Enjoying Christmastime

I've been preoccupied this month with my trip to Colombia November 15-24, and I've been catching up on all the events that happened then. But this month, I had some fun too. I went to Garden D'Lights in Bellevue on December 4, and on December 5, Jean and I went to A Victorian Country Christmas in Puyallup. For Christmas, both Jean and Bruce had to work, but I didn't so I had the day to myself.

Garden D'Lights is held at the Botanical Garden in Bellevue, a large East suburb of Seattle. Jean was unable to go with me on this trip, but I enjoyed photographing the lights. Fortunately my camera takes nighttime photos well.

The next evening, Jean and I went to A Victorian Country Christmas at the Washington State Fair. At this event, there are a lot of vendors who dress for the venue. As well, there is wine tasting, concerts and performances. It's a great place for the kids too.  Fortunately we had a great night to be there because the moon was out and was almost full, and the weather was reasonably decent.

The Puyallup Fairgrounds had a giant Christmas tree-shaped light set.  It was several stories tall.

The moon glows over A Victorian Country Christmas in Puyallup, Washington.

I got a Christmas present while I was there: an HIDow AcuXP-D. Its user manual describes it as "a double-channel battery operated muscle stimulation system that helps to relieve minor muscular aches and pains." Basically, you put these two or four adhesive electrodes on your body, adjust some settings on the control unit, and let it electrically shock your muscles or acupuncture points. Holy. Cow. I'm taking this when I travel! I'm not really into acupuncture, but I have to say that this is a great muscle tension reliever. You can see how it works below:

Jean and I had dinner together in Issaquah Christmas Eve since she had to work that night and Christmas day.  We had a wonderful evening together.

Christmas was pretty quiet for me other than talking to friends and family on the phone and Skype. Other than the AcuXP-D, I received a scarf, gift cards to Amazon.com, candy, and a book. With the gift cards, I bought a Roku, a coffee burr mill grinder, and a movie.

God's blessed me this year. I'm grateful for all my friends and family all over the world this Christmas season.  I'm looking forward to all the changes I will have in my life next year.