The Funnest Tradition

Do you know the funnest way to design a house, decorate it, eat candy, be as creative as you can, and have a great time with a friend? I do. It is making a gingerbread house.
Now it is a christmastime tradition with my friend Claire and I. The picture is of the one I made this year. It's our second year doing it. We have lots of fun. One of my favorite things about it is designing the house. To me, four walls and a flat roof is boring. It's easy too. You build it on a paper plate. The walls, and the roof is made of graham crackers. Everything is stuck together with frosting. It is decorated by candy. Nerds, peppermints, mini candycanes, chocolate chips, m&m's, marshmellows, pretty much anything. If you make one, be carefull that you don't over load it with candy, or it might collaspe. Although, even if it does, it's not the end of the world. That happened to my friend, but she just made it a carpet, and the house didn't have a roof. If you have andy questions or comments, please contact Clare.

How to tie a tie

We had to make an adjustment to our kid transportation schedule so I could be at home to help John tie his tie for a school concert. Chris didn't want to. She had hoped that I would be able to call John on his cellphone and "walk him through it," while they were in the car. That would be funny. We had a few lessons around graduation time, but they were forgotten. My mom taught me to tie a tie. I vaguely remember a Book of Knowledge encyclopedia article on the Windsor knot, though I must be imagining it. I think she did get something from a book or article though.

John and I stood in front of the mirror together with our ties. As I talked step through step, I had to stop and tie mine real fast to be conscious of what I was doing.

Deer decorations

I was driving home from Dad's 89th birthday party, just a block from home, when Chris said, "Look at the deer in the front yard!" We see a lot but this one was special. On Chris's recommendation, I backed up about 100 yards to have a look. Surrounded by white wooden reindeer decorations, the deer grazed directly in front of spotlight. It lifted its head when we pulled up and stayed perfectly still. Quite a sight. John volunteered to go back with the video camera, but by then the deer had moved on.

Courier Corporation news

This morning my Amazon Web page's "Listmania" section referred me to the list "Outstanding Dover Math Books." I have bought a couple math books from Keith Devlin, NPR's math guy. I want to find my inner math guy that I left in my high school Calculus class as well as help Clare learn to love math. As a publisher and appreciator of Dover even before Courier bought it, I clicked on the list. The books are too advanced for us though.

Hats off to Bob (a.ka. Rusty). Courier recently reported their best year ever. I was searching to show John what Uncle Bob's company had accomplished and found announcements that he has been promoted to COO and executive vice-president. Chris had a brief call with Rusty over Thanksgiving. Humble in the Story way, he didn't mention his promotion, though maybe it was the distraction of the Patriot-Bear game.

Brrr!! Chill in the air; California cousins on the way

We're enduring a long-lasting arctic blast, which started last Friday. Chris got a snow day. The kids didn't. This on the heels of weather in the 50s and 60s during Thanksgiving week, which make it tough for even us natives to take. Brian, Jenny, Kathleen, if you're reading this, know it's brutal. Bring everything you've got in winterwear.

We're eager for this birthday weekend. I think Dad is in the need of festivities. He's not getting that lovin' feeling from his ex. The kids are ready to jam with Brian. Well, Clare at the moment is laid out on the couch beside me sleeping off a fever, but she will be ready.