Thanks everyone!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thanks to everyone in Pittsburgh for a good Christmas and everyone in Portland for a Happy New Year. Thanks Mom and Dad for picking us up in the unexpected snow, putting us up in the princess suite and throwing a great New Years party. Congratulations C & D for surviving your belated honeymoon adventure in the lawless waters of the Caribbean. Let us know when you get your pictures up. Thanks J & S for the beer and bag and good job digging your way out of the snow.

A preview of coming attractions

Coming up, possibly with photo documentation: Christmas strikes; the icy fist of winter grips Pittsburgh for exactly 90 knuckle whitening minutes of driving this morning; I make my paid singing debut.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! This year we are, collectively, the act of kicking a field goal.

Ashley is the goal posts, Otto is the ball, and I am the unerring field goal kicker.

Write your representatives

Add a drop to the bucket.

Senator Casey, Senator Specter, and Representative Doyle,

I am writing to express support for reform of the health insurance industry. On this issue I trust the judgment of my father, an emergency room physician, and his conclusion after significant research that a single payer health care system would be the best way to cut costs and ensure basic care for everyone in this country who needs it. Unfortunately, a single payer system does not appear to an option at this time, nor does a government run health insurance option. Of the remaining reforms on the table, I wish to express my support for the following requirements for private health insurance coverage:

1) Mandatory minimum benefits that guarantee anyone with health insurance easy access to basic preventative care;

2) Elimination of denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Additionally, I wish to express my support for the establishment of a national standard for digital medical records.

I feel that the Democratic party, with control of both houses of congress and the support of the President has no excuse not to implement these badly needed reforms.

That you for your consideration.

Nick McCullar

At the beach

We had a great family trip to the beach in North Carolina. I didn't get the best pictures, but I thought I thought these were worth sharing.

Someone, not us, made this fantastic sand sculpture of a beach dog. The collar is decorated with shells. After a day at the beach Otto had just about the same amount of sand in his fur as this dog did.



The water was beautiful five of the six days we were there and everyone got to get out various distances in the waves.



We didn't take the camera on the sailboat, so I didn't get any pictures of Mom and Dad introducing Ashley and I to sailing, but I did get a shot of Ashley getting ready to go. I wouldn't want to try to cross the Atlantic, but we were able to go out in the sound, come back, turn, go into the wind, out of the wind...all sorts of things. We didn't even capsize! We went back a few days later to try a catamaran, but the wind was up, they were doing a race, all the boats were out, and they were afraid that we would get capsized or swept to the mainland.