Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

One of the biggest selling songs of all time is Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas." I was dreaming of a white Christmas for Ethan because this is truly his first real year of excitement about the entire Santa experience. He's had a ball in the snow, and we went sledding with one of his little buddies at the Boise Train Depot on Christmas Eve. And, we did have a white Christmas day. In fact, we had about a week of it beforehand. I ended up dashing my folks from Boise to Twin Falls on Christmas afternoon due to concerns their shuttle the next day wouldn't run because of the weather. The roads were...well...OK in most respects. But, now Christmas is over, and my enthusiasm for a White Christmas has diminished with the continuing snowfall. It's probably snowed about 6 inches today, and we're having trouble keeping up with shoveling the drive-way. Not to mention, most of our neighbors are gone for the holidays meaning the cul-de-sac is deserted, and we...

Last night, we went to my brother Dirk's house for Christmas eve for a fun evening. Ethan had fun with his uncles and playing with the new train Aunt Cheryl has circling one of her Christmas trees. Grandma Faye was in her element with her granddaughter Ashley who was sharing her first Christmas with her 8 month old son Paul.

As noted in my most recent post, my trip on Northwest Airlines to and from Washington DC was worthy of a Steve Martin/John Candy "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" rehash. At one point, I was reminded of an old Carol Burnett Show skit in which First Class Passengers (in Northwest Airline's case, First Class coupled with all of their special club members who seem to account for about 50% of the pre-boarders) were treated like gold while hapless regular folks (in the skit's case, it was Tim Conway) were berated and subjected to humiliation. Here's how I felt on Northwest at least going to DC from Boise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCz8he36hsk On one leg of a flight going to DC, the flight attendant actually smiled at us from First Class as she loudly unhooked the Velcro straps and connected them across the aisle essentially blocking us from partaking in First Class amenities. In my head, I pictured her on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom eating her young. Anyway...

I've traveled back and forth to Washington DC countless times over the past 25 years, but my recent trip -- which isn't completed yet as I sit delayed in the Minneapolis airport -- was my first (and last) trip using Northwest Airlines. The trip started out wrong on Sunday, December 14th when we were delayed leaving Boise by over an hour and a half. Why? Well, the flight was the first of the morning meaning the plane needed to be de-iced due to an overnight storm that lightly blanketed Boise with our first real snow of the year. Northwest -- despite the implications of the company name which suggests an understanding of winter weather in the winter -- ran out of de-icer and had to borrow some from another airline. The resulting delay caused me to miss my connecting flight in Minneapolis causing me to miss a business dinner that evening which was a major reason for the trip. In addition, having flown primarily on Southwest (where customer service is paramount) and United (which a...

I've been a bit under the weather lately and went to bed early last night. Ethan showed real concern and assured me he was going to take care of me. For a couple of hours, he would come in and out of the bedroom asking loudly "Are you OK Daddy? Need anything? I'm taking care of you!" He brought me two cups of ice water, and his mom told me he did it all by himself by dragging a stool to the cupboard, getting glasses, and filling them with ice and water. Later, he decided he needed to make me a "recipe" which means he gets out a Pyrex mixing bowl and virtually everything you can think of from the cupboard including spices, oil, etc. His concoction is a sickening menu of goop, but he was proud of it because he thought it would make me feel better. When I thanked him and asked if he wanted to be a chef when he grows up, he answered excitedly, "Yeah, when I'm bigger I'm gonna be a rock star and a cooker!" He danced off singing "Separate Wa...