Whirlwind Weekend

Good morning,

I thought I'd be relaxed and ready to sit down to write this morning, but I'm no so lucky. My day is already packed full, and I'm already stressed about getting everything done. It's dead quiet here, the tree lit up in the living room, dark and gloomy outside....semi-ok coffee this morning...it's a perfect writing environment. Wish I could get out of my own head.

This weekend was so busy that I feel a bit disoriented today. Kind of like getting home from a trip late on a Sunday night. Ok, I started to write down the events of my weekend just now, but got all tripped up in the details of getting from one place to another, so I'm going to try something different.

Friday

5:00 pm: Finally get home from various errands.
6:30 pm: Go to K&S's with S&T and all the kids for hot dogs and pasta salad. Manage to drink only one bottle of wine between the three of us. Crazy, but true. Everyone had early morning plans so K cut me off with some Pellegrino. Smart move. In bed by 10:00.

Saturday

7:00am: Take JJ to football. Seriously. Couldn't get away with sweats and a ball cap because I had to leave the game early...

9:00am: ...to meet K & S for our dessert cooking class in Seattle. This was an interesting and new experience for me. For one, I'm not a cook, as you know. If I were a cook, I'd probably be a baker, so this class, I thought, would be up my alley. It was a little bit like being in the audience of a cooking show, except that we were in a room with round tables so the visibility wasn't very good (we were in the back). We could see the chef, but not the food. She had a very soft voice, too, and wasn't exactly a ball of fire, so hearing was difficult. We got a good laugh, though, K taking notes like crazy all over her menu/recipe packet, because she will actually make every one of the dishes demonstrated, and S & I whispering back and forth things like "What's with the $40 chocolate? Can't you just peel the sides off a Reese's?" and "Is she serious? Stir that for 40 minutes? Throw it in the food processor and get it over with." We were cracking ourselves up, so it was very fun. I was, in fact, taken with the chocolate pecan pie, and am considering making it for our 12 Drinks party this weekend. It was the easiest thing she made and it was absolutely heavenly to eat. We got to help her dip the lollipops she made, which was fun, although, in the end, I decided that we should just buy Tootsie Pops and dip those in the coating, instead of going through that whole process of making a ganache and piping out the lollipops with some kind of hand-held bag that looked incredibly challenging. The coating was easy - melted chocolate and sprinkles. That's my speed.

They served us lunch afterwards, which was good...not memorable, but good. The restaurant is a high-end seafood place, and I know the food was very good, it just wasn't something I'd order. We started with fresh bread and salad with apples and brie. Then there was this potato frittata (that's where I'm out, I generally can't stand frittatas) in a creamy carrot sauce (which was the best part. I could have just had a bowl of the sauce.) Dessert was a serving of each of the things she made for us - chocolate pecan pie (with awesome crust that she made too), peppermint patty cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust (amazing) and the carmel truffle lollipops, which honestly, had no resemblance to carmel in any way. They were super cute, and probably a great gift idea, but they were such heavy chocolate that I could only eat one bite before my jaw hurt. I brought one home for JJ and even he couldn't eat more than that. Way too sweet, way too much chocolate.

All in all, it was a very fun day. I've never done anything like that and I loved it. I think a more outgoing chef would be nice (this gal obviously didn't teach classes regularly). Not that she was bad, I'm just used to watching Food Network so I was expecting Emeril, I guess. I would definitely do it again. And the three of us girls laughed and ate and drank all afternoon, so what could be better than that?

3:00pm: Get home, turn right around to drop JJ off at a birthday party. Grateful to host Mom for asking him to spend the night, so I don't have to come back and pick him up at 6:00. JJ is excited to spend the night too, with four other boys from school. Poor Mom.

Run errands...grocery store, dry cleaners, gas in car, etc.

4:00pm: NAP!!!

5:00pm: M and S wake up me (to tell me they're going on a run - more on that later) and also to tell me to have a good nap. Thanks guys. I'm awake now.

5:00pm: Go outside with a glass of wine to act as if I've been working all day with everyone else. S, T, J and R have all spent the afternoon putting the Christmas lights on a neighbor's house (single gal, also has a broken foot. They do her lights every year.) I stand around in the freezing cold, whining, until it occurs to me that K hasn't helped either and that she's probably in the house, warm and cozy. So I go over there instead, because the wine I've poured isn't very good and she's got a bottle of my Red Soles I'd rather try. We pour ourselves a glass and visit for a few minutes, until we see that the work crew is finished, then we head out all bundled up to go for a walk in our breathtaking neighborhood. The six of us wander slowly down the block, admiring and critiquing and visiting with whomever happens to be outside, for about an hour.

6:00pm: J has to go to the fire station for the annual tree lighting ceremony. Everyone decides to go with us (not sure why) which is nice, since I really hate this event. We go every year, of course. It's actually a huge deal, which is kind of funny, really. The tree itself, which is out in front of the station, is basically a sad, Whoville tree, that has hardly grown a foot in the 12 years we've been here. On top of that, the "lights" that adorn it are pathetic. One string of blue (for Police) and one string of red (for Fire) and a weak star on top. I'm not kidding. We all count down, 10, 9, 8, until the mayor plugs the thing in, as if we're in Rockefeller Center. Everyone cheers and the kids go wild.

Before and after this momentous connection, the Kiwanis is inside with free cookies, coffee and cider, various elementary school choirs are taking turns on the stage singing Christmas carols, and the place is absolutely packed with BL's finest. Kind of like a trailer park explosion in the truck bay. Nothing like free food and the promise of Santa to bring the inbreds out of the woodwork.

K, R, S and T got a big kick out of the whole thing; Santa came in on the fire truck and gave away toys to every single kid. When the boys were little, they loved going to this thing, but now that they don't bother to join us, it's just painful. Ok, I'm done complaining...it wasn't that bad. My civic duty, my boss' wife duty.

7:00pm: S decides she wants hot dogs again, so we bring all the leftovers to K&R's and R grills up some more dogs for everyone. I am so tired I can hardly stay awake, one glass of wine earlier in the evening has done me in. I switch to Pellegrino and call it a night at 9:00.

OMG, it's still only Saturday!!

Sunday

Slept in! Picked up JJ from slumber party, threw him in the shower then dropped him off at another birthday party.

1:00: Started making cookies for the cookie exchange at my friend T's house. Forgot the eggs in the first batch. Burned the second batch. Finally got the third batch right and my hair dried and out the door, right on time.....

3:00 ...to show up at the party an hour early. What a dork!! Went and ran more errands then came back to the party. Stayed a couple of hours; it was a small group of people I didn't know, but I had a good time.

6:30: Rush to K's where she and S are waiting for me (now an hour late) to go next door to the new neighbor's housewarming/jewelry party. Visit for an hour or so, buy nothing (it's freakin' Amway, if you can believe that's still around. More on the new neighbor later).

8:00: Throw grilled cheese sandwiches on the table for my family...fold a couple loads of laundry.

9:30: I'm out.

I was so exhausted last night, I just felt like I hadn't sat still all weekend (even though I had, I even napped!)

This morning, I'm off to CC's to work on my Christmas pictures. M discovered last night that the only Food Handlers Class he can get into before orientation at his new job is TODAY, at 2:00. I should just let him suffer but I can't bear to see him fail at this job experience, at least not yet. So my plans for the day will all be put aside at 1:00, to pick him up early from school and get him to the city in time for his class. Mom of the year, I think.

Wow. I think this may have been the longest post ever.

And I didn't mean to sound whiny about the weekend - it was a wonderful weekend all around, just busy. More of the same this week, I'm sure, as the holidays descend upon us. But I'm ready. Me and my BFF Prozac, we can handle anything.

Hope you're having a great Monday...talk to you soon.

Go Pats!

Love,
A