Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

(Mom and Dad Graves' Christmas Tree, it's a biggun!)

Wow...2009 is drawing to a close...where has it gone? Apparently as you age, life speeds up. Anyway, we loved having sister Tina, bro in law Ryan, niece Isabel and nephew Peyton in town for Christmas, all the way from London!

(Setting up the train around our tree per Jaime's request)

Prior to their arrival we had several events - Saturday the 19th was the annual Graves family Holiday bash, which was a huge success. This is the first time in 3 years that everyone who wanted to was able to show up - no power outages, no foot and a half of snow! If you missed it this year, do yourself a favor and plan on coming next year. It really is THE social event of the season!

Sunday we rested and then took my mom to see Handel's Messiah at the Seattle Symphony. I have to be honest, it was a little more singing than I thought, and a tad long, but we still had a great time, as did mom! After one day of work for me (sorry, Jaime!) it was time for family!

What can I say other than we had a blast with our nieces (Kendal and Natalie as well) and nephew...I'll simply link to the complete Christmas album on Shutterfly here. Christmas Eve we managed to make it to Church, and then got to help Santa visit Isabel and Peyton at Nana's house. Santa didn't want his beer, so I drank it for him...(I do what I can!) Christmas morning was the usual breakfast and opening of gifts for the little ones (and a new zoom lense for Geoff from Santa!) After a quiet afternoon, the rest of the fam headed over for dinner at my parents' house. Food was ate, wine was drunk, stories were told, and a very merry Christmas drew to a close.

(Isabel sets out Santa's snacks)

(Peyton and Geoff race Peyton's new cars)

(Natalie, Kendal, and new cousin Willam)

Now we're getting ready to celebrate the arrival of 2010 up in Bellingham with Courtney and Dan and friends, and then Saturday we head to New Orleans to leave on a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean! I should have a TON of pictures from that when we return. In closing, 2009 has been an awesome year! Such a loving family (old and new!), such great friends, and many, MANY great stories. Thanks to everyone! Jaime and I look forward to the joy and happiness that 2010 is sure to bring...

By the way - top band of the decade? Why Pearl Jam of course! Were you expecting something else? Now go listen to Backspacer, or Self Titled, and let it rock your socks off!

Department Meetings

Go a little something like this...

My Sneaks, Let me show you them!

So it was Employee Shop day at the downtown Nordstrom store yesterday. They also had a special event - if you bought a pair of Puma shoes, you could get them customized by a graffiti artist FOR FREE! So, let's review - New Pumas, a 30% discount, and free customization? YEAH! Ladies and Gents, I give you the "Official" Pearl Jam Pumas!

It's freakin' COLD!

Wow! First real cold snap of the season, and man, it's coooooooold! Like when I got out of the car this evening, I went to yawn, and started coughing because the air was so cold and dry. But hey, at least it wasn't too bad on Saturday for the Husky win! Jaime and I had a fun time at the game trying to stay warm. Who cares that Cal wasn't playing for much, the Huskies put on a great show! And hopefully Jake Locker plans on sticking around to finish what he started. Go Dawgs!



Sunday was the great Iwo Jima style tree raising at the Elder Graves house in Renton. This year's tree actually wasn't that heavy and we had a pretty easy time of it. Afterwards, we stuffed our modest tree into the Sportwagen (more bonus points for the 'wagen) and brought our own Christmas tree home.


Got it up and lit/decorated that evening. With Christmas music on the stereo, I guess I can officially declare that I am in the Holiday spirit. And with that, the madness begins. In this time of Holiday love/reflection, don't forget that the special person in your life would probably LOVE something from Nordstrom! Seriously!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jaime and I made it through Thanksgiving (with 22 of her closest relatives!) It was a grand time in San Francisco - we managed to stay active the whole time - Jaime's grandfather lives across the street from Golden Gate park - and I got to carve my first turkey! All I can say is God Bless butchers! Otherwise I would definitely be vegetarian. We also got to catch up with Uncle David and Aunt Elizabeth up in Napa (and got some wine tasting in as well!) and spent Wednesday afternoon/sunset by ourselves at the Marin Headlands. It is a great joy that when we travel to SF, we get to spend time with both of our families...(and can get time alone)

Two turkeys were cooked, 4 pies were baked, some large number of potatoes were mashed, good wine was poured unselfishly, and a grand time was had by all. Many many thanks to Steve (Pagra) for hosting us! There is no greater joy in life than good food, great wine, and the love of family, honestly. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Marin Album available here and Thanksgiving dinner album here





Now on to Christmas...

Blah

I injured my shoulder/neck this weekend - pulled a muscle or something. Spent Sunday on the couch...getting old sucks...

Check out the new widgets - I have a Google Voice account - click on the link and you can leave me a voicemail. Also - enjoy "Just Breathe" - the latest single off of Backspacer. That's all for now. Time for ibuprofen!

Halloween!!! (Keep it classy, North Bend!)

I realize these are becoming simple weekend updates. Come on, isn't that what "everybody's working for"? "The weekend"?


After a quiet Friday night at the gym, Jaime and I had another action packed weekend (now with kung fu grip!) I FINALLY picked up another keg on Saturday - a 1/4bbl of Diamond Knot IPA. Well worth the drive to Mukilteo! After cleaning up around the house a bit, I got back into "costume" and we got ready for dinner. Had friends over, enjoyed good wine and great steak, and greeted a total of......................


2 groups of trick or treaters. Apparently a lot of the parents in the neighborhood are in the dark to the fact that we give out treats for them as well! Keg cup, anyone? Anyway, on to Sunday.

Ah there's nothing like an extra hour of sleep when you might possibly have been up a little late. Sunday we slowly gathered ourselves, and decided to embrace the lingering fall sun with a hike on the John Wayne trail out of North Bend. The air was brisk, but it was sunny, and an absolutely gorgeous day out. Our hike ended up somewhere right around 6 miles. Not too bad on a Sunday afternoon with an hour less of daylight. The trail follows the old Milwaukee Road railroad grade out of the former town of Moncton along the edge of the city of Seattle watershed. I have to admit, I've had a bit of a fascination with this area as of late. As we had previously (briefly) hiked the other end of the watershed at Landsburg, I would LOVE to be able to go all the way through (and follow the railroad grade) but unfortunately it is off limits. Here's a link to all the pics. And for the interesting back story on Moncton (known as Cedar Falls to the railroad), be sure to check out this link.

(As the sun sets, shadows lengthen)

We headed back to the car. Before heading to Renton to visit family, the Sportwagen required a fuel up so we stopped in North Bend for some diesel. Why would I include a boring story about getting fuel in the blog? As we're waiting our turn for one of the diesel pumps, a girl in a hoodie, sweatpants, and slippers gets out of her car, and pulls the gas hose out. As she places it back on the pump, she turns her backside to us and we discover that 1. She is NOT wearing undies and 2. She's got an itch on her butt that she can't wait to scratch. Wooooooow. Kids, say no to crack. For a second I thought she was just going to drop her pants and moon us - she might as well have...It was one of those moments where you turn to each other and give the "oh my god, did that just happen?" look...

After that - visiting Geoff's parents, dinner with Jaime's Aunt and Uncle, and home for an early dinner...that's a simple close.

Ooh - one more thing - I've committed to Movember - a month to shed light on men's health (and grow a cool mustache!) Here's a link to my fundraising page (benefits the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Live Strong). I'll be updating with pictures of my 'stache as it comes in, stay tuned for updates!

Pumpkin Carving

Behold, Jaime and Geoff's Jack'o'lanterns of 2009 -

(Spooky night shot! I'm getting good with the camera!)

Jaime's getting quite good with the carving kit. Me? I just stick with the Homestar Runner theme...(maybe a Strong Sad pumpkin next year, Courtney!)

Another great weekend on the books, even if the Huskies got blown out of the water. In fact, as I keep telling everyone (trying to justify it to myself) the game was never really close, so this loss is a lot easier to bare.

Friday night we finally made good on our promise of awesome Greek food for Michal. We also left the Sportwagen in the very capable hands of my brother for it's first official service! On the drive up, it rolled over 10,ooo miles! A fresh change of oil, and I'm sure it'll be ready for another 10,000. I'd say I'm proud of our baby, but that would just be weird.

Saturday was the Husky game (At least it was dry) and a nice night with Craig at Beveridge Place pub, playing cards and (for me, anyway) enjoying many fine brews. Sunday was house cleaning, and of course, carving pumpkins...

I suppose I should catch everyone up on last weekend, too! We took Kendal (and my brother) to a farm to pick out our pumpkins. We met up with Kendal's friend Morgan, and parents Tara and Ryan. The kids had a great time, and it even stayed dry for us. I'd get all into the details, but the pictures speak for themselves...

Inebriation - Fun when it happens to others

Have I ever been drunk? Oh yeah!
Have I ever been REALLY Drunk? Sure...
Have I ever been so drunk...well, we're not going to continue this - instead, enjoy this video!

Another great weekend...

Saturday was the Seattle Food Truck food fest (very impromptu) or as Craig pointed out - the hipster mobile food fest (lots of skinny pants, witty t-shirts, and army hats) Twas supposed to be an absolutely glorious event, and it almost measured up. The food was good, but the organization wasn't. To their credit, there didn't seem to be an official organizer, and it was their first year. I got a Dante dog (ketchup, mustard, onions and cream cheese!) and a pulled pork sandwich. What I did not get was the burrito that Jaime had waited in line so patiently to order - the lines were ATROCIOUS and it was around 3:30 by the time we decided we weren't going to see our Mexican food. We'd been waiting about half an hour, and they were up to number 106 (we were 126) from 99. Unfortunately we had other engagements to get ready for (but you already knew that, I mean, it's US! Of course we have other stuff to do Saturday!)

We headed home and prepped for dinner with my coworkers Deke and Miranda down at their house in Puyallup. Nothing beats a Saturday night, great friends, a good steak, and a glass of red wine. That the Huskies pulled off an AMAZING come from behind victory was even better (go Dawgs!) Thanks to Deke and Miranda for hosting us!

(Kendal, what do you think of your new sister?)

Sunday we enjoyed breakfast at the 'rents house with our new niece Natalie (and the rest of the fam). I get an awesome breakfast, Jaime gets to hold a baby - everyone wins! Sunday afternoon we had a wonderful visit with Courtney and Dan at Beveridge Place Pub, where we shared great conversation and I got a fresh hopped IPA. Fall is the best season for hop lovers!


And so begins another week...

Nature, F*ck yeah!

Oh my god, it's quiet!

Nothing exciting going on this week, really...so here's an awesome story to pass the time. I had to go to the dentist yesterday for a cleaning. While they were in there, they found that the cap on one of my fillings had cracked, so they cleaned it out and fixed it. When I picked Jaime up from the bus stop, I relayed my story of getting the filling repaired, and she said to me, "Oh, they had to put a bit of fixin' on it."

I love my wife! (That would be a reference to the new Pearl Jam song "The Fixer")

A compiled list of things that ARE and ARE NOT Rock and Roll

(Photo by Karen Loria)

Welcoming a new niece on the day your favorite band releases a new album...VERY rock and roll.

Traveling out of town to see your favorite band...rock and roll.

Ripped jeans...rock and roll.

Pre funking...rock and roll.

Spending 45 minutes in traffic trying to get to the venue...not rock and roll.

(Ninja edit - The Zipper move...totally rock and roll!)

Geoff almost having a Lake Tahoe episode with his bladder (ask him for the story sometime)...VERY not rock and roll.

14th row seats...rock and roll.

7 foot tall dude in the row in front of you (and his wife/girlfriend the USC fan)...decidedly not rock and roll.

Forgetting ear plugs...quite rock and roll.

Ordering lemonade (and thinking it's "quite reasonably priced") from a vendor inside the amphitheater...not really rock and roll.

Admittedly texting for the Husky score during the set...not rock and roll.

Learning the Huskies lost...not rock and roll either.

Hearing "In Hiding" for the first time in 9 years...INCREDIBLY rock and roll!

Hearing the three songs that are your favorites off the new album...rock and roll.

Playing the guitar behind your head like it was designed to be played that way...way more rock and roll than I'll ever be.

In fact,
Mr. Mike McCready...probably IS rock and roll!

Spending over an hour trying to exit the venue...totally not rock and roll.

Well folks, that's it for now. Thanks to Josh and Liisa for hosting me in Portland. Sorry I didn't stay for breakfast (but I DID get the lawn mowed!) Next time...

What a weekend!

While Geoff was rockin' out to Backspacer and helping to welcome our newest niece into the world, I was on the other side of the country in Miami spending time with my parents and sister.

To start the weekend off my Dad was able to snag some time with one of the flight instructors at PolarAir Cargo in a 747-400 simulator. The four of us and Bill (our flight instructor) spent two hours taking off and landing a plane out of SFO airport in all sorts of conditions. (Folks when its foggy in San Francisco, thank goodness for autopilot). Most amazing flight experience ever. It was so real feeling that I'm pretty sure my mom had miniature heart-attack when we stalled out on our first take-off. Wanna get freaked out? Experience the feeling and sound of a 800,000 pound aircraft stalling... yikes!

I was able to stick two landings (bad landings and not without taking out a couple of baggage handlers)! Kinda proud of myself. Thanks to Bill for all his time and to PolarAir Cargo for a little time in their $40 Million Simulator. It was amazing!

The next day we spent the morning by the pool and beach. Water on Miami beach is nice! We went up to the room for a little lunch and I tried to watch the Husky game. Tried was the main word... ESPN was broadcasting the Ducks game. Really, the Ducks? So, I watched the ducks game, but was really watching the ticker at the bottom of the screen for the updates and score. My dad and I were jumping and yelling everytime the ticker would show UW. Also Geoff was sending me minute by minute text updates. For those of you who have not been tuned into college football, UW (unranked) beat USC (ranked #3) 16-13. Luckily ABC switched to the UW game for the last 30 seconds so I got to see the sea of purple storm the field after the winning field goal. Seriously amazing! I hope you enjoyed being at the game Brad!

The rest of the time was walking around Miami Beach, eating out, having a few cocktails and enjoying the "scene". Really an interesting place, all that old time Art Deco architecture was amazing and the people are fun to watch! It was really wonderful to spend some time with the family in a nice relaxed setting. The only non-relaxing thing about the weekend was the 2:30am fire alarm at the hotel... seriously? Also, the fire department took at least 15 minutes to respond... a little scary.

Now I'm on my way home, literally. Wi-Fi on the airplane (free trial run). Makes the flight go by way faster. Now if only the power outlet worked.... stupid battery.

It was a great weekend, but I cannot wait to meet our new niece on Tuesday and join Geoff for some quality Pearl Jam this week.

Backspacer

Oh mailman,
Thank you for delivering Backspacer yesterday!

It rocks! Kind of sad that it's only 36 minutes, but at the same time, that's one of the things that makes it so good - precise and to the point. Oh yeah, and totally frickin' awesome! Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. I'll update when I've had some time to get into it and figure out what my favorite tracks are thus far (seriously, they're all good; and you KNOW I'm not biased!)...

Calm before the storm...

So it's quiet this week. Jaime's out of town on business. I don't have any grand plans. I'm rather enjoying it. But it won't last. It never does.

Friday night is the start of Oktoberfest in Fremont. Yummy.
Saturday night is the pre-release of Backspacer, for which I have been waiting months. I'll be down at Easy Street rocking out with all my Pearl Jam brethren.
SUNDAY - We will be welcoming our 3rd niece (Ryan and Michal's 2nd daughter) into the world! This will be a grand event. I'd also like to mention that Ryan and Michal are two for two - Pearl Jam's last album (Self Titled) was released - can you guess? Do you know Kendal's birthday? That's right - May 2nd, 2006! Sunday is the official release date of Backspacer. I will officially have two totally rockin' nieces! (and a niece and nephew in England whom I miss dearly!)
Oh, also, Jaime gets home from traveling.
Monday - Night 1 at Key Arena - Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 are opening. We're going to pre-funk with neighbors Chris and Yvonne.
Tuesday - Night 2 at the Key. Same plan, except this time we'll be prefunking with Regan and Lindsey!
Saturday - I'm driving to Portland to rock out some more. Josh has never seen Pearl Jam live. We're taking care of that!
Finally, on Tuesday the 29th, Jaime and I are going to see Wicked at the Paramount. Word on the street is it's pretty good. And afterall, she's endulging my musical love, so I can only return the favor. Should be a good time!
I think October starts after that...

***Oh, also - begin ranting now - Seriously, Seattle Public Schools? You're ACTUALLY considering lowering the graduation requirements? SERIOUSLY? A D average? I mean, I was never a perfect student, but come on, that's absolutely absurd! Where's the f*cking motivation for that?

Boys will be Boys!!!

So this past weekend I left Jaime at home and headed down to Sisters, Oregon with brother Ryan. I figured before he has his second daughter and finds himself with more important responsibilities, I better get one last weekend of (slight) debauchery in for him. Really, we just wanted to visit Dave and Regan and have a few beers at the Deschutes brewery. The weekend was a grand success. We arrived in Sisters Friday night after a 6 hour drive, met up with Dave and Regan (and daughter Colby) and had a nice dinner at Three Creeks brewing. This was followed by several games of poker back at Dave and Regs. The next morning, moving at a leisurely pace, we first made our way up to Three Creeks lake in the Sportwagen. After a hike around the lake, we headed back to meet up with Dave and after some impromptu irrigation work, we headed out for a hike on Tumalo mountain.

(The view of Three Creeks lake and the surrounding mountains)

The web page that I found the hike on had said that it was a 1.5 mile hike with a 1200' elevation gain, and that it was rated moderate to difficult. Doesn't sound too bad...
However - the start of the hike was at 6500', and it ended up being more like 2-2.5 miles, in loose sand (think of walking on the beach, except at a steep incline). Dave, the resident of Sisters at 3000' quickly took the lead. Ryan kept up. About halfway through, I was breathing heavily through my mouth, and fell back a bit. Everytime I thought I could see the top of the ridge, I'd round a corner, or come out of the trees and be sorely disappointed. That and whoever designed the trail apparently thought switchbacks are overrated. We go straight up, or we don't go up at all!

But I am no quitter! I managed to (mostly) keep pace, and we made it to the top. With a few minutes of catching my breath, now over 7700' above sea level, I had time to take in the view. Any lingering fatigue that I might have been feeling was quickly gone from my mind. We had a 360 degree view of the Central Oregon Cascades - Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, and Three Sisters. To the east was the flat lands and lava fields that comprise the geology of Eastern Oregon. It was simply stunning!

(South Sister, Middle Sister, and Broken Top; North Sister barely visible behind Middle Sister)

(Dave and Ryan toast a successful ascent)

After our descent, our reward for the evening was dinner/drinks at the Deschutes brewhouse in downtown Bend. I don't think a cheeseburger and a cold beer have EVER tasted so good! Another night of poker and good conversation followed. Waking Sunday morning, we packed our bags, hopped in the car, stopped for a quick breakfast, and were on our way back to Seattle via Santium pass (the Sportwagen is an awesome road trip car, btw!)

MAJOR thanks to Dave and Regan for hosting us! We had an awesome time! Hopefully we can come back soon. I know Jaime wants to visit!

The lingering summer...

I say it every time - Jaime and Geoff are busy people. Last weekend was the first weekend in at least a month and a half that we had some free time...
Apparently that didn't include time to update the blog, so I'm doing it now.

When we last left our adventurous, good looking couple, they were suffering through a record heat wave...

The weekend following the heat wave we packed the Sportwagen and ventured to Portland to spend a weekend wine tasting with Josh and Liisa. After cocktails and a dinner party with Jaime's coworkers at McCormick and Schmick on Friday night, we hit the road and were in Portland by 11:30pm. The next morning, we headed out to the wineries near Hood River. Jaime can fill you in on the discussions of yielding right of way and what defines "passing" and the reference to Neil Diamond...

(Geoff at Mt. Hood Winery)

Hood River is an awesome city. Unfortunately it was still in the 90s and it made it tough to transition from one place to another. After lunch at the Double Mountain brewery, we hit up several wineries in the area. A good time was had by all, and by 4pm, we were beat (and some of us maybe slightly buzzed). We ventured back to Portland via the Bridge of the Gods (made famous by The Amazing Race 13) and had some damn good Mexican food and more drinks.
Sunday we headed back for Seattle and the usual trying to get caught up on laundry/dishes. Thanks Josh and Liisa for hosting us! Come to Seattle soon!

The next weekend, we had several engagements. Friday night we celebrated Craig's birthday a day early at Feierabend, the local German pub. They have the best pretzels in the US! (I would say the world, but I've never had a fresh German pretzel) They also serve beer in liter glasses. On top of fresh pretzels and liter beers, Jenny and Kelly joined us for some great conversation. Saturday night, we hosted our neighbors Carter and Dan for our monthly neighbor dinner (Chris and Yvonne were busy). Thai food from Buddha Ruksa and some exceptional red wine! As dinner was finishing, we discovered Chris trying to break into his own home, having left his keys with Yvonne, whom was not yet home. We all met in the street, finished off the leftover Thai food, another bottle of wine, and a few more drinks with neighbor JD and Chris. Yvonne eventually showed and the impromptu party continued...
Sunday, we met up with Ryan and Michal and Kendal for the Big Al Brewing 1 year Anniversary. More beer! After parting with them, we spent the rest of the evening cleaning the house for our soon to arrive guests, Jaime's cousin Colin and friend Remy arriving from New York. Quickly brushing over the week, I can say they had a great time in Seattle seeing the sites, except that the ENTIRE time they were here, Mt. Rainier was obscured by clouds!

(Ryan and Kendal at Big Al Brewing)

Thursday night I met up with Kevin and a couple of his buddies for Kevin's bachelor party. We hit up Bob's Burgers and Brews and the Tulalip casino (where I ended up $20 on top after betting it all on black at the end of the night) before heading out to Brett's family's cabin on Whidbey Island sometime around midnight. After several hands of poker, I called it sometime around 3:30...

(Soon to be wed Kevin, sometime early in the morning)

Friday having made it home and taking a nice nap, Jaime and I headed up to Kevin's house for the rehearsal dinner. Param's family from Australia and Malaysia were in for the wedding, and her sister made some awesome Indian food...we had a great time continuing the party and Param has a wonderful family. Her parents were very gracious hosts! Plus we got to see Kevin in a traditional Indian wedding outfit...nice threads, Kevy!
Saturday was Dan's 30th Birthday party! Congrats, Dan! We had a good time at the Dunne house on Mercer Island and got some good time catching up with Courtney and Dan. Here are all the pictures. We still need to come visit you guys again in Bellingham! After watching Dan snuff out the forest fire that was his cake, we headed out for neighbor Chris's 40th birthday party. More food was ate, more drink was drunk and all had a great time. We finally called it sometime around 12:00.

(Someone put that fire out!)

Sunday Jaime was a rockstar and got up to go cheer Craig on in his half Ironman (go, Craig!!!) at Lake Stevens sometime early in the morning. I slowly awoke and got ready for Kevin and Param's wedding at the Columbia Club (I was a groomsman). What a grand time! The view was absolutely stunning! And Kevin and Param are perfect for each other (no cliches!) We're so proud of our little boy that he's all growed up now and married! All the pictures can be found here




Like I said - this past weekend was pretty much devoted to cleaning up around the house and completing much needed yard work. Enjoy the pictures from the new camera!

-Geoff

Hot, hot, hot!

Well, the temperature in Seattle will be/has been reaching record highs this week. They are expecting over 90 degrees for five or six days in a row this coming week. We are (Geoff - not really) staying cool by using a fan and not turning on the computer at home, so there won't be many blog updates.

Last night the coolest the house got was 81 degrees. Yikes. We'll keep you posted on the heat in the house as the week goes along.

Our basement is even starting to get warm. A couple degrees warmer down there and we might have to ask someone with A/C to hold onto our wine! (and Geoff's record collection, which has taken up temporary residence there)

Wish us luck (and cool weather).

Big Ole Update

(view from the top of Mt Diablo - Geoff and Jaime's Cali Trip)

So - let's just keep this messy and get things updated.
Did you know...

On June 27th, Jaime ran the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon. She finished in 2:29:00. I'm super proud of her!!! And she's super proud of herself for beating her goal of 2 and 1/2 hours! ROCK ON JAIME!!!! Also many thanks to Craig for the running plan and the moral support. Have I told everyone I think running is a tool of the devil?


4th of July weekend Jaime and I traveled to San Francisco to visit our respective families. We had a wonderful time in Sonoma wine tasting, had a great lunch with Uncle David and Aunt Elizabeth, and spent WAAAAAAY too much on good wine. We FINALLY got the chance to get Jaime out to the East Bay and traverse Mt. Diablo (there's a road all the way to the top). The rest of the weekend was spent back in the city at Pagra (Grandpa) Steve's house, and in Pacifica for the 4th at Uncle Jack and Aunt Cindy's house, where I got a chance to exercise my primal urges (alcohol and fire).


Jaime's uncle Jeff (on her dad's side) got a new puppy - a Tibetan terrier. Jaime took like 100 pictures of the dog. Here's one -



I have a (slightly) new job in Nordstrom IT. It's not really official, and I sure as heck didn't get a raise, but I will now be a member of the TSS (technology support services) Project team. It means less time answering phones for me (a good thing) and a chance to develop some more of my IT/Project Management skills (also a good thing). I'll let you know how things are working out for me in a couple of months...

Other than that, we're just trying to keep caught up on housework and gardening, and finish out the summer. Somewhere in the fall we're hoping to get out to London to visit Tina and Ryan. Oh yeah - Pearl Jam in playing the Key Arena September 21st and 22nd, and I got my Ten Club tickets. I LOVE MY WIFE because I was stuck in a meeting and she faithfully got onto their website and scored me the tickets. General on sale is this Saturday at 10am through Live Nation. Get some and I'll see you there!!!!!

Josh and Liisa - we'll see you in two weeks!