So — did I say this? Friday, Ted and I successfully had lunch with Anna and Dara, which was not only lots of fun but also very cool, simply because I hadn’t seen them since, er, 1997. Ye gods. We talked for an hour, before Anna had to go back to work, and then trundled on home where we got to pack everything up and go to the new not-ground-floor-really condo.
By that time, my back was in full-on spasm mode, which, y’know, sucked. I think we did the family Christmas stuff Friday night, which was fun. I got *laugh* I got a cool piggy bank, actually shaped like a pig, which Deirdre said was to keep my new-found writing riches in. *laugh* And they got Ted a mortar and pestel and some good spices — from that company you brought us the cinnamon from, Laura! — although they’re already ground so Ted can’t use the mortal and pestel for them. :) And Mom got a goooooorgeous new shawl and Dad got, hm, I’ve forgotten. :)
Saturday morning we went and found a back brace and bought white elephant gifts for the gift exchange before going to lunch with Karen. Lunch was lots of fun. Upon getting home, we discovered that Deirdre and Gavin were sick and that Kathy and Ken were snowed in, in Eastern Washington, and so there was no gathering or gift exchange going to happen that afternoon. So by that time we had LOTS of gifts and LOTS of food and …
Um. Ted’s just come back from the vet with Chanti and I’ve lost my train of thought. Apparently we have a chubby puppy. She has to lose 15 pounds! Just like the rest of us!
Yay! Penzey’s is awesome! It’s good to see that other smart peoples, like your family, know that too. :) You should get on their catalog mailing list. Not only can you then get spices whenever you want, they give you lots and lots of good recipes, with most excellent use of spices of course, in those catalogs.