Literally, it's been years

Friday night, Lena, Emily, and I went to The Melting Pot for chocolate fondue. We shared a Yin/Yang (mix of dark and white chocolate) and Flaming Turtle (dark chocolate with caramel, pecans, set on fire). It sounds quite simple, three college roommates getting together for a little gossip and laughter. But in fact, we've been trying to do this for over three years. We've seen each other, during the day, with various collections of children, surrounded by other people that as hostess one of us must manage. But last night was unique. Just the three of us, at night, without children, without husbands, without distractions. And without a curfew.

The three of us lived together for two years in college. Living together was challenging. All of us were occasionally grumpy, irritable, irrational, selfish, messy, and downright bitchy. Perhaps more than occasionally, often at the same time. A few other girls rounded out as fourth throughout those years, but the chemistry was really about the three of us. It was complicated, as it often is with women who love each other very much, but without the history of sisters. As we've grown up and found our lives taking strikingly similar paths (jobs, marriage, morgages, and babies), these two girls have become a cornerstone of my life. They provide me with courage, hilarity, support, and comfort. I crave their companionship when it's been too long.

So we met at my house (yeah, I didn't have to drive!), enjoyed fondue, came back for tea. They left at 11:30pm. Emily had an hour's drive ahead of her. We just didn't want to stop talking. We discussed Emily's house, Lena's writing, everybody's kids. We discussed how badly we all wanted new dishwashers. Of course we talked about our husbands. We compared holidays. We said frequently, "We need to do this more often." And so we shall. Next is Lena's shall-be-unnamed birthday in February. Two times in three months. It just might become a habit.

What a wretched lot of old shriveled creatures we shall be by-and-by. Never mind--the uglier we get in the eyes of others, the lovelier we shall be to each other; that has always been my firm faith about friendship. * George Eliot

Lunch with Camille

After much drama and deliberation, Camille and I were able to meet for lunch. Her darling husband, Matt, had returned home to LA. Camille was spending a few more days with friends and family. Luckily for me, she made some time for me! We met in Renton. This was quite the sacrifice for me, because I HATE to drive in city traffic and become grouchy when battling traffic for an extended period of time. But she knew of this charming place called the Whistle Stop Ale House. So we ate, gossiped, talked about our husbands, and compared holiday tales.

Plus, she treated me as an early birthday surprise! Thanks Camille!

As my friends slowly move farther and farther away, I treasure these small times to talk in person. Kevin's friends had the good sense to stay in the Tacoma area. My friends keep spreading out. And Lena, you are NOT allowed to move to Sweden. I'll simply have to come with you, and I know even less Swedish than your husband. It's bad enough that Emily insists on living in the sticks.

A Nice Holiday

Everybody survived. Smiling. That is my new definition of a good Christmas.

The two days at work before the holidays were HORRENDOUS. The big "I want to have my baby before Christmas" rush. Not to be confused with "I want to have a tax break in 2005" rush. Slammin-Jammin full. I didn't walk out of the hospital until 7:35pm Thursday night, all ready to pack the car and drive 2.5 hours to Vancouver. I bought myself a big ol' coffee, reprogrammed all Kevin's radio stations (hee hee), and had a decent drive to myself. Mom and Craig had the house all beautiful and festive. David the brother was there, and Kevin arrived shortly after I did with my puppies. The grandparents had flow in earlier in the day, and were fast asleep.

It was a great holiday. We played lots of games. We ate lots of food. Kevin flipped through radio stations and drove me crazy because he stops to watch every cartoon. We watched lots of "The Food Network." Cindy (the wicked stepmother), Tom, and John Michael came over Friday night for games. Mary and Jerry joined us on Christmas Eve for a great dinner.

Kevin and I did Christmas with his family on Christmas Eve. His folks made the most amazing brunch. The best was this fluffy egg dish with fresh crab. Yummo! Grace helped all of us open presents. McGuire the puppy slept in various places, his standard routine. Everything was beautiful and fun, a great morning. That evening, we ate Craig's venison roast. To die for. Mary and Jerry brought a juicy salad, Mom and I made glazed carrots. Christmas morning we were still full, but we managed to enjoy my stuffed french toast. A pot of Brunswick stew simmered on the stove all day. Monday morning, the day we left Kevin and I made Rachel Ray's pumpkin polenta with spinach and white beans. I was so full that when we met Jay and Chenoah (who are having a boy!) I was so full I could only eat a chocolate eclaire for lunch.

Now, I'm detoxing.

The grandparents are a riot. Roy and Norma, my mom's folks, are in their mid-eighties. They winter in Florida, go out to lunch almost every day, and play a mean hand of cards. My grandmother spent lots of time saying "But it doesn't matter to me." I don't think she was always quite truthful when she said it. My grandfather kept getting kicked out of the living room when he wanted to watch poker on TV. My grandmother kicked all our asses at Monopoly by not having a clue what to do. I landed on "Pay Income Tax" every time I passed go, so I never got to keep my $200.

Quote of the holiday, by Mom.
"Hurry up, it's not that hard to make a decision."
Perhaps you have to be intimately acquainted with the family to understand the subtle humor present.

It was really the most amazing Christmas, and thanks to everybody who made it so special: Mom, Craig, Grandma, Grandpa, David (and Beth in absence), Mary, Jerry, Dana, Tim, Grace, Cindy, Tom, John Michael, Jay, Chenoah, and my darling husband Kevin. I'm still hoping I got the one thing I wanted for Christmas, but I'm too chicken to find out just yet. So I'll let you know...later.

Home Alone

Kevin left early for Portland today. He's hanging out with Jay and Chenoah and all the puppy-dogs. They went to a movie, had a huge lunch at Gustavs, and are probably drinking wine and gossiping as we speak. Never be fooled by men--they are gossip whores just like the rest of us, and thank the good Lord for that. I worked 12 hours, I circulated in two surgeries; my first lady was 300+ pounds, the second was functionally retarded, having her second baby with her equal-stature boyfriend and she left her teeth at home. Staffing was tight. Two patients came by ambulance. And I'm still grumpy!

Who do you think had the better day?

So I over-packed tonight for the holidays. I cleaned the house to my satisfaction because I hate coming home to a mess. It's a little lonely and quiet, and I just don't sleep very well when Kevin is gone. Maybe I have a stuffed toy hidden away....

I watched the last part of "Santa Clause 2." It's a little corny, but it's sweet at the end. And I love Tim Allen, only a little bit because he reminds me so much of my dad. And I'm really missing my dad this year.

Christmas is Coming!

I'm in recovery from a CRAPPY weekend. Mostly crappy because of my grumpiness. Friday was overbooked and understaffed. I felt pulled in a thousand directions. Never unsafe, simply mediocere. So after my patient goes to surgery, I ask "Is somebody going to do my baby?" The answer was not "yes." I got just a touch testy, but I did get some help. Saturday I worked on the post-partum floor with nice patients, but the environment is not the most familiar. So I run around twice as much trying to find paperwork, supplies, and patient goodies. It didn't help that my normal L&D team were upstairs reading the paper, surfing the net, gossiping, and enjoying chocolate that I didn't know about. More grumpiness. The Sunday, grumpiness simply remained. But at least there was birthday cake to look forward to! After work, Kevin and I celebrated Tim's birthday with white chocolate birthday cheesecake. Yum-mo! Like a good yuppy couple, Kevin and I gave Tim the present that gives back: A Starbucks gift card. And grumpiness gone, shattered in the face of sugar.

So today I worked on Christmas chores like a good holiday soldier. I have cute new flannel sheets on the bed. I bought the rest of my presents. We have enough food in the house until we head south for CHRISTMAS! Kevin, the lucky dog, is on holiday for the rest of the week. He's heading to Jay and Chenoah's house for a few days. And he's taking the dogs with him! I'm really going to miss my puppies. After two days at work, I'll join him at Mom's house. My grandparents fly in on Thursday. I haven't seen them since my dad passed away several years ago, and I'm really looking forward to a more joyful visit. They are a RIOT. We'll play games and cards. Grandma will listen to the TV way too loud, and Grandpa will drink horrible beer. Try as we might, we cannot convince him to drink real bear in the Pacific Northwest. He drinks Coors. I'm crying as I type, and that is my excuse for typos.

We did have a fun Christmas splurge last Thursday. I discovered by chance "The SantaLand Diaries" by David Sedaris, performed at Vin Grotto by our lovely friend, Jason Ganwich! For only $5! He's doing shows this Thursday and Friday, so anybody in the Tacoma area should try to see it. The price can't be beat, it's an easy holiday commitment at 55 minutes, and the ticket costs go directly to the artist. Please go see Jason, he's wonderful!

Finally, a stroke of very good fortune. Kevin's cousin, the gorgeous Christina, married her hot-and-hunky British boyfriend, Tristan, on the beaches of Mexico this summer. But the rest of us are invited to a rocking party this February in Arizon to celebrate. Thinking time was too short, we dispaired of using our frequent flyer miles. We've been sitting on these suckers for years. We thought we'd use them for Ireland, but no such luck. But we figured, what the hell, let's give it a shot for Arizona. So we are flying FIRST CLASS BABY YEAH! For ten bucks and 80,000 miles. So brilliant. Kevin said, "That's good, we can use that four hundred dollars to ..... (pause: my split second of panic, the word no springing to my lips) ....fix your car."

Oh yeah. Good idea.

And now my puppies are sharing Danica's bed in the computer room. Awwww.

Stand corrected

Tim's Birthday is on the 19th

I really should write that down for next year

But he's getting old, so celebrating early is allowed! And encouraged!

I am Eloise, I am six

Eloise is my newest sort of love. I need to have kids immediately simply to have an excuse to buy these books and movies. Eloise is the alter ego all of us deserve. Meddling, intrusive, constantly on the move. "Getting bored is not allowed." And we all should have had a "mostly companion" like Nanny. Disney DVD released two live-action movies with Eloise. Nanny is played by the brilliant Julie Andrews, who wore a fake large bottom to be true to the character.

And I'm quite intrigued by Kay Thompson, Eloise's stylish and unique creator. So rather than hash it all out here, peak around at Eloise's website. "Charge it, please!"

Happy Birthday Tim

Happy Birthday to Tim, my loverly brother-in-law. He makes amazing creme brulee. He can belt out a ballad worthy of the best sort of pirate. And he's the nicest husband and father to his two main girls.

And if you weren't a lucky recipient of the Tim and Dana family Christmas card, he looks pretty damn hot in these pajamas.

Have a great birthday!

A big ol' thank you note

Dear Kevin, Mom, Cindy, John, Mary, Jerry, Lena, Glen, Stacia, and Steve:

I really hope you enjoyed The Messiah. The Tacoma Symphony Chorus has been rehersing since late September. Many of us, myself included, got the music earlier last summer in order to start practicing right away. We had 11 rehersals for 16 choral pieces, not to mention the various solo works included in Handel's oratorio. I have taken my music to work and begged the forgiveness of my co-workers for the annoying under-the-breath humming of "He Trusted in God." To finally perform this work after weeks of effort was immensely gratifying. But what truly made my evening shine was knowing you were all in the audience. Since Nancy was with you, I figured it would be the front row.

Sorry about that.

Many of you came a significant distance to enjoy the concert. Glen and Stacia drove up from McMinnville, Oregon. I wish they could have stayed at our house. But our tiny house was full up, and Glen and Stacia are too old to sleep on an air mattress in our utility room. Thank you for slumming it at that beautiful hotel downtown. Mary and Jerry came from Portland, and combined their visit with concert/grandbaby time. Grace entertained them while her lucky parents were enjoying a rare weekend full of adult time. Mom not only came up from Vancouver, but she hemmed my skirt, took us out to lunch, and cleaned my disaster of a kitchen after our chili party before the concert. As always, she spoils me rotten and I really enjoy it. I guess it's the best of both worlds; to be spoiled by a loving mom after you are old enough to truly appriciate it. So Mom, thanks again for everything. Cindy (the wicked stepmother) and my youngest brother John also came up from Washougal. John had NEVER seen our house in three years! He also inherited a puppy for the evening when Freya got quite comfy on the couch where John was sleeping. They left our house at the crack of dawn because she was hosting her family Christmas celebration that morning at 10am. Lena let her husband, Shaun, take over kid-duty for the evening so she could join our party. But Shaun and their two kids, Mattias and Hailey, joined us for dinner. Mattias declined everything except the Fritos. Hailey channeled our dogs (who were in seclusion upstairs) by following around anybody willing to feed her tidbits of beef stew and chili. But hey, she seemed to like it. Steve was able to take advantage of Mary's ticket after she (unfortunately for us) saved the day for Dana and Tim's nanny and couldn't attend the concert. Mary, we missed you very much and you were with us in spirit. Although we all missed Mary, we were pleased that Steve could join us last minute.

And a special thanks to my wonderful husband, Kevin, who is endlessly supportive of all my activities. Even my wish to take tap dancing lessons. You are my greatest blessing.

At bruch the next day with Steve, Glen, Stacia and Mom, Glen gave me a hard time about my blog. Specifically, he wanted to post comments. Since nobody by my friends and family read this, I've decided to give it a shot. So post comments people. Have at it.

Thanks again for taking time out of a busy holiday season to enjoy a weekend with us. I'm so pleased you all were there. I hope you enjoyed yourselves.

With love always,
Jenny

I found it

Yeah! The shirt was at the school. After battling the clueless secretary at the front office, the shirt was back in my hot little hand. My favorite was when she said the choir room was open third period. I'm 27 years old, and I informed her I don't know when third period is. But I have my shirt, crisis averted.

Yesterday was loads of errands, a trip to Zoolights complete with spiked hot chocolate. We bring the spiking tools ourselves. Then nachos at The Keg, and a viewing of Love Actually. Kevin started tearing up when he heard the love theme, at the opening of the DVD.

I think today I'll try to make sugar cookies.

A good Sunday

In a typical move, I started my day realizing that I had lost something.

Namely, my new choir top. That I must wear by Saturday night when many of my lovely friends and family will see me sing The Messiah. Not by myself, not even a solo for me. Maybe in the olden days, when I was confident and ambitious. Now I'm lazy and hate to practice. But it's been a hell of a lot of fun. Ya'll are in for a great show. The soloists are all from our choir, and they are AMAZING. Brilliant. Such a treat.

Therefore, I must find said top. We'll see if it's at lost and found at the high school where we practice. If not, we'll see if I can get one shipped real fast. If not, then don't look at me too hard standing in the back. So typical of me. Damnit.

After that, the day drastically improved, because my husband took me shopping. I never wear skirts, being the recipiant of the Chase family short, thick legs. Looks good on boys, not so good on girls. Because of the short legs, skirts are usually too long (along with everything else) and because I'm lazy (see above comment) I don't want to hem them. But the husband LOVES skirts. Therefore, if I point out one I like, he wipes the drool away and suggests I try it on. So I have a cute little plaid skirt with two new turtleneck sweaters (in the blue and black) from The Gap. Those black boots are next on my list. Kevin also found a great sweater, but we'll wait for it to go on sale. At The Gap, it ALWAYS goes on sale.

Next we bought our Chirstmas present. This is a low-key sort of year, and we wanted something fun, something we'd been talking about doing for ages. So we got ourselves a Zoo Membership! The Point Defiance Zoo is one of our favorite spots (Kevin likes the Red Wolves, I prefer the Otters), and we adore Zoolights. I don't know if Dana and Tim have taken Grace yet this year, but I can't wait to see her with the lights! Winter is a surprisingly great time to check out the animals. They aren't drugged with sumer's heat. And there are significantly less children. We spent 20 minutes talking with the trainer at the elephant yard. Like watching the Animal Planet but in person. And three of the Red Wolves were walking around. They are normally so reclusive one is lucky to catch a glimpse through trees. Today they wandered past the fence, slumbered under trees, and howled at the sky.

Then we lunched at Rosewood Cafe. Great food, but choppy service at first. There was an initial mix up with my soup order, solved when the cook plopped it down beside me (not even in front of me) and said, "Well, somebody ordered this soup." And walked off uncerimoniously. Then the waitress informed me from across the room that I had indeed ordered the bowl and not the cup of soup. I was a little frustrated, and politely mentioned it to our waitress when she brought our entrees. Now, for all my big mouth, I hate confrontations. So I was terribly nervous. But she was very nice about it all, and brought me a free cookie! And the food was yummy! So we'll head back.

Then a nap, a trip to the park, choir rehearsal, and more Hershey's Kisses with Cherry Cordial Creme. Tomorrow I'll (hopefully) find my shirt, get ready for all our company this weekend, buy a birthday gift for Tim the Brother-in-Law (Hey, Tim!) and generally try to get my act together. Cheers.

We Drove to Lynnwood for dinner

We drove to Lynnwood for dinner. This was a bit of a stretch for us, as we don't like to get on the highway for dinner. We usually stick around our neighborhood, meaning Proctor or 6th Ave. Anything else is effort. But I was cleaning a drawer the other day and found gift certificates to McGrath's Seafood. The wicked stepmother, having decided McGrath would make a lovely third and final last name, gave us this gift for Christmas. Last Year. So having found them, we decided to use them. So north we drove, to lovely Lynnwood. I read aloud from David Sedaris' "Holidays on Ice." My favorite kind. I started with the infamous "SantaLand Diaries." If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you should listen to more NPR. A classic holiday tale of one man's adventures as a Macy's Christmastime elf. He's brilliantly funny, both as a writer and a speaker. I'd include him as another celebrity boyfriend, but one gay celebrity boyfriend is enough (see Victor Garber).

On the Second day (and the first)

2. In the heat of battle, my father wove a tapestry of obscenity, that as far as we know, is still hanging in space over lake Michigan.

1. Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense.

Computer Out

We've been minus a computer for a few days. Turns out things get a bit overheated when dusty. Take the dust out, computer works! Thanks Steve! Thank goodness our friends are on the dorky side and know about these things.

The Holiday season is up and swinging. My house looks darling with lights and candles and loads of plants. The shopping lists are made. If I'm a very good girl, Christmas cards will be sent this weekend. Schedules are getting hammered out, and we are becoming a larger group year by year. Family, In-Laws, In-Law's in-laws, Ex-wives, wicked stepmothers, out of town grandparents, girlfriends, fiances, the gaming group....whew! But I guess we're luckier than most, we actually LIKE these people. If you have make time for "them," then poor you and come to our house. We're fun!

I have the next five days off work, whoo hoo! So it's errand time. All the silly little chores that aren't a priority MIGHT get done. Or I might say, Fuck It, I'm reading these here paperback books with good sex scenes in them. Two new books came out the beginning of the week, and I've been waiting months. And yes, I've already finished them both.

Kiss Me, Annabel by Eloisa James: Book Two in the Essex Sisters series. Not only is her dialogue snappy and believable, but the secondary characters are fleshed-out and add life to the story.

Red Lily by Nora Roberts: I'm 50/50 on Dame Nora. I don't like the majority of her books, although God Bless her for being so prolific. But her lighter series are usually fun. This was the final book of her In The Garden series. A contemporary story, a little paranormal thrown in, with a few twists. One of the heronines was in her late 40's! With grown children!

Adding to my joy were limited Hershey's Kisses with Cherry Creme filling. Divine.

We woke to several inches of snow. Although it's already melting, it was fun while it lasted. The dogs had a blast at the park this morning, and I can imagine my niece, Gracey-girl, found it quite intriguing. Just a bit of a White Christmas.