Tag: elsa

Memorial Day 2007 day 2

Ah, what fun it is to have elsaf and judiang over for Memorial Day weekend. We got to bed late last night (I, for one, was wired on caffeine), but Elsa and I still managed to be up before 9am. Judi, meanwhile, was enjoying the Lake Effect and sleeping soundly.

So Elsa and I nipped off to Wagners for groceries. And an hour later, returned with Judi oblivious to our departure. In fact, I woke her up & she thought I was saying we were *going* to the grocery. I think she was impressed with how quickly we returned. Heh heh.

Elsa made some Hungry Jack pancakes and sugared up some sliced strawberries, so we had a wonderful breakfast. Then Judi snoozed while Elsa & I geeked. And suddenly, it was almost 1pm! I started a fire and then grilled hot dogs for the Judester and me, and grilled a chicken booby for Elsa. Elsa had also brought some potato salad and some bean salad, so we had that with our lunch. Everything was tasty.

I then drove down to pick up Papa so we could go to my cousin’s graduation party. We found the park just fine, but missed the cabin where the party was being held. A second drive through the park and we saw my cousin Deanna’s (very distinctive) car. Chris was there, ready to accept hugs and gifts. (He probably preferred the gifts, heh. Especially the flat ones that were green & papery.) It turns out his first cousin (no relation to me) is also graduating, so they were doing the party for both of them. We had cake & ice cream and chatting with Becky & Deanna. And then we returned home.

Once I’d picked up some things from home which I’d either forgotten or didn’t realize I needed, I returned to the girls at the Lake. After we vegged for a bit, dad showed up (I’d invited him to supper) and shortly after that, I started the fire for supper. First we grilled some veggies and pineapple. Then we grilled the pork tenderloin that Elsa had been marinating for a week. (I’ll let her tell the story if she’s interested in doing so.) She sliced the pork & then added a lime/orange/garlic sauce to the slices. Dinner was very tasty and we supplemented the meal with potato salad and bean salad. Well done Elsa! We topped the meal off with more of her pineapple upside-down cake (with me & Judi augmenting ours with ice cream).

Papa headed home and Judi and I cleaned the kitchen (with Judi doing the brunt of the work – you go gurl!) We then settled down to watch the new Doctor Who episode (Human Nature) and discovered that the sound was funky on the copy we, um, obtained. Still, despite the sound, we watched the ep and all enjoyed it. Here’s hoping the second ep is as good (or even better) than the first.

Once we watch Confidential tonight, we’ll probably head for bed. Poor Elsa has to head home tomorrow. Wah! But at least Judi and I have another full day at the Lake.

Memorial Day Weekend 2007

Well, it wasn’t as planned in advance as some of our other weekends at the Lake, and I completely forgot about setting up a card playing night for judiang (but with Granny passed on & mom off being a Bad Gurl with Amy & Rachel, that only leaves 3 card players), but the Weekend at the Lake is here. Yay!

I didn’t wind up getting on the road to the Lake on time as I’d hoped, and when I was 15 minutes away, I got a call from Judi telling me they were “kicking me off.” (At least, I think that’s what she said.) Apparently, there were bugs eating at them and elsaf had to use the ladies. They headed off to the local Grocery while I finished my trek to the Lake.

Eventually, we were all in the cottage and ready for a nice relaxing evening by the fire. But the rain had another idea. A real frog strangler of a storm came through and we began to discuss the evening plans. Well, Elsa and I discussed the plans while Judi got all confused thinking each idea was the finalized plan.

The finalized plan? Go out to eat at El Sombrero and then go see Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I was going to order online tix when Judi decided maybe she didn’t want to see it tonight. So then I stopped ordering. Then she decided maybe we should see it tonight. So we hopped in the car and then I remembered – oh yeah, pre-ordering tix. The girls sat in the car while I bought the tickets online. (Let’s hear it for online movie tickets!)

As we headed south down I-75, we found out that it hadn’t been raining in Miami County. And when we got to the new El Sombrero location, we found out they didn’t have as much seating as they once had. After waiting 15 minutes with no one looking like they were planning on vacating their tables anytime soon, we decided to hop down the strip mall to W.G. Grinders for sandwiches. (Yes, Amy, there is now a W.G. Grinders in Piqua!) Ah, a good change in plans.

W.G. Grinders, a regional chain, serves hot sandwiches and deli sides. I ordered the “white pizza” which is an open sandwich with artichoke hearts, Italian dressing, and several types of cheese melted on top. I also got the broccoli salad as a side, and it was very nice. Judi got ham&turkey, Elsa got a turkey Reuben (AKA a Rachel). Supper was good, fast, and required no tip. We got to the theater at 8pm, half an hour before the flick.

The movie, as I suspected, was sold out, so pre-ordering = good idea. (Let’s hear it again for online movie tickets!) Judi got in line to order popcorn & pop, and I suggested she up the size on the popcorn. (If someone in my party gets popcorn for a movie, I wind up eating some too.) I ordered a Coke for myself, so I know I won’t be sleeping tonight!

We found seats on the right side of the theater (it was already mostly full) and still had 20 minutes to go before the previews. The commercials they showed were very quiet and the movie wasn’t that much louder IMO. Still I heard most of the dialog. Judi wasn’t so lucky, but in the car afterward, we got her sorted out.

So what did I think? Fun movie! Wonderfully convoluted plot that actually stands up to scrutiny afterward. And stick around for after the credits if you can. 🙂

When we got back to the cabin, we all hopped on our laptops and then Elsa cut slices of her pineapple upside down cake. Yum! I made Judi a margarita (the first I’ve ever made and I guess it wasn’t that good), too. (Blech, margarita AND pineapple upside down cake!) So now we’re vegging out for the remainder of the evening. Yay for vacation!

The Feast of Elsa

Wow, it’s always wonderful when I get together with elsaf & judiang (and sometimes hergrace can join us too). We know how to celebrate the joy of FOOD.

We started out the day slow. Elsa was up first, then me. I played CoH for a bit (on Judi’s PC) and then worked on my LJ post. While I was finishing that up, Judi showed up. Wow – Judi was awake and we didn’t have to get her up! We then got ready and headed up to the penthouse to exercise for the second day. I played with the two bikes and the elliptical trainer. Shame the regular bike has a dead battery cuz it would be neat to try some of the settings.

After exercising, Judi was still nearly comatose, but we promised her latte after brunch. Elsa drove us to Chinatown to our regular Dim Sum place, Three Happiness. Once again, Elsa showed enormous restraint, sticking to steamed dishes (and having the smaller half of one of my sesame rolls). We still ate well, despite the conscience eye on avoiding excess. The little steamed items are SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD. And damn, but those sesame balls are wonderful. Judi got 3 more right before we had stuff tallied up and took 2 home with her.

Elsa then drove us to Target where we found a few essentials (and Judi and I magically caused a Starbucks to suddenly appear so that she could get her hazelnut soy latte), and then to Dominick’s (which I haven’t been too since that fateful day when Judi made alryssa, tiger5 and I walk across the Long Ass Bridge the night before Thanksgiving. I can still hear Carole saying “I’ll pay for a cab! I’ll pay for a cab!” the whole way there & back, with Judi completely oblivious. Heh heh.) Dominick’s thankfully had the phyllo dough that Elsa needed for one of her dishes for the evening meal. Oh, and I picked up 3 bottles of white wine for Judi. A Chapel Ste. Michele (sp) Riesling, Turning Leaf Pinot Grigio, and Fetzer Gewürztraminer (my mom’s favorite). We put the Riesling in the fridge when we got back, but the other two are now on Judi’s new wine rack (one of her “garage sale” purchases of the day before).

The rest of the day has been spent with Elsa furiously making Yet Another Ultimate Judi Birthday Supper and me cleaning dishes. And once again, Elsa has topped herself. She truly rocks.

While light classical music played on Judi’s TV (digital cable, you know), dinner started with an appetizer of grilled shrimp with pineapple salsa. The soup course was next with the mushroom soup (with sherry) which she’s made before and which I love. For salad, she had arugula with a lemon vinaigrette and goat cheese souffle in phyllo cups. There was a small break while I cleaned a few more dishes and the lamb rested after being removed from the oven. Then we continued with rack of lamb with mushroom sauce (morels – yummy), asparagus, and rice pilaf with brown & wild rice and wine soaked cranberries. Very tasty. By now we were nicely full from a fabulous meal. It was time to open presents.

Judi got nice sheets and a mini food chopper from Elsa and noise-cancellation headphones from me. Oh, and a photo of David Tennant for her to squee at. I’d also scanned in the other DT photos that I recently bought in an eBay auction and gave her a CD of that. (The things I buy when I’m shopping for Sylvester McCoy photos!)

After present opening, I vegged for a bit and finally got the strength to finish cleaning the kitchen. But before I was done, we messed up my table again in order to eat CHEESECAKE. Yup, Elsa once again made her wonderful cheesecake. Very yummy. Judi had the biggest piece of the three of us, and then proceeded to have a sliver more. But hey, it’s her birthday and if you can’t live it up on your birthday, when can you?

Dessert over, I was able to finish cleaning the kitchen, and now I’m here, dishpan hands typing this entry. Believe me, it was worth all the cleaning. 🙂

ETA: that bit about Starbucks – just remembered it. Heh.

Yesterday’s Shennanigans

Yesterday morning, elsaf and I got up at the same time. judiang, however, had gone into hibernation. Still, she eventually got up and we forced her to exercise up in her apartment complex’s exercise room. It’s fun watching a near-comatose woman exercise. Today we intend to torture her again – even though it IS her birthday. Maybe especially because it IS her birthday.

When we returned from the “gym” (which has some very nice pieces of exercise equipment), we still had 10 minutes to spare at the city equivalent of a Garage Sale. Someone in Judi’s apartment was having a Moving Sale. So we popped up to room 1606 and poked around. The couple were young & very nice. They are moving out Friday and heading off to Switzerland. Cool beans. Their two little ones were off at the grandparents, so couldn’t protest when Elsa bought their TV and DVD player. Judi bought a lot of bakeware (which I fear will only ever come out when Elsa’s around) and I managed to avoid buying anything. Well, at this place. Money would be leaving my wallet soon enough.

For lunch, Judi had found an Indian Restaurant which was near to our afternoon destination, Intimates. We took the #3 bus, which originally we were beginning to doubt the existence of due to it being quite absent. I became abusiestic while Judi decided she was more agbustic. However, I had an epiphany when the #3 finally showed up. We were off, moving up Michigan towards Ontario. (Sounds like we were planning a trip to Canada, no?)

Lunch was at the Indian Garden, which promised us nervana and nearly delivered. We all got the buffet because Judi FORCED us too. (Well, actually she was just telling the server that she wanted the buffet, but he thought she was speaking for all of us.) There were many good things on the buffet. Basmati rice, dal makhani, saag paneer, samosas, chili chicken, etc. etc. There were two dessert items, one made of carrots (which the girls originally thought was made of sweet potatoes) and the other made of goat cheese soaked in milk, sugar, and pistachios. The food was very good and I think I had the best aloo gobhi I’ve ever had. (I prefer Jeet India’s saag paneer & dal, but you can’t have everything. Heh heh.)

After our very filling lunch, it was on up Michigan to Intimates. This is a store where they have professional bra fitters. We made appointments and then moved back down Michigan to the Borders that we passed.

At Borders, they had several books in a 3 for the price of 2 sale. Damn them! Damn them all to heck! I found 2 books right off the bat, then went looking for a third. Eventually I found a possible one when Judi then said there were other 3 of 2 displays in the store. Of course, at the next display, I found 2 more books. Damn! Some more searching found me a third for that set too.

The books that I sprung for were:

  • Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

  • In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

  • Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (freebie #1)

  • Lamb by Christopher Moore

  • Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore (freebie #2)

  • The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Stupid book sales!

We returned then to Intimates to fullfil our appointment and the rather amusing incident is something that I have shared with just the girls, hergrace, and the lovely women in my family. The rest of you will just have to imagine it. Heh heh.

Anyhoo, it was time to return to the roost. I’m sure Lance was crossing his legs when we got home. While Judi was walking him, I was busy downloading some very important torrents… The new Doctor Who ep and it’s corresponding Confidential. Once Lance was back, the three of us walked off to Grace O’Malley’s for supper.

Since I was in an Irish pub, I decided I needed to have a reuben. I also ordered the Guiness cheese soup for starters. The girls split a grilled salmon meal which they claimed was very good. (I’m not into salmon, so it could have been heavenly and still not tempted me.) The soup and reuben were great, though the fries were only so-so. Since Judi’s birthday was just looming around the corner, she decided she was gonna have dessert, damnit. So we ordered the 4 layer cake (with ice cream). Elsa got the tip of the cake and Judi and I had the rest. (Judi and I have been so proud of Elsa, who has not succumbed to our excesses. Today’s dim sum will be the ultimate test for her. If she passes, she is, indeed, the rockingest dieter that ever lived.)

Once we came back home, we had a few moments of technical difficulty regarding making the CDs for the evening’s viewings. But Judi finally convinced her CD/DVD recorder to finally make the CDs of Doctor Who & Confidential. So we all gathered on the sofa to watch. Even Lance joined us and kept running back and forth across our laps so that he could sit with all 3 of us at once.

Although I will miss Rose, I am loving Martha. It’s about bloody time there was a cute black girl as an assistant. And Freema is just perfect for the role. I’m looking forward to series 3 of Doctor Who. Woot! As far as the Confidential goes, I must admit that I prefer the Cut Downs that show up on the DVD sets. This went on too long and repeated too much. No matter, when I’m on me own, I don’t actually watch the Confidentials (mostly so I won’t be disappointed when I buy the DVD sets later.)

Anyhoo, yesterday was a blast and today should be as well. Once Judi gets up, we’ll drag her to the exercise room. Then we’ll stop for a hazelnut soy latte so that Judi can wake up enough to enjoy dim sum. Elsa’s plans are to make us a fabulous supper (and hopefully we’ll find some filo dough today!) And then Judi gets to open her presents – thankfully the one that I ordered from Amazon arrived yesterday – woot!

An Intimate Visit

This is a post for just my closest female friends – basically Steph, Elsa, Judi, and Amy Lou (and Rachel should she so desire). I’ll probably show it to mom when I get back too.

Anyhoo, thanks to Steph going to visit Intimacy in her town and getting fitted properly for a bra, Judi decided she’d take Elsa and me there when we next visited Chicago. So our afternoon was all about boobs and the things that hold them.

We arrived around 3pm, but the soonest they’d be able to work with us was 4:30pm, so we shopped some. We arrived back at Intimacy around 4:45 (they said they’d call us on cells when they were ready, but hadn’t yet called) and they were nearly ready for it. Judi got her fitter first. Then I got Tanya. Finally Elsa got her fitter.

They don’t actually measure you at Intimacy, they just look at you, go get a bra, try it, get another, etc. Tanya, it turned out, had her work cut out for her. I remember looking at my watch during one bra hunt of hers and it was 5:28pm. When we were in the cab going back to Judi’s, it ws 6:32. So I was in there for over an hour while first Tanya tried to find the right fit, then the store manager (whose name I’ve forgotten) tried to find the right fit.

It turns out I have a lot of upper breast material, which makes things hard. When we’d get the right diameter, the cup wouldn’t be big enough. When they’d get a bigger cup, the underwire would either attack my armpits or poke out in front or (most often) both. These were the reasons I stopped using underwires years ago.

The manager decided to start at the beginning again and we tried a few more bras. By this time, both of the girls (E&J, not the bouncing ones before me) were done with their fittings and coming up with theories about why I was still there. Elsa’s theory was that they had failed to fit me and were now disposing of the body so there’d be no evidence of their failure. In actuality, the manager was getting closer to the desired result.

In the end, she found a 40H that was (a) comfortable and (b) looked just fine under a shirt. Success! My current bras are 44F’s. Most of the bras they’d tried were 42s and looking good there, that I was surprised when the 40 came to the rescue. So I plonked down $60 and got meself a bra that fits. Will I buy more? Well, I’ll see how it goes with #1 here.

Sleepy in the Windy City

I guess it’s better than being windy in the sleepy city…

For me, it’s after 2am. But here in Chicago, it’s just passing 1am. Funny, that.

I flew in after work today and managed to completely miss supper during the travel. judiang met me in the baggage claim @ O’Hare shortly after I arrived & got my luggage. Then we waited for our chauffeur from Detroit to arrive. Judi and I both agreed that only someone insane would drive to O’Hare, so we’re thinking of sending elsaf off for testing. Still, Elsa arrived and we headed on to Judi’s apartment.

We unloaded the ingredients for Elsa’s latest culinary excursion (for Judi’s b-day) and started up the grocery list for things left behind or unavailable at the time. Then, shortly after 10pm, we finally headed off for supper for Trina.

We wound up going to Judi’s old neighborhood (which isn’t far from her current one) to Hackney’s. I had fish & chips, a nice light supper for the post 10pm hour. Yummy! And Judi insisted I have an amaretto sour, so who am I to argue? The girls got gumbo since they’d both already had supper. Neither of ’em could finish it. But I finished my fish & most of my chips.

On our way back, we stopped at Jewel for the groceries we needed. Since Judi had Elsa’s car available, she loaded about a month’s worth of groceries in addition to what we needed for the weekend. Then we returned home to set up Judi’s new wireless router. Thanks to sneakernet, we got the very complex WEP key to all of our laptops. Go us!

Anyhoo, I’m zonked, so will be heading off to bed as soon as I finish this post. Should be a fun weekend with me friends!

Down & Safe

Yesterday morning, elsaf walked to her local bakery to get us some cinnamon rolls for breakfast. As usual, I was second up and judiang eventually dragged herself out of bed. We had a nice lazy morning after breakfast, just geeking and eventually packing. When it was nearing 1pm, we drove to Panera Bread in 2 cars. We had a relaxing lunch of broccoli cheddar soup in sour dough bread bowls. We knew that when we were finished with lunch, we’d have to part company, so we chatted for as long as we could. Then we left Panera, hugged, and drove off our separate ways. Elsa back to her place, Judi and I down south to my home.

Thanks to the iPod Transpod that Judi had given me for Christmas, we listened to her iPod for the drive home. We only had one stop along the way where we discussed feminine things as you see in commercials. It was quite funny. I also got to pick on Judi’s 23 versions of “O Holy Night” in her playlist. Spread out over 500 songs, it might not have seemed a little excessive. In a playlist of 95 songs, it got a bit, um, repetitive. She also seems to like “The Little Drummer Boy” a lot as well.

When we got to Troy, I stopped at Penn Station to get us supper. I got my usual Philly cheesesteak, got Judi a club with no ham, mom a regular club, and dad the Italian sub. Plus a large fries. Once in town, I got some beverages from the gas station (including blue Gatorade for Judi who had thrown out her shoulder playing some pretty mean Air Piano during one of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra pieces and was having muscle cramps because of it). We arrived at the parentals with food and had a nice supper in their kitchen.

After supper, Judi and I headed to my house (where I’d already been to cuddle my kitties) and I showed off my flatscreen TV by playing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Ah, some mad David Tennant! What fun! Near the end of the film, mom called to say it was time to pick up Amy & Rachel, so I headed next door and we three rushed off to the airport to pick up the girls.

They arrived on time and we exchanged hugs. Then we waited and waited and waited some more for the luggage to come out. When their baggage carousel began to spin, I predicted to Amy “4th and 12th.” Well, neither of their bags showed up 4th or 12th. Indeed, it was more like 4th from the last and last. As soon as their last piece showed up, the carousel stopped. Heh, what timing…

We returned home for cookies and milk. I dragged Judi over from next door because calling her on my phone did no good. “Trina, you had 2 phone calls just now.” Um, yeah! Silly gurl! 🙂 The cookies, milk, and conversation were all a nice wind up to a busy day for all.

Bedtime for Judi turned out to be Kitten Hell. The kitties had never seen the sofa open out into a bed and spent most of the evening playing under the bed, rolling things back and forth. They did eventually join me in bed to sleep, but they aggravated Judi enough so that she didn’t have the world’s greatest night sleeping. Still, we managed to get over to mom & dad’s shortly after 9am. Dad made everyone Egg McMikey sammiches, which, as always, were very yummy. The girls went back to bed, Judi fell asleep on the sofa, and the parentals headed off to the grocery. So I have returned home for a little waiting for the sleepy heads to return to the land of the living.

Tonight, we have our “traditional” Christmas dinner of chicken casserole and will then open presents. Mmmm, presents! I love presents!

Happy Feet

We had another nice slow start today. (I *love* vacation!) And today, elsaf made us French toast – yay! (I love French toast even more than pancakes, and that’s saying something.) And more sausage to eat with syrup. judiang, as usual. was the last one up.

Much of the afternoon was spent geeking and waiting around to find out when the National Day of Mourning will be. This has no bearing on me or Elsa, but Judi is a Fed and thus it is of great importance to her. And now we know – her day off will be Tuesday. Perhaps she will rant about the irony of that date in her LJ. Perhaps not.

Elsa made us roast beast sammiches for lunch. She and I had earlier walked to her local bakery to get some bread. It was pumpernickle rye, which Judi and I turned down for our sandwiches. What can we say, we’re White Bread Girls. 😉 The sandwich was great, and we had it with Royal Riviera pears from Harry and Davids. It was the best pear I have ever had – so juicy and succulant. Thanks to Elsa’s mum for getting a Harry & David set o’ items for us.

Judi decided that she needed to go to Best Buy again, this time to get stuff for herself. So we stopped there on our way to our Holiday Movie. She picked up two mice, because one mouse just isn’t enough… (Actually, she needed a wired mouse for her laptop and decided to get a wired mouse for her PC for when her wireless one gives her grief and I pick on her to “get a real mouse.”)

Our pick for Holiday Movie was Happy Feet. The only trailer we saw that was anything good was Harry Potter 5. And the movie? So cute! And such a great rythm. I had happy feet while I watched it. Penguins are of the cute! Go penguins!

We finished our fun evening out by having supper at La Shish. We ate at one of the restaurants last year and Judi wanted to go again this year. They make very yummy Middle Eastern food. The girls got the shish combo for two and I got the garlic & almond ghallaba. Judi and I also got smoothies – her a papaya and me a mango. I’d gotten the ghallaba last year and enjoyed it enough to order again this year. Maybe someday I’ll get a shish kabob. 🙂

Our evening was cut short by poor Elsa getting a bloody nose (she got one yesterday at breakfast too, poor dear). She had me drive home and I did so quite safely cuz I’m a good driver. Despite what other people say…

When we got back, we watched The Ruby in the Smoke and ate ice cream. I had Been & Jerry’s chocolate fudge brownie while the girls had B&J’s Cookie Dough ice cream. Good eats and good show. Now we’re watching last week’s Torchwood and I’m writing this.

Tomorrow, our threesome breaks up when Judi and I head on back to Ohio to continue my Christmas celebration. And shortly my birthday celebration. Yay for celebration! Yay for presents!

An English Supper

Today started nice and lazy with me sleeping in until 9 and judiang sleeping in until 10. elsaf, however, had been up since 7-something. She assures us she had a restful sleep, so that was good.

Elsa made us a breakfast of pancakes and sausage. It really hit the spot and did a great job of keeping us sated until suppertime. We decided to do our gift exchange then. The presents were all nicely displayed in front of the TV (for lack of a tree – hey, they both start with T). And we began with Elsa’s birthday present from Judi. (For those of you keeping score at home, you may have realized that Elsa’s birthday is in August. So Judi was a little late…) The gift was an iPod transponder for her car. (Hmmm, looks like something someone would buy at Best Buy!)

Next it was time for the Christmas exchange. It turns out I, too, got an iPod transponder. Cool! She also got me a children’s book by Neil Gaiman. Thanks Judi! Elsa gave me the DVD of Ghost Light (What do you mean “don’t you already have that??? OK, so I hadn’t gotten the Region 1 version yet… But now I have it so YAY!) Thanks Elsa! Elsa liked the 3-tiered spice rack and gift certificate to The Spice House that I got her. Judi was excited for the Complete Peanuts 1959-1962 which I got her. Elsa also received a Southern Living Cookbook and meat pounder from Judi and Judi received 2 Sims 2 Expansion Packs from Elsa. A nice haul for all of us. And Elsa gave me my birthday gift, but I shall wait til Monday to open it. Woot! Thanks in advance, Elsa!

We had a few things we needed to get for supper after a quick stop at Elsa’s parent’s house. And one of the places we stopped was the butcher’s shop near Elsa’s house. Now, I dunno about you, but butcher’s shops are something that we still have around my neck of the woods. And obviously around Elsa’s neighborhood. But Judi was surprised. She thought they were extinct and thus had to take photos when we got in there. Heh, silly girl! Hopefully she’ll post at least one of ’em in her journal tonight.

We cleaned the kitchen when we got back and then Elsa began making the steak & ale pies for supper. She also started on the custard for the trifle she was making as well. Judi and I took it in turns to stir the custard and it thickened just when Tom and Ardath (Elsa’s bro and sis-in-law) arrived with the dogs. (They have 2 dogs, Rosie and Casey, and they’ve been taking care of Ollie while Judi and I were here since he gets exited by visitors. Only Floyd has been with us on our trip thus far.)

Tom had made shepherd’s pie and Ardi had brought some home-made toffee. A Wassail mix finished off the meal and we had a nice English supper of steak & ale pie, shepherd’s pie, wassail, and raspberry trifle. Wonderful meal and my hat off to all the chefs.

After supper, Tom took the dogs for a walk while we fixed the technical difficulties we were having with our viewing of The Runaway Bride (the 2006 Doctor Who Christmas special). By the time Tom was back with the critters, the VCD was done and we watched the special. We laughed and cheered and had fun with the silly story. Quite an entertainment for our group.

To finish off the evening, we all pulled Christmas crackers and read the silly jokes and put on the silly hats. Then Ardi passed around the toffee and we munched. Then she treated the doggies to doggie berry cobbler. (It’s canned stuff that they all simply adored and sat patiently for their turn at the spoon.) Lots of munching going on at that point.

At 10pm, Tom & Ardath and the pooches (all but Floyd) headed on back home. Elsa and Judi are cleaning the kitchen. And I’m sitting here writing all of this. And with a “and that’s that!” from Elsa, I think they’re done.

Yay! What a fun day we’ve had!

And so it begins…

Now that many people are done with their Christmas, I am finally beginning mine. Sure, I’ve been to the extended family gatherings, but since Amy & Rachel weren’t there, they don’t count. However, today I drove Oop North to Detroit and am at elsaf‘s for a few days. We exchange gifts tomorrow and later in the week, Amy & Rachel come to Ohio for our family Christmas. So let’s hear it for Christmases that last all week!

I got the Elsa’s safely and on time this morning. And shortly after, I was sent off to pick up judiang from the Metro airport. Eep! But I drove there & back just fine. And I even remembered to pick up Judi!

We did a short shopping spree at Best Buy where I wasn’t allowed to be where Judi was (and apparently neither was Elsa), but as I had to park the car (somewhere in the vicinity of the store – I think I was only 17 blocks away) I managed to avoid her. While in the store, I noticed I’m getting slack in my DVD collecting. Season 4 of Bewitched and the final seasons of Dangermouse are now on DVD. Looks like I know what I’ll be getting myself after the new year comes!

After a bit of geeking back at the house, we headed off to supper at Sy Thai Shores restaurant. We started with the appetizer sampler – spring rolls, shrimp thingies, and crab rangoon. I had pad thai with tofu (hmmmm, couldn’t think of anything original, eh trina?), Elsa got the drunken noodles, and Judi got the orange duck. For dessert, Judi and I opted for coconut ice cream (yum!) and Elsa got the Thai version of banana cake. Everything was yummy!

To top off our evening, we headed off to the Fisher Theater to see Spamalot. I bought a $20 program magically (well, Judi swears she never saw me buy it) and we found our seats. We had great seats on the mezzenine. Nicely done, Elsa! The show was funny and the songs quite entertaining. And a lucky guy in the audience got to leave with a miniature Holy Grail. Heh.

On our way back, Elsa drove by Lakeshore Drive (Chicago doesn’t have the monopoly on Lakeshore drives) so we could look at the Christmas lights. Some pretty swanky houses out there with even swankier Christmas lights. If we get the gumption, tomorrow we’ll go again and Judi will try to get photos.

Well, now that I’m nicely settled, Judi is insisting that I make her an amaretto sour. Such a taskmaster is our Judi…