Monday Before Christmas

December 22, 2025

Monday was a relaxed day. This week California was predicted to be the wettest place on earth. So far we had lucked out and had decent weather.

There was this little elf who kept showing up at Alex’s house and somehow he managed to start showing up at my house. One day he even went for a ride on the Star Ship Enterprise.

The Elf wasn’t the only one who was somewhat fascinated by the Enterprise.

I think every one of our grandkids want to make lemonaide as soon as they arrive at our house. It has become a rather fun tradition.

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A recent review of 45 studies that included almost 10 million people suggests that diets high in ultra-processed foods are linked to more than 30 health conditions including depression, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and other health conditions.

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Sunday before Christmas

December 21, 2025

Sunday morning we all headed to church and then we were invited to the Odenwalders for dinner and to make gingerbread houses using graham wafers. It was a rather ingenious idea.

James and I made a pretty good house if I say so myself. James ate all the peanut butter shingles on the roof and left me with the candy corn shingles.

It is always good to see Mandy and her family. Alex and I went and picked Princess Lisa up from the airport around 8:30 in the evening.

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Many large companies such as Amazon and JPMorgan are requiring their employees to be in the office five days a week. This really annoyed many of the younger employees who started their careers working from home. However, they are starting to change their tune as they are watching their "in office" colleges get the lions share of raises and advancements.

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Happy New Year

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

We just got through another amazing Christmas. Four of the six kids and their families were able to make it and for a few days we had twenty four kids in the house. It got very loud at times but we had a ton of fun. Let me start at the beginning.

December 20, 2025

Alex, James and Adelaide left for San Diego Saturday morning and had a rather uneventful drive to San Diego.

They were excited to see us and we were very excited to see them. Princess Lisa had to work Saturday night so she arrived the next day.