I am here, so...

2003-12-22 - 11:59 p.m.

Last night my dreams were at least not too unpleasant. I have vague memories of giving some fat pregnant lady a back massage, but that's it. Hooray for a lack of nightmares!

Today was a good day. We went out to breakfast this morning at our usual coffee shop and then stopped by Mrs. Nelson's Take-n-Bakery to pick up breakfast for tomorrow. Then we drove east up to Truckee. We had five of us in the car so it was a little squished, but we managed just fine. We drove up and played a bit in the snow near Donner Lake and then went into the town where we had lunch at OB's Pub and looked through a lot of the little shops. When we got home my brother and I made a batch of fudge and we all spent the rest of the evening working on the puzzle. We still haven't finished it, but it's coming along.

Tomorrow will be my brother and sister-in-law's last day here. For that reason, we're celebrating Christmas tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we will be opening up the presents and all that jazz. It's funny, I've practically convinced myself that today really is Christmas Eve. Christmas itself is going to be pretty anticlimatic this year, but that's ok.

I'll leave you with a few pictures I took today. This first picture is near Donner Pass, where we stopped to play in the snow.

The next picture was taken from the same spot. I've never seen Donner Lake so still. The reflections were amazing. The city of Truckee is socked in that fog layer at the foot of those mountains.

And finally, this is a train lumbering through Truckee at sunset: