Merry Christmas 2004!The holiday spirit is upon us. “Get it off! Get it off!” But no we cannot get it off. Cheery TV commercials direct the masses to spend money faster than a republican can spell “W”. Speaking of holiday spirits, the Richters will be visited by three ghosts this Christmas. Oops, that’s three goats, back on the farm in SD. Quite tasty really--those goats. Sheep too. Nothing like a nice MLT. There’s room for all God’s creatures next to the mashed potatoes. (Zeke’s so hungry that he just ate a horse—claims it was only a small one.) While you’re letting that turkey cool off, feel free to read up on what we’ve been doing in 2004. January: Stopped in Rapid City, SD, and Yellowstone National Park on the 1700-mile drive back to Seattle, and spent New Year’s Eve in small town Montana. In Seattle, we returned to the routine, where everything was great, except for 2 days. Two days per week, Chuck was would fly to San Jose, CA. 2 days per week, Chris worked 10-hour days, and 2 days per week Charlie took Spanish, Music, Art, & Nuclear Physics (JK) at his day care. Work sent Chuck against his will to London in January. Never turning down an opportunity to travel, Chris brought Charlie along. The Richters visited museums and the Tower of London with its Beef/Mutton Eaters. During the trip, Chris complained about Chuck’s need to awake and burp in the middle of the night. February: The three of us spent Ground Hog’s Day in London, only there, they call it “February 2nd”. ‘Twas cold. The slush and ice made the open-topped city buses seem a bad idea. Sad to leave, the family watched as the British Airways mechanics jump-started the 747 (seriously); meanwhile the baggage handlers were losing our luggage. In Seattle, responding to the nagging, Chuck visited some so-called doctors about the constant burping. A few co-pays and one barium-swallow later, they said he had acid reflux—Nexium™ to the rescue. Charlie suggested a scuba diving trip to the Caribbean, but with Chuck traveling so often, weekends at home were a welcome rest from the stress. Sorry Charlie. March: It wasn’t the Caribbean, but we did visit the beaches of Santa Cruz, California as a part of a work trip for Chuck. At the Silicon Valley Tech Museum, Chuck had his first Segway ride. Back home in Seattle, while Chris was out one day, Charlie, Chuck and a chainsaw chopped down the apple tree in our backyard, prelude to the retaining wall project. How do you like them apples!? Chris’ highlight of the month was bowling. April: We won $1,000,000 in the Lottery—April fools! However, Charlie did get his first bike. On Easter the family hiked in the woods and later attempted to fly a couple $1.49 kites. Later in the month, cousin Lucy Johnson’s baptism took us out to Boston, MA, where we got to see a few cousins and aunts and uncles. After the Baptism, the family visited Paul Revere’s house and the Freedom Trail. May: One day in May, for no particular reason, Chuck put on his running shoes and headed out the door. He ran out to the end of the driveway. When he had reached the end of the driveway, he kept on running. He ran all the way to 155th street; and then he just kept on running. He ran all the way to St. Edwards State Park; and then, he stopped. When you’re in the shape Chuck is in, running more than 2.1 miles is quite dangerous. That single lung-busting, side-splitting 2.1-mile trot comprised Chuck’s entire training regimen for the Brookings, SD Marathon relay. Four days before the race, some of Chuck’s siblings indicated they were dropping out of the relay—hence the need for the above training. Tom’s words “You can double it on race day”, echoed through Chuck’s head as he completed his allotted 4-mile leg of the Marathon; the rest was more aptly run by Chris, Julie, Nancy, Chad & Ginger. The weekend was a nice chance for Charlie to visit cousins and grandparents. In Seattle, with Chris fearfully looking on wondering “what is he doing now?” Chuck rented skid-steer loader and dump truck to haul out the first 40 cubic yards of dirt from our backyard. It was in May that we welcomed Chuck’s sister Nancy (or Ancy as Charlie likes to call her), a sassy co-ed. June: In Between Chuck’s work trips to Ohio, Texas and California, June was all about the wall. Chris The-Money-Is-No-Object Richter was the exterior decorator and land baron, Charlie The-Rock-Thrower was foreman, Chuck The-Gravel-Packer was the bobcat and dump truck driver, and Nancy The-Bucket-Master was the surly but hard working rock carrier. All were required to do heavy lifting at times, as the blocks weighed 64 lbs each. When she wasn’t trying to organize a union, Nancy would stack them 9 courses high. Rafael The-Dolly-Master Castro came over for a couple of intense workouts. Before they knew it, the team was finished with 1/3 of the wall. Actually with the dirt removed, building the wall took less than 2 weeks. With the sod laid, it really looked awesome. Shortly after, the evil neighbors invited the city inspectors over, who ruled that the wall exceeded code by 3 inches. The sod was ripped up, and two pickup loads of dirt were added to the bottom of the wall. The sod was returned, and the city was happy. July: For the 4th, Vincent and Lily arranged a group camping trip to a Baker Lake campsite, where a week later a bear broke into camping supplies and drank all the Rainier Beer, but left the Busch Light. Speaking of beer, we joined celebrities like Alicia Hadfield and Clara Fernandes to celebrate Nancy’s 21st birthday at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Now, the Great Wall project had created a parking area. Chris deemed we needed a boat to park there. Chuck and Chris scoured the region and the Internet for the perfect boat. We found the boat of our dreams on e-bay. Meanwhile, Chris tested positive for pregnancy, and an ultrasound was scheduled—unfortunately at the same time as the close of the e-bay auction. As the doctor informed Chuck and Chris that two beating hearts were visible in her womb, Nancy relayed to Chuck via cell-phone that the boat was theirs. Twins! Problem: The boat was in Pittsburgh, PA. How it was transported to Seattle is another story, requiring a used pickup, several mechanics, a grease gun, a couple airline tickets, a spare tire, a differential and lots of driving for Chuck and Nancy. A few days after the boat was home, Chuck, Chris and Charlie decided to take it for a spin and found (after launching) that the batteries were dead—this would later lead to more adventures. About this time, a follow up ultrasound revealed sadly that both twins were miscarrying. Only days later, the 2004 Richter Family Reunion, hosted in Seattle, offered a needed distraction, bringing also family support. All of Chuck’s siblings came, as well as Chuck, Sr. and Jackie. Highlights include (but are not limited to) the Rasmussen Stomach Flu, boating (with Jeff and Heide) through the locks to go crabbing, climbing Mt. Si, karaoke jam, rope swinging into the lake, Alex’s near drowning, Chad’s heroic rescue of Alex, an expensive ferry ride to Orcas Island, and Laura’s infamous conversation opener “Hi. I’m getting The Gastro next week!” August: Out went the visiting Richters. Nancy had had enough of living near Chuck by May 19th, but had stayed until August for Charlie’s sake. Now she was returning to SD with all her worldly possessions. The Hall Reunion would be in Iowa, so Chuck asked Nancy for a ride. Into the packed car were packed Chris, Chuck and Charlie. The 1700-mile drive lasted about as long as our deodorant. Aside from a stopover in Devil’s Tower (this means something), only fuel stops were made. From Ginger’s home, Laura (recovering from her “Gastro”) was kind enough to loan her car for the drive to northeastern Iowa, home to Nancy and Mike Caldwell. The week’s activities included watching the Olympics, a little spelunking, golfing, canoeing, touring effigy mounds state park, and losing Chris’ cell phone. After a birthday karaoke jam at the Rasmussen Mansion, Julie transported us to Minneapolis where Charlie told Ken Timmerman, “I remember you!”, at a dinner with Kathy Hall before a one-way flight ferried 3 weary travelers back to Seattle. September: With Charlie missing his ‘Ancy, the three Richters had to get out of the empty house; so they boat-camped on the waters of Lake Washington one weekend. The boat provided a good vantage of the Kenmore Good Ole Days fireworks. Later, Captain von Richter anchored the boat in Juanita Bay, whose calm waters made for nice sleeping. Captain von Dead Batteries provided the adventure of the morning—fortunately we drifted toward shore and could wade in with the batteries to the charger of a Good Samaritan. Chuck’s work sent him on two all expenses paid trips to St. Louis in return for a head of gray hair. He can’t understand why the company doesn’t pay for the Just for Men hair coloring. Speaking of color, Chris painted the kitchen a color she calls Tuscan Caramel. October: A 15 minute call to Geico may save you 15%. Or they may toy with you for 20 minutes and then tell you to go to heck with your request for boat insurance citing your wife’s plethora of accidents and speeding tickets. You can just forget about State Farm. And Pemco. And Met Life. And American Family. Think about that when you decide to buy your dream boat. SafeCo saw to it that Chris could still operate the boat. Before winter came, we took an overnight trip to Blake Island in the Puget Sound where we met up with Kavita & John for a 3-hour tour. Also in October, The family celebrated Chris’ birthday by eating Thai Food. Charlie had a birthday party with 40 of his closest friends and 5 scarecrows. Saying, “Alex, look at me!” Charlie took swimming lessons. Later in the month he dressed up as Spiderman, which he found quite scary, and went trick-or-treating. November: Thanksgiving was spent in Seattle doing some hiking, and eating stuffing with friends. The next day, we trudged through the National Forest with our We Get to Cut Down A Wild Tree pass. During the holiday Chris’ father had been hospitalized with some chest pains, but was subsequently released, calling it acid reflux. A bigger surprise came 2 days after Thanksgiving, when Chris learned that her 40 year old brother, Tim Hall, had passed away suddenly during the night. (May he rest in peace.) We traveled to Los Angeles to be with the family. A memorial fund has been established. Send an email to either christinehrichter@hotmail.com or chuck@dakotarichter.com for details. December: Back to Seattle. The TSA agents (with their enhanced security directives) checked for lumps in Chris’ breasts. At least, that’s what it looked like; they’re quite thorough. What they didn’t check for, an EPT later revealed. That’s right, she’s pregnant. Four times bitten, eight times shy—but we’re praying for no miscarriages this time. A new Australian fertility doc is offering guidance. He’s a bit strange. Already there was a bit of a scare, a bit of bleeding prompted Chris to go in for a visit fearing the worst:
(and we're speaking of his origins here). A wave of the wand, "Well, come lookee here. Good golly Christine, a heart beat right there." And onto the screen, did the blip first appear. Then he waffled, and hedged adding with cheer, "Or is it St. Nick with his sleigh and reindeer? You are to rest, with no wine or no beer. And certainly you’ll find none of that here. Not resignation—a work break, my dear." So, the holiday season has arrived. Chris and Chuck have sporadically been attending work holiday parties. As of this writing, Chris is on pregnancy/disability leave from work. The current plan is to travel to South Dakota for Christmas, but may be overruled by the doc. Just in case we don’t see you: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
With love from the Richters
|
|
