Holidays in Portland

It's always "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" around here, as Paul and I have 2 birthdays, Christmas, and New Years all in a 12-day period. We had an evening, 5 jam-packed days, and a morning in Portland with my family. It was mostly a really lovely visit, and for once nobody got sick (at least so far).

Memorable moments:

• Going to the NikeTown store to try on shoes with Eric and Rusty, who had given me a "design your own" gift card. What a fun idea! Wanna see what my future trainers will look like? They have a very girly color scheme! :=)



• Mom's delicious soups! She had 3 kinds: squash (with a nice kick to it), ham and bean, and chicken noodle. She and Ron hosted a soup supper and invited Dad, Becky and Hannah. With Eric and Rusty, Paul and me, it was a full table, but we all fit.



• Playing the bowling game on Hannah's brand new Wii with Hannah, Dad and Paul. I never play video games, so expected to suck, but I was pretty good and actually won!



• Making candy cane cookies and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" with Dad, Hannah, Becky and Paul



• Snowshoeing on Mt. Hood in a winter wonderland of snow that was almost warm enough to melt.
  

• Becky's car's troubles stranding some of us in a restaurant for 3 hours waiting for a tow that never came. Fortunately our group had 3 cars and Gene came back to get us.
  
• My birthday morning, low key, the only time I played the piano all week. Funny how when I don't see dancers I have a hard time thinking of things to play! Actually felt a bit self-concious as Dad and Hannah recorded me on their respective video cameras while sightreading. I was still playing when Mom came over to pick me up. I was sightreading one of Hannah's requests, a beautiful song her youth choir will be singing. I can't get it out of my mind. You can see it in this video.
  
• Seeing Betsy, Tim, Annie & Mike and meeting Annie's young kids for the first time at her open house for the christening of her baby daughter Katherine. My "birthday cake" was a silver bowl full of chocolate truffles with one long, skinny candle sticking out. Loved it.


• We went to the christening service a really cool jazz evening service with first rate jazz musicians. Haven't been to a Christian service in years, (opted out of reciting the Nicene creed along with the congregation) but felt pretty comfortable and was glad we went.


• Afterwards we met my old friend Bob Litt and his wife Sonya at a wonderful Mexican restaurant for excellent, adventurous food and margaritas.


• Rediscovering the "time capsule" box of my old treasures that has been lost in Mom's rafters for 25 years, which includes tons of old pictures and every diary I kept from ages 13-20. I mailed it to myself and it should get here by next Wednesday. I read one of the diaries and dreamt that I was in eighth grade again.


• Lunch with Dietrich and his bride Lisa. This was great fun, as the essence of Dietrich has hardly changed in the 30 years I've known him. Lisa was really nice and down to earth. It was fun to hear the story of how they met (skinny-dipping while camping at a state fair!) We hung out for 3 hours and even had a little photo session:
  

• A nice, quiet New Year's Eve hanging out with Mom & Ron watching the New York Philharmonic on TV. When Pink Martini came on at 11:30, Paul and I were inspired to do a rhumba and a cha-cha on the living room rug, much to Mom's delight! What a great band.