Christmas Pictures
Topic: The States
Here it is! 73 pictures!!! Christmas 2005 We had such a great time in the States over the holidays. The pictures pretty much tell the story of our visit. Enjoy!

Randsburg
Topic: The States
On Dec. 18, 2005, Ryan and I went for a drive with my parents and their dog, Princess. We went to a very funky ghost/old mining town type place called Randsburg. Here are some pictures from our drive. Randsburg Also, here's a link to a site that had some photos of the town and a little bit of information on it: Randsburg I haven't looked through this site very thoroughly, but from a glance it seems to have some good pictures and information.
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about posting photos from our various Christmases. I will get those up as soon as I can.

New Year's Resolutions
Topic: The States
I used to always have a New Year's resolution, because I thought it was fun to have one and that anyone who didn't was a humbug. This year I didn't make a resolution. Out of all the resolutions I've made in my life, I can only remember one. I'm pretty sure that if I can't even remember what most of them were, I for darned sure didn't keep any of them.
My questions to all of you are these:
Did you make a resolution this year?
If so, care to share?
Do you remember any past resolutions?
Did you ever actually keep any? (If yes, past January?)
Just curious.

Our visit in Indio is going well. This morning I was thinking how much I was enjoying being in a place I could wear Birkenstocks in January. Unfortunately, the weather has taken a bit of a turn. As I write this, there's a severe thunderstorm warning for Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. We're not leaving for Palmdale until tomorrow, so we should be fine for driving back. However, today we were going to take a tram to a mountaintop to enjoy the view of the desert, but with the weather the way it is, that's probably not going to happen.
Last night we did a fun thing. We went to the Living Desert. It's a wildlife park. They had sections of it decorated with lights for Christmas. It was really neat. (The photo to the right, "Happy Zoo Year," was taken there.)
Yesterday we did Ryan's third Christmas. (Photos to follow eventually.) Of course Ryan had more fun with the boxes than anything else. Ryan's aunt gave him some adorable glow-in-the-dark jammies. I'd never see those before!
We've had to mail a lot of our things to England. It will be like Christmas all over again when we get everything there!

Off to Indio
Topic: The States
My aunt and uncle left yesterday. It was great to see them and I was sad to see them go. The time went by much too quickly.
Today we're going to Indio (which is near Palm Springs) to see Larry's mom. Ryan will get his third Christmas! We'll be back in Palmdale on the 3rd, and leave for England the next day. Whew!
It's weird to me that it's the last day of 2005.
Here's to a happy, healthy, prosperous 2006!

Quickie
Topic: The States
We're back in Palmdale and boy is it nice to be online, wireless, on my own computer again!
Christmas at the Layman's was wonderful. (Pictures to follow at some point.) Larry and Ryan and I had a great time with Larry's family. Today we left early in the morning for my parents' house. My aunt and uncle from Oklahoma flew out today. It was great to see them! We had our Christmas with them this afternoon. (Again, pictures to follow at some point.) On Christmas day, Ryan was enthusiastic, but a bit overwhelmed. Today, he saw the presents and seemed to know exactly what to do! Ryan's going to get a third Christmas with his nana Joyce in a few days. Lucky little guy!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Topic: The States
Larry and I are currently at Larry's uncle Barry's house. We are thoroughly enjoying high speed internet access!
This morning we went out to breakfast. I made the mistake of ordering chocolate chip pancakes for Ryan (see photo). He was quite the source of entertainment for the wait staff and fellow patrons! Here are some more pictures: Chocolate Chip Pancake There is also one from my parents' house, and one from the infamous Santa photo session.
Larry and Ryan and I are enjoying being here in Vegas. Of course, getting here was half the fun (note the sarcasm). It took me and Ryan five and a half hours to drive from Palmdale. The 15 is down to one lane around Barstow and then again around Baker. The backup was horrendous. Larry's flight in was two hours late, so he was dealing with travel snafus as well.
Now that we're here, we're very much enjoying visiting family and friends.
Hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!

Time Goes By Too Quickly
Now Playing: The desert sunrise outside the front window
Topic: The States
The coolest thing just happened! My dear friends JoAnna and Mike Gehring own and run Canine Country Club. Mike was just on the Fox 11 News (Los Angeles) for his and JoAnna's donation to Toys For Tots. It was so exciting to see Mike on the news, especially for such a generous act for a great cause!
I've been having such a nice, enjoyable, relaxing time here at my parents' house. It's been great! We've gone shopping and gone out to eat, and gone for a drive. It's been great just relaxing together. I can't believe the week is almost over already. I knew it would go by too quickly.
Yesterday was my birthday. I'm 32! That's weird. I had a very good birthday. In the morning we had Starbucks and doughnuts. Later, my parents watched Ryan so I could spend a few hours at Desert Fountain, a day spa. It was wonderful to be pampered! I got a full body massage, a facial, a manicure, and a pedicure. Bliss! After that my parents and Ryan and I had dinner at the Olive Garden. Yum!
Friends and family called to wish me a happy birthday and sent cards. Thank you so much!
All in all, a very good birthday.
Tomorrow Ryan and I are driving to Vegas to meet Larry. We'll be at his dad's house until the 26th or 27th. I don't think I'll be online much. Larry's dad has a slow dialup modem. I'll probably be able to check e-mail once a day or so, but that's it.
Hope everyone is having a great holiday season, and in case I don't get on to post again before the 25th, a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Greetings From The States!
Topic: The States
We're here. Ryan and I got in yesterday. It was safe, and very long. There were a few snafus, but luckily there were also some extremely kind people who helped us out.
Amazingly, Ryan hardly slept the whole way. It was an 11+ hour flight from London to LA! (After a 45 minute flight from Leeds to London.) Of course he was tired beyond belief when we landed. He finally slept in the car on the way to my parents' house. Ryan did really well on the flight though, making friends with the flight attendants and fellow passengers.
Ryan and I are doing pretty well. We're jet lagged like crazy, but adjusting.
I can't believe our first day is done already. I know our time here is going to go by way too quickly.

Packin' Late
Topic: The States
Of course I am still not done packing yet, and it's 9:20pm! We're leaving around 4:30am tomorrow. Ugh! So what am I doing online? Just letting everyone know that I am bringing my computer with me, so I will still be online. However, don't know how much time I will have. I am shutting down now until we get settled in in CA. See ya'll there!