Christmas with Kerri and Patrick

Well we were able to spend Christmas with Kerri in their new home in Ashburn, VA. They moved in on Monday and we arrived Tuesday to help with the final aspects of moving the remainder of their things out of their old apartment to their new "Tournament Home" at the Belmont Country Club. It has three bedrooms and a two car garage.

The first floor has a formal dining area, a gathering room and a living room plus a nice modern kitchen and breakfast nook and guest bathroom all on the first floor. Lots of windows and a fireplace to boot. The windows all have french shutters on them for privacy. The upstairs has the three bedrooms and a full bath, and the basement has a large room that is fully carpeted and finished. There is also a very large storage room at the basement level where the furnace is located. LOTS OF ROOM TO GROW INTO!

Their new place is about 32 miles from their old apartment in Bethesda, MD. Patrick and I made two trips with the remainder of the stuff not yet moved and we cleaned the apartment so the landlord could have his final walk through. We were busy the day before and the day after Christmas finishing the details. Dee and Kerri did a lot of the detailed work of putting things in closets and drawers and deciding what should go where.

The move has transported them from urban dwellers to suburbanites. There is lots to see and do in their new area with oodles of shopping and sightseeing sites. The love about 5 miles from an Prime Outlet Mall and about 9 miles from Leesburg, VA, a very historic area.

One of Kerri's co-workers attends a new church development that meets in an elementary school, so we went there for Christmas Eve. It felt different for me not to have to be doing anything in preparation for a Christmas Eve service after having done so for 37 years. The service we attended was disappointing to say the least. The children of the church sang a "12 Days of Christmas" song with different words that was cute. Then the praise band di a modernized version of the "12 Days of Christmas" that was loud and fast and not pleasant to listen to at all. The whole service lasted about 45 minutes. They had coffee and cookies afterward. At the close of the service the young preacher (shirt tails out - can't get used to that)announced that since "this service took so much effort, we'll not be having worship this coming Sunday so that you can spend it with your family." Hummm. I guess since Christmas was during the week, God wouldn't mind if we don't worship Him on Sunday this week. Or as my new son-in-law said "As it says in the Bible, "On the 14th day God rested."

Afterward we went to a Japanese Steak and Seafood Restaurant. Although we arrived early, we enjoyed the food there immensely. It was prepared Hibachi style where they prepare it in front of you.

Christmas Day we opened our presents and then had a delicious waffle and sausage breakfast prepared by the hostess in her new home. (see picture above.) Then we took a nice long walk around their development that has literally hundreds of homes and dozens of streets. The streets are all named after various golf tournaments - Kerri and Patrick live on "Solheim Cup Terrace." The weather was beautiful for a long walk - in fact the weather was beautiful the whole time we were there - even in the 50s. Later in the evening we went to Patrick's aunts house for a ham and turkey dinner. We met his aunt and uncle, and their children and Patrick's mom and grandfather were there too from Bethany Beach, MD. Gifts were exchanged and we had lots of food and lots of laughs. When we got home we watched a little television before going to bed.

The day after Christmas, Patrick and I made one last trip to the old apartment to get the final load of goodies and to clean out the refrigerator. When we got back to the new house, Dee and Kerri had emptied many of the boxes and bags that contained things that were not put in their place. About 1 p.m. Patrick's family came over to see the new place, and so Dee and I bid farewell to the"soon to be parents" and their new home and headed north to Pittsburgh.

Although the weather in VA was nice, as we headed north, things cooled off some. During the last 60 miles of the PA Turnpike we were greeted with heavy gusting rains. We endured the rain storm all the way to my mother's home where I checked to see if everything was okay in the house. And the rains continued as we headed to a party hosted by our old neighbors in Balckridge (Penn Hills). Many of our former neighbors were there and their children too (now all grown up 13 years later). It was nice to see them and touch base briefly before we headed back to Mars, PA. We also stopped at the Turners home in Blackridge and visited with Darlene. (Tom is an mortician and was busy on the phone.) We ended up back home safe and sound at about 10 p.m. Whew!

What a great Christmas we had with Kerri and Patrick helping them move in to their new home and just being able to spend time with them as they contemplate the new stage their life is entering (with the move) and in anticipation of a little girl in April.

Dinner with the Chorus

Last night Dee and I went to the Bogmeister Christmas Party Dinner at Delmonicos Restaurant in Cranberry. Almost everyone from the chorus was there and brought a guest. We had an eating area sectioned off to ourselves, and this allowed us to sing some of our Christmas songs during the evening to the delight of the rest of the patrons in the place. It was a nice evening of fellowship and music.

During the morning when we read the Post-Gazette, we both noticed an ad for a "Gourmet Getaway weekend" at Seven Springs Golf and Ski Resort that sounded pretty nice. It's a cooking getaway. It includes 4 meals, 4 cooking seminars and six cooking classes and two nights lodging for $399 plus tax and gratuity. It's for a Friday to Sunday in January (9-10). We decided to to go it. It sounds like a fun time away and maybe I can learn something in the process. Anyone else interested?

Today I take Bonz to the Kennel where he'll stay for a few days while Dee and I go to visit with Kerri and Pat over the Christmas holiday. We'll help them move in to their new condo which is larger than the apartment where they are now. We're looking forward to the time with them.

Baby It's Cold Outside

On Sunday Dee had to work so I went to church without her. It was the fourth Sunday in Advent. The special music was nice and appropriate for the day. I sat with the Campbells and then we later went out for lunch at Bob Evans. By the time I'd gotten home, the Steeler game was well into the second quarter. The game didn't go well and the home town lost.

When Dee came home, we watched the end of the game and also decided to finish off the chicken cacciatori she'd made the day before. Yummm. Then, since it was bitter cold outside (71 degrees) we stayed in and worked on the jigsaw puzzle and the "brain puzzle" book we'd purchased. We'd been wanting to see the movie "Wall e" so I'd picked it up from a red box and we watched it. It was cute, but now what I'd expected. It provided an interesting commentary on the "land fill" problem, and taken to extreme the people had to leave the earth while the trash was compacted. After years in space, the people got used to being served by robots and became so comfortable that they no longer had to walk or exercise and eventually forgot about going back to earth. A tiny green plant was found by Walle and the plant became a symbol to everyone that the planet was again inhabitable. However, the computers that had taken over didn't want to let the people return to earth.... hummmm.

Tonight we're going to a dinner with the Bogmeisters at Dominicos. Should be fun. But it's still very cold outside - in the teens. No snow - but COLD.