- The last time I checked in over here, we were about to head to Arizona for a visit to the in-laws. We did, and it was great (By sheer luck, I happen to snag some pretty awesome in-laws.) It was FIL's birthday, so MIL and I spent quite a bit of time cooking and party prepping, which was fun and kind of a master class. Honestly, if I could bottle and sell that woman's energy, my customers and I would rule the world.
- We went to homecoming at Mark's school and saw all of his college friends, and left planning a sweet ski trip for next spring.
- We spent our anniversary weekend at home, just hanging out, which is kind of a luxury these days. I made a really nice dinner, set the dining room table with the fancy linens, china and crystal, opened a nice bottle of wine we had been saving, and even broke out some champagne and our fancy tasting flutes that we used at the wedding. Mark walked through the dining room twice without noticing that it was not in anything close to its normal state, though he thought it was great once I pointed it out to him. Ah, engineer brain. Good thing I love every last hair on his oblivious little head.
- We headed up to Boston for Thanksgiving to spend time with my family. We left on Thanksgiving morning, arriving in time to cook a side dish (oh my lands, To. DIE.) before dashing off to dinner with 30 of our nearest and dearest. There was pumpkin pie and a lot of wine. Amen.
- The next morning, we drove north for a birthday lunch for Mark's grandmother, who is very sweet and was thrilled with everyone surprising her by dropping in for lunch to celebrate her day. The differences in families, though, is so funny. I grew up in a house where my mom cooked primarily Italian food, despite growing up in a meat and potatoes Irish family (though her mother was a great cook -- she could recreate restaurant dishes really well). My dad's family is Italian, and his mother is an excellent, though very traditional, Italian cook. She is horrified by the concept of jarred tomato sauce, but on the rare occasion she made made mashed potatoes, they generally came from a box. Go figure. Anyway, over time, both sides of my family have gone full-on foodie. Holidays are an awesome collaboration, with everyone trying out new twists on certain dishes, respecting tradition sparingly (HANDS OFF THE MASHED POTATOES, BITCHES). However, Mark comes from a far less foodie-oriented extended family (his mom is the exception; she and my mom are totally cut from the same cloth). The lunch was great, but much more traditional than my family's holiday meals. There was ham, a Velveeta-d potato, steamed green beans, and jello salad. I am explaining this SO POORLY. I'm not comparing in order to establish that one way is superior, but rather, I just find it so sociologically, observationally interesting how family traditions develop. How one family's mashed potato (my mom's) is another family's roasted potato (my dad's) and yet another family's cheesy potato casserole with cornflake topping (Mark's). Does that make sense? Just me then? Ok.
- On Saturday, we drove out to the town we're investigating moving to in the next couple of years and toured a couple of houses with our realtor. One was my beloved house that Mark hates (although he liked it more in person! hooray! but it still needs a CRAPLOAD of work, so we are not considering it! boo!), and the other was a hot mess. It was chock full of DIY done without forethought. Or proper permits. Yikes. Seriously, these people added a random room over the garage, but in order to get to it, you have to climb a tiny and super steep circular staircase that is in an alcove created by enclosing half of one of the garage stalls, so now it has a 1 1/2 car garage. I'm glad we went though, because the comparison between houses was very helpful for illustrating to Mark what I like and dislike. The realtor also suggested another neighborhood for us to drive through, and we absolutely loved it. Thankfully we have the luxury of just watching the market and waiting. We'll see what, if anything, happens there.
- Saturday night we spent with one of my best college friends. We got to hang out with her awesome 13 month old before bedtime (seriously, I want to tuck that kid in my purse every time I see him), then had a fantastic dinner in Providence.
- By Sunday, we were ready to collapse. We went to breakfast at my dad's favorite diner, then went home for some quality time with the couches. Mark met up with a friend of his, but I was SPENT. The whole weekend was full of so much extroversion with so little down time; I just could not handle another social outing. I read a book and took a nap and it was DELICIOUS.
- My house has exploded in Christmas. It is, without exaggeration, leaking out of every orifice. I am going to be cleaning up pine needles until the end of time, and I am unabashedly loving it. This is so unlike my normal humbuggery. I ... yeah, no explanation. I'll show you pictures tomorrow.
Ok, shutting up now...
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