Well Hellooooooo! It’s mid-December and holiday cheer is everywhere – it feels like the time to reach out. I know for sure of two friends that come here every year looking for proof of life – stalkers! We are indeed still around and thinking of our friends and family, especially as another year nears its festive end.
That said, let me set the scene in our house. It’s 3pm on a rainy Sunday. Ingo is in bed hopped up on goofballs while Deadpool fills the living room with expletives and action. There is no Christmas tree. Or presents. No gingerbread cookies, no fresh-baked bread. What in THEE hell is going on with Ingo and Shelli?! Well, I’ll start at the beginning.
Once upon a time there was a cute little German boy with rosy cheeks and a bad haircut, who grew into a devilishly handsome teenager (says a high school admirer who prefers to remain anonymous). In addition to air guitar, he played soccer and football, skateboarded (broke his hand), skied (ditched school), and generally beat the crap out of his body for a few lost decades. If youth is wasted on the young, so is cartilage.
Fast forward… Ingo got a new knee for Christmas! Now he has a matching set. Knees come with a fun recovery period, PT, and orders to keep it elevated and iced often. With our chief Christmas tree hunter out of commission and Shelli busy being his beck and call girl – we were starting to fall short on a few holiday traditions. Then, purely for attention, Shelli had an awesome skating accident on our frosty new deck. Only thing missing was a banana peel and some classic sound effects. Maybe a few stars. Fortunately, a brain scan revealed nothing but the theme from Christmas Vacation playing on a loop, and they sent her home to hobble around with Ingo. But that’s enough about Concussion Candy and No-Knee Nick, let’s talk about you! What are you getting us for Christmas?
In other news, the boy is getting married! Chris proposed to his lovely Ameilia and they are finalizing plans for a small ceremony in February. If you weren’t invited, congratulations! That means you haven’t been accused of fathering or mothering either child. We’re so excited to welcome Ameilia and hers to our family, which forms an interesting circle as her sister is hitched to a lifelong friend of Christian’s, who comes from a family we’ve been close to for 30 years. This consolidation of power gives control of the entire Portland west side to the 3 families. (Keep up with your payments and you’ll be fine.)
Then there’s Frankie Angel, our pride and joy. She’s been with us for a year and a half now, and our hearts grow a little more with every adorable thing she does. Love her so much! We spend more on Frankie than we did Chris, but her bedroom doesn’t violate any health codes and she never eats pizza in the shower. Being part Great Pyrenees, Frankie is unlike any dog we’ve ever had because she only sheds in the spring and days that end in Y. OMG the hair. She and Shelli just finished an introductory course in doggie nose-work and found that Frankie’s a natural! We’re all set for the advanced class starting in January and may eventually teach her to sniff out truffles, and misplaced keys & cell phones. For now it’s great enrichment, adds much-needed exercise for a slightly chunky frame, and gets her excited for car rides. Frankie too!
I can’t do a year-in-review without mentioning our favorite escape from reality; the only reason we haven’t walked out on our employers and into the social security office… drum roll… our bingo club! JK, it’s diving.
This was a great year that started with an epic live-aboard in the most remote location we’ve ever been, diving with giant manta rays and a shit-ton of docile sharks. Can I say shit-ton in a Christmas message? I didn’t burst into flames, so yes. Ingo wrote all about it and I made a couple videos for our dive group (Finlife booked the entire boat!). If you want to see why diving with most shark species doesn’t scare us, check it out.
In the fall we went back to Fiji for more great dives, including a super close-up experience with tiger sharks (wowzers!) and several other species, plus a real taste of small-island culture. The shark dive is world famous and totally mind-blowing. Our Beqa Lagoon trip post (with video evidence) is almost ready to publish; withholding food and pain meds has really hastened Ingo’s 11th hour push, so check our Diving Adventures page in a few days.
Scheduled for 2024: Kona in the spring; the Red Sea, Cairo, the Great Pyramids, and a Nile River cruise in the fall. Woo-hoo! These last few paragraphs remind me of the time during an estate planning meeting when our financial advisor asked how much cash we wanted to ensure would be left for Chris. Chris who? That’s why we love working with this man; what a comedian!
I will close with some words from my heart. Wait, don’t go! I’ll make it short and go easy on the mush. Since I started writing this a week ago, we did find some Christmas spirit. On the big screen we transitioned from Ryan Reynolds in red spandex to Will Ferrell in gold tights. There’s a snowy village and poinsettia in the living room, and we just had a wonderful Advent gathering with people we love. If that wasn’t enough to fill my heart… while doing the shopping that Ingo usually tackles, I found myself getting pissy when I couldn’t easily locate things in our huge, well-stocked department store. Then I realized how lucky I am to have everything I could possibly ever need at my fingertips, and the money in my pocket to pay for it.
Life is good for us, and we hope it is for you as well. Thank you so much to our friends that have reached out with Christmas cards, family photos (wow, you guys are getting old) and well wishes. To those of you that haven’t written, it’s okay because we know you’re thinking about us. All the time. Seriously, it’s kinda creepy. Seek help.
♥♥♥ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ♥♥♥
P.S. I stumbled upon two flashback videos I’d love to share; these memories absolutely MADE MY CHRISTMAS! (Be patient, our site can be slow. Or, on your desktop device, click the three dots in the lower right corner and download to play.) This first one reminds me that Dirk & Nancy made our move to Oregon possible 30 years ago by inviting us, our kid, and our two dogs to live with them for almost a year! They rock. ♥