The Morning After

2006-11-24 - 10:24 a.m.

Welcome back. I hope you all survived Thanksgiving.

I drove down to Escondido, which is where most of my family lives. Instead of the homemade dinner with all the usual folderols, the decision was made to go out to dinner. And so we did.

It was at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, which is a seriously swanky country club...valet parking and everything. Dinner was a buffet, in a huge ballroom. And they were packed with a lot of very well-dressed people. And here I am, in a white polo shirt, jeans, and my ratty (but oh so comfortable) sneakers. And to top it all off, I was about an hour late. I had left in plenty of time, but not only was the rest of the world on the road, there was enough that there were three - count them, THREE - separate accidents. And I didn't have anybody's cell numbers, so I couldn't call to let them know.

Fortunately, everyone was very understanding - I was the one who had to drive the farthest, and in fact, my aunts had come up to my neighborhood within the last couple weeks. So they knew what I had been up against.

Once I straightened out my legs and back (hey, YOU sit behind the wheel in traffic for as long as I did and then jump out), I hit the buffet in an effort to catch up. They had the entire outside patio set up as the food area. Turkey, of course...but also Cajun prime rib with optional chipotle jus. Huge tureens of mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams...all the appropriate side dishes. A whole table for the breads, another for the salads, and one for seafood - crab legs, big shrimp, and sushi. Yes, sushi. And for afters, a BIG dessert table with obscenely decadent trifles...along with a fondue fountain full of hot running chocolate.

I dove in and had a little of everything, except the dessert. I got some undipped strawberries from the dessert table instead (my aunt Nikki had a marshmallow dipped in the chocolate fondue, which I declared to be Too Obscene To Consume). The food was excellent, the conversation lively...and I'm pleased to say I did not stuff myself into oblivion, though I was sorely tempted. I brought everyone up to date about my apnea and the CPAP. My uncle Mits is a doctor, but he does general practice and didn't know much about apnea. I gave him the basic rundown and tried to describe my gear. Well, he'll get to see it at Christmas.

We hung out for awhile, and I finally headed home. The drive home was wide open, and I got there in less than two hours. Charlie and Ai Vy had gone to his relatives, so I had the place to myself. I kicked back with these two James Bond films and some diet Pepsi. They came home around ten-ish, and after the movies were over I chatted with Brin about our respective families.

And that was that.

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Today is the biggest shopping day of the year. Some stores opened at 5am, some at 6am.

Screw that. I'm staying home.

I have laundry to do, anyway. And maybe I'll watch some more James Bond. Maybe this one. Or this one. And maybe even this one.

So, till next time...be seeing you.

Requiel - 2006-11-25 14:52:59 - http://requiel.diaryland.com
I'm so jealous! It sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving. Why didn't you eat dessert? Are you diabetic or just trying to be good? heh.

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Brin - 2006-11-26 17:26:34 -
Yes, actually he *is* diabetic. :-P

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