Well the big X-mas fro '06 has come and passed here in the Emerald City. I had a great couple of days and will remember this holiday for years to come. We started out with a fun-filled trip to the Seahawks game as they took on the league-leading San Diego Chargers and fought to the bitter end. They fell slightly short with a tough 17-20 loss in the closing seconds but fought pretty hard for the entire game in my opinion. A much increased effort over the last several weeks, hopefully a good sign as playoffs near. It was great to hang out with my brother and Amy again and we had a good time no matter the outcome. A great way to start the big holiday. The one silver lining is with the 49er loss to Arizona the same day the Hawks clinch the division and will at least make the '06 playoffs and host a first round playoff game as a division winner. Nice for the city and I am sure to be there losing my voice once again in this unique opportunity with a regional team in the hunt for the super bowl once again. That of course was on Christmas Eve. After the game I braved the slick roads and headed north as as I spent some time that night with Janelle's extended family at aunt Carolyne and uncle John's house as they hosted the Parker gathering. Low-key and fun this time around with nice talks with the grandparents and family. Then down south as we headed to Port Orchard and the lovely self-built home of Bruce and Lisa Parker. They spoiled me rotten as I received a full stocking and many presents. My best will have to be the leather coat from my girl Janelle, fits great and I am loathe to take it off!!! They made me feel like one of the family for sure and it made for a really memorable Christmas morning. After a lazy breakfast and present session we headed north once again to hook up with the extended Paulson crowd with John, Amy, Jesse, and Steph all in attendance. Good times again and more presents!! I really feel spoiled this year for sure. We finished off the night after a superb dinner and pies with a trip to the theater for our holiday showing of "Night at the Museum". I had low expectations as with all Ben Stiller movies in my mind but was pleasantly surprised and laughed quite frequently at the show and would recommend it to others. Then it was off to the apartment as we cuddled in with the cat to go over all of our holiday loot and rest up for my parents visit for the New Year!! Hope the holiday were kind to all of you out there.

Thanks to my brother Johnny I was able to get tickets to see the recent Thursday night game between the Seahawks and the 49ers in QWest field. The Hawks had a chance to clinch the division and stay in the running for a good playoff seed but failed on both tasks with a very poor performance. You can clearly see the distress if the situation on the face of my game buddy Mike Walton. Luckily there were a few beers to be had, as evidenced by the slightly goofy look on the face of one Stacey Terry and good times were still had by all. There was a HUGE storm that night as we all ran through the monsoon to see the game, nice for us that most of the really crazy stuff held off during the game. It has however placed a slight wrinkle in the local Seattle environment with lots of black-outs and the like with the associated school closures and such. I am getting ready to make finish up final holiday shopping and such this weekend and get the last items on my list. I have not done too badly this year and look forward to some holiday time with the Weaver parents as well as Janelle's parents in Porch Orchard, WA. I leave you with this landscape picture showing off the great seats we always get through John as the Sea Gals show off their holiday routine with some really silly giant, foam candy canes as props. Does anyone else groan when they hear "Santa-baby" during the holidays? Good times none-the-less and more to come as we gear up for the main event. Bring on the Bearded Fat Elf in the crazy red suit!!!!

Tis the season my friends. The X-mas season is in full swing here in the Northwest and what better way to kick it off then hitting a few holiday parties with friends and maybe play a little volleyball if I can squeeze it in...(when has this ever been a problem for me huh?) So just this last Saturday Janelle got all dolled up and we hit the town, first stop was as friend Loch's place where he hosts his swanky X-mas party. Full bar, HUGE house, all the ladies in cocktail outfits and ~%50 the guys in tuxes, you get the picture. I did not go in a monkey suit but Janelle looked stunning in her new black/white dress and had fun hitting the catered buffet table and sipping on the free drinks with me!! It was a little cold to say the least but we managed to circle the fireplaces most of the night to stay warm. From there we headed out to Sally's annual white elephant gift exchange party and saw a host of others including the Paulsons, John/Amy, and even Todd still in town after the Denver adventure!! We had a great time with a few more beverages, food, and some great gift exchanges. People liked the silly snowman hat and gloves that Janelle decided to bring while my metal detector (which I thought was a GREAT idea) had only mixed reviews. We however made a killing as I came home with the mini-keg of our favorite Coors Light...that's right the Silver Bullet is in the house!! Janelle also scored big with a gorgeous dinosaur lamp. I cannot wait to celebrate the holiday season under the soft glow of the pterodactyl. In addition I have spent the last several nights decorating my new synthetic tree that I purchased for quite a small sum at the nearby Target store. It might not be all that impressive but I am very happy with the finale tree and glad to have all of my childhood ornaments out on display for all to see, sure makes it feel more like the holiday around my place as well which is sure nice. I would like to thank Janelle for pushing me to get the tree and do some decorations as well. I think it adds a lot to the room and has made it feel like a the start of the holiday season for both of us. On Sunday I think played in a men's 4's v-ball event with my brother John, Jesse Paulson, and Mike Walton, all members of the Madman Volleyball Team. We had a great time as we battled at Highline Community College and ended up the day with a stellar 10-1 record and the championship!! Everyone played great and we beat a pretty tough AA/A level regional team in the fun 3-game finale (our only loss came in there by the way). Nice to be able to win some regional events with buddies and having such a fun time doing it. Amy McKenna and Todd Moore also dropped by during the day on the way to drop Todd at the airport and joined in the fun. A great weekend and I look to carry the momentum through the holiday season!!

I hope to make this the first of several posts about the recent trip I took with a group of Seattle buddies to visit my folks in the "Mile High City" of Denver, CO. They were incredibly gracious to offer up their home to all 8 of us to crash in their various rooms for the extended stay!! Friday night they prepared a delicious turkey buffet for us all that we crashed through, leaving nothing but some small scraps of the huge offering. We followed this with a fun night of cards playing "Mean-spirited Matey" to go along with our pirate themed weekend!! (See attached photos for proof of branding!!) On Saturday we started off right at The Delectable Egg, great food and a good way to start the day. With coffee in tow we headed to the nearby hills to check out Golden, CO and most importantly take the awesome tour at the Coors Brewery!! Pics include the crew as we hit the half-way point of the tour to sample some fresh beer to be ready for the rest of the day. After the tour we ran through downtown Golden to eat lunch at Woody's for their great pizza buffet and gather about the earliest known Colorado pirate, none other then Adolph Coors, who started the brewery. Imagine our surprise and excitement!! From Golden we headed up nearby Lookout Mountain to see the grave of Buffalo Bill and some native wildlife on the way including deer and elk marching through the snow. After some pics at the grave site (Brrrrr, it was cold!!) we headed down the mountains back to Denver to rendezvous with Jess and head back home. Following some quick downtime we headed out for the night on the town with dinner at Lime followed by drinks at the Funky Buddha and dancing for some on the split levels of Club Vinyl. We followed up the night with a slow start with coffee graciously procured by the ladies and some football on the tune. We headed out the to get some more good pizza at Old Chicago and from their on to the Sunday night football clash between the Denver Broncos and the visiting Seattle Seahawks. Exciting, if not a little sloppy, game which the seahawks pulled out with a last minute field goal 23-20. Bummer was that all-pro, and all around good guy, Al Wilson was hurt for the Broncos in the game, definitely took some air out of the proceedings. Next morning it was off to the airport where we altered some flight so that Amy, John, Todd Moore, and myself left late on Monday night, getting to spend another full day with the Weaver Parents in sunny Colorado hitting the Northfield and Cherrycreek malls before finishing off right with Chipotle burritos and some free tix from the airlines!! A great trip and one of my favorite in recent memory, a memory that is getting shorter now that I am 33 as of last Wednesday!! Hope all is well out there.