Ahhh wishes for the new year.

You often imagine, and hear, people/parents say this line, "All I wish for our child is....."  Sometime the dot, dot, dot is followed by "happiness", "health", "love", "to be awesome and prosperous", "to live a life debt free", or "To life a life better than my own good one".  Well, testament to me.  I wish all of these things and take them for granted for Ms. Natalia.  However, what do I say out loud to myself flying down I294 last week?  The story goes like this.

Traveling down the highway going South, a Northbound vehicle catches my eye.  I slow down and my jaw drops in envious response.  Going North is a rigged up, souped out old 1970's tour bus.  Painted, curtained, and destined for a road trip.  I pretend to have seen Colorado plates.  Out of my mouth flies, "Awesome!" and in my head the phrase, "All I wish for our child is to be able to one day get a hippie bus, quit it all, drive west and live it up!"  This is what I wish for our child. Hey man, its what I wish for the four of us, me, Papa, Natalia, and Bup.

Christmas Tree

This year we called Santa and told him we wanted to go ahead and get the first tree in our house for you, Natalia.   He was okay with it and a little disappointed, but will take care of it for all of our wonder next year for all the years to come.

Anyhow, this is about your parents.  Every year we have gotten ourselves a tree as a gift to each other.  Santa provides those lovely gifts under it later on.  Every year we get a tree, something silly happens.  One year, the tree slide off the roof and landed in the middle of Clybourn Avenue.  Another year, we brought it driving on a worknight to the fartheset Home Depot we could find and the coldest night we could muster.  We got the tree and papa had no gloves and we froze to death.  Another year, your Grandpa Bill came along and that was just plain old fun.
This year, we roped the tree ont he roof, taking over for the kid who knew better than us, as it turns out.  When we took over the job, we accidently tied ourselves into the car, by tying all the front doors shut.

The tree this year is named Schutzpah and he is lovely!