a lovely christmas this year

Christmas this year was plenty of fun, though of the subdued grownup variety. On Friday morning, I had a long breakfast with a friend (three and a half hours long!) at one of my favorite places. A few planes and helicopters were fueling up and taking off, so the scenery in the distance was entertaining, too.

I went grocery shopping -- quickly, efficiently, in, out, done. Yahoo! We enjoyed the company of friends at a new (to me) restaurant on Friday evening. Then, on Saturday, after a quiet day, saw another friend for dinner.

On Sunday, we took a long walk and stopped off to visit a friend. We invited her to join us on Christmas, Monday. Perhaps she said yes because we took her by surprise, but she seemed genuinely pleased and said she'd come. When we returned home, another friend (more of a Christmas regular) called to ask if our invitation to him was still open. Of course!

So yesterday, the celebrated day itself, we opened presents from various parents and from each other. We then cooked some intriguing sounding dishes (including stuffed spaghetti squash and a sweet dessert pudding whose secret ingredient (cauliflower) is reputed to puzzle your guests.

Our friends arrived and to our great relief, very much enjoyed meeting each other. We played "can you read this" with an illegible Christmas card we'd received and now finally understand what our correspondants were trying to tell us. We laughed about "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" and told hellish stories about work (well, our guests did; Robert and I just listened). We ate incredibly well, especially since one guest brought a professional-style cake made by one of his friends. Yum! We drank wine, but not too much, and had a bit of liqueur after dinner, but for the most part were responsible adults.

And the cats were great. Theo performed his little heart out, playing with toys, visiting the guests, climbing his new structure, coming by for more scratches on the head. And Koa sat at the top of the stairs all evening, listening to the proceedings. I count this as progress, given that she didn't spend the whole night sequestered in the far reaches of a dark closet. I occasionally walked to the bottom of the stairs, blinked at her, and told her what a good girl she was. She blinked back.

Today, a box of cat presents arrived, including a little cat tent. Up it went on the bed and in went Koa. Theo is lying next to it, perhaps waiting for his turn. Occasionally Koa pokes her head out, takes a look outside, and goes back inside for more nap.

Robert may visit his sister (and kids, family, and on and on). During a phone call earlier today, Robert learned that the noslings have received extremely noisy toys. Some may think that I'm entirely altruistic sending Robert off to visit his family, staying alone, by myself, with just the cats for company. It will be quiet here.