mlerules

I’ve got Handel’s Messiah blasting. The stuffing’s now cooking (in water baths in oven) after lotsa chopping and sautéing. Somehow managed to make enough to fill both a 9x13 pan and an 8x8 pan, despite cutting the recipe way down. 🤷‍♀️ Leftovers for days for the win!

As far as I'm concerned, this and next month’s feasts celebrate family and friendship. Nada to do with religion or pilgrims. It’s cool enough nowadays that cooking for hours helps heat up the house nicely. It smells amazing in here, too. The BF's doing well enough to get back to arts 'n' crafts projects. Feeling quite pleased in my little At Home bubble.

Rain's expected, but I may get out for walkies later anyway. We shall see. Still want to make cranberry sauce and do the rest of the dishes. I try to clean as I go, but sometimes there's too much going on at once to keep up. Taking a hot tea break for a bit right now.

I know I'm lucky to have fambily I love and get along with well, who also love me and my friends and get along with us and want to spend time together. Xmas is all about fambily for me, nada to do with anything religious.

Mom & hubby J arrived on 12/20, and leave the afternoon of 12/30. We whisked them away to the coast for a couple of days on 12/21, as our xmas gift to them. The weather cooperated admirably the day we arrived. We ambled through bits of Oswald West State Park to Short Sands Beach for a picnic and beach walkies. We also visited Ecola State Park for the views of the coast, including Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock.

From our rooms, we watched all the surfers try to catch the perfect waves. I've never seen so many surfers out at once before. At one point I counted over three dozen in the water. We had brunch (proudly featuring gluten-free Hollandaise sauce! ;-) at Finn's and explored some of Seaside, OR. Hit the aquarium in time for sea lion feeding and spent a fun chunk o' time watching them, assorted fish, the four (4) resident octopuses, and various other sea creatures.

Saturday night featured a fine dinner at the Irish Table in Cannon Beach (behind Sleepy Monk coffeehouse). Mighty tasty food and a decent wine selection made us all happy campers. That night we all marveled at the massive storm complete with much lightning and thunder. Finally drove home via Astoria where we visited RiverSea art gallery, had lunch at Ft George Brewpub, walked up the Astoria Column, toured the old cannery museum on pier 39, and coffee'd at Coffee Girls (still my fave coffeeshop in Astoria).

Since then, it's been xmas prep, xmas gift-opening w/eggnog, xmas dinner w/friends over, Boxing Day w/fambily over, another afternoon visiting fambily, and then a couple days of rest (yesterday and today). WheeZoomPhew!

Click for Pics: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146112@N06/albums/72157674992959987

30 of us gathered in the Bay Area this afternoon to celebrate my (upcoming on 9/11) 50th b-day. 'Twas a Very Berkeley gathering w/lotsa extended and convoluted fambily, along w/several friends who I've known for a very long time.

Attendees: Me. Mom & her current husband J & his identical twin brother, D, and D's son, J2, & J2's girlfriend, A. Mom's previous SigOther, G, and G's current wife, K. G's ex-wife, E, and her current hubby, B. G&E's eldest daughter, J (my step-sis), and her hubby, D2 - who together w/Mom & J hosted the occasion - and one of D2's sisters, L, and two of L's kids. G&E's son, W (my step-bro), and his wife, P, and one of their sons, W2, and one of W2's soccer friends. Mom's previous hubby, M aka Dad, and his current wife, A, and two of her kids (my step-sibs). My l'il bro, G (son of M aka Dad & Mom, so technically my half-bro), and his girlfriend, M2. My former boyfriend K from high school (late 1979/early 1980). My former boyfriend N from right after high school (and first couple years of college, on 'n' off, so early 1980s). My former boyfriend K2 from late 1995-early 2000. Mom's friend J3 who's known me since I was a couple months old. My friend LR (cuz of my high school best friend and now a Dear Friend in her own right), who flew down from PDX (not the wackiest travel for the occasion though, as l'il bro G & his girlfriend M2 flew up from SoCal this morning and then flew home this evening). Phew & fun!

It was a marvelous, memorable occasion and I feel well celebrated and loved and fêted. :-)