Christmas 2007

I'm sure you're thinking, how can this first picture be "Christmas 2007"? But this is how we started out the day, by meeting Baby Cyrus in person!

The first step is applying the ultrasound gel...
It was so much fun to watch him squirm, swallow, and kick.

Witness the enthralled audience.

All that excitement made us hungry so we headed over to the Saigon Bistro, our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Charlotte.

Our next stop was the store next door, the Halal Market, where Gabriel picks up a few of his favorite sweets.

At home Anahita works on her present for Saeed.

Shirin makes some yummy oatmeal raisin cookies.

Shirin and I are trying to get Saeed to cooperate for the picture. He always gives me such a hard time, so I guess he gets what he deserves!

We couldn't help but watch the video of Baby Cyrus's ultrasound again.

Tita finished Saeed's painting and placed it under the tree. Chappu gives the area a last check to be sure everything's in place before we start our "Christmas Eve" gift opening.

Obi's just excited that Tita left the prop for her painting on the table.

The king of the castle.

Frosty in his usual spot.

Shirin takes advantage of Obi's fascination with the tree and steals a kiss.

Gabriel is smiling so hard about his new sweatshirt that his eyes are shut!

Tita models her new shell.

Shirin receives a belly band from Tita. We had to have an explanation for what that is exactly: it allows you to wear non-maternity pants by being worn under the open waistband of a regular pair of pants.

Judging by Tita's laughter Saeed must be making his usual running commentary.

The next morning the stockings were waiting for three sleepyheads to wake up.

The items in the stockings are always very basic (like toothbrushes) but they seem to get just as excited.

Baby Cyrus and his mommy ready for breakfast.

Watching the video again.

Shirin explains to Cyrus's Aunt Tita about the sutures between the skull plates that can be seen in the video. I'll resist the comment that comes to my mind when looking at this picture about two chimps grooming.

We had a lovely weekend and wish all our family and friends a Merry Christmas!

Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

Yay - the kids are here and Christmas weekend is about to start! Anahita arrived Friday evening slightly ahead of schedule and Shirin and Gabriel arrived about an hour later. After eating a yummy dinner Saeed cooked, the girls decorated the Christmas tree. The finished product looked better than when I've done it in the past. You know what that means - they are now assigned that task from this day forward. While they decorated, Gabriel set up his own rock band in the livingroom.

The Little Drummer Boy
The instruments are part of an electonic game using the TV which scrolls assigned notes to play and sing karoke style. If you do a bad job it kicks you out of the band!

He recruited this cute chick from California to be his lead singer...

... and this cute pregnant chick to be lead guitar.

Meanwhile, I couldn't find the tree skirt and used a Persian sofreh cloth instead. Obi helped me arrange it so it would look nice.

This is Frosty's new perch. He does everything from here, including monitoring the tree activities. Obi and Chappu are at the bottom, but nobody disturbs the tree or the decorations. Such well-behaved kitties. Calvin was probably hiding in the closet and who knows where Tippy was.

The next morning I was up getting ready to make breakfast when Frosty couldn't get enough of me. After the usual morning love session he persisted in meowing for more attention. The solution of putting him in a bed on the counter worked great! He was happy to be kissed between ingredients.

Well, what Frosty has Obi wants too. Another bed, another cat to kiss.

Finally we were settled and I could make some progress. No wonder it takes me forever to do everything; I have so much help!

Fortunately the late sleepers weren't the wiser. For them breakfast was right on time.

Setting Records

Well, yesterday's weather forecast was correct - we broke the temp record (set in 1975 at 75) by hitting 79. The forecast for today and tomorrow is 80. Knowing what the Midwest is waking up to this morning makes this all so much more striking. It's not that there isn't a difference between our climates, but for them to be so blatantly exhibited on the same day! We're only a few hundred miles away and yet it's like two different worlds .

Good luck ya'll. Ya'll come back now!

What Season Is This?

I only put this photo in to proove to myself that it's not spring (see the exposed nest now that the leaves have fallen?) since today's expected high temp is 79 degrees. I'm not complaining, just enjoying. It'll be cold again in no time.

Christmas Quiz

It's time for a quiz. Those of us raised in the US should be able to get a pretty good score. I'm proud to say that I got 100% on this useless information, so the pressure is on. If you have trouble with question #10 then you need to listen to David Sedaris's story titled, "Six to Eight Black Men." I have it in it's full text form but much of the joy is in listening to him read it. You can hear him read it on You Tube but I would recommend minimizing the video images which are not his; just listen to the audio. Here's the quiz. And if you need to cheat on #10 here's the David Sedaris story, "Six to Eight Black Men."

Evolution Of A Christmas Tree

Of course I've missed the entire first half of the evolution story (birth, growth, harvest, trip to RH) but I'll pick up on it from there. Selecting our tree was easy - they were all beautiful.

Not so big, but so perfectly even and fresh and cute.
Like a dog, happy to be in the truck for a ride to her new home.

Preparing his fur trimming shears.

Giving her a nice trim.

Cutting her toenails.

Nice bucket of fresh clean water till she can come in the house.

Saving the clippings for nice smelling decorations in the house.

Getting the rope to keep her from running away from home.

The evolution will continue in another era.... like this weekend.

Shoveling Leaves

As the Midwest is bracing for a severe winter storm (sorry Martha) and at least one airplane has slid off the runway at O'Hare due to ice, our biggest problem is the blizzard of leaves that need to be removed from all outdoor surfaces. It's been a gorgeous fall. The leaves were colorful despite the drought and the temps have been comfy (60's). The leaves are still coming down in a steady stream, but soon they will be finished and the leaf blower will be put into action (right Saeed?)

Meet Mehrzad, our friendly backdoor lizard. Mehrzad means "offspring of the sun" in Farsi and our Mehrzad loves to sun himself on our deck and railings.

He is shy, though, and checks me out before heading...

... to the safety of the space between the railing and the side of the house. He doesn't seem to mind the spider webs - maybe the spider has saved some yummy leftovers for him.

Prathap's water meter is still in action. It measures 2 inches right now (obviously my camera decided to focus on the backyard instead.)

Our fall wreath will soon be replaced.

Stay tuned for the bringing home of the Christmas tree and other pre-Christmas activities.