Well, this will be a short post. Brandon and Amanda are over to ring in the New Year with us; right now they're playing Halo 2 on their X-Box. We had some burgers on our new Foreman grill, plus some cheese n' crackers, and Amanda and I are sipping on some alcohol. Veronica is on the sofa, snuggling with Jason.

I originally wanted this post to be about the past year. To talk about the four hurricanes in Florida and add how our friends Gabe and Mandy somehow honeymooned there a mere week after the final one. To talk about the election, how I waited over two hours to vote, only to find out I had a relatively short wait in Ohio. Didn't matter in the end, as John Kerry lost the election and Dubya was declared winner for a second term. I could've thrown in something about how deeply this country was divided over this election, especially over the subject of gay marriage - a mention here of the 4,000+ same-sex weddings in San Francisco would have worked. I would've had to have mentioned how over a thousand U.S. troops have died in Iraq with no end in sight. And of course, how could I do a retrospective of 2004 and not mention the tsunami in Asia mere days ago, where the death toll is officially at 121,000 right now but is expected to keep climbing.

I would have to mention pop culture, how Team America was considered scandalous only for a scene of marionettes having sex. Of how you couldn't go anywhere without hearing some mention of Paris Hilton. Of how everyone seemed to be wearing ponchos, or halter dresses, or yellow Lance Armstrong "Fight Strong" bracelets. I would have to talk about the magnetic ribbons that showed up on so many cars around here to support our troops, as well as other issues. I would have to go off on an aside on how funny Jon Stewart's America: A Book is.

But I couldn't do a comprehensive retrospective on this year for the rest of the world, let's face it. And as far as what's most important in my life, well, I've been writing about all year long, anyway. :-)

Happy New Year to all, as I take my leave to go play with Veronica.

A very Merry Christmas to my readers!

Veronica had a very good Christmas this year. She racked up a toy kitchen, more crayons, and refridgerator letter magnets that make the sounds of the letters. (Did she get more things? Oh yes. But these were her favorites, at least today - that toy kitchen was played with the entire day, almost non-stop.) Her grandma and grandpa (my mom and dad) came for a visit. We went to church on Christmas Eve, where she enjoyed the music and watching the other kids there. And she said many, many more things, including:

Help
Dot com (I'm totally not kidding, although she has no clue what it means.)
Barney (after getting a Barney coloring book, I have no idea how she knows who Barney is, lord knows we don't watch it here)
Food

And a few more that aren't coming to mind.

She's big into imitation - one reason why the toy kitchen was such a hit, down to the little toy phone she holds and says "hello? Hello?" She'll copy dance moves if you do them - Jason's even gotten her to fold her little arms and cluck like a chicken. That's hysterically funny and way too cute. She'll copy me, Jason, my mom and dad, even the cat - Pita stood up on Veronica's little recliner to bat at the fish tank last night, and Veronica climbed up beside her and did the same.

She loves dancing, is getting very good at communicating her wants and needs, and is just a joy. My Christmas gift from her? The big kiss and the numerous hugs she gave me at church yesterday.

But now it's late and I'm exhausted, so to quote a well-known tale:

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.

Oh the weather outside is frightful.

I'm not singing. I'm stating a fact.

Eight inches of snow at least, frozen solid - Veronica can walk on top of it all and not fall through. (It even holds up for a second or two when Jason or I take a step before collapsing beneath our feet.) It's finally stopped snowing n' sleeting, but now the temperatures are supposed to get down into the single digits. Baby's first Christmas where she's actually aware something's going on, and it's going to be COLD. I'm thinking this whole "white Christmas" thing is highly overrated.

As it stands, we should count our blessings that our power is still on; that, plus a countywide Level 2 emergency state, is the reason why I wasn't in work today. Well, presuming I could even get a car out of our cul-de-sac. Here's hoping my parents can still make it in tomorrow, as the snow is supposed to be really light today in West Virginia.

More Veronica news later. I'm going to veg in front of the tree while Veronica naps.

Before the latest on Veronica, a welcome to the world for Austin Glen Casto, born yesterday at 10:45 a.m. to my friend Roberta and her husband Barney. Austin measured in at 7 lbs., 10 oz. and 20 1/2 inches, and is the picture of health. Welcome, Austin! And congratulations Roberta and Barney! :-)

Onto Veronica:

Thanksgiving weekend was quite the whirlwind. Thursday's Thanksgiving dinner was spent with Sharon, an attorney at my office and a friend, and her family. We had a good time, despite poor Veronica getting knocked over by Sharon's overenthusiastic pug moments after coming in the door.

Friday was spent in preparation for a visit from my dear friend Coby and her husband Chad. They came by Saturday on their way back to Wisconsin and stayed the night, and we all had a good time. Veronica liked Coby, but she just adored Chad. They all played a lot, and Coby and Chad got such a kick out of the cute little things she does. After Veronica went to bed Saturday night, we all stayed up late, talking and playing video games. It was a lot of fun. I really wish they didn't live so far away.

Sunday, our office had tickets to see "Sesame Street Live" in a suite at Value City Arena. The entire office with children young enough to like Sesame Street were there, and I took Veronica. I really didn't expect Veronica to pay much attention to the action, but she had a good time, dancing to the music and watching the stage. She even yelled "Yay!" when the songs ended and everyone was clapping. But the worst was when she left the seating area, three steps down from the lounge, to wander around. I grabbed a beverage, and before I could reach her, I saw her heading back toward the steps. Veronica used to scoot or slide down steps, but she's recently gotten it into her head that she can go down them upright, one foot at a time. She went to take one step, and down she went, to the bottom, and landed on her head.

It was a mommy panic moment - Veronica had calmed down within a matter of minutes, but as I was cooing that everything was OK to her, I was freaking out. Fortunately someone on the event staff there must've seen the mommy worry in my face, because he suggested taking her to First Aid. One cold pack and a giant goose egg on her forehead later, we were back to enjoying the show. It was really nice of my office to treat us to that, and it nicely capped off the weekend.

Veronica is learning phrases and more words now. Here's some of the most popular:

Go ca-car?
Wann go car.
Wann juice?
Cheerios! (pronounced "Eeer-oes!")
Ghee bees (green beans)
Mommy!
Kitty
Hi kitty!
Kitty cat.
Meow!
Wann down.
Up
Up, please (which comes out "bup bees")
Bupples (this means "apples")
Please (which comes out "bees!")
Thank you (and that's how she says it, plain as day.)
Brush teeth (which comes out "bus tee?")
Potty
Bath
More
Stinky ("tink-eee")
Shoes (and that one's plain as day, too)

Her latest fascination is with the potty. We've read that a good way to start warming kids up to the idea of the potty is to demonstrate. This means that if Veronica is in the room while I have to do my business, I give a play-by-play. This is a really odd feeling; you've been taught your whole life that this is such a private matter, and here you are, 29 years later, demonstrating it with narration.

Jason put together a potty for her that had been purchased by my parents, a frilly, wooden thing with flowers and ballet slippers and a lot of pink strewn about. It's not a toilet, it's a throne. I half expect to hear fanfare whenever she sits down on it. He went through all sorts of trouble putting it together, as NONE of the holes on the prefabricated parts lined up, and now she won't get near it. Why would she? She doesn't recognize it as a toilet, and this is because it barely even resembles one. She loves the real deal, although she seems to like the flush and ripping toilet paper off the roll so much that I don't think she realizes what's supposed to happen there. So we're thinking about buying her a potty that resembles a real toilet instead. Provided, of course, that she just doesn't play with the flush mechanism on it and fail to get the point once more.

I know I'm forgetting a lot of things, but I'll leave this for now. Besides, I have this hunch that should I concentrate on the potty talk, there won't be too many readers of this. :-)