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Here are some of the last few photos of our Texas trip. Elle and I had a little bit of play time before we had to head for the airport. She's so much fun!

Sweet baby Beck was already growing before our eyes.

Goodbyes are always hard. :(

Sarah, Beck and Elle dropped us off at DFW and our two days of travel began. First we flew from Dallas to Seattle, had a layover there, and caught our next plane to Anchorage. We arrived in Anchorage close to 9 PM, which was midnight in Texas so we were pretty tired. We spent the night in Anchorage and had to get back to the airport for a 9:35 AM flight the next morning. At least we were able to stay in a hotel instead of sleeping in the airport! I'm getting too old and creaky for that. We'd been hearing stories of weather and plane delays for a couple of days so weren't sure what our odds would be for getting home. But we loaded up at Pen Air and took off pretty close to the scheduled time. After a stop in King Salmon for fuel, we headed for Unalaska. The flight was not bad till we began our approach and then it became very bumpy. As we were coming in, we had a huge drop in altitude, which scared the &*^% out of me and I involuntarily let out a little scream. Have never done that before! I had my eyes closed and was digging my fingernails into Rich's palm. Seriously, this made two Unalaska landings in a row that were pretty darned exciting. But once again, we touched down okay and all was well. I guess I need to quit worrying! Later, someone else on the flight said that people were flying up out of their seats if their seatbelts weren't tight. I never saw that since my eyes were squeezed shut. :)

Home, sweet home. The cats weren't too stand-offish and everything seemed fine at the house. We both went right back to work on Friday, though Rich had a whole lot more to do than I did. 'Tis the season for holiday parties and banquets and special events so he had to jump right back into the fray.

While Rich was working, I went to a potluck and gift exchange with some friends on Friday night. We all like to read so we had decided we'd bring one book someone else might want to read, and one literary gag gift. At Barnes and Noble in Texas, Rich and I came across this book of "extraordinary chickens" in the bargain bin, so we couldn't resist. We also picked up a magazine called "Garden and Gun." Yes, really. I had certainly never heard of that one. Lucky Donna drew my gift and started out with the chickens, gardens and guns. Then Jeanette stole them from her. We were all giddy from laughing so hard at the photos of chickens and the ridiculousness of the whole thing. We got online and sure enough, there's a website and a facebook page devoted to extraordinary chickens as well. If I'd realized how well this gift was going to go over, I certainly would have picked up one for everyone else, too. :)

Judi, Paul, Jeanette, Anne, Jane and Donna

Rich worked all weekend while I puttered around the house, worked on Christmas cards, shopped online, ran errands, and tried to feel happy about the cold and wind and snow. The hotel had its annual "Moonlight Madness" arts and crafts fair on Saturday night where I sold quite a few of Rich's photos, chatted with everyone, and bought some of Sharon's fabulous home made confections while trying not to spend all of our profits. Rich joined me to finish out the night. It was fun to see everyone after being gone for so long.

Tuesday night, my coworker Anne and I served as judges for the annual Poetry Out Loud event at the high school. Students chose a poem, memorized it, worked on dramatizing it, polished it and performed it on stage for the audience and judges. I was very impressed with our talented teens and their poise and self confidence. Though the top three places were clear-cut, there were so many others who also scored very well. I hope they will continue to be engaged in this kind of event. Our winner goes to Regionals and hopefully then on to State and Nationals! Good job, everyone.

Though it's cold and snowy and windy outside, we enjoyed a little taste of springtime tonight while attending a slide show at the Museum. Local naturalist Suzi Golodoff took us on a pictorial hike from the beach to the top of the hills, showcasing the beautiful flowers of our island. I think we were all a little wistful but we know spring's just around the corner, right?

So we are just getting back into the routine and trying to get ready for Christmas. I dragged out our few decorations and our stockings but we haven't had a tree in years and don't decorate much since it's just the two of us. I think we are about finished with our shopping and I love, love, love getting Christmas cards in the mail. Send us a card! :)