The Ghost of Christmas Past...

Me at Christmas, somewhere around 1987:

The X Man is 4 today.

Happy Birthday little man...

The greatest moment in music history...

...just might be the last stanza of Luciano Pavarotti's "Nessun Dorma" when he hits the high note and the orchestra comes to a crescendo. I listen to it almost everyday and every time that part comes on I get goosebumps and (if I'm not driving) I always close my eyes and let the combination of Pavarotti's powerful voice, followed by the driving emotion of the accompanying orchestra take me to a higher place, if only for a brief moment.

Grammy's Visits the X Man

Last week we were fortunate to have a visit from my mother, the X Man's Grammy. She was here for a week and her and the X Man were inseparable during her stay. Despite the freezing cold weather, we were also able to show her a little bit of Germany while she was here. Here are some pics from her visit (click on image to enlarge)...

The X Man greets Grammy as she gets off the plane:

Grammy and the X Man make a Gingerbread House...at one point I walked into the kitchen and the X Man exclaimed "Daddy I'm having so much fun!!!":

We took Grammy to Rothenburg ob Tauber, a quaint little Medieval town where she learned how they punished people back in the middle ages:

We were fortunate to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with Grammy:

We normally don't put up our tree until December 1st but we made an exception this year so Grammy could decorate the tree with the X Man:

Grammy couldn't get enough of the X Man. She kept saying she was going to take him home in her suitcase. I'm pretty sure he would have gone too:


Alas, it was time to bring Grammy to the airport and say goodbye:


Come back and visit us soon Grammy, we miss you!