Here am I in the middle of the busiest Christmas I can remember. So far, it has not been hectic - just full of activity.

Thursday night, I watched another one of the videos that Pet gave me, and saw the funniest cartoon I have seen in a long time. It's called Doggone Tired, which was translated into Cansado Como Un Perro (literally, "Tired As A Dog"). This is classic cartoon stuff. A man (seen only below his knees) and his dog go to a hunting lodge. Dog finds a rabbit hutch, but the man tells him to get a good night's sleep and they'll hunt the rabbit in the morning. Rabbit overhears, and spends the night doing everything to keep the dog from sleeping. I laughed out loud.

George died at 2 AM Friday. We are lighting candles for her. It is both a sad and relieving event.

Because Christmas arrived on a Saturday this year, Phillip and I got Christmas Eve off from work. We took the opportunity to volunteer at the Community Feeding program, held at our church. It was the second time for me, and the third time for Phillip. Phillip and I were put in charge of serving the main dish - a yummy salmon, cheese, and pasta dish. We worked along side two strangers - Ben (serving corn and mushrooms) and Bobbie (serving salad) - who had called around looking for somewhere to volunteer, and were put in touch with our pastor.

Community Lunch went well, overall. Turnout was good, but all of our church members had seen bigger crowds. A fight almost broke out between two patrons. I was the first to see it, and I called Jonathan and Brian over to help be a presence. I wasn't being sexist - it was just that Jonathan and Brian were the two toughest looking volunteers of either gender. We had to call the paramedics for one man who had passed out at his meal. It turned out to be a heroin high (or low - I don't know), according to his friend.

After the Community Lunch, Phillip and I met our family at the hospital where Dad is still recovering. The hospital provided us with a little room to hold our celebration in, so that Dad could get out of his hospital room for a little while. I thought that was very nice. After the celebration, Phillip and I took Mom out to dinner at a little Italian restaurant.

Today, Kurt joined Phillip and me (Lori is out of town), and we saw Finding Neverland. We all three agreed that it is a masterpiece film.

Before Kurt showed up, we ran into Lester, from church, in the theater lobby. He and some friends were going to see The Aviator.

After the movie, Kurt had a dinner to go to, and Phillip and I went over to Lynn's for food and Scrabble. Diane, her son Michael, and Pat were there, too.

Tomorrow, it's pizza with Craig.

I was doing some semi-random web surfing this morning, over a breakfast of scrambled eggs and grits, following whatever thought entered my mind, and looked up the Salford Lads Club. I was a little surprised to learn that it is a very active charity organization (surprised because on the album The Queen Is Dead and in the video for Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before, the building looked abandoned). I was amused to read on one web site that the Salford Lads Club was rather unhappy that The Smiths used them without permission, and to read on another web site that the club has a special Smiths room where they invite visitors to post photos of themselves recreating the famous photo.

So I can buy a round-trip ticket on Amtrak, Seattle to Portland, for $48. It'll take about four hours each way. That sounds like the thing to do. Now all I have to decide is which weekend to go.

I read two entire articles in Think Spanish! ¡Piensa en Español! magazine when I got home today. I read them easily, with only occasional references to the dictionary. I am learning. The two articles were: Chávez: un Presidente Controvertido and Pico Espejo.

I thought about Pet when I read about Pico Espejo. "El Pico Espejo es uno de esos extraños lugares en los que una persona puede encontrar paz y silencio en este mundo tan agitado de hoy. Este es uno de los lugares más altos de Venezuela, a 4.765 metros de altura sobre el nivel del mar, en la cordillera de los Andes de Mérida."

I am worried about Pet. Phillip and I are both worried about Pet. I can't even imagine what she's going through right now.

Phillip is worried about Gladden. Phillip and I are both worried about Gladden. I thought he was recovering, or maybe I told myself to believe he was recovering. Phillip pointed out this evening that a little (stuffed) green dragon is no substitute for a fellow sugar glider. I replied the we are no substitute for a fellow sugar glider. Gladden likes his solitude, but he can't enjoy it all the time.

I've been on quite a jazz kick lately. I don't know when or where it started, but here are some signs:

I watched A Charley Brown Christmas on TV a few days ago. While I was watching it, I remembered something I read about what a controversial decision it was, at the time, to put a jazz soundtrack on a Christmas show for children.

I've been enjoying Thank You, by Dido, every time it plays on the radio. The song reminds me of The Girl From Ipanema, which I've been listening to on the CD player in the evenings. It's the Stan Getz/Astrud Gilberto recordings I've been listening to. I can never decide if I prefer the album version or the 45 version - both of which are on the CD.

Extaz Espresso was playing a nice, smooth jazzy vocal song that I wasn't familiar with. I commented to the barrista (owner?), "This place always plays such good music." The barrista (owner?) replied, "Well, thank you for having such good taste." I left without thinking to ask what the song was. As I waited at the bus stop, a garbage truck and a delivery truck pulled up to the traffic light. From one of the trucks, some hopping instrumental jazz was drifting out from the cab.

This morning was our church's annual Sunday School pageant. I enjoyed it a lot, as I do every year. Then Phillip and I drove to Tacoma and spent the afternoon with Debbie and June and Selena. We exchanged Christmas tree ornaments (a tradition for the five of us), then we had lunch at Tony Roma's. Selena went home, and then the rest of us played a game of "Truth or Crap."

It's been a great weekend. Yesterday was a wonderful, relaxing day - Pet is one of my favorite people in the world - but there was a lot of sadness just below the surface, because of George. I thought there was going to be sadness mixed in with today, because of Selena, but she looked good and it was simply a wonderful, relaxing day with friends.

At church this morning, I said a prayer for George and for Selena. I trust that Ganesha will continue to watch over George.

The Sound of Business is an obscure David Byrne song that got stuck in my head as we were driving down to Pet's yesterday, listening to Laurie Anderson in the tape player. The song was still in my head when I woke up this morning.