National Pancake Day - March 3, 2026

(from the It's Nice To Have Something For Free In This Country At The Moment, Isn't It* department)

In these trying times, it's nice to have something you can count on.  Like the yearly National Pancake Day at IHOP.

This year, Rose and I braved the crowds and headed down to our local IHOP just before 5:00 PM.  Although there were many people in the lobby - they seated us immediately.

We got a two person booth in the furthest corner of the restaurant.  Rose commented that she hadn't been back in this booth since she was six!  

The waitress brought us pancakes and water right after we sat down.  Rose was ready!!

I got ready to dig into my stack!  They were delicious!

Once again - we managed to successfully celebrate National Pancake Day.  A splendid time was had by all!

For more information - check out the IHOP website here: National Pancake Day 2026

Cheers,

Paul

*For you Beatle fans, that's a quote from the movie Let It Be.  From a man on the street during the rooftop concert. 

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 19)

(from the OMG - she's 18!!! department)

Well - I can't believe we're here.  Rose turned 18 in November.  This is the first Santa photo with three adults, not two adults and a kid.  

And so - here we go:

We do clean up well!!!  Rose did get a chance to talk to Santa after the photo, while I was taking care of the technical details of the photo session. I did overhear a discussion about possible presents, but didn't pick up any of the details - I hope Santa comes through!

Afterwards, we went out for a quick celebratory dinner at the Wedgwood Broiler.  I'm still glad parts of "Old Seattle" like the Wedgwood Broiler still exist.  (Link to: Wedgwood Broiler)

As for my Christmas wish from Santa?  I wish for continued good health for me and all of my friends and family - both immediate and extended.  I've come to value those connections even more lately.  I'm also hoping - much like Ringo Starr - for Peace and Love (and Happiness) in 2026!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone - from the Pietromonaco family!

Cheers,
Paul

P.S.  Bonus photos - all of us waiting outside to have our photo taken:

Haiku Writing - Moon Viewing 2025

(from the Splish Me Again! department)

Hi everyone,

Dana, Rose and I attended the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing on Saturday, September 6th, 2025.  

(Original announcement here: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/events-calendar/2025/9/6/moon-viewing)

I took some great photos!

We also took part in the Haiku writing contest.  I wrote two haiku:

smoke filled sky - 

a blood orange moon

watches with a baleful eye

summer sun fades -

moonrise across the pond

our lanterns guide the way

You may notice that these haiku do not follow the 5 - 7 - 5 rule.  Modern haiku are less formal in English.

This year - I came in Second Place on Saturday!!!  It was the "smoke filled sky" haiku.

Full contest results are here: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/blog/2025/9/18/moon-viewing-haiku

Dana, Rose and I had a great time.  Looking forward to next year!

Cheers,

Paul

Sleepless In Seattle (part 2)

(from the I Still Believe In Death Before Decaf department)

Hi everyone,

I was going through some of my old blog entries and found this one:

Sleepless in Seattle

This blog entry had a great photo of Rose taken in January 2009 when she was just under 2 years old:

This was taken at the Athenian Inn in Pike Place Market in Seattle - where Sleepless In Seattle was filmed.

The fun part is - Rose and I recreated this photo in May 2019 - at the same table - when she was about 12:

I think she was drinking cocoa here. Even now - she's still not a big coffee drinker.

So - once again - we were all Sleepless In Seattle!

*groan*

Cheers,

Paul

Quick Roku vs Ubuntu Rygel DLNA Note

(from the Okaaaay department)

Trying to get media streaming working between Ubuntu using the default Rygel DLNA server in Gnome and the Roku Media Player.

For some reason, Roku wants Rygel to transcode all MP4/H.264 videos to MPEG.  Rygel goes "OK - I can do that" then errors out.

Other DLNA clients work fine.

So - as a Hail Mary - in ~/.config/rygel.conf - I disabled transcoding.

# Set it to 'false' if you want to disable transcoding support.

enable-transcoding=false

Now - Roku accepts the videos as MP4 and plays them back great.

Hmm - not quite sure where's the breakdown here.  Why didn't Roku ask for MP4 in the first place, since that's the file encoding?  Why did transcoding break anyway?  

Weird.

Cheers,

Paul

National Pancake Day - March 4, 2025

(from the Has It Really Been Five Years? department)

Hey - long time no pancake.  How've you been?  I think it's time for a stack of pancakes!

This time - we learned from the past.  Dana, Rose & I headed down to our local IHOP at about 5:00 PM.  We were able to be seated immediately.  After looking at the menu, we ordered our free pancakes, and I got a burger - with hash browns:

Burger - Not Pancake

Pancake - Not Burger

Rose ordered a strawberry crepe with her pancakes.  Dana asked if she could add blueberries to her free stack:

Ready To Dig In!!

A Thumbs - And A Butter Knife - Up!

We really enjoyed our meal.  Good thing we went early too. When we left at 6:00 PM - the line for pancakes was out the door:

Patiently Waiting For Pancakes

For more information - check out IHOP's website here:  National Pancake Day 2025 - Enjoy Free Pancakes at IHOP®

Cheers,
Paul

Kooza!!!

(from the I Can't Believe They Can Do That! department)

Hi everyone,

We went to the latest Cirque Du Soleil travelling production last night - Kooza.  It was in a big tent at Marymoor Park in Redmond.  Really well done.  

I'll leave the description of the show to other bloggers, but it's kind of a modernization of traditional circuses.  There's a ringleader, clowns, acrobats, etc.  They're not exactly the same as a Ringling Bros. show - but the roles are there, just done in a Cirque Du Soleil way.  

A note about the aerial work.  Some of it is incredible.  There's a section they do with a spinning structure that defies belief.  The tightrope walking is pretty amazing too.  But - seriously - all of the performers were outstanding.  Hard to pick the best, really.

The music was really good too - really tight band playing live.  The current touring group features a drummer named Eden Bahar, who holds the Guinness World Record for "Most drumstick spins in one minute (one hand)".  He set the record of 149 on 13-Sept-2018.  They gave him a solo spot in the show - he really shined, without being overbearing.  

Finally - we did manage to get a picture at the event:

You'll notice I'm wearing my down jacket.  I had on a blue-green t-shirt that matched the backdrop.  I kept disappearing in the photos.  Luckily - I had a zip-up down jacket - or you would have seen a much different photo!

They also gave us the raw image:

All in all - it was a magical night.  We had a lot of fun!

Cheers,
Paul

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 18)

(from the I Don't Think Rocky Had This Many Sequels department)

Well - we did it!  It was a mad whirlwind getting to the Santa photos today - we were booked in the last available slot.  But - we did it!!

Without further ado - Santa Photo 2024®!!

Rose is quite the young lady now.  But - she still asked Santa for a present!

Personally, I'm thankful that we were all available to be in the Santa photo this year.  We're working on staying healthy and optimistic this upcoming year.  (Health and happiness for all - that's what I'd ask Santa for!)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone - from the Pietromonaco family!

Cheers,
Paul

Haiku Writing - Moon Viewing 2024

(from the Just Splish! department)

Hi everyone,

This year, Rose & I attended the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing on Thursday, Sept. 12th, 2024, at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.

The event was a little more low-key than in previous years.  Also - the tea ceremony was only available for Friday's event, so this was even more low-key. Still - it was nice to get out of the house, stroll around the grounds - and watch the moon go behind the trees the minute we got there!  (At least there was a moon visible this year - previous years have been pretty cloudy!!)

(Original announcement here:  https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/events-calendar/2024/9/12/moon-viewing)

About the only event carried over from last year was the Haiku Contest.  Rose wrote one haiku - I managed to get two completed.  My second Haiku got an honorable mention!

Here's the Haiku:

Rose:

An angler fish rests in the sky

as he bites the moon

I feel light on my skin

Paul:

wind blows softly

gently pushing the clouds - 

moon sails above

Paul (honorable mention winner!):

viewer's footsteps - 

bundled against autumn chill

warmed by moonglow

(You might notice that the haikus don't necessarily follow the traditional 5-7-5 syllable pattern.  Modern haiku are less formal.)

Full contest results are here: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/moon-viewing-2024-haiku-0912

Rose & I had a great time.  Looking forward to the viewing next year!

Cheers,
Paul

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 17)

(from the Yup - That's Rose!!! department)

Hi everyone,

The streak continues - 17 years!!

So - I present to you - the Santa photo...

It's been a transitional year for the family.  I was let go by Indeed on April 1st - April Fools' Day.  (Heh - funny!)  I've been looking for a job since then.  Dana continues her volunteer work at the Seattle Aquarium, and has a new gig volunteering at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.  Rose has settled into her second year of High School - she's doing well!  This year she's been studying American Sign Language (ASL).  

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings from the Pietromonaco family (Dana, Rose & I).

Cheers,
Paul

Haiku Writing - Moon Viewing 2023

(from the Splish, Splish, Splish! department)

Hi everyone,

Dana, Rose & I attended the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing on Friday, Sept. 1st, 2023, at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle. 

This is a nice evening event where you can stroll around the Japanese Garden, see luminaria and lanterns, hear traditional Japanese music played on flute and Koto, and attend a real Japanese tea ceremony.

(More info here: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/events-calendar/2023/9/1/moon-viewing)

This year, all three of us participated in the tea ceremony.  Simply amazing!  Then - we got to make a wish and launch a small boat with a candle.  (Well - a battery powered candle - no fires for us!)

Because of the length of the tea ceremony, Dana & Rose missed the Haiku Contest this year.  I barely made it in time - I only had five minutes to create a Haiku masterpiece!  Needless to say - that didn't happen - but I did get an honorable mention!!  (1 of 12 they handed out this year.)

Here's the haiku I wrote:

Paul:

Tea ceremony -

Small round cake

Calls to the moon

Not bad for 5 minutes!

(You might notice that the haikus don't necessarily follow the traditional 5-7-5 syllable pattern.  Modern haiku are less formal.)

And the moon?  It did show up later that evening, after the moon viewing was over.  Gorgeous moon tonight after all!

Cheers,
Paul

Fix for Tomb Raider (2013) on Arch Linux

(from the Gaming On Modern Linux department)

Hi everyone,

Quick post here - I've been trying to run the original Feral Interactive port of Tomb Raider on Arch Linux.  It starts - then stops immediately.  

Looking at the Arch Gaming troubleshooting guide here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Steam/Game-specific_troubleshooting#Tomb_Raider_(2013) they mention trying to see if there are missing libraries.  The output of that command is:

$ ldd steamapps/common/Tomb\ Raider/bin/TombRaider | grep found
       libssl.so.1.0.0 => not found
       libicui18n.so.51 => not found
       libicuuc.so.51 => not found
       libicudata.so.51 => not found
       libCoreFoundation.so.476 => not found
       libvorbis.so.0 => not found
       libSDL2_image-2.0.so.0 => not found
       libcrypto.so.1.0.0 => not found
       libcef.so => not found
       libpdf.so => not found
       libfmodex.so => not found

The weird part?  All of these libraries are already present in .steam/steam/steamapps/common/Tomb Raider/lib/i686

I thought "That's weird". I looked at the debug output in Steam - and yes - it can't find those libs.  I messed around with a few different approaches - adding LD_LIBRARY_PATH to the startup options, etc. - but nothing seemed to work.  

In desperation - and just because I like to be weird - I tried this:  

$ cd ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Tomb\ Raider/lib
$ ls
i686
$ cp i686/* .
$ ls
i686       libCoreFoundation.so.476  libcurl.so.4  libicudata.so.51  libicuuc.so.51  libssl.so.1.0.0  libtcmalloc_minimal.so
libcef.so  libcrypto.so.1.0.0        libfmodex.so  libicui18n.so.51  libpdf.so       libsteam_api.so

And tried starting the game again.  It worked!

That wastes 152M of hard drive space though - so I deleted the files and decided to create a symbolic link to the files instead:

$ cd ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Tomb\ Raider/lib

$ ls

i686

$ ln -s i686/* .

$ ls
i686       libCoreFoundation.so.476  libcurl.so.4  libicudata.so.51  libicuuc.so.51  libssl.so.1.0.0  libtcmalloc_minimal.so
libcef.so  libcrypto.so.1.0.0        libfmodex.so  libicui18n.so.51  libpdf.so       libsteam_api.so

Works just the same - and saves a ton of space!

So - the summary is - it should be loading the game libraries from the i686 subdirectory, but it doesn't seem to be able to find them.  Making them available one level up seems to solve the problem.

Cheers,

Paul

Switching Desktop Environments in Ubuntu 22.04

(from the Don't you have better things to do? department)

Introduction:

Hi everyone,

Much like many tech sector workers, I spend a lot of time on a Linux desktop lately.  I tend to prefer Enterprise or Long Term Support (LTS) editions of Linux - like Ubuntu 22.04 LTS - as opposed to the rolling update Linux versions like Arch.  They tend to be very stable, with most bugs ironed out so I can concentrate on the software being tested and not worry about tracking issues in the distribution. 

Now - I'm always in search of the perfect desktop experience.  I enjoy trying the latest Linux GUIs - Gnome, KDE, Xfce, etc.  Ubuntu allows you to install these simultaneously - switching between them when you login.  It used to work flawlessly - but since the desktops are becoming more customized - extra steps are needed to switch between them. 

This document will contain my notes for switching between Ubuntu Gnome/Gnome, Unity, and Xfce on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.  I'll leave the installing of these into a stock Ubuntu installation as an exercise for the user. (Hint:  there are great online guides like this one: How to Switch from GNOME to Unity in Ubuntu 18.04 and 17.10).  I'll also assume this is a stock Ubuntu installation with Ubuntu Gnome as the default environment.

Xfce4:

• Switch the Display Manager from GDM to LightDM via the sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3 command, and selecting lightdm
• Change LightDM from the Unity greeter to lightdm-gtk greeter by editing /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and adding the line greeter-session=lightdm-gtk-greeter, commenting out the line greeter-session=unity-greeter
• If present, you'll have to uninstall gtk3-nocsd - it now interferes with Xfce4 menus, since they're starting to use client side decorations.  In Ubuntu the command is sudo apt remove gtk3-nocsd libgtk3-nocsd0
• If you have Unity installed - you may run into an issue where notifications are using the Unity handler instead of the Xfce handler.  The easiest way to make sure that Xfce notifications are used is to issue the following command, which just renames the Unity notifier and is easily undone: sudo mv /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.freedesktop.Notifications.service /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.freedesktop.Notifications.service.disabled
• You can test the default handler by using the notify-send command.  Xfce notifications should be clickable - they close you click on them.
• Once rebooted and logged into Xfce, you'll want to add an additional panel to the top bar - the "Indicator Plugin" - this will make sure Unity style notifications like Skype, Slack, etc. - are displayed in the top bar.  I put it next to the Status Tray Plugin for continuity.
• Don't forget to select Xfce Session from the LightDM login screen!
• UPDATE:  There may be an issue with XFCE panel notifications and something called ayatana-indicator-application.  Uninstalling this via apt made panel notifications work - however it looks like it's installed by default with Xubuntu.  Not sure what's going on - but I'm removing it for now.  See more information here: https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=16436

Unity:

• Switch the Display Manager from GDM to LightDM via the sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3 command, and selecting lightdm
• Make sure LightDM is set to the Unity greeter by editing /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and insuring that the line greeter-session=unity-greeter is set.
• Make sure gtk3-nocsd is installed via the command sudo apt install gtk3-nocsd
• Install additional yaru icons with the sudo apt install yaru-theme-unity
• If you have Xfce installed - you may run into an issue where notifications are using the Xfce handler instead of the Unity handler.  The easiest way to make sure that Unity notifications are used is to issue the following command, which just renames the Xfce notifier and is easily undone: sudo mv /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.xfce.xfce4-notifyd.Notifications.service /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.xfce.xfce4-notifyd.Notifications.service.disabled
• You can test the default handler by using the notify-send command.  Unity notifications should not be clickable - they should fade when you hover over them.
• Once rebooted and logged into Unity, you'll want to use Unity Tweak Tool to select the Yaru-dark Theme and Yaru-dark Icon to make it match the latest Unity builds.
• Don't forget to select Unity from the LightDM login screen!
• In addition, current Unity builds are using Nemo instead of Nautilus for default file handling. After locking Nemo to the Unity Launcher, you can switch to Nemo file handling by using the following command: xdg-mime default nemo.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search 
• You can revert back to Nautilus by using the following command: xdg-mime default nautilus.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search
• NOTE:  If you've been experimenting with KDE desktops, for some reason, this kind of trashes the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file.  This shows up as a messed-up right click Unity Desktop menu, among other things.  The quick fix is to edit the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file, and set gtk-menu-images=false.  Logging out and logging back in should now have fixed your right click Unity Desktop menu.
• NOTE:  Electron apps have issues with Ubuntu AppIndicator Tray Icons.  There's a fix here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1469305/unity-desktop-tray-icons-of-some-apps-not-showing-anymore-ubuntu-22-04
• NOTE:  If Nemo menus no longer move to the top of the Unity desktop - but are stuck to the Nemo window - you may need to reload unity-gtk3-module.  I'm not sure what clobbers this.

Ubuntu Gnome/Gnome:

• Switch the Display Manager from LightDM to GDM via the sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3 command, and selecting gdm3
• Remove the additional yaru icons with the command sudo apt remove yaru-theme-unity
• If you switched to Nemo, be sure to switch back to Nautilus:  xdg-mime default nautilus.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search
• Once rebooted, and logged into Ubuntu Gnome or Gnome, you may need to reset your theme from Gnome Tweaks or the Settings control panel. 
• Don't forget to select Ubuntu or GNOME from the GDM login screen!
• I had an issue where GNOME was really slow after switching back - and the GTK windows ignored theme requests.  I fixed it by removing xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.  I don't think this is a good fix - but it got it working again.  Caveat emptor. 
  UPDATE: This was caused by potential bug fix for a Unity 90 second logout issue - as described here: Bug #2063383 “[SRU] Ubuntu Unity takes 90 seconds to log out” : Bugs : gnome-session package : Ubuntu Commenting out the line as indicated breaks xdg-desktop-portal-gnome. 

Cheers,

Paul

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 16)

(from the OMG - That's Rose??? department)

Hi everyone,

Well - we did it!  A 16 year streak!    

Without further ado...

It's been a busy year - Rose has started her first year at High School - Dana volunteers at the Seattle Aquarium - I'm doing more Java programming at work - and we're all still healthy!

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings from the Pietromonaco family (Dana, Rose & I).

Cheers,
Paul

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 15)

(from the Look Ma - No Masks! department)

Hi everyone,

In these difficult times, it's more important than ever to try and maintain a semblance of normality.  

And - so - without further ado....

Don't worry - we're all fully vaccinated!  Everything was done quite safely.  And - check out Santa's cool "SC" belt buckle!  He was quite proud of it - and rightly so!

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings from the Pietromonaco family (Dana, Rose & I).

Cheers,
Paul

Haiku Writing - Moon Viewing 2021

 (from the Splish, Splish! department)

Hi everyone,

Dana, Rose & I attended the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing on Friday, Sept. 10th, 2021 at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.  This is the first time they've held the event since the pandemic started.

As stated in my previous blog entry, this is a "nice evening event where you can stroll around the Japanese Garden, see traditional Japanese music and dance being performed live, enjoy a Bento Box dinner, and see the moon in all of its glory."

(More info here: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/events-calendar/2021/9/10/moon-viewing-01 )

This year, they scaled back a little - no Bento Box dinner sadly - but it was still wonderful.  The only slight disappointment was the lack of actual moon to view, due to clouds - similar to the last time.

As is our tradition, Dana, Rose & I took part in the Haiku writing contest.  This year, we were limited to one haiku each - so we made it count!

Here's the haiku we wrote:

Paul: 

The air is still -

Suddenly three birds launch

Searching for the moon

Dana:

We gather to see

Lady Luna hides her face

The clouds make her shy

Rose:

Oh, my muse and moon

Will thee return my friend?

I'll wait below stars

You might notice that the haikus don't necessarily follow the traditional 5-7-5 syllable pattern.  Modern haiku are less formal. 

As it turns out - we did even better this year than last year!  Dana got an honorable mention, and I came in 2nd place!!

We had a lot of fun Friday night - and writing haiku is always a highlight of our evening!

Cheers,
Paul

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 14)

(from the How Are There 14 Of These Since Rose Is Only 13? department)

Hi everyone,

Wow - what a year!  Even though we're still in lockdown, we did manage to visit with Santa this year.  However - it was a little different....

Yes - we're smiling happily!!  Can't you tell??

It's been a heck of year, putting it mildly.  There was something comforting about seeing Santa - this year more than ever.  

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings from the Pietromonaco family (Dana, Rose & I).

Cheers,

Paul

Xquartz, XDMCP & Xfce tips (aka restoring my sanity)

 (from the X11 is fun!! department)

Hi everyone,

This is a quick posting.  For various reasons too long to go into here, I've been trying to connect to a Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Linux box via XDMCP from a MacBook Pro using XQuartz (MacOS Catalina) or from a Microsoft Surface Pro using VcXsrv (Windows 10).

The key points for all operating systems - you must set up your Ubuntu Linux box to run XDMCP.  All of these commands need to be done from a terminal window on the Linux box you're connecting to:

• You have to install and select Xfce - it won't work with any of the other modern desktops, since Remote X11 is 2D only.  Try this to install it:

sudo apt-get install xfce4

• You have to use Lightdm - this doesn't seem to work right with GDM.  To install:

sudo apt-get install lightdm

• Make sure it's selected with:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3

• You have to turn on XDMCP in Lightdm by adding the following to /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf:

[XDMCPServer]
enabled=true

• You have to install an additional Greeter with Lightdm.  I used lightdm-gtk-greeter which I installed with:

sudo apt install lightdm-gtk-greeter lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings

• Check firewalls, etc.

Okay, most likely, your Windows box will work at this point.  Set up a VcXsrv profile using XDMCP and point it at your Ubuntu Linux box.  The Mac - using XQuartz - needs additional steps:

• You have to manually start the session via command line - replacing the 192.168.0.71 with your Ubuntu XDMCP IP address:

X -query 192.168.0.71 -terminate

• It turns out the Mac doesn't define the "Super" key, so Xfce reacts unpredictably.  For me, it was a broken spacebar.  There was no way to enter a space - the cursor would just blink at you frustratingly. 
• To fix this, in Xfce, go to Applications --> Settings --> iBus Preferences and remove the "<super>Space" mapping from the Next input method field on the General tab.  Since I don't need iBus, I just deleted the mapping entirely.
• Additionally, starting Chrome would prevent any text from being entered.  This turned out to be a old Chrome App I had loaded by default.
• To fix this temporarily, I went into Chrome extensions (chrome://extensions/) and unchecked "Google Play Music".  You don't have to uninstall it - just disable it.

Good luck!!

Cheers,

Paul

National Pancake Day - February 25th, 2020

(from the Everything is better with Pancakes department)

Well - it's been a while since we went to IHOP's National Pancake Day celebration and got a stack of free pancakes.

And - unfortunately - it's going to be a while longer.  We got there after 7:00 PM, so no free platter of golden discs for us.

Still - Rose and I decided to go for it!  We placed our orders and started thinking about pancakes...

Are you taking photos Dad?

Mmmm - pancakes...

Rose makes a good point!

Rose ordered French Toast -

with Strawberries and Bananas

I ordered a Burger and Fries -

and a stack of Pancakes for the table!

We ate our meals first - then went for some Pancakes!!

We had a terrific meal - and even donated a little bit to their charity - Children's Miracle Network - as well!

You can read more about it here: IHOP National Pancake Day

Cheers,
Paul

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 13)

(from the Omg - Rose Is So Big Now!!! department)

Hi everyone,

Well once again - completely at the last minute - we have our Annual Santa Photo!®

I guess Rose really is too big to sit on Santa's lap anymore - but she sure looks happy!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone - from the Pietromonaco family!!!

Cheers,
Paul

P.S.  Yes - same red shirt - I only wear it once a year, basically :)