Christmas Day

This post finishes the items on Christmas at the Lindstroms. One tradition we have is to work on a puzzle.

The puzzle needs to be difficult in some way or other. This year there were two dimensions to the difficulty. The first degree was color: every piece was a shade of blue.

Second was speed: we needed to put pieces together faster than Pepper could pull them asunder.

More Egg Nog for crying out loud!!!

MORE EGG NOG PLEASE!

Apparently, I wasn't the only one hitting the Nog. I haven't used my camera since Christmas and lo and behold what I found! A good time was had by all, I think. You decide who had the most fun!

What do you all think about the movie SICKO?

I think we need to have a little more feedback and politics on the blog. What are your opinions on this subject?? How can we fix health care in this country??? We watched this movie at work last week and thought it was pretty good since our medical benefits have been getting worse and worse over the years. It was very well done for a documentary.

Splashzooka 65

I hate to introduce a sour note into all this Christmas cheer but the white elephant gifting at the Lindstrom household had its problems. I submit the Supersoaker CPS Splashzooka 65.



1. Before any gift was opened I made a public announcement stating specifically that one of the rules of participation in the white elephant was that everyone must take home with them the gift they selected. Shortly after everyone left, this was found laying on the couch. Now my sons are no snitches and so even though they knew whose it was they refused to tell me. They did give me a hint - the culprit's name rhymes with "Gosh".

2. But even more important. Before we commenced the white elephant opening, I proposed a rule that every white elephant gift had to be fully functional. I was readily booed and scoffed. But I will not be bulllied! There is a difference between a "white elephant: and "garbage". Item in point is the above mentioned Splashzooka 65. I have explored this device up and down the internet and can state categorically that the Splashzooka 65 is worthless unless one has a Q.F.D. (quick fill device). Without the corresponding Q.F.D. this item is not a white elephand but garbage.

A Holiday At Home...

Since everyone is getting out there Christmas pictures I thought I would share some from our Christmas day celebration here in Lakeville. It was pretty relaxing with a nice brunch to start off the day. Once we were finished with presents, we plunged into a game of Monopoly that ended up lasting for four hours. I think we'll choose a shorter game next year. It was nice to have everyone together. Amy's been gone for the last two Christmas' in Australia and the year before that I was in South Padre Island.

Chrstmas in Alaska

After looking at the priceless ceramic holy cows for
two posts i thought you might be ready to see Christmas from Alaska.

The Cattle Were Lowing

I think I've got it! A mere two weeks and it's solved. We were putting away Christmas stuff and I noticed a family resemblence with our nativity scene and the five cows. My (tentative) conclusion is that it is a member of the nativity.

The Yellow Cows

At the behest of the Roseau Clan we did white elephants. I forgot to take pictures of that event. Perhaps someone else did.



Anyway, this is what I got, and I am devoting all my mental energies this coming year to figuring out what it is. I've shown it to many people. A medical friend thinks they're cows, so I'm going on that assumption until I hear otherwise. But to my mind the "cows" look like professional cartoon characters from somewhere or other. I know this site is exposed to the entire blogosphere so perhaps there is someone out there in the wide world who can help me out.



It has five small holes at the tips of the fingers and one larger hole on the bottom. Those four tiny black dots are pieces of rubber.

Christmas Eve II

There were more people taking pictures than there were people having their pictures taken. (Does that even make sense?)


The kids didn't need any eggnog to start acting silly.

Eggnog!

As usual, Steve provided the eggnog and pickled herring for Christmas Eve. But this year there has been a lot of speculation about what exactly went into Steve's eggnog. For example here is a picture of Greg before he drank the eggnog.

And this is Greg after the egg nog.

O Christmas Tree

Early December the tree is up. Though the boys are more agile and limber, it's still my job to decorate the upper 2/3rds of the tree using the ladder.

There was a time when I told the boys they couldn't climb the ladder higher than their age. That worked well when they were 3 and 6, but now. . .I suppose I should let them do the ladder stuff.

Alborn

The tradition here is, shortly after Thanksgiving, head up to Steve's place to get the tree.

Steve and I pride ourselves in the ability to guestimate the height of a standing tree before we cut it. We want 18 feet. This one turned out to be close to 21 feet.

George always comes with. As the years go by it's 50/50 whether the boys will come. This time it was just George.

Going Way Back

OK. The Holidays are over. It's been a good time, but it feels like we've been bouncing from one thing to the next. So it's time to get it all commemorated here over the next few days.

First up, Thanksgiving.

It wasn't a large group that met at the Lindstrom household, but a good time was had by all.

Clever Clue of the Month

Happy New Year!

Please vote for the best clue for December. The Clever Clue of the Month will be announced Thursday night at approximately 9:00 Central. Here are the nominees:

Pink slippers? ...................................FIRERS
Cheaters, to teachers ............................ANAGRAM
It's no longer working ...........................RETIREMENT
The simple life? .................................AMOEBA
Stuck in Pamplona? ...............................GORED
Accord of 1985? ..................................USEDCAR

If you need one of these explained...