That Tween Season

We survived Thanksgiving and it was lovely. It is, after all, my favorite holiday. There's nothing better than preparing a glorious meal for your loved ones and sitting down together, eating all that yummy stuff and giving thanks for all that we have. Even in this crappy economy we have much to be thankful for - we are all healthy, the kids are all on track, Pat has a bullet-proof job and my property management business is growing. Thank you.
There is a season for me between Thanksgiving and Christmas and it's LUTEFISK. Yeah, I love the stuff that is so dreaded by other Norwegian Americans. Our Sons of Norway lodge puts on a two day feast, serving almost a ton of fish, 375 lbs of meatballs and all of the other side dishes to go along with them. This year will be my 35th year serving at our dinner. Wow, am I getting old!
I just can't seem to get into the swing of Christmas until I've ingested my fill of Lutefisk.
I'll close with a blurb from a lodge newsletter I recieved - from Redding, CA. I thought it was pretty funny and for those of you who don't "get" Lutefisk, you may find it amusing.
It goes:
If you're like me, just trying to "pass", I found this little test on the internet you can do to see whether you are ready for your first taste of lutefisk. You will need a bottle of aquavit, a slice of lemon, a cracker, a dish towel, ketchup, a piece of lettuce, some caviar and a kit kat bar.
1. Take a shot of aquavit.
2. Take two (they're small)
3. Put a bit of caviar on a bit of lettuce.
4. Put the lettuce on a cracker.
5. Squeeze some lemon juice on the caviar.
6. Pour some ketchup on the kit kat bar.
7. Tie a dish towel around your eyes.
If you can taste the difference between caviar on a cracker and ketchup on a kit kat bar while blindfolded, you have not had enough aquavit to be ready for lutefisk. Return to step one.

Voicemail

Voicemail is a great tool and I love it, but some people need to learn to use it. I can't tell you the number of times I get a message from someone where they say "Hi, this is so and so, and I'm calling about the house for rent...." they drone on and on and then when they get to the phone number, they rattle it off so fast, I have to replay the message several times to get it right. Please folks, YOU know your phone number, I do not. Slow down and repeat it.
Another peeve is people who have their radio on in their cars when they are leaving a message. Your brain can tune out the radio, your phone speaker cannot. Most of the time it's so garbled I only get half of the message.
My other peeve is when people call and don't tell me what they want. "Hi, this is so and so, can you please call me?". About what? If you give me a clue I can do some research and have a decent answer when I call you back. Instead of calling you and then having to call you back again.
I had a weird voicemail exchange over the weekend. I got a call that was left at 6:30 AM on Sunday. This woman says "My name is Agnes, it's 6:30 on Sunday morning. I know you'll be working today and EXPECT you to call me right away about a house" and left her number. What? She sounded angry and demanding. I have found the best way to deal with these type of folk is to be super nice - I will not let some A hole drag me down.
So I call her back and leave her a message "Hi Agnes, this is Janie Kelly from Keller Williams Realty. I am currently out of the office, but will be in later. Please let me know how I can help you. You can leave me a message at blah, blah, blah and I'd be happy to help you out".
Then she really started getting ugly. Next message from her says "This is Agnes - you are a liar - you said you were in the office and when I called, you are not there. I expect you to call me right away about a transaction you had in November. Call me at blah, blah, blah" Now I'm thinking she's just a nut job.
I don't give out my cell phone to every person on the planet, but I was tired of playing phone tag with this witch. I seriously had no idea who she was or what she wanted. I think I would remember someone if I had a transaction with them in the past 23 days. So I call and get no answer, TWICE. I get her voicemail again and tell her that I think she's confusing me with one of the other 130 agents in my office, because I don't recall having a transaction with her in the past month. If she really needs to talk to Janie Kelly, call my cell phone at....
Never heard from her again. What a whack job.

South Park, I mean Grass Valley

We left Redding and headed to Grass Valley where we celebrated an early Thankgiving with the Kelly Clan. Kristen and Laura were able to join us. Robin (bless her) did all of the cooking and cleaning up, so I was off the hook, for a change. There were about 15 of us there and the decible level got quite high. At the height of the cacophany I turned to my brother-in-law, Ray and said, "your poor Dad, this noise must be killing him with his hearing aids". Ray said "he turned them off". I had to admit I was jealous.
We got back to San Jo around 1:30 and picked up Lucy from my folks' house. They enjoyed her stellar company and I'm sure are lonely tonight.
All in all it was a great trip. We saw some new sights and visited with a lot of people. Now it's back to work tomorrow and then another round of turkey this week.

Redding

Pat has a friend from Jr. High and High School who lives just north of Redding, CA. They have not seen each other in about 25 years, but have kept in touch via e-mail and Christmas cards.
John said he was looking forward to seeing us and that we were welcome to stay at his house. John's house is only five years old, designed for him and at the top of a mountain with a killer view of Lake Shasta. This is his pool and lake at sunset. I took about a million sunset pictures, but don't want to bore you all. (both of you?)
John and his girlfriend, Daphne, made a great salmon dinner and we had a nice visit. We really enjoyed their company and hope to get together with them soon.
This is Mount Shasta, which is only a couple hundred feet shorter than the tallest mountain in CA. It's 14,000 something feet tall and quite a sight to see.

Day... whatever

We awoke to a real Seattle rainstorm and checked out and headed south. When we were approaching Eugene, we figured that would be the logical place to stay for the night. I texted Brandon and asked if they were up for houseguests another night and how about pizza? They were delighted to see us. I think Josselyn is a bit homesick and liked having us another night. I was able to do some laundry and we split the next morning for Redding, CA.
We stopped in Portland and hit the factory outlets for some wardrobe updating. Pat got some nice duds and I'm happy to have some jeans that fit and are not falling apart at the seams.

Seattle

We got to Seattle around 6:30 that night and checked into our hotel. While in Eugene, I did some research and decided on the Marqueen Hotel, which is in the Queen Anne district. It was built in 1918 and has an interesting history, but the best part was that it was only four blocks from daughter Allyson, and Tom's apartment.
Ally had an evening event that Charles Schwab (her employer) was putting on. Pat and I walked across the street to Peso's and had a cocktail. We had a late lunch, so opted for appetizers and they were great. Ally joined us later and we walked her home to her apartment. She and Tom have nice one bedroom apartment in the Queen Anne District. She walks or takes the bus everywhere and is thinking of selling her car, which is parked at the curb.
The next day Pat and I took the bus to Pike Place Market and looked around while Ally was at work. She got off at noon and met us at our hotel and we walked four or five blocks the other direction to Seattle Center, where the Space Needle is. We had a clear 55 degree day, so it was nice to walk around. We all enjoyed the Space Needle (even though Ally isn't fond of heights) and had a great day. Allyson just passed her series 7 test, which allows her to buy and sell stocks. From the top of the Space Needle she pointed out a building and said, "I want to work there as a hedge fund manager". We're confident she'll do it.
After Tom got off work, Pat and I walked back to their apartment and we took them to a restaurant called Palisades. Again, we had a great dinner - seafood this time. After our dinner, they dumped us at our hotel and we bid them goodbye.

Road trip, next day... I stopped counting the days

We bid B & J adieu after breakfast and headed toward Portland, OR. Pat has a friend who owns a Bed and Breakfast just south of town.
Bud and his partner have turned Ainsworth House into an event center and no longer use the home as a B & B. The house was built around 1850 and has been meticulously maintained and restored. They now have various events there such as weddings, charity events and murder mystery dinners.
After lunch we continued our journey and got to Seattle around 6:30 pm.

Road Trip, Day 2

We left Ashland around 9 and got to Eugene, OR around noon. Son Brandon and his girlfriend, Josselyn live about 14 miles west of Eugene. They moved there in June. Brandon is a mechanic for Volvo and Josselyn is currently waiting tables at a local diner. They have a nice home - 2 bedroom unit in a brand new four plex.
We had a wonderful dinner that night at a local winery called King Estate Winery. It was one of the best meals I've ever had and not too expensive, either. This pic is Brandon, Pat and Josselyn at dinner that night.
The next day they both had off work, so we went out exploring Eugene. We found a nice bike/walking path next to the Willamette River not far from the University of Oregon. It was 65 and clear that day, so we took about a 2 mile walk around the river, then decided to check out the winery in daylight.

It was at the top of a hill with a gorgeous view of the Willamette Valley. We tasted some wine, enjoyed the view and headed back to B & J's house to make dinner. It was great to visit with them and I think they enjoyed our company.

Road Trip, Part I

Pat and I returned to San Jose today after a nine day, 2033 mile road trip. It was a lot of fun and I'll try to chronicle it here, after the fact, cuz I didn't always have internet access.

Day 1, we left SJ around 1pm, as I had a bunch of loose ends to tie up before we could leave. We got to Ashland, Octobernd 7pm, had some mediocre Mexican food and settled in for the night. Ashland is the home of The Shakespeare Festival from something like April through October. We didn't have time to take in a play anyway.

We had breakfast the next morning at the hotel, which was kind of dejavuish, because a year or so ago I stayed at a hotel that looked just like it in Yuma, AZ

more on next post......

Escape!

We have a galley-style kitchen and that has become what we call "doggie jail". We have a baby gate across it and Lucy stays there during the day while we are gone. The most she is alone has increased to about six or seven hours and she is fine. She has her bed and water - all she does is sleep all day, anyway.
Last Wednesday I came home to find the gate locked and her upstairs in our bed! I guess Mom and Dad's bed is more comfy than her own bed.
She spent a few nights at my folks when I went to Minneapolis this weekend, so I sort of forgot about it. Today I went back to work and left her in doggie jail at around nine this morning.
I got home around 4:30 and I couldn't find her. I was calling her name and then found her up at the top of the stairs, stretching and yawning. It was like she was saying "um, hai Mom, your bed was bigger and nicer than mine"
I guess I'll just leave her loose in the house now. She is reliable in that she doesn't "go" in the house. If she escapes from the kitchen she won't have any water. Sheesh, my dog has out-smarted me.