A Day Like All Days

THURSDAY

We got a late start and missed the hotel breakfast, so we stopped by Frisch's Big Boy for their breakfast bar. From there we headed down to Union Terminal to visit the museums underneath the rotunda which is shaped like an old Art Deco radio set. The line for tickets was rather long, spiraling around the box office in a semicircle. At one point I noticed a black bear about our size with dreadlocks and wearing a sweatshirt with the logo of Bogart's, a live-music bar in Clifton. I suggested to Gary he just might be a bouncer there. We were served by a cute cubbish dude with a trim black beard and a nice smile; Gary noticed the rainbow pin he was wearing.

We descended the escalator to the mezzanine level to visit the Holiday Junction display, then continued down a long ramp to the Duke Energy model railroad display, which used to be in the lobby of the CG&E building when I was a kid. Also on the lower level was a reproduction of the Cincinnati Public Landing from the 1800s, complete with the Gibson print shop, a beer hall, a stand at the 5th Street Market, a boarding house, and a photographer's studio among others. The highlight of the exhibit was the Queen of the West, a steam paddlewheel riverboat model with simulated cargo. From there we returned to the mezzanine level to view the Lego model train exhibit before following a cute cublet in a construction hi-vis vest up the escalator to the rotunda level and making our exit.

The next stop was Dad's apartment, where we were surprised to find Colleen and Sheila had assembled his new reading lamp and table. We chatted for a bit while an occupational therapist checked to see if Dad could manage to wheel himself to the dining room. He did well walking the chair with his feet to the bottom of the ramp, but not so well navigating up and down the ramp itself. Colleen took care of testing his blood sugar and administering his insulin, then we all accompanied him to the dining room. On the way, an older dude thought Gary looked like his brother, but when Gary told him he's from Brooklyn, he said his brother is from Kansas City. We said our goodbyes at the dinner table and went our separate ways.

Gary and I returned to the room to charge phones and decide where to go for dinner. We ended up going to Golden Corral since we'd missed lunch and were pretty hungry. There was a cute ginger cub in a feathered cowboy hat with a lady companion. After dinner we went shopping at Meijer for drinks and snacks, and noticed the wind had gotten much stronger while we were eating. We checked out with a tall bear whose height and voice reminded me of Joe Dietl from Where the Bears Are; he had a nice gingerish beard though.

When we arrived at our room we watched axe throwing on ESPN, featuring rather a lot of cute bears and cubs (the runner-up, David Cycon from the Philly location of Bury the Hatchet, is particularly cute), then switched to hockey (the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Flyers 6-5 in overtime; Carter Hart was not in net). After that it was news and bed.

CHRISTMAS EVE and CHRISTMAS DAY

We took the usual route to the airport, starting with the Everett Transit 8, Sound Transit 512, and Link light rail. The trip was unremarkable except for how few people were on the train. There was essentially no line at security so we went through in less than 10 minutes.

Dinner at the Seattle Tap Room was nice; I had a burger and fries, Gary had a turkey sandwich, and we each had an Angry Orchard Rosé. The cider is made from naturally red-fleshed apples and is somewhat sweeter than their usual variety. Our waiter, a kinda cute young otter-pup with a scraggly beard, suggested we might like a shot of liquor with our cider, but I declined based on past experience with Angry Balls (a shot of Fireball cinnamon whiskey in a pint of cider). After tasting the cider I thought it would be ruined by the whiskey, which opinion was shared by a couple of our friends from the Fireplace Bears on Facebook. We made our way to our gate nearby, and while our phones were charging, I picked up cough drops, a soda and a copy of Rolling Stone. As we waited, a particular young dude caught my eye as he was taking off a heavy outer shirt revealing a black T-shirt stretched out over his broad shoulders. He spent some time trying to stow the other shirt among the bags at his feet. I thought it curious that he was standing in front of the ladies' room; obviously he was waiting for someone.

Because I'd spent some miles on upgraded seats, we got to board just after first class and VIPs. The chief flight attendant was a tall young bear, with a thick but trim beard, named Amir. All the flight attendants seemed to know the two young dudes, one seated opposite me and the other in front of him, on the aisle. Amir in particular was very friendly with them. We were delayed briefly after pulling back from the gate but took off without incident. I got a little sleep on the flight with the help of the relaxing music channel. When we landed we had to wait a few minutes for paramedics to check on someone in the far back of the plane before we could disembark; it was the mother of a family whose father was a tall strapping dude. It took me a little longer than I wanted to collect my things and leave the plane, but I managed.

Rather than taking the train, we ended up walking through the tunnel from concourse A to concourse C via the people mover, and noticed a rain forest scene in the first tunnel and an Atlanta history exhibit in the second. We had breakfast croissant sandwiches at Atlanta Bread, and then walked to the end of the concourse to our gate for the second leg of the flight to Cincy. A military dude in civilian clothes (guessing by his backpack and the ink on his arms), his wife and their cat sat opposite us. Down the row from them was a huge balding bear with a long, thick beard in a gradient from dark brown at the roots to platinum blond at the tip, in a black Carhartt jacket with hi-vis stripes, jeans and boots.

On the flight we sat in front of a couple guys who were apparently off-duty pilots, since our very bearish co-pilot came back to chat with them. Also, a couple rows in front of Gary sat a cute young bear with a trim beard and a thick neck, wearing a Nike ball cap in black and white. I slept most of the hour-long flight. Our flight path took us just west of the College of Mt. St. Joseph just before landing.

We made our way through the airport to baggage claim and on to the Hertz lot via shuttle bus. Of the full-sized cars on offer, I first tried a Nissan Altima but had trouble finding the controls for the trunk and the tilt steering wheel, so I decided to skip that vehicle and pick up a Ford Escape which is a small SUV like our VUE.

From the airport we drove directly to Erin and J's for the family Christmas party, because it was closer to the airport and Colleen and Rab were already en route with Dad, the gifts and most of the food. Of course, Colleen forgot to inform Erin and J we were coming, so it came as a bit of a surprise when we arrived and J answered the doorbell. Our family tradition has been to have Italian food for Christmas dinner: spaghetti with meatballs and sausage in red sauce, lasagna and garlic bread. This started 39 years ago when we weren't sure when Colleen's firstborn would arrive (as it happened, Steve was born late on Christmas Day, minutes before midnight) and so an elaborate turkey with all the trimmings was out of the question. Eventually Colleen, Rab, and Dad arrived and we loaded the gifts and food into the house. Soon after, Matt and Tristan arrived and we had a really nice conversation with Tristan over dinner. Afterwards we tried a new form of Stealing Santa that involved rolling dice and passing wrapped gifts around without opening them, but that didn't work out, so we went back to the traditional Stealing Santa. Matt and Len got the waterproof Bluetooth speaker and FM radio combos we contributed, while Gary got a set of CorningWare and I got an Amazon Fire mini-tablet for reading e-books.

After a few rounds of goodbyes we headed to the hotel with a stop at Walgreens for some needed supplies. We settled in to watch Jeopardy! and Gary was fast asleep by the time the game was over. I stayed up briefly to finish my journal and follow "Gary's son" (LeBron James) as his Lakers squared off against Golden State (Warriors... come out to play-yay...). I fell asleep about nine.

For his final Yuletide concert, Dennis Coleman is wrapping up his naughty and nice audience favorites, just for you! We have traditional holiday favorites ranging from a cappella sacred settings, through the "What If" carols (as reimagined by some famous Broadway composers), on to a rockin' Christmas adaptation of a possibly recognizable tune.

Our guest artist for opening weekend is Tituss Burgess, star of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and 30 Rock. Don't miss out! Tickets for all shows available through Flying House Productions (except Tacoma through the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts).

Benaroya Hall, Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium
3rd Ave and University St — Seattle, WA

Saturday, November 28*, 2015 – 8:00pm
Sunday, November 29* — 2:00pm
Friday, December 4 — 8:00pm
Sunday, December 6 — 7:30pm
Sunday, December 13 — 7:30pm
Sunday, December 20 — 7:30pm
Monday, December 21 — 7:30pm

* with special guest Tituss Burgess

Pantages Theater
901 Broadway ( and 9th St ) — Tacoma, WA

Thursday, December 3 — 8:00pm

Everett Civic Auditorium
2415 Colby Ave — Everett, WA

Saturday, December 19 — 8:00pm

With Dad at home.

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Christmas was fun. gmjambear and I each got some video footage of the family's "Jingle Bell Rock" gift exchange (everyone stands iin a big circle and you pass packages to the right on "Jingle" and to the left on "Rock") and hopefully we'll get some more from my sister and edit them all together.

Boxing Day brought a significant snowfall, after which we went outside and played in the snow with my grand-niece Alyssa and grand-nephew Aiden; there's a big hill behind my dad's place and they had sleds already waiting for them in Dad's garage. After Alyssa's mother came by to pick her up (as she got off work early due to the weather) we headed out for chili for lunch.

Thursday we had lunch at White Castle and did some grocery shopping with Aiden in tow, and that evening Gary and I headed for downtown Cincinnati to see the Cyclones play hockey against the Elmira Jackals. As usual, lots of bears in the stands and a few on the ice. Unfortunately for the 'Clones, Elmira won 4-3. As a promotion, they had the Stanley Cup out on the concourse so we got our pictures taken with the Cup.

Friday I went to get my hair cut and beard trimmed since I was done with my Santa impersonation for another year. Later we did some photo processing on Dad's computer so he's got copies of our Christmas snaps, and then hit the YMCA on Winton Road which I'd visited last time I was in town. We were pleasantly surprised to find our ActivTrax accounts work there too, since the old FitLinxx system was specific to the facility where you signed up. Unfortunately one of my contacts washed out in the pool so I have to wear my glasses until we get back home.

Yesterday we attended my nephew Andy's wedding. A good time was had by all, even if there was a slight misunderstanding when it came time for family photos, but that was cleared up by the time the party was over.

This morning I took Dad to church, where a very nice-looking otterish/bearish fellow was the lector (reader). Afterward we had breakfast at Dad's favorite restaurant, First Watch, did a bit more shopping and came home to watch the Bengals beat the Ravens, 23-14. The late game is still in progress and I'll catch up when I finish this post.

We return to Everett tomorrow evening just in time to ring in the New Year. Wishing you and yours a happy and prosperous New Year!

I forgot to post the schedule of performances of Holiday Glee. However, last weekend the Chorus decided to put on an additional matinee performance next Sunday, 2 PM at Benaroya Hall, because our other performances are getting full. So best seats are still available for the new performance but they are selling fast!

The remaining performances in the run are all at Benaroya Hall, on the following dates:

Sunday, December 12, 2 PM and 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 19, 7:30 PM
Monday, December 20, 7:30 PM

Check out flyinghouse.org for tickets and other useful information.

It's been a really quiet Christmas this year, mostly due to the snow. I've been working from home Christmas Eve and Boxing Day to give the facilities folks time to clear the parking lots around the office (they were dismal on Tuesday when I went in to recharge my portables).

Christmas Eve gmjambear and I made the trek to Federal Way for our friends' traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Once we'd left Everett the roads weren't all that bad. Christmas Day we spent at home, listening to music and surfing the Net. I chatted with my folks and my sisters on the phone. We're chipping in for a new stove for Mom and Dad's place; the insulation on the old one is so deteriorated that my sister thinks it's a burn hazard if not an outright fire hazard.

Boxing Day (yesterday) after I got done with work we went out in search of a snow shovel (they have been out of stock for two weeks now and they don't know when they will have more) and looked at a few more things we'll eventually need around the house, and ended up buying some doormats and a plunger. Any excuse to get out, I suppose.

While we were out we had dinner at the Buzz Inn on Broadway in downtown Everett. The first time we drove by the place we thought it was a biker bar because of all the motorcycles parked alongside; we later learned it's the flagship of a chain of 14 restaurants all around the north Puget Sound region. The food was really good; they had 16-ounce T-bone steaks with all the trimmings on special for $14.99. As we were waiting for dinner to arrive I called up my folks to let them know we got their Christmas cards, and found the new stove had been delivered.

Today it looks like the clouds overhead can't decide whether to rain or snow, so instead we are getting fog and no precipitation to speak of. (Hence my joke post.)

Hope everyone's holidays are going well.

I'm off to Cincinnati way too early in the morning tomorrow, provided they don't cancel my flight due to today's snowstorm. Just wanted to wish all my LJ friends a happy holiday season, whichever your favorite holiday to celebrate. In other words, Merry Chrissolkwanzakkah!!! ;-)

Update (12:03 AM Thursday): Yup, they canceled my flight. It is taking literally hours to get someone on the phone to rebook -- hours I'd much rather be sleeping. I'm surprised they don't have some means of rebooking via the delta.com web site.

Today gmjambear and I got busy sending the vast majority of our Christmas cards; yes, I know it's likely many of them will be late. Fortunately, we got most of our cards off to far-flung places on Wednesday so they at least have a chance to get where they are going, and the ones I sent today went to the main post office and I handed them to the postman as he was emptying the outside boxes.

I also make a personal Christmas card for my nieces and nephews and grand-nieces (no grand-nephews as yet), and got inspired to do some work in Paint Shop (much cheaper than Photoshop) to make a Santa figure out of a picture I have of myself attending a friend's wedding. So behold -- I've turned it into another LJ userpic.

I'll be leaving Wednesday for Cincinnati so I will be hearing from some of you between now and then. For those of you who are traveling for the holidays, I wish you safe travels, and I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.