For the most part, Christmas Eve and Day went well.

Christmas Eve started out rough. Mom was upset with Ken and stressed out. We waited it out and Joe and Hannah sat out in the back of the truck and started an informal geek trivia challenge. I think everyone but Mom and Ken eventually ended up out there for a little while. Things improved though as the evening went on. Once we got home that evening I had a surprise for Joe. The day before, I wove a parachord survival strap bracelet for him and I hid it in a cash container on the tree. Then I hid a small clue outside in the jasmine vines in a micro container attached to a small rooster statue. I marked it in the GPS as Christmas Clue and for the note I typed Merry Christmas Joe. I gave Joe the GPS and he had to find the first clue. Inside there was a piece of the tree which led him back inside and he searched the tree and found the cache and the gift. He really loved the survival strap and was surprised that I had made it.

Christmas day was nice. Kerie came over for Christmas morning and spent half the day with us. It was nice to be together. We played the Twighlight Scene it that we gave Kerie. Later that day, we played In A Pickle which was a blast. Joe and I had some gift issues AGAIN. We always end up buying each other the same gifts. We did it again this year with two gifts and will exchange them. Joe and I have been together so long that I swear we read each other's minds.

I can't wait for the New year's Eve party at Todd and Linda's.

We saw a Bobcat today. We were out geocaching and there is a wooded creek that runs between two neighborhoods near Millhopper. Hannah and I were in the truck while Joe walked down into the ravine. I looked up and saw the bobcat casually walking across the road. I pointed it out to Hannah and we watched as it went down into the ravine. Hannah said it's going down there with Dad and I said I know, let's go so we hurried down into the ravine and told Joe but we couldn't see where it went. It was amazing to see. It was only about 20 yards from us. I've never seen one in the wild before.

The funniest thing happened last weekend. We were out geocaching. We were in a small town at the Veteran's Memorial outside the Masons looking for a micro cache. Those are small caches typically hidden in 35mm containers, bison tubes or magnetic hide-a-key containers. So we are looking around the area which is in the center of town on the main street and Hannah looks up under the large corner mail box and says I found it. So I'm thinking it odd that it would be hidden on a mail box but we walk over to the truck. Hannah hands us a magnetic hide-a-key container.  Joe opens it and we see a key. *blink blink* So we are all standing there staring at this key wondering where the log is when the realization suddenly spreads across our faces and we go from confused to horrified. It is actually a hide-a-key. Not a cache and it is the key to the corner mailbox. Joe quickly closes the container and Hannah grabs it and runs and puts it back meanwhile I am trying not to fall over in my fit of panic and hysterical laughter. We get the key returned and we all look at each other and Joe says, "Well, that's never happened before." and then we all nearly fall over laughing. We did actually find the cache in a camoed pill bottle but I will never forget our faces when we opened that hide-a-key and saw... a key. Mom is convinced we will be arrested while geocaching one of these days.

Current Mood: amused

 We had a very pleasant Yule evening. When Joe got home, dinner was ready and he was really surprised by all the little extras we did that he didn't know about like the mulled cider and the fresh baked bread and honey butter. Except for missing some loved ones around our fire, it was a perfect evening and it meant so much to us. It is a blessing to have that little moment of festive calm and closeness tucked away in the heart and mind as things pick up speed toward Christmas. You never know how gatherings are going to go when you have so many different family members in different places in their lives coming together under one roof for Christmas Eve.

Current Mood: rejuvenated

The sun wheel/cross bread turned out really well. Hannah and I had a lot of fun making the bread. The meat has been smoking for several hours and I just put the harvest veggie medley of potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms and zucchini  into the oven to roast. I have the mulled cider mulling in the slow cooker and the yule log is finished.  All I have left to do is steam the asparagus. When Joe gets home everything should be ready to go. Here's a pic of the bread and yule log if you'd like to see. =)

Current Mood: excited

Happy Yule! We're celebrating the shortest day of the year and the return of the sun. We are having dinner outside tonight next to a fire and burning the Yule log. I'm smoking a pork roast on the grill and baking a bread shaped like a sun cross. There's mulled cider and apple fritters for desert. I love Yule. I observe Christmas in honor of my family and family traditions but find it too commercialized and complicated. Yule is my heart and my celebration.

Current Mood: cheerful

I got my new bow!!! I took my 40# left-handed Martin Venom out of the box at archery yesterday and got to fire it. It is amazing you guys. I was a little nervous, that after not shooting in so long, going to 40 pounds would be uncomfortable but this bow is so well engineered that it wasn't a problem at all. The brace height currently changes range from the high end to low end while the brand new string is still stretching but in spite of that I didn't feel ANY hand shock. The riser grip is very comfortable too. Considering I'm going from a 66" recurve to a 66" hybrid reflex deflex longbow, I expected to have to get used to the grip but it feels so similar to my recurve that I don't notice any difference in my bow hand while shooting. The cast is excellent, smooth and quiet. My current full length arrows perform well though I think I will shorten the next set so they are a bit lighter. I want to make sure I can gap aim on the boss and preferable on the target face at the 40 yard range. The bow is beautiful too. It has taken me five years to find a bow to replace my Bear Patriot. I've had my used 1973 Bear Patriot Recurve for nearly 16 years and I love it but I've retired it to a place of honor on the bowrack. My new Martin Venom is definitely worth the switch and readjustment. I couldn't be happier. =)

Current Mood: ecstatic

Thank you for the holiday coupon alryssa. I appreciate you thinking of me. =) Look! I got my Nightwing icon back.

Linda called and my bow is here. I get to try it out tomorrow. I'll be trying different arrows to find the right spine and weight before I make new arrows for this bow.

I found great gift wrap this year. I have Star Wars Clone Wars, Batman and this really cool blue and white snowflake motif. Too bad I couldn't find Star Trek gift wrap. I would have bought that in a heartbeat. I'm unapologetically geeky.

Still figuring out what I want to do for the Solstice. I'm thinking maybe a fire outback and dinner under the stars.

We have Christmas Eve at Mom's and I really need to figure out what I'm bringing and my grocery list.