Trick or Treat...Better Late than Never

It's been forever since I posted. Life is busy and I have too many blogs to keep up with...this one tends to fall by the wayside because I hardly have time to knit anymore. I'm down to maybe an hour a week.

Anyway, we got walloped with the surprise Nor'easter last week and my whole town basically lost power. Halloween was delayed until tonight...which meant I had that god forsaken candy (which I made the giant mistake of opening) on my dining room table for another week!

Miss A will help us answer the door but we didn't do a costume for her this year. I was very uninspired by anything at Target this year and knowing she wouldn't be going trick or treating didn't help me in the motivation department to venture beyond Target's red walls.

I think A will have fun answering the door and seeing the other kids; I think she'll be ready to go next year. But for this year, we will enjoy staying nice and warm and cozy...it's chilly here!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had an action packed week/weekend...early in the week, Miss A had a fever for a few days which had us second guessing whether or not we would be able to actually have our action packed weekend, but it all worked out in the end. She did miss a day of day care but it resolved within a few days and she's back to her normal self.

Anyway, Friday we went to the aquarium..we've been to a few kid friendly restaurants that had fish tanks and she really liked it. We got discounted passes through the library so we thought, what the heck. We headed into the city and spent about 90 minutes at the aquarium and Miss A was kaput. We tried to revive her with a feeding but she was pretty much all set with the fishies for the day. After being gouged $18 for parking, and that was the validated rate, we headed home to pack for the other adventures of the weekend.

Bright and early Saturday morning, we headed up to Vt to visit M's parents. Most of M's extended family have not met A yet, so the whole family was coming over on Sunday. She was great in the car, pretty much slept the whole way, waking up just before our usual pit stops and then falling right back to sleep when we got back in the car. The naps in the pack and play were dicey the first day, and she cried off and on for the first hour after going down for the night but then she was fine. The next day, she napped much better, charmed the pants off all of the family, and avoided her usual day 2 meltdown. She went to bed without any issues and actually slept straight through ( I think part of the reason for the success is that she can't drop the pacifier out of the side of the pack and play like she does with the crib). The ride home was fine, she slept for only 45 minutes of it, but I sat in back and played with her and we successfully avoided any major meltdowns.

We have one more day together since I don't work on Tuesdays and then it's back to the grind on Wednesday which will be a rude awakening!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Well, that was a whirlwind of a week! I can't believe that Christmas has already come and gone. For some reason this year, it felt like it was just suddenly the week of Christmas. Maybe it was because we didn't have snow till earlier that week...it just felt like it came out of the blue. Our Christmas was great, lots of family came to our house this year to celebrate A's first Christmas. We had so much fun and she raked in way too much loot! She has so many toys now we don't know where we are going to store them all. She has an abundance of really cute outfits that I can't wait for her to wear. She obviously didn't 'get' the whole Christmas/gifts thing this year but she is currently really into grabbing things and pulling so she did open a few of her gifts with some assistance. She would concentrate really hard to reach out and grab a piece of the wrapping paper and then she would just yank away and the person holding the gift would sort of rotate the gift so it would actually get unwrapped.


Let's get down to the food. Christmas Eve was hors d'oeuvres which is a family tradition. This year we had the following: phyllo dough pizza (me), tomato basil squares (C), cannibal sandwiches (H), deviled eggs (Mom), reuben dip (Mom), cranberry orange dip (C), tortierre (CY), pate (CY), Hello Dollies (C)....and countless cookies and candies.

Christmas dinner turned out great, I repeated the meal I made two years ago which was the first time we hosted. I felt justified in doing this because only half of the people were there last time. The standing rib roast a la Bon Appetit was wonderful and made for some great left overs. I also made the spinach porcini stuffing, some mashed potatoes that I added ranch dressing and some cream to, and roasted asparagus. There was so much food everyday all day it's a wonder I can even button my pants at this point. Christmas Eve we traditionally do hors d'oeuvres.

We still have many left overs which I am now trying to eat sparingly as I get back to reality and can no longer afford to gourge on all the goodies at whim. Thank you New Years Eve/my part time schedule for making it a short week and giving me M tomorrow at home to help out. Next week is going to be a real bugger when we get back to full time reality.....

Christmas Menu

I feel like I have so much to do before my family comes next week...I'm still menu planning and that includes the cookies I'm baking this weekend! The cookies I'm planning on making are snickerdoodles (made some this weekend so I already have the dough frozen), compost cookies, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate earthquake cookies and whoopie pies. M is a big fan of chocolate whoopie pies with peppermint frosting..he's fixated on some that his mom used to make when he was little and every recipe she thinks it was, he assures her that wasn't it. I think he's given up on finding 'that' recipe now, and is just looking for a solid whoopie pie.

I am planning appetizers for Christmas Eve but have yet to pick them. I am considering doing miniature chicken alfredo in a large shell and a phyllo dough pizza that I've made befor and is very tasty and very easy. Aside from that, I'm unsure.

The main course for Christmas Day is a standing rib roast recipe from Bon Appetit a few years ago which was excellent the last time we made it. There is a spinach and porcini mushroom stuffing that goes with it, I think I'm going to make an au gratin potato casserole (also from Bon Appetit), rolls, I need to decide on a vegetable yet...

For Christmas morning, I'm making cinnamon buns.

I've started making my shopping lists and timetables....but I still feel so scattered!

On top of the meal planning we need to:

clean the house
get liquor
iron the curtains in the dining room (we just put them up right out of the package with the intentions of ironing and of course never did)
find A a holiday outfit
get a tree
decorate the tree
bake the cookies
find the rest of the Christmas decorations

I'm sure the week is going to fly by...I can't believe one week from tomorrow the family is starting to filter in!

Santa! Cookies!

I'm ridiculously excited about taking A to see Santa on Sunday! M thinks it's silly because she obviously won't remember it and no amount of explanation (it's for us, not her) seems to get him in the spirit.

It's at the town country club which has a nice little restaurant too, we might parlay this trip to Santa into our first lunch outing with little Y since I'm sure the place will be over run with small children...I'll be ok with being out with her there if she starts to cry.

I'm plotting what outfit she should wear, I think one that Grandma Y gave her will fit the bill nicely.

This weekend we are having a couple over...I have to make some cookies and pick up some egg nog. What cookies should I make? I'm debating between our friend B's snickerdoodles or a mint chocolate cookie recipe that J's sister sent. The downside to the mint cookie is that M won't touch it if it has chocolate so the snickerdoodle's just might win.

I have to seriously get finalizing the Christmas menu..did I mention I'm cheating and making the same meal I made last time I hosted? I really don't have time to sit and pour over cookbooks at this point so I'm taking the easy road...sort of. Those recipes weren't the easiest to make. Next weekend is the annual cookie baking day with S and A and the kids, so I have to figure out exactly what I'm making. I'm excited that this year there will actually be lots of people at my house to eat them! We have to find time to get the tree also....so many things to do and not enough time!

Thanksgiving Recap and Other Assorted Tidbits

Thanksgiving was nice, M's parents came down for the holiday and it's always fun to have them. It's always a nice low key time, full of cooking, wine drinking, and now....baby ogling. We had the usual suspects: wine, turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls (my contribution), green beans, cranberry sauce, and stuffing.

The next morning, I maded a buttermilk crumble coffeecake thing, everyone else liked it, I found it a bit boring and I don't think I would use that recipe again.

The inlaws left on Saturday so we decided to check out a new bookstore/cafe that recently opened in our town that really has nothing of interest. I was thinking it wouldn't be very good, a half hearted attempt at both, but we were pleasantly surprised! The parking lot has been full since it opened (this place has been listed as coming soon since we moved here a year and a half ago). It's very cozy inside, the cafe offers some sandwiches/wraps and salads and an assortment of baked goods and coffee. The cafe has a roaring fire with leather couches and chairs around it and lots of tables. People were lingering, reading magazines and chit chatting. Little Y was a trooper, she was quiet the whole time and was entertained by this little salt shaker toy that she has. We were sort of doing a trial run for actually bringing her to a restaurant and she passed. The next time we are free we might try going to lunch, like the old days!

In Little Y updates, she has now tried rice cereal and contrary to what my mother said, she is still waking up every three hours at night. There have been two times where she has eaten the entire serving of rice cereal, tonight I think I'm going to double the serving and see what she does with that. Maybe she'll sleep if the quantity is more...

We got some holiday decorations up yesterday, we bought two topiaries to go next to the front door, and a berry wreath for the door. I have some berry garland that I wrapped around the light in the barrel by our drive way and M wants to try to put some lights on the topiaries today. I need to get around to picking out this years cookies and finalize the Christmas menu so I can place an order with the butcher. Due to Little Y's arrival, both sides of the family are coming to our house this year so there's lots of menu planning to be done. My MIL had a great suggestion of having some of the other guests cook for some of the non Christmas nights since people are going to be here for a few nights before and after the actual holiday.

We aren't really doing gifts this year, although I keep teasing M that if he has the desire to buy me something, a nice new kitchen stove would make his wife very happy...and I'm sure he wants his wife and mother of his child to be happy, no? I really enjoy Christmas with no gifts, it's so much less stress and now more than ever, we just enjoy having family around, drinking holiday drinks, telling family stories for the millionth time, and laughing, laughing, laughing.

Halloween

I can't believe Halloween has come and gone already! A was a little duckling this year, I'm not an inventive or creative person so I grabbed the cutest off the rack thing I could find (thank you Costco). It was the little duckling suit with extra padding in the belly region and yellow and orange striped tights. She was super cute and didn't fuss all that much when we put the little hood up even when it went over her eyes. We managed to get some cute pics of us outside by the pumpkins on the steps and then some more inside where it was a bit toastier.

We had planned on putting the costume back on her when trick or treating started at 6, but by that time she was already having her last bottle o' the eve and rubbing her eyes. The schedule is key so we opted not to bother.

We got 17 trick or treaters this year, which is about the same as we had last year. Most were very polite but a few didn't even say thank you and disobeyed my instructions to take one treat bag! She took the treat bag and then she kept grabbing more and more until finally I just pulled the bowl away. I think the key is that I should be handing it to them, not letting them choose. There was another girl who kept asking me what was in the treat bag (2 fun size bars in each one) and I kept telling her candy not realizing that she probably was asking what kind. I put different candies in each one so I wasn't sure what was in that particular one. She figured out that she could look through the side of it to see, and then was like, 'Meh'...put it down and began foraging through the bowl, presumably for something better.

Seriously young one...you take what's given to you and you love it! You love it! Back in my day that's what we did. (Dana Carvey, anyone?)

NYE Homebody Style

Being the homebodies we are, we are spending a nice quiet evening at home for the following reasons:

1. It's cold and snowy, perfect night to stay in!
2. Add in a lot of drunk people who are convinced they are not and trying to drive in aforementioned conditions.
3. Hubbles is cooking for me! His famous timbalas, the meal he cooked for me the first time he came to my house back in our dating days. I remembering giggling at him becuase he brought all of his ingredients over in a cooler, even though he lived less than 20 miles from me!
4. We are going to spend the night playing Tetris Hot Lines!

So enjoy your NYE whether you're a homebody or a mover and a shaker :) I'm off to kick some Tetris butt.

Post Holiday Wrap Up

• Classes done
• Clinical done
• Wonderful trip home for Christmas with no flight delays!
• Cookies all turned out great this year, might have some new keepers for future years. The neighbors said they devoured them
• Kitties back from boarding, did well and got good report cards!
• Back to work today but it's dead here, thank god.

Cookie Day

Another successful cookie day has been had by one and all...

The menu for this year:
Snickerdoodle Sandwich cookies
Voted the best of the day by all participating. I used a recipe I found online for the actual snickerdoodle cookies and used the sandwich cookie idea from a Better Homes and Garden magazine from last year.

Peanut Butter Bites
Also quite good and considered a keeper for next year. The dough is nice and peanut buttery too. Basically, it's an inverse peanut butter blossom but using a Reese's pb cup. You place it in the center of the dough, put more dough on top so that it's completely encased. Espcially good warm!

Sugar Cookies
This year I found a recipe that uses cake mix. Very good and moist but I think I prefer the other two.

Puppy Chow
How can you go wrong with this?

I made one batch of each. We gave a bunch to S and A and some to our neighbors so we actually don't have many left. I may just send the rest with M to work if my willpower is measuring high tomorrow morning!

Weekend Recap

This weekend, I sort of picked out the cookies I'm going to make this year but the long list needs to become a shorter list. There are several variations on a theme that will be reduced to the best on the list (hopefully).

We also put out some Christmas lights on the porch and the shrubs. We always thought we had a ton of lights until we had something more to decorate than just a tree. For next year, we will need at least 4 more sets of lights but we're going to wait until everything is on clearance before we do that, especially since we aren't even here this year for Christmas. Next year, I would like to get some more of the red berry garland I got on clearance at Pottery Barn a few years ago. We have it going up some spindles on the top of the porch but it's a little sparse. I would also like to get some kind of green garland and bow for the little lamp we have outside near the driveway.

We also decided since we are not going to be here this year, we are going to skip the tree. I'm so burned out from life and the semester that it just seems like so much energy to go and pick out a tree in the cold. This also means that we would have to buy more lights and we briefly looked this weekend and things were really picked over or we couldn't find lights similar to what we already have. Our other concern is how Clete will be with the tree, he tries to eat everything so I'm pretty sure we have our answer. If we were hosting Christmas this year, we would certainly get one but the only people coming to our house before Christmas are S and A and the kids and I'm sure eldest E would love nothing more than to go after the ornaments on the tree. Doesn't seem worth it this year.

We also did our Christmas cards this weekend, just have to get the stamps so we can send them.

In upcoming holiday plans, we have a Christmas party this weekend at one of the band members house. He has a party every year where he airs National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, no one actually pays attention to it because we're all busy eating and drinking. He has a small one bedroom condo and crams about 40 people in there so it gets loud, so if anyone is actually interested in watching the movie they best do it on their own time.

The following weekend, S and A and the tiny ones are coming over to bake Christmas cookies. We have done it 3 out of the past 4 years and it's always a good time and I definitely eat my quota of cookie batter (even though I hear my mother scolding me like a little devil on my shoulder the whole time I'm doing it).

A few days after that we fly home! We're only there for a few days and most of those will contain holiday related goodness so I only have one night to hang out with J and meet her fiance! I'm really looking forward to seeing her, it's been quite awhile!

CoCoCoCoCookie Time

In 2 weeks, S and A and the tiny ones are coming to Y manor for our annual cookie baking festivities. I'm trying to decide on what cookies to make, I usually rely on Food.com's 12 Days of Cookie but it's Day 5 and they are relatively uninspired as far as my tastes go. I guess I will have to start my search elsewhere.

Here is what I made last year:
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Ginger Crinkle
Vanilla Angels
Special K Bars

I feel like I can't not make the Chocolate Chip Cookies...that would be criminial. Then I am going to make sugar cookies using cake batter. The Ginger Crinkles were good but lots of work, so I might look for a variation on that. The Vanilla Angels were not good and I won't bother with those. If I do recall, I was required to buy whole vanilla beans at the cost of $12 and scrape out the innards to make vanilla sugar. Please. The Special K Bars were from the King Arthur Baking Sheet, those were good. I liked them more than Morgan though.

I think his work chums will benefit from the baking this year. After December 16, I won't be back at work until after the holidays. And we CERTAINLY do not need those delicious morsels sitting around the joint.

So my search will continue....I also have to make something to bring to S's party on Dec. 12th. I'm thinking of making these Salty Nut Bars that I made a few years back. They were very easy and quite a delicious morsel.

The week of Thanksgiving

Due to the nature of the week, I thought I would post a few things that I am grateful for this year. The obvious things go without saying (good friends, great family, great husband etc), this list is for the often overlooked things.

• Two lovely kitties with very distinct personalities. If Clete hears a loud noise, he will charge toward it and seems to take it as a personal affront that someone is daring to rouse him from his comfort. Boigie will take the first train down to the basement. Boigie showers you with affection and sometimes to a fault, sometimes I can't get away from him. Clete's affection must be earned, but you will be handsomely rewarded by his loud grumbling purrs and headbutts when you do!
• The bannisters and railings on our front porch. I have never been able to decorate for Christmas because I haven't had a front porch to decorate or it's been shared with someone else and had no outlets. This year I can do so with aplomb! After Thanksgiving, it's open season!
• Knitting. Who knew that a simple lunch time seminar courtesy of my friend S would turn into such a great passtime and fulfilling hobby!
• LL Bean Wool socks. I live in these socks this time of year, perfect for a chilly day at home (but they are way too chunky to fit in any kind of shoe you might have, this hefty sock is indoor only).
• Hood Gingerbread Eggnog. As if eggnog isn't decadent enough, the subtle spiciness of gingerbread makes it, dare I say, luxurious.
• Anticipation. I love the general anticipation I have at this time of year for everything from knitting someone a gift to deciding what cookies to bake this year to travelling home for the holidays. Oh and don't forget, impending bad weather, always a favorite!
• Christmas music. I no longer have to skip past it when it comes on during Shuffle!

As T-Day Encroaches...

I've got nothing...no plan, no menu ideas. Luckily, it's just M and I. We are going to VT to have a late Thanksgiving with the in-laws on Saturday. We're thinking we need to have something very un-Thanksgiving like considering MIL will be making the usual expected Thanksgiving Day Dinner.

I'm thinking maybe lasagna...I'm in the mood for something cheesy and non poultry containing. M has already put in a request for a cherry pie which I haven't had in years I think. I will, of course, make the crust from scratch.

The other nice part about lasagna is that, short of a salad/vegetable and some sort of breadalicious goodness, you don't need to do much. You can't have too starches, that would be pigish. You've got your meat right there a top your starch, you've got your dairy nestled in there...this is sounding better and better the more I type about it.

Off to epicurious...

Free Association Christmas Recap

Lots of cooking
Lots of cookies
Boston Holiday pops
Flight Delays
Homemade gifts
Slumdog Millionaire
Laughter
Wii Tetris Party
Music
Wine
Mixer stuck on Turbo
Pat's Game
Standing Rib Roast
Gingerbread Layer Cake
Sasso

Of All Days For The Gods To Screw With Me....

It's Saturday morning, I've got a list of things a mile long to get done before my mom arrives at Logan at 440p....bake the rest of the cookies, clean the rest of the house, get the guest room straightened out, try to finish the edging for the Burridge Lake Aran Blanket, shovel, go to the grocery store. Luckily, I have a wonderful and efficient husband who stepped up to bat when I got stranded at the grocery store for several hours when my car battery died.

We woke up to a wonderful winterscape that needed to be confined to neat piles next to either side of our driveway. After M and I accomplish this, I decided to venture out to the grocery store to try to beat the rest of the crowds and get back in time to accomplish the aforementioned list. When I went to start my car, I was met with some reluctance of the part of my batter. Figuring it was a fluke and was occurring because my car hadn't been driven and then was getting blasted by the storm, M jumped my car. Interstingly, it wasn't successful on the first jump and made a bunch of clicking noises that reminded me of a blown starter noise I have heard before on a long gone car of mine. Nonetheless, it started on the second jump, and I proceeded with caution to the store making sure that dear M had his phone on him while he continued shoveling.

Shopping happens, I return to the car and try to start, nothing. Not even the drruuuur drruuuur ruuuur of a battery trying to make things happen but not having enough hutzpah. I went back inside to call M and got his voicemail...I wait. I call back, same thing. I decide to call the dealership and luckily I'll be able to get in and get the battery changed...Thank god because I'm supposed to be taking my mom to a football game on Sunday. I call M again, same thing and then I started panicking picturing him lying face down in the snow from a random congenital heart condition he didn't know he had until this fateful storm. I decide to call AAA and am told it's a 90 minute wait...I keep trying to call M.

Finally, he calls me and it's apparent he hasn't gotten any of my messages by his calm, cool..."Hey, what's up?" What's up?? I've been stuck at the grocery store for an hour trying to call you every 5 minutes. Thanks to AT&T, our network was screwed up and he hadn't gotten any of the calls or messages and did not get them until about 7pm that night. He was calling because he was starting to get worried that it was taking too long.

He eventually came out and was able to jump me again at the store, take the groceries and go home, while I ventured to the dealership who thankfully got me in post haste to get that new battery.

Guess it's nature's way of telling me to slow it on down....in the end, my Mom's flight was delayed till after 8 and my husband took care of everything in my absence and all is good with the world.

Yankee Swap, Kitty Funiture

Last week, my workplace held it's annual Yankee Swap where niceness is thrown out the window and rudeness is king. People get annoyed when you don't try to steal someone else's gifts. There are always some sure fire winners that get stolen repeatedly and are the most coveted. Your gift will be passed around if 1. It's in anyway inappropriate 2. It is alcohol or alcohol accoutrements 3. There is a possibility of getting rich aka. lotto tickets.

This year I regifted what I got last year, I thought this might get a laugh from the person who gave it last year but no one spoke up. To make sure it was a coveted item, I threw in a bottle of vodka. People liked it.

The pickings were kind of slim this year as far as something that I would actually want, I was even considering taking my own gift back because I had one of the higher numbers and was fairly confident that I wouldn't get it stolen away from me. In the end, I decided to steal from someone a gift that my colleague brought, an assortment of goodies from Trader Joe's.

In feline related news, M decided to get his carpentry on and make Boigie a new perch from abandoned wood at his parents house. I viewed this idea with some skepticism for a variety of reasons...he sometimes gets these grand ideas but the projects go unfinished (i.e. touching up the paint in the bedroom). I have also seen his previous forays into carpentry and it's not something that comes naturally to him, unless he was trying for a more esoteric and abstract take on a printer table. It's usually best, however, if any type of shelving unit does not slant 60 degrees. But alas, I was proven wrong! The perch is sturdy, wide enough for Boigie's massive berth and at the right height for him to look out of our bedroom window. He even went to lengths to put sisel on the posts so that Boigie can scratch there instead of our box spring. Boigie has given it 2 paws up after also regarding it with some skepticism initially. Perhaps he's heard tales of the printer table.

Holiday Fun and Meat Farm Pick Up

This weekend was full of holiday activities. We baked, who am I kidding, I baked cookies with A while S and M drank beer and half heartedly chased E out of the kitchen, not before he could get into a giant canister of flour or drop the molasses jar on the ground as we stood around and watched it's slow creep across the kitchen floor. I made sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal cherry cookies. I made half and froze the other half so that my family can have fresh cookies when they arrive. I still intend to make Special K bars, and no M, those are not ketamine bars. I'm also making Vanilla Snow Angels and Ginger Crinkle cookies. When? God know...I guess this coming weekend.

I'm also midway through planning the various menus for Christmas meals. My father in law was not able to come down at all, but my mother in law will be here for a few days when my family is here but then she's going home on Christmas Eve. This means there have to be 2 meals. I'm going to do appetizers for one of them and then we'll have a meal on Christmas. We're writing down some ideas for apps and side dishes and I still need to come up with a dessert for the main meal.

Anyhoo, as you can see we also got our Christmas tree and decorated that while watching Elf and drinking delicious Gingerbread Egg Nog. Here are some selected pictures for your viewing pleasure:





























In farm share news, we picked up our first month's supply. It was really cool, they pull into a parking lot at a community farm with their white van. You come and look for a cooler with your name on it, you return your cooler from last month. You have the option to purchase fresh eggs on a first come first serve basis. We got home and this was some of our booty in the cooler (see pics). In addition, we got lamp chops, pork chops, sweet italian sausage, a steak, a ham steak, 2 lbs of ground beef, and a chicken. I'm impressed so far....we'll see how it tastes. She did tell us that cooking times were much less because the meat was much leaner and muscle takes less to cook than fat, a somewhat disturbing fact, but we're glad to know it!

Thansgiving Weekend Recap

So when we parted ways I was hoping my rolls would turn out and they did! They were not the perfect little round rolls depicted in the picture but more like crescent rolls. There were a few steps that I cut out about halfway through dealing with a specific way in which to roll out the dough so that a center divet could be created to place some melted butter. The recipe called for using a tiny wooden rolling pin..of course I didn't have this. After much trial and error, I was using the end of a wooden spoon to roll out the dough before decided that that step was just creating more work because of the need to refashion some edging so the butter didn't slide right out. In the end, I smooshed it flat with my palm which kept the natural edges there. Worked fine, the resealing process left me with crescent shapes instead of a more rounded roll look, but that seemes to be the only thing that went awry. I should have taken a picture but I didn't. Next time.


Thanksgiving dinner was great, M's mom is great at making the traditional dinner. M was happy because he got his own pumpkin pie while the rest of us had a pumpkin trifle. On Friday, we went to Magog, QC which is a town just past the border of Canada. I was suprised by how little English was spoken and hence, how little signage was in English. We ate at a little cafe for lunch where the menu was entirely in French. In every store, we only heard French and were greeted this way. Once it was evident that we were speaking English, we were asked in English if we needed help finding anything. For some reason, I didn't think French would be so widely used. It was really neat though and I'd like to go back when it's warmer and I don't have to hustle from store to store. Here are some not very exciting, blurry, assorted pics from the trip.


































Oh, and here are some random not very good pics of some birds at the feeder outside M's parents dining room window:

Our journey home was uneventful except for a situation that has played itself out twice now in the exact same way. It makes me think we are cats with at least two lives at this point! We were traveling on the interstate in the right lane, basically neck and neck with a car in the left lane. Each time, the car in the left lane has hit something, at the time it's happening it's impossible to tell what, and they veer off as the thing flies in front of our car and across to the side of the road. Isn't that weird that's happened twice? The first time it looked like some kind of coyote, this time it looked like the guy blew out a tire. We pulled over to the right, they pulled over to the left. We wanted to see if they were ok but there was no way to cross the highway saefly, although M was all set to go till I sternly reminded him he'd end up on the side of the road just like the coyote or whatever that was if he tried. Another truck pulled in behind us and we all kind of sat there for a moment, since we couldn't cross we eventually left. Bizarro.

Thanksgiving Etc.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here? I'm not even shopping this holiday season and I feel like we're hurtling toward Christmas faster than I care to. For some reason, I thought time would seem to slow a bit if I wasn't scampering to and fro searching for just the right this or that as the clock ticks down. We're heading to the in laws in rural VT for Thanksgiving as we do every year. This year, I'm baking fresh dinner rolls. Hopefully they turn out, although what doesn't when you're kneading with dough hooks on your trusty Kitchen Aid mixer?? On Friday we have plans to go up to Canada which will be my first trip since 1986 (or thereabouts) when the family sojourned up to Winnepeg for the day. According to my mother in law, there is a Canadian equivalent of Black Friday (my guess is that this is powered by all of the American's driving up) so we plan to do some shopping. Google tells me the exchange rate is that $1 Canadian=$0.79 US so it's in our favor. I'm really excited to practice my French although I'm sure it won't truly be needed but when you're in Quebec, do as the Quebecois! I'm also trying to get M, J, S, and A to go to a dive townie bar on Friday night since we will all be up there at the same time and have yet to meet up.

In school news, I'm reaching the finish line for the semester. One final and one final exam and that's it. I practice on M several times this weekend and am only forgetting some of the musculoskeletal exam which is not my comfort zone to begin with. Luckily, we have class tomorrow followed by an open lab session so my partner and I plan to each run through the PE once on each other. Then at some time point in the two upcoming weeks, we have to perform the exam on each other in front of our clinical professor to pass the course. I also emailed the not so helpful grad school liason to find out if the Policy/Ethics class will be offered online in Summer because I would certainly rather do that than have to go to campus both Monday and Tuesdays in Spring. I'm fully expecting a non response from her, which is par for the course.

Knitting--Wow, I'm making some progress on this blanket! It's entirely feasible that I have this done in time. I am entirely grateful that this class was not heavy otherwise I would not have been able to spend near the amount of time on it. We're not out of the woods yet when Panel C is done. After that, a lot of sewing needs to happen, then there are 2 edged pieces to knit and apply. I plan on taking it in the car with us and knit a ton to and from Vermont since I can't drive M's car (stick shift). It dawned on me this weekend that I need a decoy project, something to work on in the presence of the inlaws since it would be uncouth for them to see me slaving away on their Christmast gift. I decided to restart the Cobblestone Pullover for M...horror of horrors, I have to work with Brown again! This sweater was once in the works long before the blanket so the yarn has been lurking around the house for some time, but seriously, what a cruel twist of fate. At least I get to use my favorite yarn, Classic Elite 150. His sweater will be in Chestnut and I think it will knit up fast. Thank the lord it has 0.000 cables!

knittin--progress, cobblestone pullover