New Year's Eve 2022

Sharon's brother Tom came over in the early afternoon. Tom, Sharon and I spent some time booking hotels for our trip to England and Scotland in May and June. We will be hiking Hadrian's Wall for ten days and then doing a loop around Scotland.

Sharon made a nice dinner of prime rib, roasted potates and creamed spinach. We had Rumeli Mantısı (Filo Roses) as a first course.

The three of us watched Tár. My review of the movie is here.

Sharon and I finished the night watching fireworks from the master balcony. By the night I walked Tiber and got to bed it was 1 am.

2023 is going to be an extraordinary year of change...

Tims and Bruns for Dinner

Friday night, we had Sharon's brother Tim and his wife Kathy and Brun and Kim over for dinner. We made Rumeli Mantısı (Filo Roses) as a first course. Sharon made a great dinner of pork roast, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Dinner with Holly and Van

We had originally played to play golf with Holly and Van at Lincoln Hills and then go to dinner. After driving out to the course, Sharon and I decided to bail; it was just too wet.

In the late afternoon, we headed to Holly and Van's house. We had a glass of wine and some hors d'oeuvres and visited for a while. From there, we headed to Hawks for dinner. Sharon had handmade tagliarini, while I had sea scallops.

Spoiler Alert - The Banshees of Inisherin

Friday night, December 23, Sharon and I watched The Banshees of Inisherin. We are starting our annual odyssey to watch the potential Oscar Best Picture candidates. Goldderby.com currently has the film as one of the favorites to win the Best Picture Oscar.

The Banshees of Inisherin is a black tragicomedy film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. The film follows lifelong friends (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship. Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan also star. It reunites Farrell and Gleeson who previously worked together on McDonagh's directorial debut In Bruges.

The movie was named one of the best films of 2022 by the National Board of Review. The film received a leading eight nominations at the 80th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Director.

I have heard positive reviews about this film for months. Unfortunately, I didn't like the movie. For me, the movie was about someone with severe mental health problems, not about the relationship between the two main characters. The idea that you are going to cut off your fingers to prove a point jumps the shark. Sharon's brother Tom liked the movie and talked about it as an analogy of the Irish Civil War which is talking place in the background of movie. I couldn't see beyond someone that was crazy enough to mutilate himself. I am sure that it will get some Oscar nominations, but I would be shocked if it won Best Picture.

Christmas Photo Album

Back from Orinda

Sharon and I had a lazy breakfast at the hotel in The Park Bistro and Bar. I had OLD FASHIONED BUTTERMILK PANCAKES [seasonal berries, powdered sugar], while Sharon had MEDITERRANEAN OMELETTE [spinach, feta cheese, tomato, country potatoes].

Afterwards, we headed to Carmen and Drew's house. Morgan, Daniel and Lee were packing up to head back to Paso Robles, while Mike and Pam were off to Chico.

Our plan for the day was to take Jack to Ikea in Emeryville to get a couple of pieces of furniture for his apartment. Feeling a little flat, I didn't pay much attention to what Sharon and Jack were doing. This turned into a little bit of an adventure that will have cascading ramfications for the rest of the week.

After loading up the purchases, we headed into San Francisco. Dropping the boxes at his apartment, the three of us walked to lunch at Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen. Sharon and Jack had LAMB & BEEF GYROS [Slow cooked, thinly sliced, marinated lamb & beef], while I had a GREEK SALAD [Romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, bell peppers, feta, kalamata olives & house dressing]. Sharon didn't enjoy the gyro...

Although we had hotel reservations for Monday night, Sharon wanted to head home. We stopped at Drew's house and picked up our ice chest. We stopped at the hotel and picked up our luggage. With some moderate traffic on 80 through Dixon and Davis, it took an hour and fifty minutes to get home. We pulled up to the house just before 630 pm.

It was a very different Christmas weekend. I really enjoyed celebrating the holiday with Jack, Drew and Carmen, and Morgan, Daniel and Lee!

Christmas Day 2022

Although we crashed early on Christmas eve, we were moving slow on Christmas morning. Eventually, we wound our way to Carmen and Drew's house for a late breakfast.

After breakfast, we spent a lazy morning opening gifts. Lee is a great age for Christmas morning; he delivered the presents to everyone. I really enjoyed the morning with everyone. The group included: Morgan, Daniel and Lee; Drew and Carmen; Jack; Mike and Pam (Carmen's parents), and; Sharon and I.

I spent the early afternoon making Rumeli Mantısı (Filo Roses). When we were on the cruise, we took a Turkish cooking class. We made this dish in the cooking class. We then made it for the fall dinner party. It as turned out so well that it is going to be a go to recipe. We served to everyone as a late, light lunch.

While Sharon went back to the hotel with Mike and Pam, I took a nice 1.6 mile walk through the neighborhood with Drew, Carmen and Morgan. Afterwards, I ran back to the hotel to pick up Sharon.

We finished the day with a late dinner of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans that Drew and Carmen got from Whole Foods. Although Drew, Carmen and Jack played board games until midnight, Sharon and I headed back to the hotel and crashed.

Christmas Eve 2022 [To Orinda]

Christmas Eve and Christmas are going to be very different this year.

Christmas Eve was a day broken into three parts. Part #1. Given our schedule for the weekend, Sharon and I exchanged gifts on Saturday morning. I got her a Frame television for a master bedroom (plus mounting), an AppleTV, an Apple Watch band, a Santorini Christmas Ornament and a Greek Christmas ornament. She got me an Oura ring. We spent the rest of the morning getting ready to take off for a couple of days.

Part #2. About 12:30 pm, we headed to Sharon's brother Tom's house. Tom hosted a Christmas Eve open house. The group included Tom, Eric and Ashley, Kevin, Leah, Lydia and Amelia, Terry and Steve, Tim and Kathy, Eileen and Will, Erin and Cromac, Larry and Robin, Jim, Mary, Sharon and I. There was an ongoing gift exchange over the course of the afternoon. I watched parts of the San Francisco 49er versus Washington Commander NFL game; the 49ers won by the score of 37 to 20.

Part #3. About 4 pm, we headed to Carmen and Drew's house in Orinda. Jack took BART after work. We rolled up to their house about 5:30 pm. Jack was about 15 minutes in front of us; Drew picked him up from the BART station.

Morgan, Daniel and Lee came up on Friday and are spending a few days with Drew and Carmen. Carmen's parents, Pam and Mike, are also spending a few days in the area.

We had a nice evening. We had visited and had dinner. After Lee went to bed, the Morgan and Drew played Christmas carols in the living room.

With Sharon feeling a little under weather, we headed to the hotel to the hotel early. We are planning to spend three nights at the Lafayette Park Hotel. We crashed very early.

Christmas Card 2022

See all of the Christmas Cards since 1997!

Sharon's Travels

Travels

Places to Travel

Sea Ranch

• Sharon and Tom's Oregon Adventure '25
• Wichita and Tulsa '23
• Sharon and Laura's Las Vegas Adventure '22
• Sharon and Tom's New York Adventure '22
• Tulsa '22
• Sharon and Janie's Chicago Adventure '18
• Sharon and Janie's Wichit@ Weekend '18
• Sharon and Janie's Caribbe@n Cruise '17
• Sharon and Janie's Europe@n Vacation '15

Spoiler Alert - White Lotus - Season Two

Sunday afternoon, Sharon and I finished watching season two of The White Lotus. We finished season one in September of 2021.

The White Lotus is an black comedy-drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO. It follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain. The second season is set in Sicily and consists of seven episodes. Much of the filming was set at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace in Taormina. In November 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.

The American Film Institute named White Lotus one of the ten best television programs of 2021 and 2022. The first season was the most-awarded series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 10 awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing for White, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Jennifer Coolidge, and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Murray Bartlett.

I liked season two more than season one. The scenery is spectacular. I could almost recommend season two just for the Sicilian scenery. I have added the hotel to my list of Places to Travel. Part of the hook for White Lotus is that you know that someone dies, but I didn't expect them to kill off Jennifer Coolidge's character. I was sure that she was going to show up in seaon three. I recommend season two.

Rugby Brothers

Monday evening, Chabrier organized a Zoom call that included Greene, Geselbracht, Hunter, Nooter, Rehlich and I.

Peloton Milestones

I passed a couple of Peloton milestones this morning. I have done at least one Peloton work out every week for the last three years. Additionally, I have now completed 600 rides on the Peloton bike.

mailing the Christmas Cards

Twenty-four of the last twenty-five years, Sharon and I have sent out a Christmas Card. Dissatisfied with the quality of the photos on commercial cards like Shutterfly, I built my own format and process. Unfortunately, this was a lot of work... Additionally, the number of cards that we send out has exploded to over 100 in the last fifteen years with the inclusion of people from SEAS, Outlaws, Jesuit High, Sutter Health, Adventist Health and Deterding Ranch.

Three years ago, I decided to go back to a commercially printed greeting card. After moving my database from Outlook into iOS contacts last year, I printed mailing lablels for the first time this year. Everything has gone a lot quicker!

On Thursday, December 15, I mailed 127 Christmas Cards. I dropped two more in the mail on Friday, December 16. I will probably mail a few more this coming week

In 2021, I mailed 121 Christmas Cards on Wednesday, December 8.

In 2020, I dropped 119 Christmas Cards at the post office on Sunday night, December 6.

In 2019, I dropped 73 Christmas Cards at the post office on Tuesday night, December 17 and 33 more on Wednesday morning, December 18.

In 2018, I dropped 104 cards at the post office on Monday, December 17.

In 2017, I mailed about 70 cards on Sunday afternoon, December 17 and another 30 plus cards on Monday morning, December 18.

Deterding Ranch Cocktail Party

Over the last ten years, there has a been some version of a Deterding Ranch Neighborhood Christmas Party [2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021]. This morphed into a progressive dinner over the last seven years. When it became clear that the progressive dinner wasn't going to happen this year, Sharon and I decided to host a cocktail party.

The group ended up totalling 21, including: Tom and Judy; Glen; Mike and Jill; John and Jan; Audrey and Victor; Heidi, Brad and Clark; Kim; John and Sara; Greg and Michele; Jim and Debi, and; Sharon and I.

The house looked great; Sharon did a fantastic job decorating the house for the holidays. It was a very nice evening!

Celebrating Clarke's Birthday

Sharon and I wandered next door to Heidi and Brad's house to celebrate Heidi's dad Clarke's 85th birthday. Jim and Debi and Greg and Michele were there. We ended up staying longer than we originally intended.

Amazing Race - Season 34

Wednesday night, Sharon and I finished watching season thirty-four of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years. We finished season 32 in January of 2021 and season 33 in March of 2022.

Filming for season 34 began on May 25, 2022, in Munich, Germany, making it the first time the American version started outside the United States. Jordan was visited for the first time in the entire franchise. Filming concluded in Tennessee in mid-June.

This season originally planned to exclude non-elimination legs for the first time in franchise history. However, after one team received a positive COVID-19 test and was removed from the race, the last team to arrive in the leg received the final departure time as a penalty at the beginning of the next leg. The first leg featured "a game-changing element" called the Scramble, where teams were told the locations of all of the tasks that they had to complete at the start of the leg and could complete them in any order.

Dating couple Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss (from Big Brother 23) were the winners of this season, while long-lost twins Emily Bushnell and Molly Sinert finished in second place. I was rooting for the twins.

The legs of the race included:

• Leg 1 (Germany)
• Leg 2 (Germany → Austria)
• Leg 3 (Austria → Italy)
• Leg 4 (Italy → Jordan)
• Leg 5 (Jordan)
• Leg 6 (Jordan → France)
• Leg 7 (France)
• Leg 8 (France → Spain)
• Leg 9 (Spain → Iceland)
• Leg 10 (Iceland → United States)

I was fascinated by the two episodes in Jordan. Petra is a lot bigger than I expected. Our second big trip planned for 2023 includes Isreal, Eygpt and Jordan!

Tom for dinner

Tuesday night, Sharon and I had her brother Tom over for dinner; we had hamburgers, fries and salad. The three of us spent the evening planning our 2023 trip to England and Scotland. The tentative plan includes London, York, eight days hiking Hadrian's Wall, Glasgow, a loop up into the Scottish Highlands, St. Andrews, Stirling Castle and Edinburgh.

Wallen at the 2022 Army/Navy Game

Nooter at the 2022 Army/Navy Game