New Year's Eve

The night started with some board games. Linsey ended this game of Yahtzee with a score of 505, which included three Yahtzees. Quite amazing.

We went Indian for dinner. It was delicious as always.

I love this girl.

Some weird looking lips on this guy.

Hey now.... Happy New Year!!

Look at all of us....

We are weird, I guess.

Hangin' with the Wuepps

Linsey opening up a present.

My new slippers.

Jeff trying to play golf of the computer.

Linsey and Shirlene enjoying a cocktail.

Shelby looking through pictures on her camera.

Linsey at Work Christmas Day

Linsey leaving a convent where nuns performed chants on Christmas Day. 

Linsey doing some private investigation work.

Stephen spending most of his day inside the car reading this book.

A quick trip to see Plum Island and the Atlantic Ocean.

Interesting colored ocean water at dusk.

This is an example of something called mouth eyes.
More can be found http://www.freakingnews.com/Mouth-Eyes-Pictures--1741.asp

New Baby Tait

MIDLAND, Mich. -- Just seconds after a surgeon sliced open with gruesome precision and stunning sterility the stomach of Kim Tait, a 6 pound, 13 ounce female measuring 19 inches was miraculously pulled from the open wound, doctors announced today.

The baby girl, named Cassandra Janelle, or C.J., as her Uncle Stephen may refer to her as, is Kim and Dan second child, but the first girl. Their first child, Alden, asked for more cheese flavored goldfish crackers when his dad first showed him his new sister.

"Ahhh," Alden said, pointing to the bag of snacks.

Kim, a 20-something nurse, works in the same hospital in which her baby was delivered. That caused a brief problem during the birthing process when, during the surgery, Kim noticed a more efficient way to deliver her baby and in a frustrated tone said to a rather incompetent nurse: "Step aside, I'll take over from here."

Cassandra Janelle "CJ", after cleaning up a little, said thank you to those who helped bring her into the world, chiefly her parents and grandparents.

"Without you," she said, "this really wouldn't be possible, and I thank you for allowing me to come into this world."

After a brief moment, the newborn looked around the room and saw no presents waiting for her, realizing quickly that her worst nightmares had come true.

"Just as I suspected," she said. "The day after Christmas and everyone forgets about my birthday. It is already happening.

"I guess I should get used to it," she said, spitting out a binky someone tried to pass off as a birthday present. "It's going to happen the rest of my life."

Gifts

Some of our gifts. (From top) A shirt and a pair of pants from Linsey. They are nice, and I like them very much. Next is Linsey holding a Newburyport-based Christmas ornament. Next is Linsey holding a gift certificate to Interlocks, a nice salon and day spa. Next you'll see a picture of my new watch in action: Taking a sip of a Kir Royale.

Not pictured:

To Stephen from Linsey: Tiger Woods golf for our new computer

To Linsey from Stephen: two pairs of earrings; a pair of shoes; and a new wallet.

Favorites:

For Stephen: the watch

For Linsey: the salon gift certificate

Christmas Eve

Work ended at 1 p.m. for me on Christmas Eve. So Linsey and I went to the Thirsty Whale to drink a few beers and throw some darts, which is turning into a fun past time of ours. Yesterday's match was a 1-1 draw, with Linsey winning the second game. Above is one of her bulls eye throws, which she was very proud of, and rightly so.

A late-night walk

Linsey decided at about 10 p.m. Thursday night that she needed French vanilla creamer for her morning cup of coffee since we were out of it. A parking ban was in effect for the night since we got about six more inches of snow, so our cars were down on the waterfront.

So we walked to the White Hen.

On our way we walked by Peter Tolan's home, which is quite stunning, especially with his massive Christmas tree. Tolan is a Hollywood screenwriter who lives just up the street. He bought this house for $1.5 million earlier this year; I saw him a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting and he seems like a nice guy. 

 

On the way home from getting creamer, I convinced Linsey we should go to the bar. We stopped at the Grog where Linsey drank one and a half drinks. That was enough for her to wake up with a hangover Friday morning. 

Look out Rachel Ray ...

A cooking show debut. Sort of.

Baking

The baker.

The ingredients. 

The first batch.

One of the platters Linsey and Stephen will take to work to share with colleagues. We'll be popular, even only for a day.

The beautiful cookies.

Shoveling.

Fruit Street Abandoned: A post-apocalyptic world with one remaining shoveler.

Staying warm with whiskey and reading.

Old School

Stephen and Colin working on a project during their days at Mount Pleasant Baptist Academy.

This is a screen shot from a video, in which we each earned "A's" for our efforts.

The government advised us to get provisions since a storm is suppose to hit tonight and continue through tomorrow. After a quick family meeting, Linsey and I decided these products would likely get us through the worst of it.

Henry trying to grab the camera.

An 18-wheeler crashed into the low limb of a tree when trying to pull over to the side of the street. Also, some workers were trimming branches trying to free the truck and when one of the large limbs hit the ground, a chunk of it the size of a small discuss flew by my head (I was standing about 75 yards away) at an amazing rate of speed. I felt lucky not to get hurt.

Henry and Stephen hanging out. Henry was restless.

The Christmas tree downtown Newburyport.

Some old-school musicians downtown last night, entertaining shoppers.

Snow storm

Linsey's boots in the snow.

At dinner enjoying a beer and keeping warm next to a fire (not pictured).

Inside the place we ate dinner; a nice little Irish pub.

Getting ready to leave the pub and go out in the snow.

Standing in the middle of State Street, not another soul around.

Enjoying the snow.

The flakes look nice in the flash.

A quick stop by Jason and Henry.

The Northeast got hit with a large snow storm tonight (Thursday). 

From 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (the time as I type) it snowed about seven inches -- and it continues.

They say we could get as much as 10 inches.

I've always loved big snow storms like this. An added burden in our situation, though, is the Newburyport parking ban. Anytime a snow storm hits, the city prohibits parking on the streets, forcing all vehicles to driveways or, in our case, to the municipal parking lots. That means Linsey and I park about six blocks from the house and must walk home through snowy conditions. It isn't totally horrible, but can be disheartening after a long day of work.