Happy New Year!

As I sit here and watch "How It's Made |REMIX|", I'm going to try to recall all the wonderful things that have happened since our last blog entry.  As I imagine it will take a while, I'll provide TV updates in itallics.

Christmas

Having survived the Christmas Eve trip to Portland, there was little time to relax before all the good kids had to go to bed.  We had an early morning of gift opening planned, but things rarely go as planned.

We did manage to get up early, but we had barely opened one gift each before it was time for Betsey's dad had to go pick up the O'Connell side of the family.  So we paused.  Then they arrived, and we couldn't open presents while we had company.  So we enjoyed Christmas Breakfast and mimosas.  I'm told that in the Mathew household, this is one of two acceptable alcoholic breakfast drinks.  The other is the Bloody Mary.

"Planet Earth: Freshwater" has started now.

So breakfast lasted longer than expected and by the time Betsey's dad returned from taking the family home, there was little time to open presents before dinner guests were scheduled to arrive; however, we gave it a shot anyway.  After we each opened one more gift, more wonderful and welcome guests started to arrive.  Again we paused to be gracious hosts.

Dinner was the best coq au vin you never had.  I had it though, so I get to judge it and tell you so.  The conversation was fun and light hearted, but was frequently interrupted by sounds of people trying to communicate how delicious the food tasted.  Unfortunately, the culinary excellence turned off all high level brain functions and all you would hear is pleasant sounding "oooh"s and "mmmm"s.

So when our dinner guests started to look really comfortable, and the hours left in Christmas were running low, we threw out the graciousness and invited them to watch us open presents, which they did.  Honestly, Christmas is pretty fun with an audience and having your presents last 14 hours is pretty sweet too!

Friendly Outings

Our weekend was not all shut-up in the winter wonderland of Portland.  We had a few very pleasant outings.

We went to Mio Sushi with Brett.  He's leaving for New York and we're going to miss him greatly.  Although we hardly see him anyway, he is most responsible for our being together and so knowing we can't just see him at a drop of a hat anymore is quite a hit.

Chevy's is where we met Kevin.  Kevin's dorm room in college is where Betsey and I first laid eyes on each other.  In addition, Kevin was my roommate when Betsey and I first started dating.  He had to put up with coming home to us making out on the couch, staying up all hours talking, and wrestling (no really) and hitting the walls hard.  Despite our outrageous behavior he remained our friend. For this we made him fly from California for our wedding, and now when he's in Portland, risk life and limb driving to meet us for lunch. 

A different "How It's Made" has now started.

My sisters came up from Grants Pass on the Sunday after Christmas.  Part of my present to them was helping them through the process of starting their own cell phone plans.  After all that business, we headed over to a nearby Starbucks and grabbed some coffees.  The girls brought their presents for us.  So in the middle of a Starbucks in Beaverton, there were four Catchpoles having Christmas on Monday.  Chrystal brought all sorts of wonders from all over Europe and Kimberley found some truly thoughtful gifts to give us.

Our visit with the Mills side of the family was also pleasant.  Their family had spent Christmas in Hawaii and returned with some beautiful pictures of their time away from Portland.

Another episode of "How It's Made" is now starting.

Slumdoggin'

If you haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire yet, let me give it my full recommendation.  I'll describe it like this.  Aladdin meets an episode of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".  The actors are brilliant.  The cinematography is great.  The view of life in India is interesting.  Most importantly, the story is entertaining.  At the very end of the movie, it's not spoiling anything to say that there's a nice nod to Bollywood.

New Year's Eve

I worked New Year's Eve and wasn't feeling up to much; although, originally, I'd wanted to party in Portland with our friends from Sehti.  Betsey came up with a plan that was much more in keeping with our collective tired mood:  dinner at Iovino's IN CORVALLIS.  So we went there and invited Ben, Brad, and Andrea.  To our surprise and delight they all showed up and we ate good food and decided to go to our separate homes at 10:30 to ring in the New Year in our own special ways.

I'm watching "The Soup" now.

Other Accomplishments

New Word - Anticihate

On the way home from Christmas, Betsey and I invented a new word.  I had it published, mistakenly with a capital letter, but hey.  The examples I created in no way relate to personal experience but are there to help people use it correctly.

365 Project

Finally, I've started a 365 project for the New Year on Flickr.  The idea is to take a self portrait (loose definition) every day for a year.  Wish me luck!