Counting down...

In an effort to stay awake until midnight we're snacking on a handful of delicious treats;
2011 Resolution #1: Shave the beard. I mean, seriously.

Welcoming in a new year

Chris and I are ready to welcome in a new year with a couple of our friends;
Let's see....we've worked through everything but the Patron Cafe, but we still have three hours until midnight so I think the odds are good.

Cash crop

Much to my surprise our tiny, new mandarin tree actually produced some fruit this year. Two prize winning mandarins that finally looked ready to pick.
We savored them slowly because at this rate of production they were each literally $10 mandarins. That's practically farmers market prices!

Beer brunch

Chris and I went out to lunch one more time with baby sis, Wilson, before she leaves tomorrow for SoCal. Since she hadn't been yet, we took her to Sierra Nevada Brewery for lunch so she could try the beer sampler (shared with the rest of us, of course).
Chris muddled her tiny brain with mad amounts of beer trivia in an attempt to educate her on what she was sampling. After downing half of the samples, our meals finally came. I ordered one of the specials - gumbo, while Chris got his usual sausage platter.
It was the best gumbo I've ever had - not that I have it everyday, but I've had it before. This was a much thicker spicy tomato sauce than I've ever seen for a gumbo and it was packed full of sausage, chicken and topped with prawns all poured over rice.
When we got there it was empty and we were seated immediately, but by the time we left they were telling people an hour and a half wait! Had I known, I wouldn't haven't been milking my ice tea for so long while starving patrons wandered the lobby. My bad.

Piece de resistance

Today was the last day for one of our code enforcement officers for whom I'd bought a personalized cake. It was a huge hit and made him smile.
Everyone was so enamored with the picture they felt bad cutting in to it. With our cake we had a spread of Quiznos sandwiches and pizza from Round Table. It was a fun little lunch party with everybody.

Christmas delights

We spent Christmas at the 'rents in Oregon this year. We left Friday morning for the 3 1/2 hour trek north enjoying a little snow along the way. We arrived just after lunch much to the pleasure of the newest member of the family, Chase.
Mum had the house decorated beautifully and had a cute little Christmas tree up in the corner of the dining room that was collecting all of our gifts.
As is tradition, Mum made a seafood based Christmas Eve dinner. Some wickedly delicious crab and shrimp open faced sandwiches. Yes, please.
Saturday morning Chase woke us up bright and early so that we wouldn't miss Santa. Good thing because we scored some good loot.
The classic "yowzers" face by Chris.
And of course some regional foodie favorites. The big Christmas plan was for friends and family to come over for a Christmas lunch buffet around 1:00 pm. Mum made some ham, pasta salad, potato salad, rolls, cheese platter, salmon spread and our family friend, Carolyn, brought over some baked beans.
Nom, nom, nom. It was a quick weekend visit with family since we needed to not only beat the snow driving through the passes on the way home, but we both had to be back to work on Monday. So, after a quick breakfast this morning we packed it up and headed out. We put the truck in 4-wheel drive at the base of the hill to get over the passes between Oregon and California and made it through fine. They had plows galore on the road clearing the debris.
Since we were gone for Christmas, I'd made plans for my mom and sister to come over tonight for dinner and our gift exchange. After some tasty jambalaya and salad we sat down and started opening our new treasures.
A fruit and nut basket from Yakima, WA.
A perfume sampler for me so I'll be smelling like a spring flower for at least a week.
Wilson, trying on her new Citizen Eco-Drive watch for the fifteenth time while the Canadian kept removing links for her until it fit.

Overall, we had a great four-day Christmas experience. Lots of time spent with friends and family. And at the end of it all Chris ended up with enough Mr. Beer refill kits to keep him busy for many months to come. Success for all!

Sisters and shoes

I had a hot lunch date with my baby sis today in Chico at T Bar. Lots of salmon rice bowls and tea to go around.
After lunch my car accidentally drove to the shoe store and refused to leave until I'd picked up some new friends. Just trying to obey the doc's orders and only wear flats for a while to keep my legs from swelling.
Black, gray, brown and another black pair that are more outdoorsy and have fleece lining. I was hoping to sneak them in the house before the Canadian got home, but he foiled my plan by being home early. Now he knows my dirty little shoe secret.