Happy New Year, everyone!

Wow, can't imagine a better way of ringing in the New Year than with family. I'll try to remember everything that we did:

On Saturday we drove up to Anne and David and Grandma Jean's (after an unwelcome long wait at Jiffy Lube and various other errands I was determined to take care of before we left) and got there around dinnertime. Rachel was ecstatic to see everyone, especially "Uncle Airplane," as she has taken to calling David, and we ate David's steaks with gusto.

On Sunday we hung around the house, playing games, until Anne and I decided we really needed to take a walk (and the weather was reasonably cooperative), so off we went. Rachel whined so much that we finally let her stay home, as Grandma Jean graciously offered to watch her while we went to Marymount Park, a lovely one near the house. It felt odd to be just us four in the car and on the hike, kind of like a double date night but in the middle of the day. The walk through the park was gorgeous, and by the time we got back I was in the mood for hot chocolate, which we had, and then David made his awesome homemade pizza.

The next day, Dec. 31, Drew had to work so Rachel and I -- after sleeping until the highly unusual hour of 10:30 a.m.! -- went to the Pacific Science Center. We saw the best holiday laser light show EVER -- lasers to the sounds of Christmas and New Year's music (there was even a dreidel song, yay!) and Rachel and I lay on the floor of the auditorium and just looked up, marveling at the whole thing. Really, it was absolutely incredible, worth the price of admission alone. Rachel also explored a computer in the tot area of the museum, where we spent a fair amount of time. I don't think she's quite into the science exhibits yet, although she did like one that tested her sense of smell and another that showed depictions of the constellations.

When we got home, I set about making mustard chicken (a favorite of everyone's; I've made it at the yurt before) and we timed it so that everything was ready as soon as Drew arrived from writing his end-of-the-year stock market story. Rachel went quite willingly to bed at 10 and the rest of us stayed up to watch
"The Usual Suspects" and then we turned in shortly after midnight.

Today we watched the taxslayer.com Gator Bowl and SAW NORTHWESTERN WIN ITS FIRST BOWL GAME SINCE 1949!!! It was EPIC. We taught Rachel how to say, "Go U NU!" and there is nothing more charming than hearing a preschooler holler that during a particularly critical moment of the game. We sadly said our goodbyes around 1:30, then went to the Space Needle because I had attempted to take Rachel there yesterday but they were closing it because they planned to shoot fireworks off the top for New Year's Eve.

Today was definitely the better day to go to the Space Needle -- it was a cold but absolutely clear, sunny day and we could see for miles around. Rachel took her little bear, Sawyer, (a gift from Grandma Jean), and we took the elevator to the top. Rachel complained about having to wear her coat outside (I swear that kid has the same internal body temperature as her dad) and just as we came back in we saw...a wedding! It was a man and a woman and a pastor, not much of a wedding party, and we got to watch the short ceremony. The woman was wearing a gold skirt and jacket embroidered with pearls and she was carrying a single rose; the groom was in a tux with a white rose on his jacket, and the pastor mentioned that they both were recovering from addictions. What a lovely way to start the new year! You could go to the Space Needle your whole life, I told Rachel, and never see a wedding, and we got to see one today.

I'm taking that as a good omen for 2013.