Snowed In for Christmas

 

Well, it has been an interesting few days up here at the cabin.   We headed up on Thursday morning after celebrating Christmas at home.   Christmas was, of course, a big hit.   Big presents included a new bike for Ethan and a chrome book for Alaina.  

We knew that snow was in the forecast for Tahoe, but really had no idea how much we were in store for.   When we drove up it actually was raining most of the way--it turned to snow just one exit before ours, and chain controls were minimal.   

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Sugarbowl to ski--but it was snowing quite hard and very windy.   We lasted about half the day.   Meanwhile, my dad, Marilynn and Sabine were trying to head up to join us for Christmas--they got stuck as I-80 was closed due to a spin out.   Luckily it quickly reopened, and they made it mid afternoon.   We enjoyed a nice meal of prime rib (made on the bbq!) and then opened presents.  

 On Christmas morning, we woke up to about a foot of fresh snow.  We planned to ski again, but in the process of moving the cars, my dad's car got caught in a huge snowbank (the roads were not well plowed), so we gave up.   Turned out that they ended up closing Sugarbowl anyway because about 2 hours later we all lost power.   The power was off for almost 30 hours.   Than meant cooking Christmas dinner almost entirely on the bbq, and dining by LED lantern and one kerosene lamp.   Luckily, the woodburning stove kept the cabin warm (enough).   

The next few days the snow continued and continued and continued....Dad, Marilynn and Sabine became trapped, as I-80 closed in both directions.  Surgarbowl also remained closed.  We made the best of it and enjoyed cross-country skiing and snowshoeing through the neighborhood.  At least the power was back on!

The biggest dump was overnight on Tuesday--we awoke to almost 4 feet of fresh snow.   In total, we have gotten 10 feet in the month of December!  So certainly a white Christmas for us!

Eileen's 75th!

Last weekend was another milestone--Eileen turned 75!   (yes, it has been busy December).   No big surprise party though--instead we had a nice family dinner at a restaurant near their home in Sonoma.

It was a nice dinner, and fun to celebrate.   Gary and Eileen had something to celebrate too--they made a deposit on a lot for a home near Palm Springs--it is in a new development and going to be built soon.   They are super-excited and are looking forward to going there in the winters to escape our Norther California cold (ha, ha!)  But in any case, we are happy for them.

Jason's Birthday Weekend and Hanukkah

 Jason celebrated #44 last weekend.   We went up to the cabin and enjoyed some unseasonably warm, sunny weather (no skiing yet!).

We did head over to north star to ice skate, since Serene Lake is not even frozen--it has been so warm!

We had a nice meal and cake on Saturday night to mark Jason's birthday.  It was a quiet, peaceful couple of days.

We also got a permit to cut down a Christmas tree--but this year decided to bring the tree back to Marin!  

 It made it the whole way down the mountain tied to the top of the car, and looks great in our house:

On Tuesday this past week we celebrated Hanukkah--late as we were too busy last week to do it during the actual holiday.   We enjoyed a nice dinner with Latke's and Hanukkah cookies.   Delicious!

Thanksgiving Weekend

 

We are coming to the end of Thanksgiving weekend.....its been ok.....

On Wesdesday night (or really Thursday morning) Jason worked until 4 am.   We had planned to go to his parents early on Thursday so he could smoke the Turkey, but needless to say he needed a bit of sleep so we weren't able to get there as planned.   Meanwhile, Alaina woke up with a fever and a sore throat.   And Jason's parents called to report that their furnace had broken and they had no heat.   So, yeah, not off to a good start.

One negative covid test and several hours later, we finally made it up to the Greenberg's with extra layers of clothes.   Actually, the weather was sunny and almost 60, so it wasn't too cold inside.   Would have been much worse in Chicago!

We ended up having a delicious meal, one of the first big family gatherings that we have had at their house since covid.   

We stayed over on Thursday night, but Friday am, I took Alaina to urgent care for a throat culture since she still had a fever and a sore throat.   Negative again.   While I was gone Ethan popped a bracket off his braces eating popcorn he knew he shouldn't be eating.

Jason and I were on call on Saturday and Sunday, so we left the kids with his parents.   Alaina's cold put a damper on their plans (especially when the vomiting began), and so they mostly hung out at home.     Meanwhile, Jason and I worked....

So, yeah, not the best Thanksgiving weekend.    So it goes.

Vaccinated

 The other major event that occurred recently was that Alaina received her first Covid-19 immunization!   I was so thrilled that this was approved in her age group, and couldn't get her in fast enough!   To be honest, I am amazed that she has not brought it home from school already.   Especially now, as it looks like we are facing yet another wave.....

They had a huge pediatric clinic set up for our county and I managed to get in on the second day.   I was impressed by how organized and efficient the process was.    When the intake person asked Alaina how she was feeling, she said, "excited".  What a great response!  And other than a sore arm, she seems to have had no ill effects.    Her second shot will be in 2 weeks, and after that I will breathe a sigh of relief.

Golden Anniversary

 Last Sunday was a milestone day for Gary and Eileen--they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary!

To celebrate, we planned a family photo session--Brandon flew in for it--and then told them we would take them to Chinese food for dinner.  

Little did they know that we actually planned a surprise party for them for lunch at the Swiss Hotel in Sonoma.  

Prior to the party I was actually feeling bad because it seemed like we were ignoring this milestone day.   But of course, after the surprise, it became clear that we weren't.  And they were really surprised and happy, so it was all worth it.

The pictures went well--we got some great ones:

After the pictures, we suggested the Swiss Hotel for lunch.   The hostess brought them to the back, and there were all their friends yelling "Happy Anniversary!"

Check out the look on their faces:

About 30 people joined us for lunch outside and we were lucky to have a beautiful day.   Several people gave speeches--including the kids, and it was very sweet.   Of course, I really wanted the kids to play piano, but we couldn't bring one with!  

We had a good meal and a coffee crunch cake--their favorite!

I remember my Grandparent's 50th anniversary, and the feeling of the day being so special--it really is quite a remarkable accomplishment. So it was great to celebrate with the whole Greenberg family, and happy that they reached this day together.

Hawaiian Halloween

This past week, I traveled to Kauai, Hawaii for the fall California Society of Anesthesiologist’s meeting.   I was invited to this conference as a speaker by my department chair, and it was originally scheduled for the fall of 2020.   Of course, due to Covid, the 2020 conference was postposed until 2021.   And unfortunately, the new dates had me giving a talk at 7am in Hawaii on November 1—meaning I had to miss Halloween with the kids.   This was very sad for me, as I love trick-or-treating with them but I couldn’t really back out.    

Jason was able to take the week off to join me and my dad graciously agreed to watch the kids so we could go together.   I found friends for the kids to trick-or-treat with and we headed out of town on Saturday.

 

Turns out the kids were perfectly happy to trick-or-treat without me—Alaina came home with over 300 pieces of candy, and Ethan with over 400 (!)   Clearly, I would have brought them home when they hit 100!

 

 

Now, although the conference was in Kauai, the trip was far from relaxing.   I gave 4 talks that were each an hour long over 5 days.   It took hours and hours of preparation for each of these—and I really hate public speaking, so each talk was pretty stressful!    And, my department chair was there he whole time (we barely ate a meal without him), so I was always on my toes.

  

 

The last time we were in Kauai was when I was pregnant with Ethan in early October 2008.   Early November was really different weather-wise, with most beaches quite wavy, and the north shore completely un-swimmable (we snorkeled there last time—but didn’t even consider getting in the water this time!)  

On Tuesday I was not scheduled to talk, so we took a drive to the north side of the island to hike along the Napili coast and to a waterfall.   Truthfully, we probably should have chosen a more relaxing activity.   The hike was 9 miles, 2000 vertical feet, multiple river crossings, and through thick mud most of the time, making the going really slow and the risk of a fall quite real.   Though there were some stunning views, I am not sure that the risk: reward ratio made it worth it....

 

Overall, the conference was a good opportunity for my career, and I am thankful that I was invited to present.   But now, I am ready for a real vacation!

Rain to end the drought!

 Well, we have had a massive rainstorm here in Kentfield this weekend.  Our 24 hour rain total is over 12 inches!   Crazy!  And a wonderful way to start to bring an end to our horrible drought.

Of course, it would have been nicer if it came down a little slower--we are having some pretty significant flooding, but at least we have water again.

The rain was so severe, we had to move Pippy into the garage--look at how high our creek was getting:

 

(It was completely dry one week ago!)

She seemed to like her new digs:

The storm is too warm to bring much snow to the Sierra, but hopefully it is a harbinger of a wet winter!

Fall Weekend in Tahoe

 We spent this weekend in Tahoe, for a short fall getaway.   Its crazy to think that it has been a year since we bought!   

This weekend, we started to get the cabin ready for winter--pulling the boats off the docks, clearing off the deck, and putting up our window protectors.  Luckily, the previous owners had good system down, which makes it easy for us!  We have already gotten our first snow up here, though it didn't stick.  

On Saturday, we had beautiful fall weather and we took a lovely hike though the Donner canyon.   Though there aren't many deciduous trees at this elevation, the few we saw were really beautiful.   The air felt so fresh and brisk, quite invigorating!

  

 

On Sunday, it was much colder, so we took a shorter hike in the neighborhood--still beautiful!

Also, we have added some more decor to the cabin--my Grandpa Harris's woodcarvings.   In his retirement, he got really into woodcarving--and was quite talented!  My dad moved many of his carvings out to California, and we were able to take a few to the cabin.  I think they look great and fit in perfectly!   So happy to be able to display this amazing art!

Homemade Soap

 Last year for Christmas, Alaina asked for (and received) a make your own soap kit.   Now, with the pandemic and all, you would have think we would have made this as a first priority, but it got tabled.   Today, we finally had time to mix it up and it was a lot lot of fun.   Alaina made 4 bars of bubble-gum pink soap.   They smells like strawberries--reminds me of my old strawberry shortcake dolls.

The best part of the project was that clean-up was easy--all the spilled soap actually helped clean my kitchen, ha ha!

And the result--a very nice lather.  And yummy smelling hands.

A fun project for a windy fall day.

Bar Mitzvah

 Last night, our family attended a Bar Mitzvah.   This is the first Bar Mitzvah that the kids and I have gone to, and the first in many years for Jason.

It was for Ethan's friend Ethan, whose dad was in my residency class.   We first went to a service at 10 am, where Ethan gave almost half of the service in Hebrew--quite impressive. 

Jason was quite nostalgic following the ceremony, and pulled out his old Bar Mitzvah video--check it out:

Actually, many people on the video have since passed away, so it is really nice for Jason to have.

Anyway, back to yesterday's bar mitzvah.....there was a big party for dinner, with a baseball theme.   The kids had a blast dancing and playing DJ games, and we enjoyed socializing with a few friends.  We also got some fun photo booth pics.

  

Of course, seeing a Bar Mitzvah like this certainly makes us wonder: have we done the "right" thing by raising our kids without religion?  There is definitely a community feeling associated with religion that we are missing out on.  And perhaps a slight lack of a sense of moral responsibility, though we try to teach that in other ways.  If someday, the kids want to explore religion more, that is fine with me.  I suppose we will never know, but we have done the best we could.