Moonshine Junkyard

This is Stormy. The wise owl cat, always spreading his gentle love. Sweetest cat ever to live. He has been bringing joy to our lives since 1997. He died yesterday and I miss him so much. I even miss his sick time. He was a joy to care for, the most patient, enduring, loving being. He was a wise teacher, better at being full of kindness than any human I know. I know he is forever in the sunshine now. We had a funeral for him today and sent him on his journey. But oh, how I miss him.

The Pangbroehrns had their annual holiday bash Sunday night and it turned into a massive gathering of friends old and new in Sacramento. Here are Doniella and I with the drink we made up, champagne and guava juice, aka the Guavosa! It's amazing. Eric and Ashley technically should have won the ugly sweater contest, but we forgot to vote. Joey scored the gift I brought to the white elephant exchange: vintage Empire Strikes Back glasses. Whoopeee! Cutest gingerbread houses on earth: a Jetsons Hobbit Hole, a Japanese Pagoda, and the old Hangtown Bar! The whole damn joyful lot of us. The week between Christmas and New Year's always seems to be the busiest week of the year!

christmas day is always fun but each year i think it's the best one ever. this year was just plain wonderful. christmas morning with my sweetie: young santajoey bearing gifts: sisterly love: and some of our boys: momma wanted a picture with all five of her kids: the gift opening begins: my new vintage legwarmers from em! marmy with a patriotic package: em in the new headband i made for her: darin's new mocs: cooking Tofurkey together: onward to dinner at Pops' house. Here is how Orion fixed up his own plate: all of us with my 97 year old Grandma Georgie. Me n Grandma G. Such a perfect Christmas day, surrounded by the ones I love so much my heart bursts.

After several busy Christmassy days, and there is no way i could possibly exaggerate how jam packed they've been with festive fun of all varieties... cute homey stuff.... and crazy drunken stuff too... ...looks like it's finally here, ready or not, snow or no! Spent a sweet Christmas Eve with Darin's fam and with my last minute preps finally done at 2:09 a.m. I guess I'm ready for the madness of Christmas morning. Can't wait, actually! SO...MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL - AND TO ALL, A GOOD NIGHT!

How adorable is my sis the hostess? Her Christmas party at her cozy forest home in Grass Valley was just right...we ate soup, we watched every Christmas movie you could think of, we played poker, we christened the first bottle of their home-brewed beer, and best of all we went CHRISTMAS CAROLING OUT INTO THE NIGHT! Here's their gnome home all decked out: And here's our jolly cold-air caroling with mugs of mulled wine! Addie says her dream finally came true. We sang every Christmas song we could possibly think up, and even threw in some Little Mermaid for good measure. Darin and I pose awkward-prom-pic style by the tree because, yes, I really did wear THAT DRESS. I got it at the thrift store years ago and have never had a chance to wear it, so now that I am never embarrassed about anything, I went with it, cause why not? The bodice is so tight it felt like a corset. I had a total "Meet Me in St. Louis" moment with that. Addie showing Jo...