Stacked Heels

Also, my Christmas dilemma has been resolved! Unfortunately my parents won’t be joining us, but they are planning to fly back shortly after Christmas, and once we’ve gotten a few days of snowboarding in, we’ll be heading up to celebrate New Years with them. FUN! I will be hosting Christmas dinner for my husband, my two sisters, one of their boyfriends and the total dog count for about 36 hours over Christmas/Boxing Days will be 3. Sweet! I’m planning a spectacular menu, too, although I’m trying to think of at least one vegetable side dish that’s not gross vegetables cooked beyond recognition into mush. I refuse to have leftovers in my fridge that I won’t eat this year. I think I’m most excited about trying David Leibovitz’s recipe for Salted Butter Caramel ice cream for dessert. I bought his book, The Perfect Scoop, this summer and the ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid and Oh! My! Word! It’s quite possibly the best combination of kitchen supplies in the history of the world! (Unfortunately, his recipe for Salted Butter Caramel ice cream is not in the book, but he posted it on his website here. I’m also wondering if I should serve it with the chocolate truffles mixed in as he suggests or with something else (chocolate cake – not Christmas-y enough? Apple pie or tarte tatin, as suggested at the end of the recipe? Hmm…) or maybe just a big ol’ scoop on its own is just fine.) Anyway, I’m tres excited about the menu, especially now that Homer bought me my birthday present early – voila! My very own cast iron, enamel coated Dutch oven! In bright red! Isn’t it pretty?

I’m so very in the Christmas spirit this year, it’s frightening! I’ve even considered sewing Homer, Tucker and I Christmas stockings – and I’m by no means a sew-er! Scary. I bought some new tree ornaments a month ago at Ikea and since our tree is buried at the back of our storage closet, I decided to just keep them out until we decorate it and every time I look at them, I’m like, “Ooooh, we should put up the tree!” And then I remember it’s not even December yet so that would be a little crazy for me. Usually I leave the tree as an excuse to drink eggnog and booze on my birthday halfway through the month (like you should really need an excuse to drink booze on your birthday, though, seriously!), but I might just get it up this weekend, once it’s finally December!

And my dad came through his double knee replacement beautifully – it’s been just over two weeks and he’s been using his cane instead of a walker for over a week already. I think he’s sleeping a bit better, as well, although he thought he’d be in less pain by now. Nutbar! He just had TWO knees replaced! That shit’s gotta hurt for a while, don’t you think?? My mom sent pictures of his scars the other day but I just can’t bring myself to post that for all those who are a little squeamish about that stuff. Yeesh!

I’ve got so many plans for this weekend, I’m not sure I’ll get everything done. I started an ambitious Christmas baking plan last weekend, shown above, and have 3 more recipes to plow through this weekend to keep on top of it, plus I want to get the tree and outside decorations up and Tucker has a vet appointment for some vaccinations and a consult on when he’s going to get The Big Snip, poor little guy. I also had lunch with my photographer-friend yesterday and she lit a fire under my ass to improve my photography website with iWeb on my iMac at home, so now I’m all anxious to start that, too!!! SHEESH!

Au revoir, Novembre! Seeya next year!

Love,

Diamond Jackie

So I’m pretty sure my family is as crazy as anyone’s. In fact, I have to tell you this little thing so anyone out there can give me advice on how to go about this. Or, OR! Do it for me!! Please?

So my parents are generous. They are incredibly giving people and I know their heart is in the right place most of the time. At this moment, my dad is T -6 days to getting double knee surgery in California. All prognoses declare that he should be up and around by Christmas, but Mom and Dad are planning to stay in California for Christmas anyway. And guess what? They want me, Homer, Tucker, my sister P, her boyfriend K, and both of their dogs to come down for the holiday. Nice, right? California instead of Canada for Christmas, ARE YOU KIDDING?

Now, before you go thinking that I am a total ingrate, let me explain the accommodations. Mom and Dad own a ‘casita’ – a small house with a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a garage and a small laundry. But no bedroom. Outside the casita is a huge driveway on which they park their big-ass motorhome and that becomes the bedroom. The only time I’ve ever been there was on a 7-day trip with M&D, P, Homer and two of my parents’ friends. I’m not sure if you’re doing the math, but that’s a LOT of people for such small quarters. The friends got the motorhome to sleep in, M&D got the pullout couch which left me, my HUSBAND and my SISTER to sleep…in the garage. Yes, yes, the garage. We had air mattresses to sleep on (Homer’s and mine even had a lovely leak in it, so within a few hours of blowing it up, it deflated again, along with our hopes for any sleep). So ask me if I’m looking forward to going back there. To be fair, though, they’ve put a futon and an air conditioner in the garage so it’s more of a room than a garage now with no chance of leaky air mattresses, and there will be 6 people not 7 like last time (although there could be 3 dogs instead), so it may be marginally better. I’m still not too keen, though.

The other thing is, Homer and I just bought a house and are going on a rather expensive vacation to Cuba in February so we can’t really afford it. I mean, we COULD afford it - it would just have to go on a credit card and get paid off later - but frankly, who wants to spend $1500 on a vacation with your parents when you’re over 30 years old?? Not me, that’s who. I learned that last time, too. Of course, M&D have offered to pay for our airfare and everything, but they’re already paying for 2 knee surgeries, so I feel (and Homer REALLY feels) uncomfortable letting them do that. Not to mention they’ve not offered to pay for my sister’s airfare because they figure she’s got lots of money and can afford it herself so that hardly seems fair either!

But how badly do I feel about not being there, nor really WANTING to be there, while my dad recovers from surgery?? The guilt is getting to me for sure.

I guess P tried to tell Mom the other day that she didn’t think she K would be able to make it and P said didn’t go over very well with Mom. But I talked to Dad yesterday and he was under the impression that P and K and both their dogs WERE going (which meant that Homer and I should, too, of course). So, did Mom not tell Dad? Or did P say, “No, I don’t think we’re coming,” but Mom heard, “Yes, we’ll look into bringing the dogs on the plane”? It’s been obvious before that my parents only hear what they want to hear, so maybe this is just more proof. Anyway, I told P about my conversation with Dad and she basically threw up her hands and decided that they’d spend Christmas Eve with K’s family, then travel to our place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and then go home. That seems like a great idea to me, too, so I’ve already begun planning decorations and menus and activities…

But how do we break it to our parents? Because at this point, I don’t know how we’ll be able to bow out gracefully since we’ve already tried that and failed. Are we going to actually have to tell them that we don’t WANT to go? Are they forcing us to hurt their feelings more than what’s necessary? Or are we just horrible daughters for not wanting to spend Christmas with our parents?

So, why don’t you tell them for me? That would be great, thanks.

Love Diamond Jackie