Pick-up Artist Goes to Las Vegas: Christmas in Seattle

I went back to Seattle for Christmas as usual this year. I may miss Thanksgiving in Seattle for 8 years in a row, but I have never missed a Christmas! Usually Seattle is its normal gray, overcast self - maybe a little rain, some fog, some more rain, and a sunbreak if you are lucky! However, this year Seattle got hit with A LOT of snow. My parents' house got close to a foot of snow which is practically unheard of for the area. Thankfully I was able to make it out of Las Vegas without any trouble. People who were originally scheduled on flights a few days before me had to wait up to 4 days before getting out of Vegas!!

My parents live on Bainbridge Island, just west of Seattle in the Puget Sound. The Island is the size of Manhattan, but only has 20,000 residents compared to Manhattan's millions. So there is lots of open space, ginormous evergreens, and is very quiet. It has that small town feel, yet it is only a 35 minutes ferry ride from downtown Seattle. I love my parents house, except for one tiny thing - it's not the house I grew up in. They moved to Bainbridge 4.5 years ago, selling the only house I ever knew. We are all still very attached to the old house. When wee are in the old neighborhood, we will drive by. Even my friend JF indulges me and will do a nice, slow, stalker-esque drive-by of the old house. For some reason it makes me happy that the new owners have kept the mauve blinds I chose for my bedroom back in 1986.

Anyway, it was fun to play in the snow while I was home. The dogs loved it too, especially Oscar, our puppy. The last time I remember having a truly white Christmas in Seattle was 1990 or 1991 - when I was in middle school! And as a special Christmas treat, Oscar decided to be my friend. The first few times I saw him, he would always growl at me or hide behind my dad. When I was home this time, it was like we were best friends, with only a few growls to put me in my place. :-)

The house I grew up in