Car Report:
Yesterday evening we were traveling home from a birthday celebration for Brian’s grandpa. It was around 12:30am and I had just dozed off when I was jerked out of my sleep by a loud thump followed by a few small bumps. I let out a startled yell, trying to gain a handle on reality and determine my course of action – fight or flight.
Well, neither reaction was needed as Brian assured me we were okay – he had just run through a herd of wild hogs picking off two or three out of the fifteen or so crossing the road. We pulled over to assess the damage – a large dent in the drivers side fender, cracks along the front, broken grill and bent license plate; praise God the airbags didn’t deploy! There was quite a bit of “debris” on the car and it smelled pretty bad too. Within a few minutes of pulling over, two other cars stopped and their drivers hopped out, wondering what they had hit – no going back for free meat there, it was pretty much sausage by that time.
We finished our drive back to ALERT and washed off the car. We were still pretty keyed up with all that had happened (no more problems dozing off for me!) and didn’t get to bed until 2am!
That would be the end of the story except that an undisclosed individual (not Brian or Amy) backed into our car this evening and put a matching dent in the driver’s side rear fender. We both felt bad for the unfortunate driver, but could hardly keep from laughing at the irony. Praise God I have a husband that can take what life serves and still end up with a smile on his face.
Maybe we should send up an extra prayer before driving home on New Years Eve!
30-Dec-2006
28-Dec-2006
Brian and I celebrated our Christmas yesterday evening.
We started out with a tradition carried from my childhood – fondue. This was not a chocolate or cheese fondue, but one where you cook meat in boiling oil; great stuff!
After dinner we talked a little then Brian read the Christmas story as we sat by the lighted Christmas tree. At one point he got the giggles because he kept remembering something cute I had done earlier that evening and he could hardly read what the angels said to the shepherds.
Finally we opened our gifts to each other; Brian wrote me a letter and I had made him some clothes. After talking a little more we ended the evening by playing a game we made up.
It was a great Christmas!
26-Dec-2006
I wrote this last night and then found out the wireless access was out and couldn’t post until now – so here goes!
Our first Christmas – unlike any other.
Since all the family had to leave this morning and Kim had to drop a friend off at the bus stop at 6:15am, Brian and I decided to tag along and watch the sunrise at the beach in Santa Cruz. We made some bagel and egg sandwiches and ate them at the end of the wharf while watching the spectacular colors and listening to the cry of gulls and bark of sea lions. A very different Christmas morning experience for a couple of Texans.
Hiking along the
shoreline we watched some amateur surfers make some really good wipe
outs. We also got our feet (and pants) wet at a natural arch – trying
to get a good picture.
After four
hours of walking on the beach we were hungry and cold! Back at the
cabin we fixed some hot chocolate and relaxed and I ate a piece of
pumpkin pie. After that, we were really hungry; fortunately the past
few days of feasting with th family left the fridge well stocked and
saved us from famine on Christmas day. We had ate a good meal of
turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans, after which I ate another
piece of pumpkin pie.
Somewhat
content we headed off to help a lady install her printer (Brian finds
people in need everywhere he goes – and being full of the Christmas
spirit kindly lends a hand). We also grabbed another picture at my favorite bridge.
The job took a
little longer than expected and an hour later we were back at the cabin
and a little hungry. The leftovers needed to go so we willingly obliged
– though, being Christmas we took the liberty of eating exactly what we
liked:
*Amy finished last few pieces of pumpkin pie but not the crust because she doesn’t like the crust.
*Brian cleans out the salad bowl – hand to mouth.
*Brian, Kim and Amy ate all the pecans off of the pecan pie and threw the pie away.
*Brian and Amy peeled all the cheese and top noodle off of the vegetable lasagna and left the vegetables behind.
*Amy ate ice cream out of a five gallon bucket.
*Brian snacked on hershey’s “kissables” (must have been prepping for later)
All that taken
care of, dishes washed and returned to kitchen, we did a few things,
packed up our suitcases and Kim drove us to the airport.
We are now
both safely home in Dallas where it’s 1am and we’re both wide awake –
maybe because we just ate turkey sandwiches and hot chocolate because
we were hungry. Oh well, it’s still Christmas in CA so we’re still
celebrating; might as well enjoy it for all it’s worth!
Merry Christmas to everyone!
25-Dec-2006
Okay, a few pics from CA – we’ve been having so much fun I’ve hardly had time to post!
We made a friend – sort of – on the wharf in Santa Cruz; every step we took towards him, he moved one away. I think he’s giving us the evil eye. 
We also got to watch some sea lions; two were fighting and one pushed the other off of the dock – this one was the big daddy, no one would challenge him, he just sat there looking buff (like Brian 
)
Our two month anniversary was just yesterday and we celebrated by going to San Francisco and seeing the golden gate bridge!
We also saw Alcatraz! I’ll keep this place in mind for our one year anniversary – maybe a permanent stop for Brian.
One morning Brian and I hiked to the top of Mt. Hermon to watch the Sunrise.
And here is the little path that leads to our cabin – I think it looks like something out of Myst.
21-Dec-2006
We’re in CA! The scenery here is incredible! It’s a little chilly but six space heaters and a fire place later we got things nice and toasty. I love the redwood trees here. Hopefully pictures will come if I can get my hands on Benj.’s camera.
Now off to explore!
