Christmas in Washington

It's a Christmas marathon of festivities up here in Washington. My aunt & uncle, Bill & Tammy, hosted a house-full of people for lunch after church on Saturday. We ate food, played cards, and watched movies. Same thing on a different day, except on Sunday it was in honor of Christmas Eve. Same thing one more time on Monday for Christmas. Eat, hang out, play cards, eat s'more. . . non-stop. Tomorrow is yet ANOTHER family get together that will consist of even more food and hanging out. I'm sure we're going to play yet another card game. We've played everything from international rummy, Skip-Bo, Uno, Bouncy-Bouncy (or 7-up and 7-down) to Dutch Blitz. I think Steve will have his heart's content of card games for the next decade after our visit with family.

At church on Saturday, I sang with Heather and Tommy for the worship and special music. That was a lot of fun. It doesnt' get any better than singing Christmas carols with my cousins. Tommy is especially awesome at the guitar. We did the Jars of Clay rendition of "Little Drummer Boy" and the Caedmon's Call version of "What Child is This?" to keep things upbeat and lively. We were a little more traditional with a few other songs.

Forget running. It's either been snowing or raining here everyday. I'm lucky I got in a run the first day we were here. It was mostly a hilly run on pavement, so the steep downhills weren't too kind to the shins. I did see a herd of 7 mule deer only about 20 feet away. Steve wanted us to take a different route which consisted of steep climbing and going through briars and nettles up to my waist. I think next time I'll just back-track on the paved trail. I was also able to get in a nice swim at the county's new aquatic center. I'll be back there tomorrow if the rain doesn't let up.

I've been helping my grandparents with some basic rehab exercises they can do for their spines. My grandfather has responded especially well to spinal exercises, molding, and head weights. Now, everytime someone comes over to visit my grandparents, they want to give him a pool noodle and tell him to use it for his back! Talk about patient compliance and referrals, they're machines! And, we're only doing exercises and molding up here!