CHRISTmas in NoDak

Spent this Christmas in Minot, North Dakota. It was quite a trip – the weather was pretty bitter, but one gets used to it after a short while . . . at least I did, but I’m a badass . . . it would probably be unbearable for a regular mortal from Arizona.
Ari had a great time – he was able to hang with the hundreds of cousins he’s got out there. He did get pretty ill for a stint, went to the hospital three times, admitted once. We ended up missing our flight back to the desert due to circumstances surrounding the hospital spell.
No matter what anyone says, watching a baby / infant / child / little kid / etc. get blood drawn or IV’d is never easy . . . especially when it’s your kiddo.
Brighter note – we were able to get a diagnosis. I joke, cause we’ve been ‘treating’ him here in the “big city” for half a year with no results . . . it took going to Minot, North Dakota (pretty small town considering) and getting seen by a doctor whose origins are from Africa (Dr. Udekwe) to get appropriate answers that would end up solving his condition, or giving us the answers to do so – treat it. Dr. Udekwe is a terrific physician and re-instilled hope regarding most medical staff for me (all Kolodny doctors aside of course). Jesus certainly works in mysterious ways . . . but He works.
Everyone else in NoDak is great. Rodeo’s house is very cabin-esque . . . its great, I dig it. Lori is keeping a tight ship at Hotel Mosser now located in beautiful South Hill. Vacation rates were great – in fact I think we walked away with our pockets loaded with cash (we need to vacation there more often – between them and my folks I don’t know why Amber or I work at all?). Beaver continues to buzz the tower of the local collection of craniums. He even gets some baldies in there . . . I saw a nice old feller stroll in for a ‘tighten-up’ . . . the chap looked like Captain Piccard from Star Trek for cryin out loud! I wanted to say “Dude, you know WE all know you’re bald, right? I mean, just by getting your “hair cut” isn’t fooling anybody?” I don’t know how Steve does it, but gets their arses in the seats, even if they’re bald apparently. The rest of the family is awesome . . . and the Strike is still the best place in town for Steve to buy you a beer.
I’ll put some pictures of the trip – or more recent pictures at least on this damned site.

You Gotta Love . . .

. . . how the press is covering the war in Israel. "Israeli forces bomb Palestinian schools!" . . . ummm, don't forget to mention that Hamas has been shooting Israeli soldiers FROM those schools and storing rockets IN them!!!! We expect Israel to act in some way WE WOULDN'T??? Why is it so bad for them to protect themselves?? Oh, and don't forget, Hamas / Palestinians shoot rockets into Israeli schools on a regular basis - but there's no coverage for that. Since the last "peace talks", over 7,000 rockets have been shot into Israel from Pale-crime, and when they have a big civilian kill, they dance and celebrate, filling 70,000 seat stadiums to reenact the horror . . . while Israel does it's best to eliminate all collateral damage. God help us if we don't back Israel 100%, and curse us if we turn our backs to them.