What, it’s not normal to celebrate Christmas in mid-January? Although we’ve retired the CD case of yuletide tunes, we celebrated one last spurt of Christmas spirit over the weekend when JG’s parents and sister came to visit us. Since JG and I spent our Christmas away from his side of the family, they swung by for a couple of days en route to moving his sister back in for college.
Speaking of JG’s sister, she spent the fall semester studying abroad in Sydney, Australia, so our contact with her has been limited to receiving breathless e-mails rife with exclamation points that made us wonder if she was actually doing any studying between cliff-diving and shopping. Sure, seeing her brother and sister-in-law was nice, and she even got a bonus Christmas present out of the weekend, but all of that was peripheral compared to the fact that SHE FINALLY GOT TO SEE TED! If she didn’t live in on-campus housing, we would have had to search her car before she left to make sure there were no Westie-type stowaways. As consolation for leaving “the cutest dog ever,” we promised her that she could drive down and dog-sit any time she wanted, as if it were a favor to her.
Lately, I have been feeling the drain of not having any time off, so I wasn’t overly enthused about spending the weekend entertaining, but it was surprisingly relaxing. Once we set out the coffee maker and towels, JG’s parents were essentially self-sufficient in our house. We spent our Saturday exchanging Christmas gifts (I scored new cake plates, additions to my Madeleine L’Engle collection, and a handmade quilt made out of beloved t-shirts; meanwhile, JG has been driving me crazy with his efforts to play his authentic Australian didgeridoo.), going out for lunch, and walking around downtown in the balmy 50-degree weather. I always get a little thrill when people say that they love our town; it really shows up well on the weekends.
Cashing in on the excuse that JG’s family had never been to The Melting Pot, all five of us went there for dinner. I hope going three times in ten months doesn’t constitute overkill. JG and I have a great time on our own, but we’ve kept our routine pretty safe since we found combinations we liked. The magic of going for fondue with five people is that we could justify ordering double of everything! The four-course meal that included two cheese selections (cheddar-lager and spinach-artichoke) and two chocolate choices (chocolate-raspberry and s’more flambé) was more than enough for five people, and we practically rolled out of the place before we crammed into a Civic for the ride home.
I declare Christmas celebrated.
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Hooray! Way to make the Christmas season last and last. I wanted to give my sister a donation to her Peace Corps project for Christmas and the Peace Corps JUST got the secure donation page activated over the weekend. So, as soon as I click and enter my card info, my Christmas will finally be over, too.
So far, this year was probably the most extreme situation of stretching out Christmas, but I apply the same philosophy to birthdays. Happy birthweek! Birthmonth, even!
Mm. The Melting Pot is great. Three times in ten months is definitely not overkill.
Also? When I “studied” abroad in Senegal? There was no studying. I justified it by saying that if I wanted an academic experience, I’d have stayed in the US at my highly-ranked college as opposed to going to a poor, overburdened university in Africa. And that it was all about the cultural experience. It was great and relaxing and impossible to believe I got college credit for it. I don’t regret any of it and I will encourage my own kids to do the same.
I know, I say all of that like I expected her to study. But when I was in London, I spent most of my time (and money) seeing plays that I could justify with my “British theatre” course.
MMmmm. I love the Melting Pot.
Ooh. And I love the cake plates. Very pretty.
Despite my default anti-Martha setting, I loved them, too. Unfortunately, the medium-sized one is a little wonky and not level, so I’ll have to do something about that. I plan on making a cupcake tree as soon as I find an occasion to do so.
I need to go back to the Melting Pot. we went once, but we skipped the cheese course (we were advised to go straight for the chocolate). The chocolate course was divine… but I love me some cheese. Melty, delicious, cheese.
I love the cheese. If I weren’t so turned off by the mess it would make, I would attempt to concoct it at home with a makeshift double-boiler, as we do not have a fondue pot.
We have our work holiday party this Thursday.
Thursday, as in January 17? Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I guess?
so many things to comment on, mind if I make a list?
1. We had several Christmases too, it’s fun that way!
2. I adore those cake plates, but really, is that a surprise at all? No.
3. If JG is into the didgeridoo he needs to look up a dude named Xavier Rudd. Randomly, I saw him in concert and he is a one man multi-instrument show with the most amazing lungs I’ve ever, uhhh, heard. Crazy!
4. Melting Pot, although I adore fondue, I didn’t love it there. It was sad, but I thought the dippers were really…cheapy.
Hm, I think we will look into Xavier Rudd. That’s just the sort of odd thing that JG would like, I think. I can see why you might say that about the dippers at the Melting Pot; I would probably think the same thing if we didn’t always go for the whole four-course deal. By then, the charm of dipping stuff (anything!) into hot, melty goodness outweighs the quality of ingredients.
That quilt is awesome!!
I know, I love it! JG is glad to have custody of his quilt again.
I’ve never been to the Melting Pot, but Tim took me to a local fondue place called The Mona Lisa to celebrate the first anniversary of the day we met. The experience is very similar to what you’ve described. We tried to go back on our first wedding anniversary, but they were closed that day, and we haven’t been able to justify the splurge of going back since. Maybe we’ll celebrate Tim’s first teaching job offer there, though…
That’s a good idea! Yes, it is a splurge, but since it’s like a whole evening’s entertainment (and our second time was on a gift card), it has been a nice thing to do over the past year.
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