Christmas 2008 Report

Christmas spread
Originally uploaded by suzipaw

It was a lovely holiday, truly restful. Lots of food and sleeping late, dog walking, TV and few plans, wild weather and glorious weather (we could often see the snow covered mountains, a rare sight). Christmas Eve day, M and I went to a party in Long Beach at a friend's motorcycle shop. I've traditionally had a hard time circulating at this party, which was held just blocks from one of my college days apartments, so I slipped out to hit a thrift store (I found a nice sweater and considered but did not purchase some gowns for a masquerade birthday party next month). That evening we dined at the restaurant where M's sister works, which was very pleasant.

Christmas was a study in mellow. M's brother left early in the day and his mom spent a great deal of time cooking and laying out her best china. Sis-in-law and her boyfriend came over in the early afternoon and we enjoyed a delish Christmas dinner late in the afternoon and *then* opened presents. This is the first time I've waited so long to open gifts, and I must admit, I really liked it! We had something to look forward to all day, so it made the whole day feel more special, not just the morning.

On Friday, we went to the Huntington Botanical Garden, Gallery, and Library, a place I'd been hankering to go for years. It was beautiful after the rain and bluster the day before. We wandered through the desert garden, Japanese garden, lily pond, and sub-tropical garden, all meticulously kept--one might say swept--except for the thick carpet of fallen golden gingko leaves in the Zen garden, a contrast that was all the more lovely and surprising. We only had a few hours there, so rushed through the home and library, glancing at the Blue Boy, Pinkie, and other portraits and then a Gutenberg bible and double-elephant Audubon folio next door. I'd love to go back in a more bloom friendly season and when I have more time to view the art.


The iPhone let us down a bit on the way home as we tried to navigate around traffic from Santa Anita opening day, so it took us much longer to get home than we'd planned. M and I headed down to Long Beach to have dinner with his best friend and his girlfriend, then went to another friend's housewarming party. There was a bit of tension about whether or not I'd be able to have a pleasant time at this event since I'm usually terrible at parties where I know few people, but I'm happy to report that I managed quite well.

It was a long drive home the next day, and though it was a wonderful visit, I was glad to be hitting my own hay. The past three days have been filled with a little work and home puttering. And shopping. I found the masquerade party gown at Ross yesterday and have been having a great deal of fun assembling the ensemble. Grandma Julia's costume jewelry will be employed in full force. It's also a karaoke party, gulp. M and I are thinking of dueting Rex's theme song:



But that's an awful lot of singing which I'm really bad at. But I guess that will be part of the entertainment.

M's getting into the legal swing of things. This week he's made several special appearances as they're called, where he stands in for the attorney in a case. I asked him how it was going today and here's his response (adult language alert):

"Oh, I managed to get a guy put back in jail until Friday. That was kinda fun. He even thanked me. So, did his family. The bailiffs managed to have quite a bit of fun at my expense. The judge took pity on me and my client and let me get a do over. The probation officer explained what had happened after it was all said and done. Joe Hoppe [the lawyer he was appearing for], told me on the phone 'welcome to the conflicts calendar.' Wally [M's friend and new-ish lawyer] called me a vagina and to told me to get over it. All in all, I'm lovin it."

We're off to Mom's tomorrow for more holiday mellowness, ahh.