Yesterday was fabulous. We had a wonderful dinner with good friends down in the south bay, all in all stress-free. I got up early and made the big pot of cranberry relish with dried cherries. Around 1:30 we headed down in our shared car, with two pumpkin pies, the relish, and a pint of whipping cream. Upon arrival, were offered six kinds of cheeses, some fruit, salami, and paté. I tried the paté and thought to myself, yep! That’s chicken liver, all right.

Tamara and Mike made this huge meal for the dozen of us (including three small children). Dinner was: a large turkey, ham, three big bowls of mashed potatoes that were made with heavy cream (!), green beans, green salad, cranberry relish, stuffing, and zucchini gratin. We were absolutely stuffed. At the table during dinner we all went around and said what we were thankful for in 2004; my thanks were for my health, my family and friends, my fortune in having healthcare when so many others don’t, and of course I am thankful for my best friend and future husband every single day.

After giving our tummies a short break as we attempted to make a dent in the cleanup, there was coffee and pie to be had. My pie turned out really well. There was a pie surplus, so we ended up taking one of mine back home with us, along with a big tupperware full of potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and ham. Yar! So much food… we are going to stretch it for the whole weekend of course.

Back home we lay on the sofa in food comas and watched tv. Rain started falling softly outside. It was a swell Thanksgiving. Oh, and Tamara and Ert both have their bridesmaid dresses now, and they will look lovely in them.

Today Brian and I went to see a matinee of “Sideways”. I highly recommend it. Very smart and sexy film. It really made me want to come home and open one of my bottles of wine and have a couple glasses. Wine is the only alcoholic beverage I really enjoy, and it was a major theme of this movie. Wine people especially should see it.

Brian had to work today (boo!), so I saw him off after the movie and then went to the Y to swim twelve laps. The pool was unusually cold today, but I kind of like how it woke up my skin.

I met up with Ert after my swim and we went out for Thai food. We were both starving. We also checked out the Low Gallery on 14th. Valencia suddenly has all these art galleries. They all look like small rooms painted white from top to bottom, with pictures on the walls. I will need to check this out further, as well as the zine store next to the Low Gallery. Some of you might know that I used to make a zine, I made about eight or nine issues before the internet came along and stole my xacto knife.