Christmas Day 2007

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Dancing in New PJs

Christmas Eve (Morning) Presents

The girls got new pajamas from Santa.
Santa Claus made an early stop to the YD house overnight, delivering packages that are traditionally not a surprise. The girls have come to expect that Santa will be bringing them new pajamas.

What was a surprise, though, was that Santa got all the girls (except Veronica) matching red pajamas (with footies) and that Mom and Dad also got two piece flannel pajama sets.

Home From School For Two Weeks

The girls and Mom are going to be home from school for the next two weeks. It's a prime opportunity to get a lot of things on our "to do" list accomplished.

Here's part of that to-do list:

- Clean and organize the house
- Clean and organize the garage (utilizing space heater to stay warm)
- Potty train Veronica

We already started on that last item yesterday. She made it through a good part of the day before wetting her "big girl" pants. So we'll try again today.

Mom also spent part of yesterday out shopping for people's KK (Kris Kringle) gifts. We're doing an in-family gift exchange this year.

Dad Is Back From Kansas City

The YD Cafe has been a little dark lately while Dad ventured to Kansas City for a cold, muddy and snowy bicycle race. He was the on-site press officer for the four-day, USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships at Wyandotte County Park near the Kansas Speedway.

Look for some updates soon on what happened when he was gone. And no, the Christmas letter still is not finished.

Working On The Christmas Card

Last year, we did not send out a Christmas letter. This year, we will. In fact, Dad is working on it very diligently today. If you don't think we have your latest address (or you aren't exactly sure you are on our mailing list), please drop us a line at teachingangels2fly (at) yahoo.com.

Thanks!

The Close Call

A week ago, Emily and Dad (and Julia, Lauren and Olivia) went to St. Columbkille to scout the team they would be playing the following Sunday.

From the looks of that game, it appeared Emily and Dad's team wouldn't have too much trouble with the hosts. When we left at halftime, St. Columbkille was trailing 24-2 to a pretty impressive St. Bernadette's squad.

But that loss apparently shook things up for St. Columbkille, because the man-to-man and 2-3 defense they played against St. Bernadette was nowhere to be seen when they lined up to take on St. Mary's. Instead, Dad and Emily's team struggled to beat their own 1-3-1 defensive set.

It was pretty frustrating, despite St. Mary's taking an early 6-0 lead. Whenever Dad took his starting point guard out, the other team stormed back. It was 6-5 at halftime, then St. Columbkille burst out to a 17-10 lead heading into the final quarter.

But Dad (who said he wasn't worried that his team wouldn't win) put his starting point guard back in for the fourth quarter and the result was an 18-17 win. Emily scored one point on a free throw for her first points of the season.

Church Scare

Sunday morning, as we were making our way out of St. Mary Magdalene's Church after the 9 a.m. mass, a police officer greeted us in the foyer.

It was quite a startling sight, seeing the word "POLICE" on his stocking cap as he blocked the door at the bottom of the stairwell.

"Did anyone hear someone running through the church making threats?," he asked.

Dad said he didn't and walked out. Mom, walking a few feet behind me, heard the officer repeat his question. A woman walking near Mom told the officer a man was standing outside the church threatening people before Mass. The officer asked the woman to stick around.

So as Mom came out to tell Dad what she heard, Dad and the other girls were already staring at the five police cruisers parked in front of the church. It appeared they had "expedited" to the scene, since two were facing the wrong way on a one-way street.

As you can imagine - given the circumstances of the mall shooting at Westroads on Wednesday - it was downright scary. We hustled to the Suburban as quickly as possible.

An hour or so later, Mom was online and read the account of a shooting in Colorado. There was no mention of the threat incident at our church by the media.

Saturday's Basketball Game

Emily and Dad's basketball team won 26-0 in their season (and home) opener Saturday afternoon against St. Matthew's.

It was 2-0 after the first quarter and 10-0 at halftime. Emily scored four points and played well. Dad thought the team played poorly on offense (missing shot after shot right underneath the basket) but awfully good on defense.

Next up is St. Columbkille on Sunday.

Shriner's Christmas Party 2007

Every year at this time, Lauren gets excited when the Christmas Party at the Tangier Shrine Temple rolls around. It's an afternoon of games, food and a visit to Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Contrast Lauren's excitement with Julia's lack of enthusiasm for this event. That's because Julia doesn't like clowns. So you can imagine what kind of terror Julia experiences. But after several years of hiding on Mom or Dad's shoulder, Julia was smart enough this year to ask to spend the afternoon at Grandma YD's house instead of accompanying the family.

This year's party was as packed as ever. But we arrived early enough to partake in the lunch of hot dog and chips (and cookies and juice). The best part of the afternoon, though, was heading downstairs to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. While waiting in line, the girls enjoyed the antics of a clown, as well as some balloon animals that other Shriners were creating.

Veronica got a little help on the bean bag toss.

Dad watched Emily play a plinko-type game.

Mom joked that Emily's red shirt made her look like she worked at Target.

Mom and the girls (minus Julia) pose with Santa

Veronica (left) and Olivia ham it up.

The girls and Mrs. Claus

This clown joked that the ring he gave Lauren made them "steady" boyfriend and girlfriend.

Then It All Came Tumbling Down

Veronica, in happier times, was helping with the decorating.
One of the drawbacks to having a live Christmas tree is that you have to water it.

Another is that live trees can get to be pretty large - and unwieldy - for little tree stands. We learned that lesson last year, when "Wide E" (the name of our tree last year) came tumbling down.

Well, it happened again.

This time, the damage was far more significant. Quite a few ornaments were broken in the fall, including the "Leg Lamp," Lauren's Shriner's ornament and Emily's tea party one. It was a very sad day, as you can imagine.

It's also hard to start all over, putting the ornaments back up. The tree looks a little lopsided and it's not as beautifully decorated (but it still looks great).

St. Nicholas Visits The YDs

Did you put your shoes out for St. Nicholas last night?

We did.

And we were rewarded with Dutch treats - candy letters and fine milk chocolate sprinkles.

One of the girls, Julia, said she thought she heard St. Nicholas. Dad said he didn't hear anything. Neither did Mom.

A Dark Day For Omaha

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey said it best: "No words can adequately describe" what happened yesterday at the Westroads Mall.

In some ways, it was reminiscent of the horror New Yorkers experienced on Sept. 11, 2001. The wall-to-wall TV coverage, the massive emergency response and the aftermath that left many people scratching their heads over how this happened.

Dad was just a block from the South Omaha police precinct when an "all call" went out every available police officer in the city. He saw two police cruisers peel out of Vinton onto 24th Street, headed toward I-80. That was his first clue that something big was going on. It wasn't until he got home and turned on the TV that the early reports of a shooting at the mall started surfacing.

Dad called Mom to tell her he was OK and not at the mall. Several family members also called to make sure Mom and Dad were not at the mall.

When Dad picked up the girls, he told them what had happened. One of the first things Julia said to Mom was whether that was the mall where they saw Santa Claus. When she replied, "yes," Julia asked if Santa Claus had been shot.

Dad spent the rest of the afternoon (and part of the night) writing up some coverage notes for the Omaha City Weekly newspaper's "Media Watch" column. More than six hours after the shooting, when TV stations were still wall-to-wall in live coverage, several of the girls asked, "is it STILL going on?"

The girls also made this astonishing connection to the shooter, Robert Hawkins:


Hawkins is on the left.
Joe Jonas, one of the "Jonas Brothers" is on the right.
Dad made this connection to a previous tragedy:

Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose (from the Washington D.C. sniper shootings) is on the left. Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren is on the right.

Emily Stays Home From School

Emily's tummy wasn't feeling well last night at basketball practice. She told Dad she would be sitting out - which he said was just fine. About halfway through the practice, when one of the girls had to leave early, Emily stepped in and said she could play.

Later (long enough that Dad forgot about her stomach problems), he yelled at Emily for not getting the rebound. That was obviously not a good thing because Emily started crying.

The tummy trouble that cropped up Monday night extended into Tuesday morning. Emily stayed home from school. At about 11 a.m., she asked Dad "what she could do." To this, he replied that if her stomach was still hurting, she should lie down. And getting any leftover homework completed was also a priority.

"But it's hard," she said.

(Of course it's hard!)

Anyway, we hope the sickness has run its course (from Veronica to Olivia to Dad and Emily). It's the holidays, after all!

Lauren's Lunch Order: Monday

Lauren left Dad an official-looking lunch order Sunday night. It was much appreciated because he had FOUR cold lunches to make Monday morning.

Here is what Lauren ordered: peanut butter and chocolate chip half sandwich (no crust), cheetos (chips), pudding (chocolate), Bee movie fruit snacks, spoon.

And at the end of the note?

"Thank you. For 12-3-07."

The Ice Storm

The ice storm did a real number on the Suburban.
For nearly a week, TV meteorologists had been talking about a winter storm that would bring snow, sleet and freezing rain to Omaha on Saturday.

On Wednesday, one meteorologist even forecast four or more inches of snow, in addition to an "icy mix" that was sure to bring down tree limbs and power lines. It was, of course, not to be. We did have freezing rain, which amounted to about a quarter inch of ice Saturday morning. But by noon, the temperature had risen into the upper 30s and the ice had melted.

Unfortunately, early-morning freezing rain was enough to call off Emily's first basketball game for St. Mary's. So instead, we spent the time getting some of the house picked up.

On another topic, Olivia is back to good health. Friday, she spent the morning at Grandma Bep's house with Veronica - whom she is now referring to as "Wonka." We believe she came up with that one because that's what it sounds like when Veronica says her own name.

Veronica is "talking up a storm" as Mom and Dad like to say. She is speaking in four and five-word sentences. (Just today she told Emily, "My pen is dead.") She also knows the Grandma Bep lives in Bellevue (thanks to Grandma YD teaching her) and she can count to five (before going back to two).

The Death of Evel Knievel

Dad once owned the stunt cycle (second from left, lower).

Evel Knievel didn't die jumping the Snake River Canyon or over a fountain outside Caesar's Palace. No, at the age of 69, the death-defying stunt cyclist succumbed to years of suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung condition.

Evel Knievel was a branding genius, before many of us even knew what "branding" was. His red, white and blue outfits made collecting his action figures even more fun because you could get his action figures in a red, white or blue suit. He also emblazoned his name and logo on all kinds of things: his motorcycle, his motorhome, his rocket cycle, etc.

Dad's friend, Craig, had all kinds of Evel Knievel collectibles. Dad remembers having only one: the stunt cycle. He and Craig would spend hours cranking up the cycle to send it jumping over ramps and obstacles. It was a very simple toy, but one that gave him lots of enjoyment.

So is there an "Evel Knievel" for today's children? Not really. The popularity of the the TV "High School Musical" movies is probably the equivalent. It's definitely well branded.