3.19.11 - Rainy day fun

Went to Doug's in the morning to hang out with him and his 6-year-old niece, Ava.  Doug helped her build some sailboats out of tupperware with sticks stuck in candles for masts.  We walked in the light rain a few blocks to a playground with a tiny creek running by.  On the way there Ava's sail fell off her sailboat, so she replaced it with a large pink petal off some flower.  It sort of fell to the bottom of the mast but she seemed satisfied anyway.  Once at the creek she happily raced her and Doug's sailboats while Jack, Doug, and I mostly looked on.  Ava insisted it's "lady's first" and would start her sailboat before Doug's, but it was pretty much a crapshoot who would "win" since the wind kept changing directions.  Still cute to watch.

Made it to the creek, despite the rain.

It started raining a little harder so Jack left to get the car.  Doug, Ava and I played on this rather cool playground.  It included a wooden ship with fish carved along the side, some kind of fort with trees carved in it's walls, and even a building that served as the "General Store", "Bank" and "Saloon" (!).  There were also colored tiles obviously designed by children lining the fence that surrounded the playground.  The whole thing was very pretty.  And very empty, since it was raining.  Ava ran from structure to structure, explaining to us that the ships were blown up by bombs and we needed to sail to Hawaii where it's warm and other such things.  I like asking her questions about what's going on in her make believe story and seeing what she comes up with on the spot.  Also, she has a pretty good evil villain cackle, which she used when she "trapped" Doug and me in a net, apparently.

Eventually she was ready to get out of the cold and wet, so Jack drove all of us to the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse to pick up supplies to do some rainy day crafts.  Turns out they were having a sale on fabric--$5 for as much fabric as you could stuff in a large grocery bag.  Good lord.  Ava picked out about 5-6 different kinds of pink fabric, Jack picked out patterns he thought would make good patches for some of his clothes, and I picked out colors I like with no specific plans for them.  I'm sure I can come up with something, and with prices that low I'm not going to wait till I have thought of it.  I must've gotten about 20 yards of fabric for $5.  Bwahahaha!  We also bought a few scoops of buttons.

Before we went back to Doug's we stopped by Backesale Betty's for fried chicken sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies, all of which were amazing.

Kid can raise one eyebrow. Nice.

By the time we finished our impromptu lunch at Doug's it was about time for Jack and me to get going with other errands, so I suppose the button crafts with Ava will have to be saved for next time.

After hitting up Safeway Jack and I went back to his apt and I made cookies-n-cream fudge...things.  They were delicious but messy and very rich.  I then spent the afternoon scanning old photos and listening to a random youtube playlist of Sesame St songs, some of which I probably haven't heard since I lived in Folsom.  Jack napped.

Finally Neil, Jack and I packed up some of the cookies-n-cream stuff and went to Dylan and Sarah's for a dinner and Sequence and general visiting.  Jack and Sarah won 3 games of Sequence out of 6 before we all quit.  Fun game--good to play while visiting.

Sequence.

I also enjoyed watching their fancy goldfish keep swimming to the bottom and then floating to the top of his tank.  Apparently some days he gets air bubbles stuck in him and can't stay near the bottom, and then other days he's fine.  Either way it was funny to watch. Weirdo.

Apparently "fancy" Goldfish get bubbles in them and get stuck floating. This fish spent the entire evening struggling to swim near the bottom of the tank, giving up, floating back to the top, and starting over. 

On the way back we stopped at Wal Mart to buy some of the produce they're now selling (woohoo! oranges!)

3.18.11 - Solano Wine Cellars

Jack took me to Solano Cellars for some wine-tasting.  I tried the "Red Wine Flight" which included Noussan Torrette and Fattoria Paradiso Sangiovese Reserva (Italian), "Les Vieilles Vignes" (French), and Preston Zinfandel (California :-) ).  Jack tried the "Special Selections Flight" which included Scherrer Pinot Noir (CA), Montevertine Rosso (Italy), La Rioja Alta (Spain), and the mouthful Domaine Moulin-Tacussel Chateauneuf-du-Pape (France).  We also got sliced bread and various gourmet cheeses whose names all escape me now.

We got two wine flights, one white, one red. Also some cheeses.

  

While we were there, there was a huge storm outside. It even started hailing! Very unusual for that part of the country.

The whole thing was lovely.  It was a small place, uncrowded even though it was Friday night.  We sat at a two-top high-table at the edge of the balcony that looks down on the rest of the shop.  They played swing music softly in the background.  We just took our time and tried each of each others wine and talked and savored.  Near the end a thunder storm started (the 2nd thunderstorm I've witnessed in the bay area ever) and that was both exciting and almost nostalgic, since they remind me of Missouri.  Later it actually hailed. Awww.

2.12.11 - Pleasant Saturday

Today I got up "early" (earlier than Neil or Jack) and read homework readings in peace and quiet in very sunny living room.  After Jack woke up I introduced him to Dollhouse while I continued to read.  Him using my laptop helps me get homework done because I can't use my laptop.

This afternoon I was going to Starbucks to meet a friend of a friend who could give me useful information for my job hunt.  Jack and I got there early and conducted a mini taste test--I ordered a Java Chip Frapuccino Light and a Java Chip Frapuccino no whip and then had Jack see if he could tell the difference.  He could, easily, and so could I, but I still think the JCFL is worth the small taste sacrifice for the lower calories.

Later Jack studied in some other corner of Starbucks while I met up with the friend and had a very useful, informative discussion.  He seemed to think my resume was impressive, which, after zero responses so far with my job hunt, was uplifting.  Also doing anything that feels like progress generally puts me in a really good mood.

View from the 2nd floor of the Starbucks toward campus.

When our talk was over Jack and I went back to the apartment, driving with the windows down on a gorgeous day, listening to the Beatles.  I notice Jack sings along pretty enthusiastically for having claimed to not like them.  We got back here and while he napped I made soy sauce brown sugar chicken and rice and corn, and then Neil, Jack and I ate dinner and watched two more episodes of BSG.  All very satisfying things to do.

I think I'll do some more reading now.

1.15.11 - Mt. Tam picnic

Yesterday Jack and I made chicken wraps using tomato basil tortillas, pesto, cucumber and tomato.  We packed them, some pita chips, hummus, pears, diet cola and Lambrusco and drove to Mt Tam for a picnic.  The weather was great.  The drive up was enjoyable in itself because it's a long drive and gives us time to let the conversation wander, or to enjoy many good songs from my iPod Shuffle.  That, and once you get to the foot of Mt Tam the drive includes many beautiful views along the way.

When we got to our picnic spot no one else was around.  It was a bit windy, and I'd brought a coat but Jack hadn't, so he ended up wrapping himself in our picnic blanket.  We joked around a lot, just in a very silly mood, and enjoyed the food and the view.  All in all it was a lovely date.  It's really nice to get out of the rut of going out to dinner over and over and try something new.

We brought ingredients for wraps.

Sun in our face.

Decent selfie.

Trying to stay warm!

As an aside, I think having a weekly date night has been very good for mine and Jack's relationship.  We've kept it up with almost no misses since he moved to CA in July 2009.  It becomes a habit after awhile, which is sort of the point, I think: you make sure to set some time aside, no matter how busy your schedule, to be one-on-one and relax a little.  It helps us show that we are a priority to each other and it also gives us an opportunity to try new things.  I think once you've been together awhile it's easy to get into a rut or routine that doesn't include making a point to focus on one another now and again.  Anyway, we got the idea from a couple I am friends with and it has worked out really well for us.  I recommend it.

We went home and watched The Golden Compass.  Jack loved the armored bears fighting, of course.

After the movie, Neil, Jack and I went to a house concert featuring four different bands, including the Pacific Rhythm Company.  The Pacific Rhythm Company is a new band that includes a member from an old band I liked.  I was hoping the music style would be similar, and it certainly was, and it was wonderful.  The songs are very sweet and relaxing.  Most of the bands were like that.  It was a low-key event, with Christmas lights decorating the place and music from pianos, trombones, ukuleles, etc.  In between sets we had some fun talks with Senta and Doug.  Doug showed us how to do the Dougie, which in this case is not a dance so much as whatever Doug happens to be doing at a given moment.

Relaxing to the music of the Pacific Rhythm Company.

Anyway, the whole day was lovely.  I'm trying to enjoy these last few days off as much as I can before my final semester starts which will include--buh buh BUM--the second half of P-chem. 

1.11.11 - bonding with baby Rocket

Dad and Ellen went down to the beach and I hung out in my room, mostly reading Churchill but also dozing and listening to music.  Then I went and hung out with Jill and Rocket while Dad and Ellen went down to Barcelo to Jet Ski with Julie and Denny.  That was one of the highlights of the day for me, because I enjoy talking about relationships and other things with Jill.  Rocket was asleep most of the time anyway.

Eventually he woke up and we took him down to “walk” around the lobby.  I was hoping he’d tire out because soon Jill left to go horseback riding with the others and I was babysitting alone, which was somewhat intimidating.  When I took Rocket back to mine and Ellen’s hotel room he was fussy and after awhile he was outright crying, so I decided to pack my things and take him to Dad and Jill’s room.  Just me transitioning from our room to theirs distracted him enough that he stopped crying and fell asleep almost immediately after that, which of course made him much cuter.  I put him in his crib and read more Churchill.  I was hoping he’d sleep for at least an hour, but less than half an hour later he woke back up.  He was less fussy after that, though, and much cuter.  I sat him in my lap and let him eat Cheerios out of a cup, then gave him some water.  I let him explore.  I carried him around the balcony during a beautiful sunset.  I had him in the hammock for a little while as I poked my fingers through the other side of the mesh and he tried to grab them.  Overall he was very quiet the whole time, which I think was a sure sign he was tired.

Eventually I started walking him back and forth, only this time instead of singing lullabies I just started talking to him in a soft monotone voice—totally stream of conscious.  The whole time I was talking Rocket was just leaning his head back and staring at me, which was amusing.  Eventually he went to sleep but when I tried to put him back in his crib he woke up immediately.  Ah well.  The rest of the crew joined us soon after that.

We all went down to town with the intent of going to the hamburger place again for dinner, but on the way there Dad stopped to look at the menu of one of the other restaurants.  The woman had called to him from the side of the road.  We ended up eating there (It’s name was Spanish for “Elbows on the Table”) and we had lots of drinks (sangria, pina colada, margarita) and a lot of food (flank, beef fillet, carbonara, pomodoro).  I am very stuffed even now.

We had fun conversations.  Dad and Jill and Julie started talking about logistics for the wedding and had some new ideas.  We finally took a cab back.

1.10.11 - Breezy lobby

This morning when Rocket fell asleep I laid down with him on top of me, both hands clasped around his little back, and I passed out too.  Ellen was outside in the hammock reading, I think.  I woke up in a pseudo-state, trying to lift up my hands and move him to the bed, but when I moved them they didn’t move, they just stayed on his back.  A few times I thought I had moved him to the bed only to realize I was still holding him on my chest.  Finally I woke up fully and was able to move him, and realized how asleep I’d been in all previous attempts.  It was weird.

Jill, Dad, Ellen, Rocket and I all went down to town to meet Julie and Denny for breakfast.  We went to a crepe place where Rocket crawled around happily exploring.  We had bits of crepes and croissants, although Jill’s, which was supposed to have sausage, came with a hot dog.  I liked the place.  I liked the décor and how it was somewhat raised above the ground around it.  We talked about Dad someday holding a baby Olympics when we all have kids.  Apparently Julie, Ellen and I each hope to have 4-5 kids, so there may be a lot of grandkids.

We finished breakfast and went back to Denny and Julie’s hotel, Barcelo, to inquire about scuba diving and parasailing and massages and horseback riding.  

We went back to Las Brisas and everyone was down in the rooms and for awhile I was up in the lobby totally alone.  It was mid-afternoon, the bar was closed, and the whole lobby was totally quiet and peaceful.  The TVs were off and covered.  The place was very clean, I took off my shoes and put my feet up and read more of the Churchill biography and enjoyed the breeze.  Dad and Ellen joined me later and chatted and hung out, and eventually Jill and Rocket joined us and we all went back down to Barcelo so they could do parasailing.

I did get to hang out a bit one-on-one with Julie while I watched Rocket and everyone else went parasailing, and that was nice.  Rocket still wouldn’t go to sleep. 

When they were done we went to the hamburger place again.  I got Chayote, which appears to be some kind of squash with a dollop of sour cream and some parmesan cheese, and it seems like it wouldn’t be that unhealthy, so I enjoyed it.  Eventually Jill left for her massage and Ellen and Denny left for their scuba lesson and Dad and Rocket and I went back to Las Brisas.  We hung out in the lobby, which was initially pretty empty.  Dad read more of his book about the Pacific part of WWII, and I mostly watched Rocket.  He was pretty happy to eat little chips of a peppermint and crawl all over the carpet and play with Dad’s wallet.  He’s adorable.  Eventually he got sleepy and again would not sleep while I was holding him but konked almost as soon as Dad started walking him around.  He slept on Dad’s shoulder for a long time, even after Jill and Ellen had returned.

We spent a lot of time in the lobby tonight.  Watched Rocket go crazy, talked about first dates and first romantic moments.  It was nice.  Sitting around and visiting like that really is my favorite part, probably, which is funny because we could also do that at home.  Anyway, we stayed in the lobby till long after it was dark.  Finally got tired and came up here to sleep and spend one last day in Mexico tomorrow.

1.9.11 - oceanside

Rocket wasn't feeling well this morning.  I just held him and walked around till he chilled out, then sung him to sleep with Heart and Soul and The Way You Look Tonight and a few Disney songs as I could think of them.  I laid down with him and felt his little head and little rib cage heave as he slept.  He didn’t stay down for long though and then he was awake and his happy self again.

Julie and Denny came over and eventually they and Ellen and I went to the beach, to be joined later by Dad and Jill and Rocket.  The weather was great.  Ellen and I tanned some more.  Denny played in the ocean like a happy dog.  It made me think of how Jack would be if he were here.  Dad seemed to like it too.  Rocket seemed unsure.  He napped later, of course, in his goofy over-sized orange baby sunhat, ha.

Ellen was not interested in shade. She needs to be careful though. Notice the marks of the last lounge chair dragged out to sea.

I don't know. Must be a honeymoon thing.

At one point I was tanning and listening to random songs when “Don’t Stop Believin’” came on.  I went and stood in the tide and watched the foam and listened to it and thought about my life.  It’s a pretty good life.

Anyway, eventually we all moved to the pool.  Did some swimming, some more reading, and ate a club sandwich ordered at the bar.  I went up to the hotel room and showered and changed and went back down to join them because I was going to let housekeeping clean our room.

Way later we all walked down to town to the same hamburger place, talked about Julie being a vegetarian and about what books Dad reads, etc.  We walked back up this time, instead of taking a cab, and then I Skyped with Jack. 

1.8.11 - Drinks at sunset

We went to Nuevo Zelande in town for breakfast.  I was roamer.  Afterward we walked around town and found what looked like a lone small shop that may have new flip flops for Dad.  Actually it turned out to be many shops all connected with lots of touristy souvenirs and a few practical things as well.  Ellen and I looked around together, occasionally re-bumping in to Dad and Jill and Rocket.  Ellen bargained a guy down for an elephant ring (Republican) and a lightning ring (Harry Potter).  We looked around a bit. I bought a beaded bracelet on a whim, and Ellen had one very similar.

We finished, went back to the hotel, and went down to the pool.  This time we went to the larger pool rather than the small, private kiddie pool up top.  I dozed in and out in the sun listening to random music on my Shuffle—a bunch of hip hop, some songs that reminded me of Jack, etc.  Thinking about random memories.  I read some more of the Churchill biography and sipped rum and Diet.  I did eventually get in the pool for awhile.  Ellen and I took pics of each other.

We went up to our rooms to chill for a bit before going to the lobby for happy hour.  Julie and Denny met up with us.  We watched the sunset over the ocean during happy hour while sipping various fruity drinks and eating peanuts.  I don’t really remember what we talked about.  I got a little buzzed, Denny moreso.  They make the drinks strong.  Then all of us walked down in the warm night to the town to a hamburger place.  I was again roamer.  On the walk down I talked to Ellen a lot about L’abri.  That was fun.  The walk in the warm night reminded us both of L’abri slightly.

When we got back I Skyped with Jack; Neil was in the background, and he goofed around walking in and out of the screen and slowly rising behind Jack’s chair like he was going to kill Jack.  It was pretty hilarious.  I had to try not to laugh too loudly because Ellen was very focused on Perelandra in the bed next to mine.

Singing along to Elephant Love Medley.

1.7.11 - hammocks

Ellen and I had Fruit Loops for breakfast.  Dad brought Rocket over Ellen got Rocket to fall asleep and then eventually laid him on the bed.  She and him both slept for like an hour and a half, and I sat in the hammock, listening to the ocean and reading and listening to music.  It was the most relaxed I’ve been so far since we’ve been here.

Ellen and Rocket enjoy a nap.

Jill and Ellen and Rocket and I went to the pool for hours and hours, and we talked while Rocket either floated in his boat or slept or rubbed crackers on the ground and then ate them.  We had guacamole and chips for lunch, pretty much.

Eventually we came upstairs, and Jill, Ellen and I watched Ever After, which Jill had never seen.  That was very enjoyable.  Dad was feeling sick so afterward Jill and Ellen and Rocket and I went down to the restaurant and had pretty good food with incredibly slow service.  Now I’m here ready to crash again. 

1.5.11 - Ixtapa

We got to Mexico and Ellen has been adoring the warm weather since.  Took a cab to Las Brisas. 

Wish you were here.

After we dropped our stuff off in our rooms we went and had drinks and watched the sunset.  That was pretty nice.  I went and Skyped with Jack that night.  We were on Skype for two and a half hours, but at least a half hour of that, probably more, was him watching me walk back and forth across the room with Rocket, singing “The Way You Look Tonight” and “Heart and Soul” over and over, getting him as sleepy as possible until his parents took him back. 

12.23.10 - Decorating the tree

Today, Julie, Ellen and I finally decorated our Christmas tree.  It had been in the living room, with Christmas lights, for weeks, but we had waited for Ellen to get in town to decorate it and then never quite gotten around to it.  So together we put up all the old ornaments—many we’ve had since I was a child in Folsom.  It was nostalgic and fun.  The boys eventually came upstairs and hung out with us while we did it.  We forgot garland, but I did remember tinsel, which I think makes a big difference.

One of my favorite ornaments. We've had this since I was a kid in Folsom.

Sarah came over and gave me my Christmas gift of chocolates and a dessert wine, which we both enjoyed while watching the pilot episode of Eureka.  It was okay.  She also gave me a charm she picked up in Japan.  It’s supposed to give good luck with money, so I’ll let you know how that works out.  After Mom got home I worked out while we all watched more Firefly.  That show is great in general, but it was particularly enjoyable watching it with people who have never seen it.

Later in the evening the other siblings went to a party, and I stayed home and visited with Sarah.  It was great to have the house to ourselves, quiet-like, and just catch up.  Eventually we were joined by Neil, Everett, Ellen and Suzanne when they got back from their party.  We talked about pets and whether you would kill your pet for a million dollars.  Suzanne wouldn’t.  Neil would.

I don’t remember what I did after that.  Probably skyped.

12.22.10 - Spinach Sausage Loaf

Wednesday morning I got up “early” and drove Mom to work so we would have more cars available with our ever-more-full household.  By the time I got home everyone was still asleep, of course, so I went to Shop’n’Save to buy spinach sausage loaf ingredients.  I enjoy driving around the St. Peters area by myself, listening to music and thinking of my many, many memories of the town.  I went to the Shop’n’Save near Jungermann because I know the layout better—or so I thought.  It was redone enough that I still had to hunt around a bit.  No big deal.

Not sure what I did during the afternoon, but that evening I made spinach sausage loaf of course!  I make less loaves every year, partly due to budget constraints, and partially due to having less people to make loaves for, but either way 5 loaves this year was much easier than 15 loaves once upon a time.  For the beginning I hung out with Sarah and talked and talked.  It was great.  Eddie joined us later, and David also came over.  Given these are the three people outside my family I made loaves for, that worked out really well.

Every year I make spinach sausage loaf for my family and friends. Here they are enjoying the spoils.

Sarah had to leave for reasons I can’t remember, but Eddie and I hung out and chatted in the living room, joined periodically by different people around the house.  Soon I needed to go pick up Mom from work, so Eddie left too.

It’s funny, I remember going to pick up Mom from work last time I was in town, in August.  At that point 8:30p meant it was still light out, and plenty warm.  One evening I was a little early and just parked and rolled down the windows and dozed, listening to the radio.  Not so now.  It had been dark for hours by the time I left, and was certainly too cold to roll down a window.

12.21.10 - Tuesday

Tuesday I went out to lunch again—this time with Aunt Linda, this time at BreadCo, and this time I *did* get the Frontega Chicken Sandwich.  But I was good and only got half of the sandwich with a salad.  I would have liked to have about 5 of those sandwiches, and just finish up my calories for the rest of the week. :P 

Everyone else had gone to visit Uncle Jeff and Aunt Celeste, since they would be unable to make it on actual Christmas day.  I was expecting to come home to an empty house but when I walked in the door I heard Julie shout, from the living room “DON’T COME IN HERE!”  She also expected no one to be home and was using the opportunity to wrap presents, ha.  Once her presents were decent I joined her in the living room and we visited while she continued wrapping. 

I ended up going back to Julie’s place with her to prep for her cookie baking party.  I worked on some SPL stuff and ate turkey soup while Julie fixed some Christmas decorations and prepped cookie dough.  The cats just got in the way, as adorably as possible.

After awhile Aunt Linda and then the three “little” guys and Mom joined us.  Eventually so did Sarah, woohoo!  I ate a lot of raw cookie dough, and spent more time making the chocolate cookies with white chips than actually frosting anything.  As always happens when making tons of sugar cookies, everyone started to get tired and the cookie decorations started to get more ridiculous.  Actually, in some cases the decorations were ridiculous to begin with (I’m looking at you Neil).  We laughed a lot.  It was fun.

Julie's cookies - getting a little tired. :)

Afterward we watched Home Alone II, although we didn’t listen much.  My siblings and I mostly added our own dialogue and plot which, in my opinion, greatly improved the movie.  Except scenes with Tim Curry; you can’t really improve those.  We went home late—too late to watch Firefly.  Damn!  Ah well.  I stayed up and went through all my photos and videos from the cookie party, and eventually Skyped with Jack.  This trip is the first time I’ve used Skype and I love it.

12.20.10 - Monday after Canasta

The Monday after Canasta I went to lunch with Jack's mom, Merlene.  We had sushi (yessss) and talked about how we both think Jack is wonderful.  Afterward I went home and spent a long time talking with Neil in the kitchen while he did Charter work.  There have been several times this trip during which I had no particular plans and simply enjoyed Mom's cozy, Christmas-y house while talking with people.  Very relaxing.

Neil multitasking: Charter work and petting Abigail.

Later that evening I went with Neil to Kat Kaiser's Christmas cookie baking event.  Played some Tichu with Neil, Tim and Becky.  We didn't finish the game.  I've noticed Tichu games tend to be far too slow if Jack isn't playing because most other people are far more cautious about calling Tichu.  Even if your team is doing well you only crawl along with out those 100 point bonuses.  Anyway, I didn't really decorate cookies that night, just watched and chatted about randomness--college, grad school, Mona Lisa Smile, hugs.  Katie's apartment is spacious, and she had a Christmas tree drawn in special markers on her sliding glass door.  She invited guests to draw their own ornaments.  Tim drew a Na atom with a ton of electrons, as well as an Erlenmeyer flask.  Heh.

Neil was gracious enough to drive me home from the party early so I could see Ellen when she got in town.  I visited with her, Julie and Mom.  We discovered that Ellen had also not seen any Firefly, which was a little frustrating since Mom and I were already done with half the season.  Ellen watched a few episodes with us anyway, and caught up on the others on her own.  She loves the show (obviously--she watched it, therefore she loves it).

12.20.10 - Continuation

So on Friday I went to lunch at BreadCo with Angela and Julie and Denny.  It was the first time in years that I did not get a Frontega Chicken Sandwich; instead I got tomato soup, and it was pretty good.

After Denny had gone to work Julie and I ran errands, mostly buying things for Christmas cookies.  Also going by the old library I spent time in during middle school.  St. Peters can be pretty nostalgic, given how much is the same since I moved 6 years ago.

We drove home in terrible traffic so Everett could get to work as well.  That left Julie and me at Mom's with no car, so we watched The Devil Wears Prada.  I believe after that we continued showing Mom Firefly.  I actually forget I'm working out when we're watching that show, because I enjoy it so thoroughly.

Saturday morning I visited with Mom.  I've been doing a lot of that while around the house, and it's nice, because I talk a lot and Mom is one of the people who enjoys that about me.  So I enjoy that she enjoys that.

That afternoon Sheldon came to visit!!  He doesn't live in St. Peters so it was great for him to make the trip.  We lounged around Starbucks for awhile and then we went back to Mom's and watched old home videos from high school and 2005.  Much hilarity ensued.

Neil made it into town that night and later that evening we had another birthday dinner for Julie.  This one included Mom's fettuccine and then peppermint brownies.  Troy joined us, to replace Ellen who was still in CA.  Afterward, more Firefly.  My goal is to watch the entire series with Mom before I go back to CA.

Yesterday I went to church (gym mass) with Mom.  After mass I talked with Katie, a good friend of mine from high school, for quite awhile.  It was great to catch up.  I talked to her for so long, in fact, that Mom gave up waiting for me and drove away to get gas.  Luckily Mom lives very close to All Saints, and it wasn't all that cold out, so I just walked home.  She joined me not long after, and made us Tilapia with some cabbage/spinach/vegetable stir fry.  Delicious.  Mom has lost a lot of weight these last few months partially due to a lot of delicious healthy recipes.  Old fashioned, I know, but I enjoy it.

That afternoon my grandparents and my Aunt Linda joined us for Canasta.  It was a little tricky to play after so many Tichu games, but I remembered.  Between Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Linda and me, we took out 3 bottles of wine.  It made for some pretty hilarious card games.

Neil's friend Becky teamed up with Linda to make a pretty great comeback and beat Mom and me in the first game.  I decided to sit out the 2nd game and go work out instead.  I've worked out every day I've been in town so far, and I'm hoping it will offset the amazing amount of junk food consumed over Christmas.  I do enjoy elliptical machines.

Later last night a whole bunch of people came over to hang out, likely because Neil is in town now.  There were Disney songs, Tichu, Othello and Dimitri Martin.  I believe a good time was had by all.

But now I keep dozing off trying to get this note done, so this is probably the best place to end it.  Until next time.

12.15.10 - Back in MO

Today I woke up and sat in Mom's living room, which has all the Christmas decorations, the old Christmas children's books from when I was under 10, and all of our presents already wrapped and waiting for us.  The tree only has its lights--we're waiting for Neil and Ellen to get in town to decorate it--but it still adds a lot.  There's also snow on the ground.  Compared with the late autumn weather and lack of outdoor Christmas lights in Berkeley, I feel like I actually woke up in Christmas town.

This is me.

Mom joined me and we visited for awhile.  Told stories.  Then Denny came by and suggested we surprise Julie by having lunch at Olive Garden.  So we did.  Enjoyed a table in an area away from everyone else.  Julie brought us extra olives for our refillable salad.  And yes, Olive Garden has delicious olives.  We swapped stories about incompetent coworkers and/or belligerent customers.  Always plenty of those stories.

Afterward Mom and I ran some errands which ended up involving walking around the mall.  I have a lot of memories there from high school and some summers during college.  It was kind of nice.  We also picked up some denim and she patched my patch-jeans so that they aren't 3 inches too short.  I've only owned them for 5 YEARS and now they finally fit me properly.

And at some point I used the elliptical machine for the first time since August. <3

Later Mom, David and I watched the pilot episode of Firefly.  Mom has never seen the show and I'd like to watch the whole season with her while I'm out here, but we'll see how that goes.  Such a glorious show.  "You've only gotta scare 'im." "Pain is scary."

Good first day. :)

Sola

11.26.10 - Thanksgiving Day

Since my family celebrated Thanksgiving last Saturday, the 20th, I had no specific plans for T-day itself.  I worked more on my research paper, downloaded a bunch of Christmas music, and worked out while watching the first 45 mins of Much Ado About Nothing.  

Jack and I were going to go get a drink before he had to go to work at 10pm, but we decided to make it dinner after all.  We were going to go to Beckett's pub and have some baked chicken; Jack had wanted to get duck as an homage to A Christmas Story, but they don't have duck so I guess chicken is the closest thing.  Despite a recording assuring us they were open on Thanksgiving, Beckett's was, in fact, closed.  So was everyone else.  I was actually impressed by how many restaurants and shops were closed--glad so many people presumably got to be home with their families.  The streets were empty.

So we drove around to other parts of town, and finally passed a Chinese restaurant that looked open.  The place was hoppin', probably with customers who had found it the same way we had--as the lone light among the streets and shops.  It was actually pretty good.  Jack and I laughed to realize that, of course, they serve duck!  We split a bottle of white zinfandel, some sweet and sour prawns, shrimp dumplings, and the duck.  It was delicious, although duck is too fatty for my taste.  We took our time and had great conversations.  I liked how quiet the restaurant was, especially compared to the pub we had planned to eat at.

That bottle didn't stand a chance. :)

Then we came back here and slept for a bit before Jack had to leave for work, and that's where he is now.  I don't know what time he'll be done because it's Black Friday--all bets are off.  I don't really understand the appeal of Black Friday.

Anyway, I enjoyed reading so many peoples' statuses about what they are thankful for, the food they ate, and their crazy relative stories.  I saw statuses ranging from a friend in Nicaragua glad the weather was cool enough she wouldn't be sweating all Thanksgiving to a friend in Switzerland excited about all the snow they were getting. :)

Happy Holidays everyone!

11.21.10 - Thanksgiving Weekend

So after waiting impatiently to get out of lab on Thursday, I BARTed over to the city in time to hang out with Jill and the kids before the kids had to go to bed. It was very pleasant.  I had a fun talk with Sola (age 7) about whether parents or kids should decide when kids get to eat Happy Meals.  I told her that out here some people seem to think that the kids decide, and she said "That's really bizarre."  Then she explained to me what bizarre means. :)

Of course the kids went to bed early--8, or something, and Jill wasn't far after since Rocket gets her up early every day.  So I was up by myself for awhile, half-heartedly doing homework.  Dad got back from wherever he'd been pretty late, we talked awhile.  I eventually crashed, hard, in the media room.

I got up early (for me) to hang out with the kids.  Sola and Harrison were pretty excited to watch Rocket in his Johnny Jump Up.  In their efforts to get Rocket to jump, Sola and Harrison did most of the jumping.  We were going to make some popcorn and take a walk to the Palace to feed the birds, but due to a) Safeway not selling any cheap bags of popcorn kernals and b) it starting to rain, we decided to stay home.  Sola and I played hide and seek and then made some Thanksgiving drawings, including "Thanksgiving aliens", which basically means more pictures of Sola's favorite Disney character, Angel.  We also talked about what she does in school, and how she likes math.  She showed me some of her mad addition skillz, and I tried to explain multiplication to her, but I don't think she's ready yet.

Harrison kept calling Sola "Mr. Poopy Pants," which was pissing Sola off.  She would tell Jill, who would tell Harrison to stop, and then half an hour later, repeat.  So I told Sola whenever Harrison calls her a name--or anyone else for that matter--she should just roll her eyes, shrug, and say "Whatever."  So she practiced it with me.  I said "Harrison's trying to make you mad, right?"

S: "Right."

M: "So if you get mad, that's what he wants, right?"

S: "Right."

M: "So you just shrug and say 'Whatever.'  Because you don't care.  It isn't important to you.  It's just silly and it doesn't make you mad."

S: "So...but...if it does make me mad, I can just pretend I don't care, right?"

M: "Right! Exactly. And what's really great about that is if you keep acting like you don't care, eventually you really don't care."

Jill: "And Sola, you can actually use that the rest of your life.  Even if you're a grown up and people try to call you names, you just don't care."

M: "Exactly.  I do it all the time."

S: (concerned) "But why do people call you names??"

M: "Oh.  Because I like to argue about politics."

S: "What's politics?"

M: "Um...you know who the President is?"

S: "Yeah."

M: "And the government?"

S: "...Yeah."

M: "Well there are two types of people in the government: Democrats and Republicans.  And they fight a lot."

S: "Like soldiers?"

M: "No, they just argue.  About politics.  And when you argue about politics sometimes people get really mad, and sometimes they call me names.  But what do I do when that happens?"

S: *rolls eyes* "Whatever!"

M: "Exactly!  Good job!"

It was a fun conversation.  I really like talking to that kid. 

Meanwhile, Ellen had already gone to school, Jack was on his 11th hour at work (he worked overnights this last week), Julie and Denny were delayed in Denver waiting to fly to SF, and Neil and Everett were heading to Dad's house from East Bay.  Somehow we managed to coordinate these different locations and schedules so that we had our people waiting in line about 5 hours in advance for HARRY POTTER 7 (part 1).  Ellen, Everett and Cody got there at about 3, and by the time Jack, Neil, Julie, Denny and I finally managed to join them (about 6:50), the line they were heading had wrapped all the way around the circular theater lobby so that the end of the line passed those of us in the front.  We basically ran down the hallway and through the theater when they finally let us in.  Our group was first in the theater, getting the middle seats about midway up--best seats in the house--and getting to sit there and watch everyone else excitedly file in.  I thought that part alone--the shared anticipation--was a lot of fun.

First in line for HP7 Pt1!! Good job to Ellen, Everett, and Cody!

The show was supposed to start at 7:30 but they decided to delay it slightly to give everyone time to get seated.  At 7:30 they did turn down the lights and widen the screen curtains, and everyone started cheering, but then they closed the curtains and turned the lights back up, and everyone booed.  It was actually pretty funny.  We all sat there and talked about the books and characters and plots, and the time flew to when the previews started.  Most of them looked unremarkable, although I'm looking forward to Dawn Treader.

I thought the movie was fantastic.  Perhaps it is just because I purposely didn't re-read the book this time and so discrepancies were less noticeable to me, but I felt this movie was more accurate to the book than most of the previous movies.  Without giving away any details, there was even a point when a character made a brief but moving speech and half the audience applauded.  We had a great time.  Jack and I will probably go watch it again for our date night this week.

The next day, yesterday, was (our) Thanksgiving.  During the day their was on-going prep.  At one point Jill, Sola, Harrison, Henry and I went to the Palace to feed the birds.  The weather was rainy and cold (for SF), and we kept a fire going in the hearth all day.  Jack, Henry and I got about half a game of Tichu in between helping with cleaning and food.  The day was actually pretty mellow compared to previous Thanksgivings.  Dad only made about 10 or so pies.  Everyone, including me, paid disproportionate amounts of attention to Rocket and his never-ending cuteness.

After dinner we cleaned while listening to a Disney Pandora station.  Jack and I helped by swing dancing in the middle of everything.  At least she tried.

When we were finished we hit the pies.  French silk, coconut cream, blueberry, apple crumble, and of course pumpkin were divided among us.  I enjoyed a glass of Cabernet with my pie in front of the fire while Andrew, Henry and I (all City College alumni) advised Ellen on her schedule for next semester.  The night naturally ended with some of us (ahem) standing around the kitchen talking/joking about politics.  After everyone left, I fell asleep watching the beginning of Goblet of Fire on my laptop.  Apparently it's the only HP movie we own, a fact I intend to eventually remedy.

This morning Jill and the kids had to leave. :(  I hung out with them as much as possible, showing Sola all the home videos from the last few days.  When they were actually walking down the stairs, Harrison called Sola "Mr. Poopy Pants", and she looked at me, grinned, and said "Whatever!"  It was brilliant.  I can't wait to mold my own kids, ha.

Now the little ones are gone, but Julie, Denny and Everett are still in town, and I'd rather hang out with them then do my homework.  I comfort myself with the knowledge that on actual Thanksgiving break, I won't be busy at all.  I'll do more then.

Real letters.