A Year Later

I've made it through a year of "a picture a day".

Today is the end of the year, a big day in Pasadena, CA as they prepare for the the big parade tomorrow. We took the kids driving along the route to see the people hanging out, saving their seats in the cold. 

As we were headed out our NYE party we came across the Sierra Madre float on its way to the staging area. This is the same float, with a few modifications, my lovely wife rode on back in the '80s.

R Rated

I think this was one of the first R rated movies I saw. And now years lateri work at the place that made it. As a kid in Sandy, UT I never imagined my life the way it is and where I am.

Stages

So, at work some of the sound stages are built for a purpose, like Stage 1 that was rebuilt to house The Tonight Show. That only lasted for 7 or 8 months then it sat empty for a couple of years. They even removed a bunch of stuff. Then rebuilt it for another show which has since gone off the air. I went for a walk through today and I hear there's something else coming along.

Rocking Cows

A street near us always does it well with the Christmas lights and the theme is cows. This year they were rockin'!

Looking for Snow

We went looking for snow in Southern California. We found a few small patches about an hour from home but not enough to go sledding or have the dogs plow through.

Day after Christmas

The boy and I took the dogs for a walk today. Out to the normal place up the wash. The boy and the collie have been working on "stay" and it's going pretty well. I'm proud of both the boy and the dog.

Small things

It's been a very nice Christmas. No huge gifts, the boy even said, "It's a small gift, with big potential." My favorite words of the day.

Jammies

Every year the wife gets pajamas for the family for Christmas. This year I got Festivus jammies! Because "I find tinsel distracting."

Christmas Tree

We finally went and picked up our Christmas tree. We got a little smaller one this year but it looks great. Much easier to throw on top of the car and carry into the house. The kids used just as many ornaments as on a much larger tree. There's something about looking into a dark room filled with Christmas lights.

No Left Turn

Headed out Christmas shopping.

Holiday Brunch

We have a holiday brunch every year to celebrate my in laws birthday, usually it's the Sunday after Thanksgiving but we had to delay it a little this year to get the most people. We had 22 today, only one person missing.

Gift Of The Magi

A little Christmas cheer. Celebrating a friends birthday tonight and I brought this one out, I've been holding it for a year or more waiting for the right time. It was delicious! It says on the label, "what wise man would go out in the desert without beer?" I guess it wouldn't be a gift for the new born king. 

Working Late

Sometimes thing at work are just fubar and a cluster which means we have to work late. Today was one of those days, fortunately the late part was from home.

Peter Pan

The little girl found out today that she got the role of Peter Pan in the school spring musical! The director said she walked into the audition and "owned" it, she WAS Peter Pan!

Church Organ

For the past 7 years we have gone to the kids school Christmas program that is always held at this church with an amazing pipe organ.

Save Me A Seat

The little girl had her school Christmas program tonight and someone was saving a seat.

Date Night

My little girl and I had date night tonight. She's fun to hang out with, she just wants to be with her daddy and I like when I'm able to escape and just be with her and joke around and enjoy being alive.

Green Room

I got to be in our church Christmas program. I played the role of a biker/king/wise man. Yeah it was a little bit of a re-write of the Christmas story. Tonight was the final performance and it was a lot of fun, I'd think about it doing it again. Here's most of the cast hanging out in the green room.

Sugar

This sugar bowl has been in the family for a couple generations. My mom got it from Aunt Esther who got it grom my great grandmother. Family lore has it that one of the spoons was lost on a farm, possibly in a pigs trough, and later found which is supposed to explain why one of them is scratched. I suppose I should write that stuff down.

Christmas Play

I was asked to be a part of our church Christmas production. I play the role of a biker/wise man. It's a little bit of a rewrite of the Christmas story. I few out the beard and got a tattoo.

Ropes

I went on the Tall Ships field trip with the little girls class today. We were on the Lady Washington which was used as The Interceptor in the first Pirates Of The Caribbean movie. It was a fun day hanging out with kids and my little girl.

Safety First

When I got into technology I never imagined a hard hat and gloves would be standard issue in my job.

Company Christmas Party

So, this is one of the reasons to work where I do. The company Christmas party was in the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, complete with lighting of the Grinchmas Tree. It was great to see faces there that I haven't seen in a long time. And the kids had fun with riding the Jurassic Park Ride twice in the dark!

The wife liked the Water World show.

Old Guitars

A guy I work with showed up to work one day with an old guitar case and said, "If you're interested this is yours." I opened it up and it was a beat up 1972 guitar made by Gibson under another brand. the head plate only has pieces left. The truss rod cover says "Made in USA". I thought I'd give it a try on restoration.

Cats

I'm not really sure if this leads to a place to take your cats for a walk or what.

What Child Is This

It's Christmas time and in Southern California that doesn't mean snow. In some neighborhoods it really doesn't mean anything, but to me it means the baby Jesus. The savior has come.

Trout Fishing

I saw this on the way to work today. Fishing while driving could cause problems.

Santa

This Santa has been around as long as I can remember. When I was little we had two of them, one for each of my brother and I. When it comes out its one of the things that tells me Christmas is here, and it's good.

A Little Rain

It's been raining all day and its beautiful.

Playing A New Amp

I caught a sale on amp models for Jam Up and pulled out the Strat to give them a test drive.

Drive Through Flowers

I was headed home and saw this "drive through" flower store. It wasn't a drive through this morning. I hope no one was hurt.

Palm Trees

Even when the water falls from the sky we still have the palm trees to let us know it's Southern California.

Sunset In November.

Clear skies, 70 degrees. November.

Tradition

It has been tradition since before we were married that I would hang Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving... that's over 22 years now because it started when I was putting them up at my in-laws. Today tradition continues.

Something to be Thankful For

Today is American Thanksgiving. A day to reflect on the many blessings we have to be thankful for and to realize how many things we have that we don't deserve. And we usually eat.

Wildlife

As the girl and I were headed to karate tonight we saw this guy on the side of the road near home. He didn't run away, just walked along the side of the car as we drove.

Tire Swing

The kids love the tire swing at the farm. They love getter ng pushed really high, they love getting spun around. They done like hitting the tree too much though.

Tire Swing

We are at the family farm in Central California. There's clementines, tractors, trucks, a barn and a tire swing.

The Farm

The kids and I came to the farm to visit grandma. The coolest part of the farm is this barn, there's a race car inside.

Hound On The Run

Saturday at the dog park.

Phones

The other night I took a picture of my other phone. My team at work supports the ability for devices to connect back to work so I've got a couple of phones. I'm not sure why.

Phantom Of The Opera

This poster is in the elevator lobby of my building at work. One of the iconic Universal pictures. Just recently they tore down the original stage where they filmed in 1929. Supposedly they saved the opera house seats and walls for a museum, but who really knows for sure? We had our company Christmas party there a few years ago, I wish I had pictures of that.

Piano

This piano has been in the family since my mother in law was little. It's been refinished a couple of times and could probably use a tuning. But it makes me warm inside knowing that my little girl is learning to play it.

Chick

My friend opened a Chick-fil-a restaurant and I got the best travel mug at the grand opening.

Church

We attend a pretty big church. They do a lot of good things, feed the homeless everybweek, special programs for special needs kids and adults and they talk a lot about Jesus. This is one of the rooms we gather in.

JDC 1954

I've had this coffee table for about 15 years. I remember it being at my grandparents house when I was little, there were chairs that went with it that I think my cousin ended up with. It was the "kids" table at Christmas. Over the years it's gotten used and abused, but that's what Grandpa would want, it should be used. Well the kids and I decided to sand it down and refinish it. As I was sanding I found this where Grandpa initialed and dated it when he made it in 1954 which means he would have been about 35 when he built it, that's younger than I am now.

Off Road

Took the scouts out to the desert to Calico. We saw a group of Jeeps stirring up dust.

Silver Lining

Every silver lining's got a touch of grey. In this one the hey was beautiful as well.

Out for a Walk

We took the dogs for a walk today. The boy did some training with Jerry who walked beside him and "stayed" when told. I love seeing the two of them work together.