(no subject)
I just realized that it's been a while since I posted, which is odd since I have so much 'down' time at work.
(I read LJ often, I just haven't posted for a while)
Let's see...
Nov. 20-22, I went to Iowa for Family Time. The drive was actually quite nice, even by my lonesome.
Was passed by "Air Ingus" and family on Hwy 39 southbound. :-P
Saw a fair number of hawks along the highway in Iowa - neat.
Kept myself amused by trying to find NPR on the radio as I went along. Found some wierd-a@@ programs.
Dinner on Friday was pizza at a restaurant; quite good. Claudia's eldest daughter, Jaclyn, left for a sleepover and movie thing after we returned to the house.
Saturday was spent cooking, playing with the kids and dogs, reading magazines, etc. Very wonderful. Oh, and the youngest (Julia) had a basketball game, which was really fun to watch (nobody kept score, to keep it fun).
Dinner was pre-Thanksgiving, turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potato thing, green beans, rolls, fruit-in-gelatin (not Jello!), plus pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. I was so full from the BESTEST T-DAY DINNER EVAR that I couldn't eat the cheesecake (which wasn't my thing anyways).
OMG was that a fantastic meal. I don't know if I can ever go back to the traditional Carlson meal again - I've been ruined by food with actual flavor. :-P
I don't think I can describe the cuteness that is my nephew, Quinn. He looks just like my brother when he was little! He doesn't talk yet (he's only 25 months), mostly communicates with squeals and whines and a bit of ASL (not much) - but my brother didn't talk until he was three at which point he jumped into full sentences. I'm not yet a familiar face, so I didn't get to hold him and I only barely got a cheek-kiss... I think I'm going to have to work on visiting more often!
Sunday we went to Alex's morning basketball game (his team whupped their opponents), then out to brunch (just Mom, Dad, Bud, Claudia, Quinn and myself - the three kids went to lunch with their bio-dad) at Cheesecake Factory. I ordered three appetizers, all of which were great.
After returning to the house, we wrapped up things and I hit the road.
The drive home was equally uneventful.
I worked at TJX on Monday and Wednesday evenings (11/23 & 25), and we went to our D&D session on Tuesday 11/24.
Merouda and her family opened their house to me and Karl for the actual Thanksgiving meal. It was quite good!
I'm strangely enamored of the vegetarian-option mushroom gravy (that is apparently from a packet, but was modified by the addition of real mushrooms).
There was a Wii, and various games were played, including the Swordplay thingy and even Canoeing (who knew that would be such a workout?)... ohmy.
We played Carcassonne later on... mwahahaha!
Met neat people, made new friends. Stayed out much later than I expected, but hardly noticed.
This past weekend, I made inroads on cleaning.
Now, on to planning and pre-packing for Boar's Head.