#pub70

[thedaveandkimmershow]

Each time we enter into November we understand it's gonna be a bit of a ride. And each time we enter into November we're surprised by what kind of ride it is.

This time around, the beginning of the month featured the inevitable passing away of Kimmer's aunt Jacquie who'd been in hospice for about a month after breaking her hip at her memory care community home and undergoing surgery afterward. Kimmer was there with her for about five weeks, visiting and staying with her every day, coordinating her aunt's care while also being fully engaged in her online doctoral program.

Eventually, Kimmer could only keep that effort going for so long and returned just before Halloween.

The next week, the morning of the third of this month, her aunt passed away.

There'll be a memorial service for both Jacquie and her husband, Dave, who passed away unexpectedly on the last day of last year. So for now we're turned back toward the holidays on a schedule that's both sustainable and doesn't require us to live in different states for weeks on end.

To find a time in our marriage we were apart this long, we'd have to go back to the beginning when Kimmer attended Emory University or when I was on the road in Europe with Small World Productions.

Definitely helps we've got cell phones and laptops this time around.

That is an improvement. 🙂

Linzy's month has been a little more chill professionally. Mostly her teaching gig along with performances at Willows Lodge Fireside Lounge and Tsillian Cellars across the month. Also her work on what will be her first Dream Patrol album release. I've already heard a rough draft of the entire album and yeah.

This is on its way to being next-level incredibleness. 😁

Me, aside from the YouTube and video restoration work I've been doing, this month also marked my first few batches of thrift shop Christmas-themed photos that kicked off our Christmastime experience. By the end of the month, we even had a coupla Christmas movies under our belts: The Man Who Invented Christmas and 2004's The 12 Days of Christmas Eve.

That wasn't all to this month's holiday shenanigans, of course, the tent poles being Kimmer's birthday on the 14th, Linzy's birthday on the 22nd, and Thanksgiving on the 23rd.

So it's the 13th. Monday night.

I'm making Kimmer's handcrafted, handwritten birthday card whilst listening to Christmas music courtesy Vince Guaraldi (A Charlie Brown Christmas) and Kenny Loggins (December). I'm also wrapping gifts and prepping the flowers.

The morning of her birthday is perfectly morning sunlight and perfectly lazy. We do the card, the flowers, the presents.

We do the lazy. 😊

We're eventually out the door by noon and pick up Linzy who immediately says

"Would you like your present now?"

Moments later, after Kimmer's emphatic YES!, through the car speakers comes a Dream Patrol cover and arrangement of Christine McVie's song "Songbird" that Linzy usually sings (in its original arrangement) at gigs by The Little Lies, the Fleetwood Mac tribute band.

"Dream Patrol" is one of Linzy's brands, by the way, this one featuring a more pop/techno/cinematic/multi-layered vibe.

By the way, "Songbird" is the song Kimmer loves to hear Linzy sing at Little Lies performances. Her absolute favorite. So Linzy recording a version for her was huuuuge. 😁

Afterward we're down at Pub 70 for a burgers kinda lunch in a booth touched by the Fall sun.

Then we're off to the flagship GoodWill on Dearborn for a few rounds of thrift shopping before going back up to our house where the girls set about painting canvases on which to eventually frame two of Kimmer's favorite black 'n white photographs. While they're diligently painting, I've got The Wedding Singer running on the big monitor I set up at one end of their table. Then I slip into the kitchen to fry up some appetizers we scored at Trader Joe's a few days before.

What can I tell you?

This is one of Kimmer's favorite kind of days. ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️

A week later, it's now Linzy's birthday coming up the next day. Which is fun to think about because the week before Linzy's actual day of birth, Kimmer 'n I were celebrating Kimmer's birthday at the Salish Lodge restaurant overlooking Snoqualmie Falls where I remember thinking just how screwed we'd be if she went into labor right then.

Anyway, it's almost a week after Kimmer's birthday, two days before Thanksgiving, and Kimmer's taking the day to begin handpainting the different panels of Linzy's birthday card.

Yup. It's gonna be a full production.

Four times the size of a traditional store-bought card, Kimmer painted, collaged, stickered, and crafted it to within an inch of its life. Handing the finished art off to me, I then add the text to go with it.

Linzy was so impressed by our efforts that she suggested we could sell it on Etsy. Not her card, of course, but basically handmade, custom crafted cards. Services we could, you know, offer online.

🤔🤔🤔

Linzy's birthday day, we were all about town. First up, the waterfront, the Edgewater Inn's Restaurant 67 for a thoroughly swanky breakfast. Then over to Linzy's 'cause Kimmer has an hour of online class that's part of the doctoral program in which she's enrolled. She sets up in Linzy's Kitchen while Linzy 'n I hang out in the living room trading music videos and film trailers with each other. Then it's off to Capital Hill's Late Night Vintage Market that's predictably closed 'cause we stopped by during the, you know, early afternoon. Then over to the Fremont Vintage Mall from which we had to literally tear ourselves away because the place is straight up addictive. There's so much random quirky product each of us would have no problem owning.

Then off to Starbucks along South Lake Union. After that, back to Linzy's place for Kimmer crafted cupcakes (the lemon kind) and the final two episodes of Daisy Jones & the Six.

End of the day, Linzy prepares for a late night celebration with friends while we turn our attention toward Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving?

Yeah. One'a those special times where we're both Yup. gotta clean the house first. :-|

It's a full day, no question about it. And what makes it all worthwhile are our dear friends who show up with their little ones... along with our own little one, Linzy. 😉

Call it a chosen family Thanksgiving. We had a fun experience that included a squirt gun fight, the "cooking" of plastic food, adult conversation (for those not involved in the squirt gun fight), Snapchat filtered photos and super hysterical videos, exercise equipment that a five year old assured me was so easy... a magnificent evening of dinner, drinks, desserts, and yeah.

Just being with friends you love and, for that matter, really like.

I mean really really.

The next morning I get word that my friend, Tom, finally succumbed to terminal illness. His estimation, of course, of how much time he had left was much much shorter than seemed likely or, for that matter, reasonable. And yet he was already gone.

When I'd found out about his illness, I reached out to him with a

Test test

Check check

You there?

To which he replied

Just barely. Thanks for the great times and good laughs. Tom.

This is all new, by the way. This just happened. So there's not word yet about a memorial service. It's simply trying to process what's happened alongside the speed at which it happened.

Really, though, it's appreciating the months years decades... before that. During which he was a mentor and friend, a genuinely nice and generous man. Loved his Spaniels like nobody's business. And because we all worked in production, traveling across Europe and the United States, there are plenty of stories to remember.

And to tell.

☺️❤️🤔🌞

Our losses aside this year, at this point we're into the holidays so I've got our yearly Christmas letter on the brain.

This year I blogged about each of our months at the end of each month so I've copied all those (including this one) into a single Google document. I then duplicated that document and whittled a lot of it away, organizing the text into categories that include each of us, stuff about Kimmer 'n me, the story of our move, the story of the loss of Kimmer's aunt and uncle that spans most of the year, some things about our travels, observations about our family, and random thoughts about the year.

Next step: duplicate and whittle again. Even more ruthlessly this time. 'Cause it only gets to be one page.

Front and back.

Dang.

That's gonna be tough.

😬

So.

That's "all" for now.

Eleven down.

One to go.

Onward!

(And Ho Ho Ho)

☺️

[taproomtraveler]

The Royal Oak***

The Royal Oak in Fritham is one of the oldest pubs in the New Forest, dating back to the 17th century. It is a thatched cottage with red-brick additions, and is located on the edge of the village, close to the New Forest National Park. The pub is named after the Royal Oak, the tree where King Charles II hid after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. It is said that Charles II visited the pub on several occasions, and that he even carved his initials into the bar. A number of cask ales sat a on a rack on the back wall of the bar. I chose a Peacocks Barefaced. The pub is very small with three dining areas, they don’t take bookings so it’s a bit of pot luck. Very busy on my visit some customers left not wanting to wait. Tony’s frying machine serving fish & chips comes every Saturday from 6pm throughout the summer.With a van serving woodfired pizza on Tuesday and Friday. Only ploughman’s on the menu but done with home made ingredients. £12. Review 2023.

[thegatekeeperofthemoon-blog]

The Big Apple Nightmare by L.EL pub70/28/2017 copywrite pending*

Tony parents thought she was crazy for wanting to move at 7 months pregnant far away from their quaint, friendly little country, hometown of Cove Tree, North Carolina to the big, noisy crime riddle city of New York. But, to Tony and her high school sweetheart and newly wed husband of three years, Dwan Dalton, it was a chance of a lifetime. He was to become one of the three co-partners in the biggest A.I. and Robotics tech company in the world, “L.I. Corporation”…and along with moving to the city they would receive free of charge a fully paid for complimentary Condominium and they were guaranteed a six figure income for their growing family. There was no way they were going to pass up this opportunity they wouldn’t and they couldn’t. And how could their family possibly understand being they had all been simple farmers, fishermen, and hunters who had never been out of the county lines let alone to a sophisticated city. Especially, now they knew they were having a little girl in a matter of two months. And they deserved it, because Dwan had earned this opportunity busting his ass in the wee hours of the morning for his career in computer software development under the company LukePower; for years Dwan had been making them money hand over fist in the technologies industry, striking multi- million dollar deals with companys and to no avail and to his dismay he never advanced in in the ranks of the family based, owned corporation. The time for them to start their new life together away from their family roots, to start to plant their own seeds of the Daltons family’s tree was here… This story is to be contd if this story is “LIKE” more than 25xtimes below!

[thedaveandkimmershow]

A 'lil update for the last few days:

Monday night, the 13th, I spent making Kimmer's birthday card, wrapping her gifts, and preparing the flowers. I was mostly in my home edit suite that doubles as an art space at times.

Aside from the birthday prep, though, Monday night was the first time I rolled out Christmas music this year, a classic, the soundtrack for Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown.

I also threw in some tunes from Kenny Logins' Christmas album, December. I don't remember for sure but I think our friend, Scott, tuned us into that holiday tradition.

In the meantime, Kimmer's birthday was a lovely affair... if for no other reason than the sun was out in all its glory all day long, bathing our entire day in the look of summer if definitely not the heat.

We lazed away the morning after presents and cards and flowers until it was time to pick up Linzy from work in Seattle.

So Linzy gets in the car and asks

"Would you like your present now?" and Kimmer says "Yes!" then Linzy pairs her phone with our car's sound system and plays a Dream Patrol cover of the Fleetwood Mac tune "Songbird" that was written by Christine McVie. Linzy performs the song with The Little Lies, the Fleetwood Mac tribute band that has upcoming gigs in Portland (Dec. 6) and at Climate Pledge Arena for an upcoming Kraken game (Dec. 10). (I mention the dates 'cause we're going to both in the coming holiday weeks)

Songbird is one of Kimmer's favorite songs. A serious favorite. And she absolutely loves listening to Linzy perform it on stage. This version, though, is an arrangement from Linzy's brand, Dream Patrol. It's an all kinds of special arrangement, a multilayered modern take that blows us away.

Helluva present from the Daughter, I've gotta say. ❤️❤️❤️

Our plan was to then head up to Gerardi's Osteria for a fancy lunch. The last time we were at that restaurant, by the way, was the last day Linzy 'n Rachel lived with us.

And the next day?

Yup. Glorious empty-nesting forever more. 😁

Anyway. Our plan was Edmonds for lunch except none of us had really had anything to eat so we thought, sure, we'll get a snack first and, since we were close, Kimmer thought Cactus except Linzy was thinking we all go there all the time so then Kimmer whips out Pub70 on the waterfront so, long story short...

That's where we get a snack.

Only, you know, they don't have snacks at Pub70, they have appetizers. And most of those appetizers cost roughly the same as most of their actual lunch items. So Pub70's where we have Kimmer's birthday lunch which was still lovely because the sun was lighting up that section of the restaurant (near the bar) and we basically spent our time together as a family in sunlight. ☺️

Aside from her birthday presents, Kimmer also had it mind to treat herself to a blue sweater.

A blue sweater?

Yup. So we make our way across town to the flagship GoodWill on Dearborn where the girls shop about and I snap close up photos of the various Christmas displays atop the racks... along with one shot right into a Christmas ornament hanging from the tree next to the front doors. It didn't turn out the way I meant it to...

But there you go and there you are.😐

And then we're on our way back up to the house where Linzy & Kimmer spend the next coupla hours painting canvases that Kimmer will use to mount a pair of black & white photographs that are dear to her. While they're doing that, I've got our big screen playing back The Wedding Singer on one end of the dining room which we all enjoy while sitting around the dining room table.

By 'n by, I fry up the appetizers we picked up the other day at Trader Joe's... and we all partake before driving Linzy home for the evening and lounging through the last few hours of the day with Kimmer.

Kimmer loves this kind of day, by the way. Oh sure we used to do these birthdays in epic ways... but this way of celebrating stands in contrast to the wall-to-wall life we lead these days.

A little peace and family is always good for the soul. ☺️

Moving on from holiday music news and birthday news, I took my first Christmas photographs last Thursday at Value Village...

...followed by the ones on Kimmer's birthday...

...followed by ones I took tonight along with a bunch of other ones, leftovers from Halloween and perennials from the toy section, to avoid going full Christmas all the time just yet.

I only mention this because my Rule for the month was to not take any Christmas photos like, at all, until we get passed Thanksgiving.

But again. There you go and there you are.

I blew that one.

In the meantime, our holiday plans for next week are starting to take shape. We've got reservations at the Edgewater Inn in Seattle for breakfast on Linzy's birthday which happens this year the day before Thanksgiving. Next year, her birthday will fall right on Thanksgiving and you can be she resents the hell outta that.

Then on Thanksgiving itself, we're celebrating in the evening with dear family friends who're coming over to celebrate with us and Linzy and their two little ones.

Still working out the details. But the brush strokes we've got. ☺️

Question is...

Will we have a Christmas tree up before or after Thanksgiving?

🤨🤔🌲

[thedaveandkimmershow]

Part 2

So we'd moved to an apartment in Cap Hill intending to stay there a few months so as not to lose the deposit when Linzy moved out.

Just.

Until the lease ran out.

But then it was such a perfect location for the airport, for Pub70 on the waterfront, for walks along the west shore of Lake Union, for walks along Myrtle Edwards Park from the Expedia Group building to...

Pub70.

For neighborhood walks to St. Marks and back, for Top Pot Donuts, Cafe Barjot and their lemon crepes, for Tapster and that food truck that used to be out front serving the mouth watering delicious and authentic Mexican food. For the movie theaters downtown only one light rail stop away. And for shaving at least an hour off our commute to work times .

That's one way, folks.

We lived there four years, one month, and a bit of a week. Definitely well more than the few months we intended.

Of course...

Of course we didn't live in our apartment for four years, one month, and a bit of a week. We lived in the apartment for one year and eight months. We lived there for one year and seven months when, one day, Kimmer wondered what was available on the upper floors. So she asks the building maintenance guys who are usually around and they show her three units, if I'm remembering right. Two on the fifth floor, one on the sixth. Or maybe it's the other way around: one on the fifth, two on the sixth.

Or maybe it was just one available unit on each floor.

Whichever it is, I'm at work while this is happening. On my way home, though, is when I get the call filling me in on the possibilities and wondering when exactly I'm gonna be home 'cause we're about to go looking at apartments. Which we did, by the way.

Just as soon as I got home.

Now, even though this was a thoroughly abrupt plot twist, the call was an incredibly easy one to make once we were shown the corner unit on the fifth floor with the additional set of windows. Plus...

They'd give us the month to move in. We wouldn't have to pay for the month... and we'd have access to move our belongings from the apartment in which we were living at the time to this new one. Basically, for this one month we had two apartments.

One more time:

Basically.

For this one month.

We had two apartments.

The month we were given made the move a piece of cake as we took the entire month to move bit by bit. Linzy's birthday was that month and we held a pop-over breakfast party there for she and a few of her friends. And then for Thanksgiving...

We had two ovens.

Only time that's ever happened.

That second oven does comes in super handy I'll tell you that.

So.

After a year and eight months we were still living in the same building... just in a different apartment a few floors up.

Which is where we've been to this day.

🙂

[thedaveandkimmershow]

Twenty-nine years into our epic tale, we fully understand that not every relationship prevails. Not everyone gets all the days of their lives together. Not everyone gets the ever after. Happily or otherwise. And it's obvious that not every relationship, no matter its form or conception, is sustainable. Even on a good day.

And we are definitely a long ways away from a "good day".

So we're beating some very long odds to share the life that we share, holding the same hands as we did back in our twenties.

I won't lie. It's a helluva thing.

We're celebrating twenty-nine years today. Now, every year it's like "so what do you wanna do?" And the discussion always revolves around two things: food and adventuring.

The food thing's because, after our wedding ceremony and reception, we were chauffeured in a vintage automobile to Palisade restaurant on the southern tip of Magnolia, fronting the marina where, I'm sure, we scored free desserts 'cause I was always and relentlessly telling everyone we met on our honeymoon how we were just married... and they'd comp us some tasty treats every time. 😁

So that comes up every year... and this year it's brunch at the restaurant at Edgewater Inn on the Seattle waterfront. We even started a little early Friday night with a Kimmer prepared dinner special topped off with the film "The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things". And then last night we toasted a bit of our past with Linzy at Pub70 right there at the end of Myrtle Edwards Park.

Because there really isn’t a downside to getting a jump on celebrating is there?

Now, the other part of our anniversary planning is adventuring because we've always been an out 'n about couple. Photography with actual 35mm cameras was our thing back in the day. We'd go someplace like downtown Seattle and take photographs of whatever caught our fancy. It's a habit we never quite shook, both the photography (with cell phones now) and the random exploring of places we'd think up on the fly.

And maybe that's sort of our thing together over the years. Food. Photography. Exploring.

God knows there are plenty of things looking to hijack our time and attention, so whenever and however much we do indulge our shared passions, the more it helps us both navigate and prevail against the chaotic reality upon which our wedding vows continue to play out.

I'm lucky as hell, of course. In all kinds of ways that defy the expectations of my twenty-something self. In ways that go well beyond my understanding of our wedding vows on the day we spoke them aloud to each other.

I had no idea the adventure this would be and continues to be. In the absolutely best ways possible and the absolute worst. This is an adventure, after all, not a rom-com. And the challenges we faced over the years are challenges I couldn't have faced on my own. The challenges we faced together, well, some of those were pretty traumatic. Some had the immediacy of car crashes, some thoroughly engulfed us for days or weeks, and some settled into the backdrop of our life together for years and decades. There was a ton of stuff in there we didn't see coming. There was a lot we didn't realize was even on the table.

But we prevailed, for better and for worse.

For richer and for poorer.

In sickness and in health.

For real.

Absolutely. For real.

All of our days right through this very one today.

Twenty-nine years into our epic tale, it's still the Kimmer & Dave show. It's sort of an everything and the kitchen sink life.

But it's ours.

And we continue to be thankful for it.

♥️♥️♥️

[thedaveandkimmershow]

At some point I realized we'd slept our last night at the apartment. I wasn't actually expecting that until tonight, so...

How did I know?

It's when I realized we had packed our pillows to go to the house. That's how.

Apparently.

Of course the most striking thing about our day was how physically tired we still were from yesterday. Muscles... aching.

Now the day before yesterday was when we rented a cargo van and made two of the three trips between the apartment and house we needed to make. Leaving one more trip in the morning: the living room and bed room furniture, a stationary bike, and a mattress.

In preparation for the morning's last part of loading the cargo van, keeping in mind we had to return it by 11, we're up first thing at 7.

Okay 730 for sure.

Then we jump in the shower—

Okay not just then. Call it an hour of regaining consciousness and coaxing, trying to convince our muscles we're dead serious this is another moving day, so...

Eight thirty Kimmer jumps in the shower then I'm in the shower after her and, because these are hot showers and they really ease our muscle's misgivings about the day, she's ready by 845, I'm ready by 9. Not bad, if you think about it.

We spend 9-10 packing the cargo van then drive off to the house around 10:15, arrive at the house around 10:45 where we unload then sweep out the cargo van at which point it's 11 and I head up the street to pump into its gas tank the amount of fuel I blew through in the last 24 hours. Fortunately, the rental agreement has a chart that does the math for me. 😊

By the time I'm checking the van back in at U-Haul, I'm 17 minutes late but within the grace period so that's good. Kimmer picks me up in the minivan and we hit Trader Joe's for food, and we hit Walmart Neighborhood Market for cleaning supplies, and we hit Value Village next door for curtains that can serve as blackout curtains which we didn't find but we did find bedsheets with really cool and colorful designs. So yeah. We got a little distracted there toward the end.

12:30-ish we're back at the house, leaving for the apartment at one. Actually, I didn't realize we were going back to Seattle, I thought we were stopping in at Public Storage and then back to the house... so we had to swing back to the house to grab my rucksack because it's basically my mobile office at this point with my workstation down during the move.

1:30 we're back at the apartment, continuing to deconstruct and load out our apartment into the minivan, lining up what remains in boxes against the walls in the living room.

There's also cleaning happening on the fly.

Around 6, Linzy stops by bearing a coupla blackberry hard ciders that we share as a family in the living room.

6:45 we're back at the house unloading, arranging, and figuring out on the spot what's going to storage, even temporarily, to get them out of our way.

8:10 we take that stuff to storage using both our cars which takes about fifteen minutes.

8:45 we're on the road again.

We're not done for the day... but we do have it in mind, had it in mind, that we wanted dinner at Pub70. It just hasn't been in the cards for us the previous nights. That's Pub70 on Pier 70, by the way, on the waterfront. The Seattle waterfront.

Now, before we leave Public Storage in Lynnwood, Kimmer does a quick think about cars for tonight and tomorrow. Right now, we've got both cars in play. We only need one for our impromptu dinner in Seattle. However. I'm working in Seattle the next day after which I'm back at the apartment for more packing and cleaning. Kimmer also's coming back to the apartment for more packing and cleaning. Plus, before this night's over we're taking our cat, Dinker, back to the house with us.

There's some logistics in front of us, is my point.

So, from Lynnwood, we drive down to Seattle, drop off/park the minivan at the apartment and continue together to Pub70 after which we return to the apartment, pick up Dinker and Dinker's stuff, and drive back to the house leaving the minivan in Seattle where, the next morning, Kimmer will return to load it, drive it back to the house, while I, after work, take a light rail and a walk to the apartment where there's a car waiting for me as well.

It's a clever plan, especially since Kimmer's already stone cold exhausted.

That goes for both of us, actually. We get to Pub70 around 915 thoroughly wiped out, still managing to enjoy dinner which is a fried chicken burger for me and some kind of grilled salad-y burger for Kimmer. Plus the nitro brews. Guinness for me. Irish Death for her.

Our server was great, by the way. She and Kimmer bonded over food allergies, Epipens, and Prednisone.

Go figure.

We left a little after 10:30, arrived at the apartment ten minutes to eleven, left with our cat and his stuff fifteen minutes later, and we're back at the house by 11:30.

For a second there we thought about bringing one of our monitors back to the house to watch a little something before going to bed but who were we kidding?

We were going right to bed.

Which. We. Did.

Thank God.

☺️

[thedaveandkimmershow]

We sat at the bar at Pub70 tonight. For drinks. For dinner. To toast our friend, Susan, who, as of the 20th of this month has been gone a year.

One year.

It wasn't a solemn moment. It wasn't a memorial occasion. It was just family time, the three of us, to mark this year gone by.

We actually had a lovely evening. A little talk of Susan, not lots, though.

In some ways it felt like something we just needed. Not solely for her but for us, for the experience we had that was very much a complicated emergency leaving us with regrets. Because everyone, and I mean everyone... including the doctors and nurses, did not see the speed of Susan's passing coming as fast as it came to pass.

So yeah. Regrets. Soothed a touch by the passage of time, indulging the good memories we continue to share, and allowing the relationships we have with each other, the foundation that energizes and propels us forward.

I don't know what else to say, but...

Thank God for that.

🙂  

[thedaveandkimmershow]

In the end, it was an adventure. My birthday... was an adventure.

Because the freezing rain.

Because the freezing rain.

I won’t lie. That was really a game-changer.

We heard it was coming, of course. So Kimmer made sure that last night we started the official birthday celebration proceedings after work with a visit to ‘Lil Woody’s for a pair of their classic burgers followed by the Avatar: Way of Water extravaganza next door at the Majestic Bay Theatres. After which we ended the night, the night before my birthday, my birthday Eve... 

At Pub70 on the waterfront for a Winter Ale (Kimmer) and a Guiness Nitro (me).

Heckuva way to start a birthday.  😁

Then we woke up this morning to water droplets literally frozen to our windows.

So that happened.

After starting our morning with a cleverly crafted birthday card from Kimmer, my wonderful birthday presents, and a birthday breakfast centered around crescent rolls stuffed with sausage... we then bore witness to a lot of cars losing control on ice that didn’t look like ice but looked like regular pavement. And then the same thing for people who were trying to just stand upright... who suddenly, uncontrollably, found themselves sliding down streets, sidewalks, and driveways. 

No joke.

So we took all of that as verified evidence that we should remain indoors for the duration. Until, as was foretold by every weather prediction, the temperature rose enough to melt that frozen water. That invisible ice.

How did we pass our time, then? My birthday?

Well, Kimmer took to an afternoon of cooking and baking. And me, I took inventory of all the gifts “Santa” had procured for my lovely wife, then wrapped them all so that all I’ve gotta do tomorrow, tomorrow night, or first thing Christmas morning, is to fashion them with strings or ribbons, a sticker, and perhaps a bow. No sweat.

Round about first sign of dark, the drawn curtain of evening, we decided to walk the decidedly melting sidewalks of our neighborhood to gather Linzy then take the light rail to Pioneer Square and Flatstick Pub for dinner, a round of miniature golf (a tough one, at that), as well as a bit of time indulging some family photo ops as well as photographing some of the Henry art adorning the walls of this clever space crafted from Underground Seattle.

By 830 we were back on the hill to drop off Linzy and gather up her birthday gift to me: a fine and tasty cherry jam that’ll absolutely find its use (if not its end) over the next few days.

By 9 we were home. For an especially tasty chocolate birthday cake Kimmer made for me and over which she sang me a Happy Birthday before I blew out all the candles save one (which she helped me blow out ;-)).

After that, we finished off the day with The Man Who Invented Christmas and then off to bed.

I had friends who, in the course of wishing me a Happy Birthday, expressed some concern that my birthday was being derailed by an act of Mother Nature.

But on the contrary.

The whole ordeal made my birthday an epic experience.

One we’ll not soon forget.

😁 😁 😁

[thedaveandkimmershow]

Much like a movie that's a Christmas movie even though it's not specifically a Christmas movie, our trip to the Midwest to celebrate a friend's graduation in the middle of December was a Christmas trip without specifically being a Christmas trip.

It was a graduation taking place amidst lights and trees and decorations and gift shopping and music and advent calendars and chocolates and peppermint and bible stories.

So no. Not specifically a Christmas trip. But certainly bathed in all the colors of the season.

It was also a trip wrapped in community. Formed of a large group of individuals committed to the well-being of each other as well as strangers who cross their paths. Which is probably why I have people who are struggling even more on the brain this week.

Since my last Holiday Report, we managed an unbroken string of evenings spent with Christmas movies and classic shows...

Santa Claus is coming to town The Year Without a Santa Claus The Family Man Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Little Women (1994) Call the Midwife Christmas Episode (Season 4) How The Grinch Stole Christmas Call the Midwife Christmas Episode (Season 5, part 1) Call the Midwife Christmas Episode (Season 5, part 2) The Holiday The Santa Clause The Santa Clause 2 Ghosts, BBC Episode "The Ghost of Christmas" Ghosts, BBC Episode "The Ghost of Christmas"

In the meantime, I managed to finish all the Christmas cards and letters we’re sending out... and actually sent them out. Huzzah!

We’re also both done with our Christmas shopping (although I’ve got a thing or two still on the way). Me, I’m done with the Christmas shopping I’m doing for Kimmer. Kimmer, she’s done with the Christmas shopping she’s doing for me as well as everyone else.

So there’s that.

Now, we don’t count stockings as part of the Christmas shopping gig. Most of that’s because whatever you get for the stocking is super low maintenance. You just stuff it in the stocking once you have it. So that kind of shopping goes all the way through when the stores close on Christmas Eve. 

As far as our plans?

Got my birthday going on tomorrow so we’re prefunctioning tonight a little with Avatar: The Way of Water at the Majestic Bay Theatres in Ballard followed up, hopefully if there’s still time because the movie’s more than three hours long... followed up by a stop at Pub70 on the waterfront.

Then tomorrow Linzy’ll join us and we’ll improvise a bit. Maybe a return visit to Paint The Town in U-Village. Maybe some miniature golf at Flatstick Pub in Pioneer Square. Maybe some photography at the nearest Fireworks Gallery. Maybe Trader Joe’s appetizers and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery streaming on Netflex.

Who knows? We’ll figure it out as we go.

After that, Christmas Eve Day, it looks like we’ve got a full day ending with St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle for a musical prelude and midnight mass.

For Christmas Day we’re still looking to follow our family tradition of a mid-day movie... although we’re still figuring out which movie it’ll be.

And all the details in-between we’ll fill in as we go. Hopefully, with enough peace and rest and sleep...

So we’re enjoying our experiences every step of the way.

Fingers crossed!

😊

[thedaveandkimmershow]

I was hanging out with a friend this morning talking about, well, quite a lot of things across quite a lot of years. We’re old like that and that’s just how we roll. 

One of the things that came up during our conversation was this idea, absolutely true in our experience, that when we were taking the first steps of our careers, we weren’t chasing anything in particular, we were chasing a job, any job, in our industry. The industry to which we wanted to commit huge swaths of our lives. The industry that is, in fact, our shared answer to the question What do you wanna be when you grow up?

My friend’s a producer, director, motion design Houdini, and a brilliant editor. Me, I’m an editor, a composer, and a writer. And we get paid to be these things.

In one very important way, our career aspirations worked out in ways that are a bit like winning the lotto. You see, we are also husbands, fathers. We live full lives with women we deeply love, with children we absolutely adore, with friends who get us just as we... get them. We are paid to work with people who are superbly gifted at what they do, whose work is inspired, and who are some of the best people we know on this planet.

That’s not what we were pursuing when we were young, though. We were  chasing a job in the industry. Any job.

What we were not chasing... is a life. In all its epic proportions.

That. Was not our focus. 

And you know what?

It worked anyway. We won the lotto.

Here’s the thing, though...

I spent the morning hanging out with a friend who’s everything a professional’s supposed to be. A genuinely decent and fun and imaginative human being. We talked family. We talked about this passion we share, the industry we’re surfing right now. Talking shop. Talking projects. Comparing how things used to be in our business as opposed to how things are right now.

Light years, by the way. The difference. Is light years.

After that, I went to work in an edit suite with a producer. I’m cutting a kid’s show for her and I have a tight rough cut for her. And what we did this afternoon is simply watch this cut of the show and project onto it our ideas. To identify areas that need help. To think of all the ways we can effectively communicate and entertain. To try out ideas on each other, nothing more. 

To imagine what this show could be, and should be, before I lay another finger on it.

You have no idea how fun that is. How addictive is that kind of experience, both on a professional and personal level.

Meanwhile, my daughter was working on the production of her latest song, “Venom”, for her brand, Dream Patrol. She was so jazzed about what she’s accomplished so far that she wanted to be there when I heard it. So after my session with the producer, I invited Linzy to come down where we could listen to her production on big speakers.

Which we did. Over and over. Being wowed by this work that’s a combination of masterful composition, performance, production, and feast for the ears. Poking at it a little. Trying out ideas. Then watching a few comparable music videos that turned into a session of taking turns sharing some of our favorite music. Afterwhich we walked up to my car a ways and I drove her to her place as we continued chatting up the evening.

The only thing missing from my most excellent day was Kimmer who’s down in Irvine, California today. Be back tomorrow.

We did talk first thing in the morning, and then in the car on speaker with LInzy.

Kimmer’s had a pretty busy day as well today, it turns out. Had she been here, though, after her day at work, we woulda boogied down to Pub70 on the waterfront to compare our days and share some very lovely food and drinks.

Now that. Woulda been perfect.

My point, though, is that I love... that this is my life. And had I known life could be like this... 

I woulda been chasing this instead of a job, any job, in my industry.

😊

[thedaveandkimmershow]

We just slipped passed out first official week of our holiday season. It’s the week with Kimmer's birthday in it that wound up being a very lovely day with the added bonus of sunshine through and through. Which, sadly, doesn't usually happen on her birthday, the sun coming out like that.

So it made for an extra special day.

Linzy joined us after we did birthday cards and presents and breakfast and a bunch of lazy first thing in the morning. She came bearing purple tulips after which she 'n I got down to making a special cake for Kimmer with Linzy taking the lead and doing the heavy lifting.

It turned out fabulous, by the way. So fabulous, in fact, that a few days later she gathered up a new batch of ingredients and made another one for herself.

Of course, while I appreciate the initiative... I can't help but think of it as a scam to get out of sharing.

Boooooooo.

We watched the movie “Sing Street” together while Kimmer multitasked a bit indulging her current craft project as the movie played.

Afterward, we went up the street to Rapport for a little bit of dining. A Tapster-style wine experience aided and abetted by a pair of flatbread offerings that were both, interestingly, spicy.

Good thing we had the wine, I must say.

At night, it was Kimmer 'n I again and we headed down to our new favorite bar to finish the night, Pub70 on the waterfront. The bartender there was an absolute gem of a human being, setting Kimmer up with a Pumpkin Hot Toddy. Then a few minutes later he comes back over to our table, worried that he didn't make the Toddy sweet enough. With that in mind, he's brought her a short glass of warmed up honey.

One more time:

Warmed up.

Honey.

Dear lord, in that moment, it legitimately felt like we might never leave our cozy booth.

Ever.

😊

By the way, we already indulged a Christmas movie. The 2019 film "Noelle" with Anna Kendrick, Bill Harder, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Shirley MacLaine in what has become an instant holiday classic for us.

We have also, actually just me, seen our first Christmas tree lot. Open for business at that Grocery Outlet on the corner of MLK and E. Union. With lights and everything.

Dang.

This week, I got serious about our Christmas letter, going through my Facebook activity that does a pretty good job capturing what we were up to any given month.

I'm up to May.

With that in mind, Kimmer's told me I'm absolutely forbidden to buy new Christmas cards.

Why?

Because every year I buy new ones and end up not using all of them. So at this point... I have a pretty significant stash of old (but new) Christmas cards. 

We're gonna unearth them either today or tomorrow.

Lastly, we did a little pre-functioning for Linzy's birthday. Linzy invited a bunch of friends down to Dreamland Bar in Fremont last night around ten. Only she didn't figure on how packed the place would be on a Friday night.

Without reservations.

Whoops.

So one of her friends got their name on a list for our group whilst we headed a coupla blocks over to the House Bar, a couple bars over from the High Dive on N. 36th. True, there was a hardcore metal band screaming their music in the downstairs courtyard... but the upsidedown ocean and clouds and model wooden ships scene crafted into and onto and extruding from the ceiling was fascinating.

Plus, I won't lie, the free beers were delicious.

Thank you, Harry. 😁

Somewhere in there, the word came down our table was ready at Dreamland. And boy was it ever. They had a long table set up for the lot of us where we finished the evening. 

Basically, it was 1am Saturday morning by the time we slipped outta there.

Tonight, Linzy's got another party going on. A 70s themed something or other in downtown someplace or other. And then this coming Tuesday, her actual birthday day... we'll spend the day with her for our family celebration.

So yeah.

The holidays. They are a-movin'.

❤️❤️❤️