Her Morning Elegance

by Oren Lavie via Mackenzie Rollins

Redirect

Well, I may have fallen off the face of the planet, but that doesn't mean you should be deprived of something to distract you from whatever it was you actually got on the internet to do, so go read Tobin's blog! He's traveling in India right now (he's supposed to get back in mid-March, but I get the feeling he'll be gone longer) and has already posted a few things about what he and Josh have experienced so far, plus some pictures. Check it out.

Christmas Poetry

This year for Christmas, my siblings and I all decided to strive for simplicity in our gift-giving - partially to save money and eliminate waste, and partially to encourage more creativity. Tobin wrapped each of our presents in plain paper embellished with a personalized poem. Some, actually most, of them were fairly strange - some of them were humorous and some very fitting of the person written about. Here are most of them:


Addressed to 'LIN' (my mom's name is Linda), this package contained new bed pillows:

The 'drunken Mozart' line refers to a recent time Jesse's hair was a little wild, reminding Tobin of a disheveled operatic wig:



This one, written for Kerri, is probably the most accurately descriptive of who she is as a person:



And there was one more, also for my mom, which went:

Wide-eyed and crazed with laughter*
Our bosomed shepherd

*Inexplicably, Tobin pronounces (always has) laughter as if it were spelled 'laugh-ture' (laff-tchuur). Just so you know.

Patriarch At Rest - In Natural Habitat

Candid photo: Stanley.

Christmas In Seattle

About a day before my sister left Spokane to move back home, she 'accidentally' adopted this little chihuahua puppy. She named him Taquito, Tito for short. Tito is a ridiculous creature whose sheer ugliness and Bambi-like reindeer prancing mysteriously combine to make him kind of cute. My mom was understandably angry at Kerri for bringing home another animal without permission, but she kind of fell in love with him, so I guess it's all for the best.

Tim wrangled Tito into his hood, where he remained for most of Christmas morning.

There was lots of snow, even at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Tobe and Kerr

Kerri holding my cousin's daughter, Skye.

Another picture of The Ugly Baby, just for fun.

Grandpa and Grandma exchange knowing glances...or something.