JeffCo Fire Engine Rally - Herculaneum, MO

Who doesn't want to go look at fire engines?


Okay, so the rally is harder on some than on others.

Holiday Recap: Baking

I was a lazy baker this year, but JD did coerce me into stealing the secrets of The Little Bears from Mom while she was here.



I still rolled them too thin.



Mom's a rough baker to work for. The results were pretty addictive, though.

Holiday Recap: Christmas Eve

Normal fire. Then accelerated. I can't tell you how many times this cycle repeated.



Sometimes, it's okay to not get too close when you're taking pics. Especially if you show up in the country wearing city shoes. (Yes, of course I had hiking boots in the car, but that's not the point. Also, I probably would have been down there with them if my mom hadn't been visiting. She likes to think I grew up.)

Sometimes a girl just wants to take pretty pictures of roses

Eggs

Christmas Eve

Mom


Julie & Jordan


Jordan in his jammies

My Life With The Real Still Kult

You might think that with a little down time I'd get all relaxed, maybe make some art or something. Nope. So far I've been reading library books, watching videos and trying to remember to speak loud enough for my mom to hear me.

I went to Bouffant Daddy and got tidied up...


I resisted the urge to find out what Dutch chocolate and red wine taste like together...


I held Rudy so JulieDill could take his picture. I don't remember why...


Maybe it's time for some baking.
Pax vobis, y'all.

My Sane Black Friday

Watching snow.


Lunch with Whit, including her marble lesson.


Quiet time at home, after chores and errands.

The Thanksgiving Feast

Really, we didn't just hang out in bars. JD and I put together a lovely family feast Thanksgiving day. We made a turkey breast, gravy, dressing, roast cauliflower & carrots, baked sweet potatoes, roast turnips, corn casserole, and a chiffon pumpkin pie. Best of all, it was a relaxed dinner, eaten off tray tables in the living room since Dad didn't feel like dragging his cast to the table.

Out on the town with Jordan

Did I mention we took Jordan to his first baseball game?

We rode Metrolink to the stadium.


I don't think he followed most of the game, but I know he understood the "peanuts and Cracker Jack" part.


Little J lasted all the way til the 7th inning stretch, then we decided it was time to start home.

The Gateway Arch

While my dad, step-mom, sister, and nephews were visiting I did those tourist things you never actually do in your own town. Like visit that big monument at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

Here's my tourist pic.


Here's a little closer look.

Ergonomics

Have I mentioned how Rudy likes to help Julie when she's on the computer?

visiting the in-laws

Saturday at America's Incredible Pizza Company

More little boy birthday goodness.

Jordan's still too little to race gocarts.


But he managed to ride the motorcycle.


He even played in some non-electronic stuff.


Tonight things go back to normal - we hit the STL Arts Scene. Holga Polka opens at the RAC. Extended hours at SLAM before Action/Abstraction closes. Pizza & wings at the Pizza Haus on Delmar. Expects pics of it all, complete with special guests Thom of Staunton and Amy D, in the coming days.

Special bonus: Check back to see if Julie & I really do decide to go to the cat show in Chesterfield on Sunday.

Saturday at Build-A-Bear

Okay, not one of my usual venues, but nephew Jordan turned 5 this week. We took him out for some fun last weekend.







I thought BAB was going to be too cutsie for me, but it was kind of fun (if you're trying to see it through 5 year old eyes).

The Great Internet/Phone/TV Outage of 2008 has ended

Mom, resting her eyes.

Rudy, doing the same.

I'm back! It was a quiet weekend at Chez Julainey. My mom was in town for Christmas, and didn't really want to go out at all. We lounged around he house for a week, reading library books and napping. TV was even out for half of her visit because someone working on at AT&T box on our street decided to unplug our U-Verse connection. We had no DSL, TV or land line phone for 3 days. I didn't like leaving Mom alone with no phone, so I kept excursions to a minimum.

I did like being off work for a week and having time to read, though. Some of the books weren't even picture books or murder mysteries.

More adventures coming soon. Mom flew back south last night, and I don't go back to work until next Monday. Ahhhhhh, vacation.

Snow for Thanksgiving

There was snow waiting for us in Murrysville. More importantly, there were nephews in the snow learning the physics of packing a good snowball. They've lived in Atlanta their whole life. They haven't had too many chances to practice.





The nephews planned an ambush, too. Uncle Eric and Brad drove down from NYC for the holiday. Julie and I didn't exactly encourage attacking Uncle Eric and Brad, but we may have helped with the snowball-making lessons.

Okay, so I've been a little quiet this week. I've been sleeping in in the mornings, so my morning posts just aren't happening. I'm sure I'l get back on track, now. I'm reformed. I'm caffeinated. Of course, it's 6 at night, but that's a little detail. I'll just get started with a post while I'm drinking this cafe au lait and waiting for Julie to retrieve me...

So, what had I been talking about? Thanksgiving in suburban Pittsburgh, right? My dad and step-mom still live in Murrysville, my hometown. It's also my dad's hometown, though it's not as full of our family as it used to be. And yes, that's really how Murrysville is spelled. It's not our fault our founder spelled his name funny.

Anyway, I split my time in his jewel of a municipality between the "new" Holiday Inn Express in Delmont and my step-mom's house. The HIE showed up after I left 20 years ago, so it's new, no matter how long it's really been there...


The house has had a few touches of remodeling since my dad & step-mom got married almost 20 years ago. The latest look features the latest generation of Transformers and LEGOs.

To be fair, I think the LEGOs belong to my dad, but he lets his grandkids play with them. He's cool like that.

Mrs. Brown's new bedroom

Julie's Grandma has moved into Julie's Mom's house.