork, every glass, every bit of food, must be put away and taken care of before they are even allowed to touch a present. It's a family tradition.

And as always, the photo...