Kelly and I had a wonderful Christmas this year and we visited with every remaining segment of our respective families and even had time for friends. Kelly and I stayed the night with my mother on Christmas Eve and woke up Christmas morning and opened our presents. I haven’t done that in quite a while and I was glad to be able to do it again. Mom sent me some photos she took on Christmas morning, and you can find them in the 2006.12.25 – Chrimbo Morning gallery. My personal favorite? Grandma with the Santa hat!
Finally, Christmas is finished for another year, and I’m kind of glad it is. The run-up is long and joy-filled with parties, get-togethers, family and friends. I do love the holidays, but in the same way that I love, say, a tornado. They are awesome things of nature that happen every year with consistency that inspire wonder and amazement, but at the same time a certain level of stress.
The big news is that Kelly’s sister Cherie gave birth her second child Katie on Tuesday, the day after Christmas! Kelly and I took care of our nephew Andy while mommy had a planned C-section in the morning. Little Katie “looks just like Kelly” and was 8lbs 2oz with dark curly hair. Kelly and I visited with the happy family later in the day, and we snapped some photos of the blushing baby girl.
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So the other day, I was contacted via AIM by a guy named “Jerrod” in Orlando, Florida, asking my permission to use a photo I took of a performance of the “Lysistrata” (with Nick Smith and Ken Troklus of the world-famous Project Improv). Well, today he sent me a PDF of the photo in use on the front page of the indie, the “arts and entertainment section” of the University of Central Florida newspaper. Thanks Google Image Search!
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First up, the photos from our annual Huber’s trip have been posted into the 2004.10.16 Hubers! gallery. Some great duck photography there, if I do say so myself.
Secondly, before the 2004 DESS Handlaunch competition, Bruce, Brian and I went to see Richard Harker‘s giant home aquarium. He built an addition onto his Raleigh, NC home for a 2,000 gallon saltwater reef tank. It is truly a sight to behold. You can behold it in the 2004.10.22 – Giant Home Aquarium gallery.
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Geoff and his girl Anne invited Kelly and I to go to the Louisville Science Center on Saturday. Geoff captured lots of photos. We also saw Space Station, the first-ever IMAX film shot in space! It was awesome to say the least. Then we grabbed a bite to eat at Saffron’s a tasty Mediterranean restaurant on Main Street. Thanks Geoff! Thanks Anne!
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Kelly and I went up to Dayton on Friday so that Kelly could run the Air Force Marathon Half-Marathon (13.1 miles). The race was on Saturday, and Kelly did really well, completing the race in just under 2 hours — a real improvement over her miniMarathon time of 2 hours 12 minutes (and vastly improved over her 2 hour 45 minute time in the 2003 miniMarathon). The course was very hilly, but Kelly has been training with lots of hills, and really kicked some ass! Me, on the other hand, was around for moral support only. We did, however take in the Air Force Museum after the race, and it too was awesome.
We took many pictures:
View the 2004.09.18 Air Force Marathon gallery.
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Celebrating 100 years of fearful-eyed bunnies and overweight children. See it all in the 2004 Kentucky State Fair gallery.
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…and it opened up my eyes…
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