Happy Christmas! Christmas in the city is a magical thing. One of the most striking differences between C-bus and Seattle is that downtown is just about always hoppin'. All times of day and night there are people out and about doing things. This is certainly amplified by the holiday season. My office is right in the thick of the shopping district downtown, so I get to see all of the decorations and activity up close. Above is Macy's. I took that picture yesterday. It was a glorious sunny day. Shawn had dropped Lorelei off at my work so that she and I, as well as a co-worker of mine, could all attend The Nutcracker (also downtown). Before we left for the ballet, Lorelei and I walked around looking at decorations. We visited Macy's and visited the plaza at Westlake, where we saw the big tree and rode the carousel.
Who doesn't love the carousel? The Nutcracker was fabulous as well. We all loved it and it was a good way to cap off what was otherwise, a rather terrible week.
I won't go into the multitude of idiot things that happened this week, but everyone knows what it's like to have that string of days where it seems like everything goes wrong. It may be a smidge harder to deal with at the moment because I'm going through some homesick feelings and missing friends and family.
It's also dark. The sun sets around 4 right now. The days will continue getting shorter until the solstice, but at least that's only another week and a half. The funny thing is, everyone here knows exactly when the solstice is - they talk about it on the news. It's a product of being so far north. The difference from Columbus is quite noticeable. I keep telling myself it's not a big deal, it just means we get that many more hours of the fabulous light displays. Whatever. It's dark. I knew I would have more trouble with the dark than the rain, and I was right. Like I said, only 11 more days until the solstice.
In addition to holiday fun, there have been a few other noteworthy things we've experienced.
God bless the Swedes for giving us IKEA. IKEA is about 15-20 minutes from our house, which is insanely convenient. It is definitely an experience. We went to find some things for the closets and ways to make use of the small space we have. Wow. IKEA is totally the place for that. It's also a statement on Swedish organization and efficiency. It's laid out so you tour the showroom (which is organized by room in your house), where you write down the things you like and the aisles they can be found in the warehouse. Then you take your cart to the warehouse and pick up your things, then you check out. It's easy and user-friendly, and unlike any furniture experience I've ever had. When my mom comes to visit, I'm taking her to IKEA so she can see her heritage in action. Sure, we'll visit Ballard where the Scandinavians live, and we'll tour the Nordic Museum, but she needs to see IKEA. I think she'll relate to it.
We also did Thanksgiving at Ed and Amy's. They had a transplant Thanksgiving - most of us were from somewhere else originally. There were people who had lived there for 4 years, some for 14. It was very cool. The food was amazing, the company superb, and Mary's (my sis) champagne punch really got the party started. Not a drop of it was wasted or spilled, and by the end of the evening, that was pretty evident. (I'm so making that again) Part of the magic is that Ed and Amy know how to throw a party. Even if Ed did accidentally order a 32-lb turkey and had to stay up all night the night before cooking it. It was a great way to spend the holiday!
We've also been to the West Seattle Farmer's Market, which goes on all year round. This time of year you can still find some produce from local farms, but it's mostly meat, cheeses and ciders, wines, that type of thing. Our family seems a little obsessed with the cheese out here. The only cheese we have bought that wasn't produced in Washington is Tillamook - produced in Oregon. It's pretty amazing stuff. I can't say enough about the food here, and local farms, local production is reason number 1 it's so good. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.... That day at the market, it was another glorious, sunny day, and on the corner, right where I took this picture, I could look east and see the Cascades, look west and see the Olympics. They are my constant reminders of why I wanted to be here.
This will wrap it up for now, as I've probably rambled on long enough. I'll leave with a couple of Lorelei pictures for the holidays: one from the Nutcracker and one from home, Lorelei by the tree. Wishing everyone lots of love, and know we miss you all and are thinking of you.
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