2012 -- It's a Wrap

Due to persistent, antibiotic-resistant pneumonia, INOKWACA's final chapter for 2012 has taken a while to be published. I'm better, but not YET completely well. Cough, cough, wheeze...  I want to tie a big red bow on the final blog entry of the year, so I'm going to grab my inhaler, sit at the computer for a little while, and get things up-to-date. Then I'll go take a nap. I've been doing a lot of that lately.

We spent Christmas Day in Texas. And yes, we had a white one!

The Arizona Thompsons were here with us on the 25th, and then they made up part of our caravan that traveled on ice and snow (on Dec. 26th) to get to Indiana. We had to get Dad's car back to the Hoosier state -- he had driven here for Thanksgiving, but then flew from DFW to Portland. Dad had originally planned to fly back into TX, then drive back home again; however, we offered to deliver his car, so he didn't have to risk traveling in wintry weather.

The drive took 15.5 hours, due to icy road conditions. Normally, we can make it door-to-door in fourteen hours. The slickest roads were in Texas, and things improved as we made it through Oklahoma and Missouri. By the time we crossed into Indiana, we had to drive in snow again, but we were only twenty miles from our final destination.

We laughed about our caravan of vehicles all being the same color. No one would have suspected that our three cars were travelling together, though, as there were TX, AZ, and IN license plates on the cars.

Once we made it to Grandpa's house, the fun really began. There were twenty Thompsons gathered for a belated Christmas celebration. Amidst the food prep, there were multiple conversations going on at all times, lots of laughter, and countless photos being snapped. I am only sharing a fraction of the images that were preserved...

Grandpa and his TX girls

 Lots o' Thompsons

Nine grandkids and one very happy grandpa

St. Louis people

Rachel and Arlo

Houston Thompsons

 AFMMTW, Spot, and Puff :-)

 The Birds -- Jay and Robin

Family pic

 Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Boys will be boys! Liesey didn't even see it coming.

Let the good times roll...

 These three are definitely related. Can't you see the family resemblance?

Mr. Smith and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on the 27th of this month! That's #300 in "monthiversary-speak." Over this past month, I've likely been testing my best beloved's patience regarding the "in sickness and in health" part of the marriage vows. I'm just glad that Mr. Smith is patient, kind, and knows how to cook! The Smithlings have also helped out with household chores and laundry, so I've been getting a mini-vacaction from the drudgery of housework. I REALLY want to feel better.  I try to take care of myself, drink plenty of fluids, rest, but I cannot shake this crud. I'm now on my third round of antibiotics, I have two new inhalers, and I've even had steroids. 

Here's to 2013... The New Year had better be happy AND healthy! ;-)

Visions of Sugar Plums

Oh, Nutcracker, how we love thee... but, Sugar Plum Fairy, we love you more!!!

Our ballerina had a "plum role" for three of the five Nutcracker performances, as she got to be the SPF or Sugar Plum Fairy! She also had fun performing/acting as Mrs. Silberhaus, Clara's mother. 

Snow, Waltz of the Flowers, and Merlitons were the other roles that kept our dancer on her toes.

Practice makes perfect.

Grandpa got to go to a rehearsal to see his granddaughter dance as the SPF, since he was not going to be able to stay in town to see an actual performance. It goes without saying that he is plum proud of his girlie!

Bright and early on Saturday morning, the company girls had to be ready to parade through the streets of Dallas in the Children's Medical Center Holiday Parade. This marks the 25th year for the parade. An estimated 350,000 people lined the streets of downtown Big D -- thankfully it was a warm and sunny morning; perfect for a parade. "Our" dancers escorted a float that featured an Olympic hopeful figure skater and a patient from the hospital. And yes, we got to see our girl on television, as we were not part of the crowd along the street.

At the end of the parade route, the ballerinas were able to pose for a picture with the Texas Ranger's 2nd baseman, Ian Kinsler. The girls finagled a photo shoot both last year and this year! Ian even remembered them from last year's parade.

After the parade was over, the dancers headed from Dallas to Ft. Worth to get ready for show #4.

Over the course of four days, about 9,000 people attended the Nutcracker at the Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium in downtown Ft. Worth. I saw the show four times, and each one was magical. For some reason, I never do get tired of seeing all the hard work come together.

I snapped hundreds of photos, but I will only share a few... or a dozen, or so.

Party!

Clara and the Nutcracker Prince

Snow -- or at least 4 of the 10 flakes

 Mr. Mills and his granddaughter posed with their favorite ballerina after the show.

 We got to take Miss Claire to her first N-cracker. It was wonderful to see the show through the eyes of a "first-timer" once again. :-)

 Morgan, Claire, Millie and her friends, Makenna and Alyssa, were all smiles after the performance.

 A Merliton, the Sugar Plum, and Dew Drop

Despite the fact that the costumes and sets are all packed away until next season, I will definitely have visions of my favorite Sugar Plum dancing in my head for some time to come. 

November in a Nutshell

The events of November can best be summed up through pictures -- especially since I don't seem to have enough time to sit and write. Here goes:

Our newly registered voter was excited about getting involved in the democratic process.

 Making music

Millie Girl went cruisin' through the 'hood with Grandpa.

We're all lit up!

 Hello, cello!

As a requirement for one of her college classes, Liesey had to act upon a dream. She rented a cello and learned how to play it by the end of the semester.  We were treated to a mini concert of Christmas songs.

A Millie 'do

I love having my tresses messed with, especially when the end results are so lovely!

 History project

Looks like an "A" to me.

"Scandalous" tour

On an 80 degree, late November afternoon, my buddy Claire took me to the woods to gather twigs and berries for our Thanksgiving table decor. Along the way, she stopped to show me her deer blind and campsite. She also showed me several coyote carcasses in varying degrees of decomposition. Fun! (No pics of coyote bones...) Who knew that such a wonderland lies on the other side of our fence?!