The pieces that remain

identity markers
Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

My dad passed away yesterday and I am in his room looking at the things he left behind. These were all in his dresser drawer, and paint a pretty clear picture of how he saw himself.

He died of a heart attack after repeated hospitalizations for complications from diabetes.

There are notes on flickr for what each of these pieces are.

Four years ago...

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

...was the longest day of Christine's life

So today is Colin's birthday, he got to wear a crown all day at school and have cookies, and afterward Grandma and Grandpa Perry took him to Chuck E. Cheese's for his birthday dinner where he hugged a mouse and got to eat cotton candy. After that he blew out his candles on a birthday cupcake and got his fancy new scooter as a birthday present.

This kid has got it made

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

Random Colin bits

His favorite song is Feist's 1 2 3 4. He has "1234 tell me that you love me more, sleepless long nights (doesn't really sound like this is what he is saying)" memorized. After that he just kind of moves his head.

He calls me twinkle stars with complete sincerity.

When a guy asked us if we wanted to help save the whales and we politely declined, we still had to wait for the signal to change and we could cross the street. During this time Colin said he was scared. I asked him what he was scared of and he said "that man" pointing at the whale guy. Colin said it loud enough so that he could hear. Greg and I both started laughing and the guy said that he thought that was cold. I love the honesty that Colin can have.

Colin came out of the bedroom swinging his sweater and hit Greg. Greg asked Colin to apologize for hitting him with his shirt. Colin retorted "Actually, it's a sweater". So hard not to laugh when he does that.

We apologize for not updating more often- Greg is in his penultimate term as a grad student, Colin is switching schools and I am obsessing about work and grad school admissions. Things are good, but busy.

colin=random

Colin: I am so hungry
me:Okay... do you want some cheese?
Colin: No
me: How about some oranges?
Colin: I am 'lergic to oranges
me:You are what?
Colin: oranges are 'lergic to me, I no can eat them
me: Who told you you are allergic to oranges?
Colin:[shrugs] I not know...mommy?

snow trip

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

We headed up to Mt. Hood yesterday to play in the snow since we have been essentially snow-less here. We ended up in Parkdale and played at the school there. There was about 8 inches of snow on the field and a couple decent hills to sled on. We also stopped for ice cream, and oddly enough we were not the only ones in the place. On the way home we stopped in Hood River so Colin could go to the toy store there (which has an excellent selection of Thomas toys), and I got to check out a brew pub I had never been to, which had some decent beers, but over all I was not blown away.

happy new year!

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

Colin made it until 12:02 last night. He toasted at midnight, put his glass down and passed out on top of Christine. We asked Colin what he wanted to do for NYE and he said he wanted to make sugar cookies. SO we hung out and made snickerdoodles with blue sprinkles, drank our cider and waited for the ball. I drank a bottle of beer from out of the cellar to ring in the new year: Stone Eighth Anniversary to celebrate '08... it was an odd beer when it came out in 2004, but it aged well and was pretty enjoyable.

Happy New Year everybody.

he knows that santa's on his way

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

We just finished laying out all the xmas bounty for Colin. His little head has been threatening to explode for about a week, so he had a bit of trouble falling asleep tonight.

us:you have to go to sleep for Santa to come.
Colin: it is taking so so SO SO long for night night time to come.
Colin:I just want to stay up all night and it be morning time.
us: it doesn't work that way, you need to put your head down and go to sleep.
Colin: I want you to go to sleep, and I stay up all night. You get laughing freight cars (the toy he asked Santa for), and in the morning you share them with me.

That is some good negotiating. So I threw him in the car and we went to look for Santa until he passed out.

Merry Christmas everybody.

the next level

the next level
Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

I finally assembled all the parts of my birthday present and figured out how to use them. I have one full 5G keg, and 2 full 3G.

Now that I know how to tear down and clean the kegs, this will be much easier than bottling.

I still have more to learn about CO2 volumes and carb times, balancing dispensing pressure, but I think the study time will pay off pretty quick.

anybody want to come over for a beer?

a tasty three years...

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

Every year we have been in Portland we have made it to the Woodstock Wine & Deli annual vertical tasting of SN Celebration. This year was a 6 year tasting, which ended up being a little daunting. The odd years were definitely the winners. 2,4,6 were all a little off in their own way. 3 was my favorite, and 5 was Christine's dad's. The current year is always very in your face and a little raw, but the freshness and depth of hop flavor is a wonderful thing.

is it cold in here?

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine

This is a Spiderman kid's meal toy that turns black when you run it under cold water... I just picked it up off the counter and took this picture of it. There is a comparison picture of what it looks like warm (what is SHOULD look like) up on flickr. We have made it to November without turning on the heat, which I think beats most NW dwellers. It is only in the last few days that it has actually gotten cold in the house... it has been cool, and even chilly, but not it is officially cold. The furnace has a new filter and I think tonight will be the time to throw the switch...