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.

Here is some of the picture evidence of all the great times we had over the parent's visit from Denver. They include a great group shot of all of us at "Sport" in Seattle for my early B-day celebration, another nice group shot as we hit Aldwerwood Mall in all of it's holiday glory to kick off the shopping season, and one of me and my mother (notice the resemblance?) as we prepped for one of the meals at my apartment. What a great visit this was. In addition I get to look forward to heading to the Mile High city with a group of friends to see the Seahawks/Broncos game on this coming Sunday, what a treat!!
I had a great celebration spread out over the week for my 33rd B-day and got some great old-school Nintendo games and a movie (V for Vendetta) from Janelle, some great cards from John/Amy, and a video camera form the units!! I am pumped as I have wanted a new one for years having finally run down my old one. I love to videotape the v-ball and play around with the editing, another hobby I get to indulge in now!! I am sure you will be getting some examples of this once I have a chance to put something together to post on the blog....should be fun. Hope all is well out there and more to come after we get back from the snow in Denver!!

What a great visit from the parents for the Turkey-week festivities!! We started off right on Tuesday night by meeting at Red Robin for some goodies before they were off to bed for the night. The next day they picked me up after work and we went to my place and made a great chicken dinner for the whole crew including John, Amy, and Janelle. Always nice to have at least a few meals at home on vacation to hang out and talk in a very relaxed environment. We finished the night with a rousing game of Tribond which the parents one in a close battle!! The next day was Turkey-day for all as Amy, John, Janelle, and I gathered at the home of Kris and John Paulson for our usual feast...great food as always, thanks Kris!! We then headed out to catch the new James Bond film Casino Royale, kind of a prequel to the rest of the series and I thought very well done. A little more graphic then the usual 007 action but still very fun and fast paced. The parents had a great time for their turkey-day in Leavenworth visiting their close friends Dan and Mary Nelson and from all reports had a nice time. The next day we had another nice day as we picked up John at after work and proceeded from the to a nice lunch at McMenamin's Pub in the Queen Anne area which is always a favorite near Seattle Center. We then tried to hit the new exhibit with the Dead Sea Scrolls at Seattle Center but found it to be too popular for the holiday weekend and decided on another plan of attack. We ended up going downtown instead and hit another movie, this time the quirky Stranger then Fiction with Will Ferrell. I really liked this offbeat film, and thought Ferrell did a great job in a much more serious role for him, a lot like Jim Carrey in The Truman Show in my mind in terms of a performance. From there it was off to the house sitting locale of John and Amy as we had pizza and some beers to finish the night. Great times for all. Saturday was a slower pace and the Units (Mom and Dad) started us off right with breakfast at my place with mom's awesome pull-aparts and some hobo hash topped off with some sparkling cider, great way to start the weekend. From there we went to the Alderwood Mall to cruise around in all of the Holiday glory. We picked up a few choice items and then it was back to the house for a quick change and on to the next event. This was a great one as we had a suite arrange for dinner and a show at a really fun downtown nightspot, the Triple Door. While we were there we dined on some awesome Pad Thai and duck (Amy's favorite) before enjoying a slightly mellow set with one of our regional favorites The Paperboys. They finished their performance with a funky twist as all the lights were out they had on suits with glow sticks, all appearing at stick figures for their final 2 songs, very fun. Many of our friends were able to join us for the evening and we had a great group of 12-15 people for most of the night in our suite. Huge props go out to Dave Hoadley (And his friend Kim from the venue) for helping set up the room for the evening. Sunday was more fun as we hit Sport in downtown Seattle for my early B-day celebration and went from there to the Music of Disney exhibit at the EMP in Seattle Center. Fun way to spend the day with those I love about me. We finished the night meeting our good friends the Nickols at Best Wok in Bellevue, one of my parents all-time favorite Chinese food locales. Nice to catch up with them after having played v-ball at my turkey tournament with their sons Eric and Ryan. I finished up my parent's visit yesterday as we had lunch at one of my favorites Zeena's before they met John and Amy for Monday Night Football to watch the Seahawks beat the Packers on the frozen tundra of Qwest Field!?! A great adventure and some memorable moments as always when the Weaver's gather. I am looking forward to heading in just a few short days to the Denver area to see the Hawks play the Bronco's in the Mile High City and stay at the parent's house this time. Man I love this season!!