Decem4er 2010

I promise this is the last time I'm going to put the number 4 in a post title.

Why? I received a written notice from the Stupid Police warning me to discontinue the practice, or else they'd have to resort to knife-juggling...

Well, since I know you're all waiting for the Davis 2010 Year End Update, I'll make this December month-end update short and sweet. Really, really sweet.

The Stats

Average Mood: 53% Positive

Restaurants: 9

Bars: 2
That's a two year record low!

Haircuts: 1
That's 2 in 30 days. Strange. The balder I get, the fussier I get.

Loads of Laundry: 4
There's a long term pattern developing.

Movies Watched at Home: 5
Three of them were Christmas movies.

Miles Jogged: 40.2
Average MPH: 6.93 mph
Speed Change from November: +14%

Weight at End of Month: 199 pounds
Weight Change from November 30: -6 pounds

The Highlights

Friday, December 4
Pearl Harbor Day / Birth-Remembrance Party for two of these three characters (it was not the bomber pilot's birthday):
I would describe the very memorable event, but I do not want to offend my sizable WWII veteran demographic. I will say this, however: we had a surprisingly, explosively, screamingly bloody good time.


Wednesday, December 8
Saw Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra play their jazz version of the entire Nutcracker Suite at Blues Alley. Of all the jazz orchestra remakes of Christmas ballets that I've seen, this was the best. The stage after the performance showed the usual jazz-orchestra fallout:



Friday, December 10
First engagement party (of two this month) for friends. Yes, there were two. I am now... at... that age... where everyone I know gets engaged. This makes four for the year...


Saturday, December 11
Went back to Great Wall Szechuan House (see last month's "Best Thing I Ate in November") and were blown away by the szechuan-peppercorniness for the second time:


Tuesday, December 14
On the three year anniversary of the day Laura and I met, she and I went and said our farewells to the place where it happened, a few days before the establishment [Brickskeller] ended it's long run in DC. Learn of the past, my friends: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickskeller

And by 'farewell,' I mean we tried to get a seat, but couldn't because they didn't have enough servers so we waited around for 15 minutes before we said, "farewell." Romantic.


Friday, December 17
Our official Christmas Night, Third Edition: Laura and I went again to the White House and browsed the 50 states' trees, admired the model train set filled with pennies and nickels circling the White House tree, and warmed ourselves by the bonfire.




...As nice as that all sounds, I should point out that the 50 states' trees are completely lame, and it is almost unbearably cold every year when we do this. No offense, 50 states. And no offense, weather. But really, it's a nice little holiday tradition.










Back at home, we put on a digital fireplace (this one - but with the crappy music muted), turned on the Christmas lights and Christmas music (horrible yet addictive), exchanged gifts, drank wine, and made sugar cookies:




I labeled them for you.

...So in short, we kicked Christmas's ass.


Saturday, December 18
Engagement party #2. This one immediately followed the engagement proposal that occurred in Dupont Circle, which Laura and I actually got to witness due to our master spy abilities. Felt good witnessing a major event in someone's time line...

And the party was great - full of those lucid moments where you are really aware of the uniqueness of the moment; the people and the place and the time period you're in... You know what I mean?

I recreated the image with some stitching:
The engagees are on the far right side, in the midst of the proposal story...



Tuesday, December 21 through Sunday, December 26
Spent the week back at home with the parents. Highlights-within-highlights:

My grandma and mom picked me up at the Phoenix airport. I haven't seen them since July, and apparently, since then, we'd all got the same pair of glasses. What are the odds?

Spent the next five days between my grandma's place in Show Low and my parents' in Holbrook, Arizona. Some sub-highlights-within-highlights highlights:








Tackled many a hot wing with the pops:















Spent some quality time with the grandma, parents and uncle in a doctor-rich environment (Grandma is doing much better now, for the record.)










Speaking of doctors, I had a visit from a certain PhD in Tastiness from the University of ReallyDamnGoodMexicanFood. Her dissertation was on Sopapilla Filled with Meat and Beans Going into Dave's Stomach. A moving piece.














And we had a good ol' fashioned Christmas - the first in at least seven years or so. Everything looked just like it did when I was a kid... Walking into the same room, with the stockings on the floor and the presents under the tree. The mom did a great job with the re-creation. 'Twas an excellent family time.







And speaking of them, here's the bunch, plus the brother who was behind the camera in the first photo:
























Holding the bear was a nice touch, mom. Very classy-Christmas-family-ish, yes?

Well done, family.










Thursday, December 30
Finally went to Zoo Lights at the National Zoo. That's where they put lights up... at the Zoo... Here's a panda:

What I never figured out was how they got the animals to sit still all night covered in Christmas lights. But I guess it is the zoo - Circus Animal Training Grounds, amirite? Just kidding, I like the zoo.


Friday, December 31
Last Day of Year #2,010 - It was celebrated.



---

And that's it. That wasn't really short at all, was it? But it was indisputably sweet.

Here's a picture keep your cravings for adorableness satisfied until I come back with the Year in Davis 2010 post, which we're all looking forward to. Consider this fair warning to take your socks off in advance.