Ambiance

This past Christmas Eve, Shawn and I celebrated, sans family, for the first time since we've been together, which is 10 years (yes, eyes did water a sqosh that night). So instead, Shawn cooked Chicken Parmagiana (I know that's not spelled right), we made a fire, lit all the candles, poured some wine/opened a Sam Adams and watched A Christmas Carol. It was nice. New, but really nice. While Shawn slaved over the stove, I took some shots of the shine... from the candles. I think they turned out pretty nice if I do say so myself.

This was the centerpiece on our table.

These were on top of the TV.

Again, from a lower angle and without the flash.

Our overall ambiance for the night.

...But The (First) Fire Is So Delightful

Last Sunday, it was freezing. Check that. It was BELOW freezing. To warm up, we lit our first fire of the winter season. Shawn claims he's a freeze bunny. However, I declare shenanigans. As evidence below, Norman, he's a freeze puppy. He was so close I'm certain he singed a whisker or two.

Here he actually had his head laying on the hearth. Every time the fire crackled, he jumped and woke up. Then just as quickly, he relaxed and assumed the same position.

Sunday, snow, stockings, football and Norman next to the fire. Not too shabby.

Chez DeBoer Holiday Decor

The finished, decorated DeBoer Family Christmas Tree. Looks strikingly similar to last years (see December 2007 post). Consistency, consistency, consistency.
The stockings hung on the chimney with care... and snow.

The table centerpiece. Cranberrilicously red.

The buffet and shelves with yet some more snow. We also used to have Christmas cards displayed on here until we figure out that Norman jumps up during the day, grabs the lovely treasures and shreds them. Scrooge much. Ironically he has left the basset hound card that we got from Grandma Santee alone. He knows.

The top of the TV. It looks a bit bare with the wall still empty behind it, but I think it correlates nice. It's amazing and cheap to decorate when you use what you have and fill in the holes with candy! Our treats of choice, wintergreen mints and Hershey's kisses - original, caramel and mint!

More decor. This is a nice collection of tins and yet, more candy. Norman could reach this as well and last Saturday as I was WALKING to the grocery store, Norman was enjoying a little chocolate and a few foil wrappers.

The DeBoer Family Christmas Tree - The Sequel

Recently, Shawn and I National Lampooned us another Christmas Tree. Due to the untimely death of the Jimmy (RIP), we were planning on doing it Beretta style this year. However, our neighbors were out of town and offered to let us use their Volkswagon wagon with a roof rack on top. That's right, we National Lampooned us a tree, in a station wagon, Griswold style. It was quite the debacle getting the car out of the neighbors garage so I'll save that for another post. Anyway, I drove us (it is a manual) to Hampton Hills Tree Farm in Hampton, MN, also the birth place of the great Normster. We were a little more prepared this year and a little better dressed but it was the same weather situation; cold, windy and snowing. After an exhausting search, we found it. This year, I got to operate the saw *fist to chest bumping*. Also this year, we had it shook and wrapped, for free, to make the journey home easier. I didn't get a picture of the famed tree on the car, but I did get a few of the adventure.

On the hunt... weapon in hand.

Next year, snow pants may be in order. Snow sokes through sweat pants.

The kill!

In The Name of Comfort

Two additions will make your future visits to the DeBoers more comfortable. The first: a new couch, aka sofa, aka davenport, aka whatever. As you can see below, it's leather. Nice, soft, (buffet) brown leather. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Neighbor Sara for letting us borrow her vehicle to bring this baby home and for letting me relive the "joys" of driving a five-speed. I'd also like to personally thank her for helping Shawn get it in the house and get the old one downstairs. She puts my strength to shame.

The second: a new bathroom fan. A beautiful, white, quiet bathroom fan. With the humidity down in the bathroom, I intend to wash the currently streaked walls, add a moisture/mildew preventative sealer/primer and repaint. Don't worry, it won't be gecko green but it'll be darn close! We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Neighbor Ole for installing the amazing fixture and Neighbor Shaina for not telling me that Ole was actually nervous about cutting a whole in our roof prior to installing the venting. I like to see projects after the fact when things are in working order and I can be totally oblivious to anything that may have happened along the way.

Chiefs vs Bills vs DeBoers

Sunday, November 23rd, Shawn, Brad, Charity and I visited Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City for the Chiefs (Shawn's team) versus the Bills (Brad's team) game. Shawn and I had been to Arrowhead twice before but this visit was bitter-sweet. Bitter because the Chiefs suck, sweet because these were the best seats we've ever had. We were eighth and ninth row of the end zone. Primo view. Primo view for a slaughtering. Brad enjoyed himself though, watching the Bills destroy the Chiefs. Sadly, most fans left after halftime. When the seats cleared, we were swarmed with crazy Buffalo fans, those of which included Shawn, who secretly cheered for them as well in hopes of a future draft pick. [Editor's note: the Chiefs have since won another game (for 2 total now) and Detroit has not, so it looks like even that goal may be out of reach this season.] Interestingly enough, the Bills just lost to none other then the San Fransisco 49ers. Boo-yah!

Here's our view at kickoff. The Chiefs getting ready to score. I believe this was a pass to the amazing Tony Gonzalez. The only amazing Chief left.

For the record books, a photo of the final score, 54 to 31, Chiefs go down.

The DeBoers. You'll notice I'm dawning Chief gear. I figure when in Rome. I'm still a 49ers fan even though they suck too.

If Only It Hadn't Been a Myth

On Wednesday, November 19th, Shawn and I attended (yes) another concert. This time it was of Jason Mraz with special guest Lisa Hannigan. Jason Mraz was amazing, the venue, The Myth, was not.

We arrived at the "club" at 6pm and waited outside, in line, enjoying some Wendys. An hour later, after we were officially frozen, we were let inside. Neighbor Sara picked the perfect spot; up on one of the walkway ramps with a railing in front of it. We were high enough and close enough, but we didn't have to be amongst the crowd on the floor.

An hour later, after we were officially annoyed by the high school text messages that you could post on the big screen, the opening act appeared. I'm sure she did a fine job, however, you couldn't hear her. With the people and the talking and the atmosphere, she was drowned out by her surroundings.

An hour later, after we were officially sick of standing, Jason Mraz appeared. We're on our third hour now. To our surprise, the talking and noise of the venue continued through his performance! So, although he did an amazing job, every time it was just music or there was a lull in the vocals, all you could hear were people talking! Seriously. It goes without saying, we will not be going back to The Myth. Ever again.

Jason Mraz is so musically talented it would be amazing to see him somewhere else, somewhere like the O'Shaugnessy. On a brighter note, he had moments of musical perfection; mimicking the saxophone, interacting with the audience, and had a whole slew of a band including a brass trio and some bongos. Most songs were from his new album and it all had a very retro-Caribbean-bluesy feel... perfect had it been a more intimate venue. Alright, I'm over it. Below are some photos of the highlight moments.

Our view of Mister Mraz. Another annoyance to point out, sorry - just though of it, the place was impossible to take photos. They had large screens behind him and a different background and light show for each song so it was impossible to take a sharp picture. Flash, no flash, inside, nighttime... nothing worked. The photo below is sans flash.
One of the better moments was during "Live High." President-Elect Obama was posted on the background screen. A monstrous roar from the crowd followed and Team DeBoer smiled.

The best photo, Jason Mraz, going solo with his gee-tar.

Mr. Lee, Mr. Lee, Mr. Lee

Last night, Monday the 10th, the husband and I went to a concert at the O'Shaugnessy on St. Kate's campus. Amos Lee was performing with special guest Priscilla Ahn. We started out with supper, yes supper, not dinner (I'm from Iowa) at Wild Onion. Afterwards, we headed to the auditorium. The concert lasted about two and a half hours. Priscilla was on for about 30 minutes and Amos was on for the rest. They were both a-mazing! I especially enjoyed Amos when it was just him and his guitar. Below are the pictures I caught amongst the dark.

Priscilla Ahn playing the last song of her opening performance.
Amos, singing serious with his band. Definitely humble, hometown people. Like Shawn said, they're the type of people you'd see on the street and not know they're famous, talented musicians.

Amos (second from the left) invited Priscilla (far right) on stage for a song together. The blend was wonderful!

Bless the super, super zoom on my camera. Caught Amos mid lyric looking poetic and plain all at the same time. Can't remember which song he was singing but since they're all fantastic, we'll just say this particular performance was my favorite. Loved the hat and spectacles!

As a souvenir scene to the night, Amos Lee came back out for autographs. I purchased his newest CD (Can't remember how long it's been since I bought an actual CD!), stood in line, pondered what to say, got to the front of the line and fell silent. Finally... I asked if he'd sign the cover of the CD, told him the concert was great and he did an awesome job, shook his hand and then thanked him for my first autograph, ever! He smiled and said thanks. He was very appreciative to the crowd all night long, did a request from the crowd (a dixieland jazzy version of Queens "Fat Bottomed Girls"), included city landmarks in a song he was improving and told stories about the songs he sang. Well done Mr. Lee.

Me, Taking a Picture of Me

So like ten years ago in high school, we had an art project in which we had to find a picture of ourselves when we were young and draw it. I'm not too shabby at drawing so I decided to have mine mounted, matted and framed at Michaels. Say that three times fast. It was their wonderful 50% off sale so the damage wasn't fatal. I think it turned out quite nice, if I do say so myself and it hangs in Norman's room next to the computer. That whole room kinda has a black-and-white thing going on so it fit in perfectly.

Damn Squirrels

As promised, below is a photo-journalistic representation of the DeBoers carving pumpkins.

Here is Shawn, digging and scraping out the guts of pumpkin number three. As you'll notice, we opened them up from the bottom this year. We heard it was better from something we were watching on TV. I don't remember the show or what they said was the reason so you'll just have to take my word for it.

After cleaning comes cutting, but before that we need to trace our pattern. Below is the one I chose from the kit we bought a couple years ago. The picture is post-punching.

After cutting out the pieces and anally cleaning up the carving (OCD style), voila, a masterpiece of a pumpkin.

Now take note. This is the first year we encountered the battle with the squirrels. The overpopulated beasts started eating parts of our pumpkins! They weren't even shy about it. They sat on the steps, put piece in hand (claw?) and slowly chewed and devoured our creations. The only good thing I can report is at least they waited until Halloween night. Some of our neighbors were not as lucky. But next year, we'll have to try coating them with something not so tasteful... suggestions welcome. Below is what was left of my pumpkin. People kept asking what is was supposed to be... how disheartening. But, on the bright side, it kind of looks like the person holding the mirror is flipping everyone off. Maybe not everyone, but definitely the squirrels!
Here is Norman's pumpkin that neighbor Woodruffs so kindly volunteered to carve out. Their style was unconventional (staples, scissors, pushpins, etc.) and they may not be back next year, but they did a fine job.

Finally, all the trick-or-treaters favorite: Shawn's pumpkin. Ironically, this is also the ONLY pumpkin that the squirrels left alone. Creature karma? Do squirrels fear raccoons? Something to ponder... if you're seriously that bored.

One other very important thing we learned. If your pumpkin starts to shrivel, fill your bathtub with cold water and dunk them in it for about two hours. It's like magic. They come back to life, exactly as they looked when you were done carving. Little tip from the DeBoers to you.