Thanksgiving and Etc.
Friday night Momo arrived. Yay! We went and got pie at Heidi's Pies in San Mateo (she had pumpkin cream cheese, I had chocolate meringue) then we came home, played with baby rats, and watched Project Runway.
Wait. Back up.
I have new baby rats. Their names are Twister (because he has a perfect little dark grey tornado emblazoned down his spine) and Toto. I got them Thursday night a week ago, the day after they were weaned. At the time they were five weeks old. TINY. I've never had rats that small before. They're awesome. Completely hand-tame, completely adorable. These are the friend-of-a-friend rats I mentioned several weeks back. My friend told me her friend's daughters' new pet rat had turned out to be pregnant! Uh oh! So they had a surprise litter. I helped them get in touch with the local rat rescue, gave them advice on caring for the mama, her sister, and the new babies, and said I'd take two of the males when they were ready to be weaned. So here they are! Twister and Toto, a pair of smooth-coated, standard-eared probably Russian Blue (but may darken to black) hooded rats. Pictures soon. Maybe tomorrow.
So that was Thursday, and then Momo arrived, and then um... Saturday. Something happened. I spent a lot of Saturday having a cold, but we also went to 99 Ranch for Asian ingredients. Sunday was church followed by long rehearsal, followed by collapsing at home. Monday we had lunch with Anet and then nerd games with Wayne. Tuesday we had brunch with masao888 and family, followed by errands: car washing, car oil change, haircut, grocery shopping. Followed by bleaching my roots. Followed by rehearsal. Followed by pie round two. This time she had sour cream blueberry and I had mince. MMM mince pie!
That brought us to today, which was supposed to be a sort of restful hanging around and writing day, but ended up being another errands day. Talked to darksideofstorm which was awesome even though we didn't get to write. Talked to Wayne, who was stressing about the play. Discussed possible changes, including moving one song from act four to act three, which meant writing a bit of a transition scene. But it improves the flow and balance, so Wayne decided to go ahead and do that. But that meant OhNo Crisis! When was he gonna pick up his turkey and ham for Thanksgiving dinner? So Momo and I drove up to his place in Foster City, picked up his voucher, then down to Palo Alto to get the ham and turkey, then back to Foster City to drop them off. Got home in time to turn around and give Julissa a ride to the bank, then pick up her daughter, then take them home. And then we went to the neighborhood Mexican market to get a few more groceries, including fresh crema con sel (salted Mexican sour cream) for the mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving.
Momo made fantastic nummy dinner from wide rice noodles acquired at 99 ranch, plus some thin top round steak and green onions acquired at the Mexican grocery store today. Seasoned with ponzu sauce from the Japanese grocery in San Mateo. A very international and thoroughly tasty dinner.
Then, finally, we chilled. And plotted stories. And then I realized I had no vanilla. So off to the store one last time, to get more vanilla, more potatoes (just to be sure, because we learned we needed to bring mashed potatoes for twelve, not six as we'd thought.) And then I cooked three batches of boiled custard. the first batch I made with Cody's special gluten-free flour. It tasted sort of... not right. So then I made another batch with ordinary flour. And then a third batch with ordinary flour, but I'd run out of lactose-free milk, so I had to make the last batch with ordinary milk, which is fine for me, but not for Momo or Wayne.
And Momo cut up and boiled the potatoes. Tomorrow morning we mash and mix the potatoes - one batch with cheese and one batch with horseradish. Dinner at Wayne's is at 2:00, but we're supposed to arrive around noon.
Wow, Thanksgiving. It's kind of awesome. Really awesome. For the first time since my friends Raymond and Susan moved away to England, I feel like I have a proper Thanksgiving again.
But it isn't just having friends to share a meal with that makes Thanksgiving such an important holiday. When I reflect on all the blessings in my life, I am most thankful for my community of friends, both near and far. You are my inspiration, my solace, my context, my strength. Each of you embodies the light and love of the Divine in my life. Truly, to know that love is to know Goddess-God-Eternal Spirit-Source. I am deeply, richly blessed, and I love you all.
Wait. Back up.
I have new baby rats. Their names are Twister (because he has a perfect little dark grey tornado emblazoned down his spine) and Toto. I got them Thursday night a week ago, the day after they were weaned. At the time they were five weeks old. TINY. I've never had rats that small before. They're awesome. Completely hand-tame, completely adorable. These are the friend-of-a-friend rats I mentioned several weeks back. My friend told me her friend's daughters' new pet rat had turned out to be pregnant! Uh oh! So they had a surprise litter. I helped them get in touch with the local rat rescue, gave them advice on caring for the mama, her sister, and the new babies, and said I'd take two of the males when they were ready to be weaned. So here they are! Twister and Toto, a pair of smooth-coated, standard-eared probably Russian Blue (but may darken to black) hooded rats. Pictures soon. Maybe tomorrow.
So that was Thursday, and then Momo arrived, and then um... Saturday. Something happened. I spent a lot of Saturday having a cold, but we also went to 99 Ranch for Asian ingredients. Sunday was church followed by long rehearsal, followed by collapsing at home. Monday we had lunch with Anet and then nerd games with Wayne. Tuesday we had brunch with masao888 and family, followed by errands: car washing, car oil change, haircut, grocery shopping. Followed by bleaching my roots. Followed by rehearsal. Followed by pie round two. This time she had sour cream blueberry and I had mince. MMM mince pie!
That brought us to today, which was supposed to be a sort of restful hanging around and writing day, but ended up being another errands day. Talked to darksideofstorm which was awesome even though we didn't get to write. Talked to Wayne, who was stressing about the play. Discussed possible changes, including moving one song from act four to act three, which meant writing a bit of a transition scene. But it improves the flow and balance, so Wayne decided to go ahead and do that. But that meant OhNo Crisis! When was he gonna pick up his turkey and ham for Thanksgiving dinner? So Momo and I drove up to his place in Foster City, picked up his voucher, then down to Palo Alto to get the ham and turkey, then back to Foster City to drop them off. Got home in time to turn around and give Julissa a ride to the bank, then pick up her daughter, then take them home. And then we went to the neighborhood Mexican market to get a few more groceries, including fresh crema con sel (salted Mexican sour cream) for the mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving.
Momo made fantastic nummy dinner from wide rice noodles acquired at 99 ranch, plus some thin top round steak and green onions acquired at the Mexican grocery store today. Seasoned with ponzu sauce from the Japanese grocery in San Mateo. A very international and thoroughly tasty dinner.
Then, finally, we chilled. And plotted stories. And then I realized I had no vanilla. So off to the store one last time, to get more vanilla, more potatoes (just to be sure, because we learned we needed to bring mashed potatoes for twelve, not six as we'd thought.) And then I cooked three batches of boiled custard. the first batch I made with Cody's special gluten-free flour. It tasted sort of... not right. So then I made another batch with ordinary flour. And then a third batch with ordinary flour, but I'd run out of lactose-free milk, so I had to make the last batch with ordinary milk, which is fine for me, but not for Momo or Wayne.
And Momo cut up and boiled the potatoes. Tomorrow morning we mash and mix the potatoes - one batch with cheese and one batch with horseradish. Dinner at Wayne's is at 2:00, but we're supposed to arrive around noon.
Wow, Thanksgiving. It's kind of awesome. Really awesome. For the first time since my friends Raymond and Susan moved away to England, I feel like I have a proper Thanksgiving again.
But it isn't just having friends to share a meal with that makes Thanksgiving such an important holiday. When I reflect on all the blessings in my life, I am most thankful for my community of friends, both near and far. You are my inspiration, my solace, my context, my strength. Each of you embodies the light and love of the Divine in my life. Truly, to know that love is to know Goddess-God-Eternal Spirit-Source. I am deeply, richly blessed, and I love you all.