THE REDEEMER: JOE NESBO

Maybe my fourth Harry Hole novel, set in Oslo, Norway.  And I forgot how much I like the main character, Harry Hole, sympathetic, on the wagon for the time being, fighting the darkness that his life of fighting crime brings.  The story is strange, centering on the Salvation Army in Norway, which appears to be a respected and major force in Norwegian life and politics.  And though it seems to have the trappings of the army, it's an army for Christ.  Two brothers, both brought up in this tradition, are at the center of the novel.  Robert, the older, is assassinated at a function, seemingly for no reason.  Nesbo, however, allows us to get to know the killer, a Croatian named Stankik, known as the 'little redeemer,' a survivor of the Serbia atrocities, a contract killer, working for a group, headed by his mother.

Harry decides to go to Croatia,  to talk with the killer's mother, to find out who took out the contract on the brother.  They make a pack; she will tell him who was the Norwegian who hired the her son, and Harry will do what he can to let her son return to Croatia.  Because Stankik realizes that he assassinated the wrong brother, he stays in Oslo and ends up killing a couple more people before Harry corners him, with the help of one of the brother's girl friend, and we discover it's the brother, the seemingly straight, kind one who hired Stankik to kill his brother.  The plot may seem complicated but we like Harry enough to stick with it, and we learn quite a bit about the Salvation Army in Norway, its work, as well as the troubles this kind of religious fervor creates in a family.

White Roofs, Gray Skes

Winter Kayaking

8:00

It's 7:30 and I can now see a dusting of snow on the roofs and there's a dusting on the lawns.  The sky and lake are just becoming visible as well.  I don't think we will see any sun today, perhaps an inch or two of snow during the day.

The days have seemed the same all week, cold and gray and wet.  Until this morning, we have not had even a hint of snow though Monday was close, with ice pellets and freezing rain.  We seem to be waiting, for what I am not sure; I guess the beginning of the New Year, next Monday perhaps, when we get back into routine, at least I will, as I begin yoga again for the first time in six months.  Evie's started, having begun at the YMCA.

I spent a good hour yesterday morning, finishing the raking of the front yard, mostly twigs this time and now I can rest and not be bothered by a trashy looking lawn.  Talk about being anal.  It felt good to be outside doing something I must admit; sitting around doing little is not much fun.  Evie left for the gym around noon, and I had lunch, soup and cheese sandwiches and watched another episode of Deadwood before adjourning to the couch to read and take a nap.  I finished the OUTLINE and started Grisham's new novel, ROGUE LAWYER.  It's always nice to a have a pile of books, ready to read, either on my coffee table or now on my Kindle.

Woodlawn, Late Afternoon

Evie got home around 3:30, just as it was starting to get dark.  The lake, however, was like glass, so I could not resist and went for a nice paddle down to Bootey Bay and back.  It was misty out and even started to drizzle some but it did not bother me much.  It just felt good to be back out on the lake, low for this time of the year.

Paddling -- Long Point

Misty Afternoon

For dinner, we had an Indian dish with chicken, broccoli, mushrooms and a Trader Joe sauce, over rice.  It's easy and quite good.  We watched the end of the Presidential Awards and were blown away by Aretha Franklin singing Carol King's "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman," honoring Carol King, the songwriter.  We then watched TRAINWRECK, which Amy Schumer wrote and starred in.  After the first half hour, I wondered why anyone liked this movie; it was boring, filled with Schumer's shtick, usually explicitly sexual.  But once her romantic interest was introduced, it became a quirky and endearing love story, with Lebron James playing a secondary role.

Early Morning Calm

8:45

Long Point At 8:45 In The Morning

It's 8:30 and the lake's calm and peaceful, so different from the choppy, wind blown lake of the past two days.  It makes me want to get out and kayak.  It's still cool out, 34º, and gray but the weather predicts some sunshine later in the day before the snow arrives tomorrow night just in time for New Year's Eve.

Tuesday felt like a Wednesday, as I lost track of the days, which can happen when you are retired.  We hung out in the house most of the morning because it was still drizzling outside and cold, not the kind of weather that made you want to put on your hiking boots.  Our yard was a mess of down twigs and branches and I wanted to get out and start cleaning it up but it was to wet in the morning to do it.  So, I decided to drive to Lakewood, to the library, to return a couple of books, then stop at Ryder's Cup, for a coffee.  I sat and read for about a half hour, half listening to a couple of ladies talk, though their tete a tete was interrupted by a 15 minute phone call.  How different a cell phone makes in our life, interrupting whatever we may doing, as if it's a matter of life and death.  Fortunately, I don't have that problem since I rarely get a phone call.

When I got home, 'that Evie,' had my lunch ready, salmon cakes, soup, and a bagel.  She then drove off to Lakewood, to work out at the YMCA, about a ten mile drive.  I ate lunch and started to watch a series I have always heard was great from HBO called Deadwood, a cowboy series set in the 1870's. I hope to stick with it since Longmire  is finished.  I then read, fell asleep for a half hour and woke to a slight drizzle, but not something that kept me inside.  So I went out and spent almost an hour filling up two garbage pails with branches and twigs from our two front trees, and still have more clean up to do today, mostly raking up the smallest twigs.

Monday's Ice Storm

Evie was home around 4:30, and we relaxed until dinner time, as the wind calmed down but the rain continued on and off.  We had the pot roast from the night before.  This time it was tender, as were all the veggies so we were both happy.  We finally had a great pot roast dinner.  We were not sure what to watched so I picked out a fairly predictable movie called THE ITALIAN JOB.  Evie laughed out loud through much of it as the heist was so silly.  We then watched the first episode of a series I had just read about called RIVER.  It's interesting, as the main detective is dealing with the recent death of his partner who seems to reappear at various times as if she is still alive.  We ended the evening watching the honoring of five great American entertainers at the John F. Kennedy Center For The Arts in Washington.  Cicely Tyson, George Lucas and Carol King were among those honored. All have led amazing lives.

High Winds, Rain, And Cold

8:12

A Busy Woodpecker

A Pileated Woodpecker Pecks

I woke this morning around 7:20, to a yard filled with downed branches and twigs, none very large but the lawn was covered, a result of the past 12 hours of high winds, strong enough to shake the house at times.  Fortunately, we never lost our electricity and no large branches came down, at least in our yard or nearby.  At the moment,  it's 8:40 and Evie's diligently trying to get a photo of our woodpecker that is boring a hole in the tree next door.

Most of yesterday, a Monday, I thought was Tuesday.  Go figure.  The day was kind of a loss, as I had little to do, and nothing in mind.  Thus, it seemed like a long day, probably because our past two weeks were filled with travel, a wedding, grandchildren and Christmas.  So the post holiday blues have set in even though we have yet to bring in the New Year.  The day, however, was not an entire loss, especially for Evie.  She put together our dinner in the morning, a pot roast, with veggies and one of my favorites, pearl onions.  And around noon, she drove off to Lakewood, to start her regime of working out at the YMCA, putting me to shame as I stayed behind, watched some TV and had a marvelous salad she made for me before leaving, salmon, greens, tangerines and a Caesar Salad dressing.

Woodlawn Creek

Evie left earlier than usual because of the weather which predicted snow pellets and icing roads by 1:00 or so.  And by the time she arrived home, around 1:30, the car was being pelleted by ice as for once, the weatherman was correct.  I forgot that in mid morning, I made myself go for a forty minute walk through the Woodlawn/Victoria woods, just before it started to drizzle.  It was good to be back in some woods, though a large tree had fallen across the path, which will make cross country skiing difficult this winter.  I also met Corky Maitland,  a neighbor, walking his dog, and some others, out for a walk, next to the Victoria creek, walking their Newfoundland, who had just jumped in the icy water. He was black and huge, aptly named Bear.

Dead Fall Along Woodlawn

A Babbling Winter Creek

I spent the afternoon reading a top ten book called Outline, a novel by British writer Rachel Musk. It's an interesting but slow read, much different for the easy mysteries or spy thrillers that I have been used to reading lately.  Evie put the pot roast in the oven around 4:00, and we both adjourned to the living room, to enjoy the end of day, the building wind, the bending tree limbs.

Dinner was a bit of a downer, as the pot roast was not tender, nor the veggies.  Obviously, it was the cooks fault!  So we put it back in the oven and will have a great pot roast meal for tonight.  I did enjoy the mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts, and some of the meat. We caught up on Homeland, watching the last two episodes.  And, like The Affair, the show left us with more questions than answers, suggesting their will be another season.  Because of the heavy winds, Evie slept downstairs; I stayed upstairs, falling asleep to the wind pounding on the house, wondering if we would have electricity in the morning, if any large branches would be down.

It's Cold (27º) Outside...Finally

7:51

Our house seemed cold this morning when I got up for coffee at 6:15 in the darkness.  I got out another fleece and later, Evie came down and turned on the fireplace, a smart move.  It's 7:30 and the sky is filled with threatening gray clouds, the wind from the north blowing the flag.  It looks like a gray, cold morning and later we can expect rain and perhaps ice pellets, with some heavy icing overnight.  

Yesterday, we did not take our usual Sunday walk around the Chautauqua Institution though I thought about it.  We just lacked the mojo I suppose and started talking about a grocery list, so instead of a walk, we drove into Lakewood, stopping at Sam's and Wegman's, stocking up for the week, like a storm was coming.  Although it was Sunday, both stores seemed crowded, as most people, probably like us, had not shopped since before Christmas.

We were home around 12:30, quickly put things away, then Evie got out the bacon, starting frying it, adding eggs, making toast from our leftover baguette and in 15 minutes, we had a great breakfast. We were happy to be back on a Sunday in time to watch what we think is the best news/culture program on TV, CBS Sunday morning. It's stories are always interesting, relevant, and eclectic.

We did little the rest of the day, occasionally looking out the front window, as the weather got more and more nasty, the way we like it, windy, gray skies, perhaps some snow. It's not the nasty weather we like so much as the cozy feeling of being inside despite the weather.

Woodpecker Chips

I forgot to mention that earlier in the day we noticed what looked like wood chips beneath our neighbor's tree.  We looked up and what we assume was a woodpecker had created a ten inch hole near the top of the tree.  He must have been a busy boy because it was 'huge' (every time I use this word I cannot help but think of Trump).  Hope we get a glimpse (and photo) of our newest neighbor.

HUGE!

We relaxed and read until 6:30 when we decided to have dinner.  Evie broiled a fillet of salmon, sauteed spinach with garlic, made rice and a salad, and we had dinner.  The salmon tasted really good since we had not had it in awhile.  We decided to watch The Affair but first re-watched the previous episode so we were sure what was going on.  The series ended with a few answers but lots of questions, setting us up for Season Three.

Home Again

7:30

7:50

7:53

It's just 7:30 and I have been sitting in the dark until 15 minutes ago when the lake, Long Point, the naked tree limbs in our front yard, all the points of recognition became visible, and a light fog is rising off towards Tom's Point.  It rained most of the night, as water has pooled on our walk. Fortunately, yesterday's incessant southerly wind has died down and all's quiet on the lakefront. It's a temperate 52º, much warmer than yesterday's temperatures which were in the 30's most of the day.  It's been about a week since we have seen the sun!!

An Early December Morning Fisherman

Yesterday's drive home from Bristow, VA, mirrored the drive out ten days ago.  Rain, gray skies, surprisingly busy roads described most of the day.  And by busy, I don't mean traffic stopping busy, just roads that usually have few cars now had enough to notice.  We stopped a couple of times, once to get something to eat, another to do some shopping, and arrived home just as we always do, no matter how many times we stop or don't stop, in seven hours.  We are always anxious when we enter the house after a trip especially in winter, hoping all is well.  It was.  We quickly emptied the car, put things away, so we could enjoy the afternoon, relax on our couch, reading a good book or watching some saved TV shows.

We did stop at Reverie Cheese just up the road from our house and picked up some St. Ivy Cheddar cheese and a baguette because we left a couple of gorgeous cheeses from Trader Joe's at Jill's.  They will enjoy it.  Around 4:00, we decided a pizza sounded good, so I drove over to Bemus and picked up one from Coppola's, the best around.  Later, we enjoyed a long cocktail hour or two, savoring the cheese, bread, and drinks, listening to our usual Saturday night radio show, Prairie Home Companion. In other words, we were quick to get back to the comfort of routine, the bane of retirement I suppose. It's hard to get out of it, easy to get back into it.

We ate around 7:30, pizza, a salad and a soda.  And watched bits and pieces of saved TV shows from the past ten days, some football, but saved both The Affair and Homeland for tonight.  We were both bushed from our drive and went to be by 10:30.

We had a wonderful ten days, celebrating my niece Julia's wedding, with all our family, then spending Christmas with Jill, Drew, and the girls.  We are fortunate grandparents to have such great families.

Festivties Are Over, Back To The Lake

New Sweater, New Hat

Hayden At Rest

We decided to just get up whenever, not worry about what time we leave.  So it's just after 6:00 and Evie and I are both up, sipping coffee, talking about brewpubs with Drew.  He and his brothers and Dad are hitting a new one later in the day which is why it was brought up.  You can see what's on our minds! We should be off for Chautauqua some time around 7:00, in the rain of course.
Yesterday was not the classic Christmas Day, of snow, Christmas carols, and carving a turkey which is all right with me.  We were up and opening presents by 7:15 as I recall, the girls up, for once, early. They were excited of course about their presents and were not disappointed.  Everyone seemed to get things they wanted for the most part; Halle's favorite was the hot chocolate maker, Hayden's a backpack, with matching lunch bag and wallet.  I got a cool vest, Evie some neat earrings.  So, as I mentioned, it was a good Christmas for all, short lived as always, with just a bit of the post Christmas blues.

We had the breakfast the kids wanted, as Evie made crepes for all of us,  Jill browned some sausage and Halle made hot chocolate.  We like out crepes with lemon and sugar, so they were easy to make. Afterwards, the girls organized their presents, put on their new pajamas and hung out in their rooms. Drew and I took a long walk late morning with Coco because the rain had stopped, the sky lightened a bit.

What to do after all the opening of the presents.  We couldn't go outside because it was raining
We really had nothing to do the rest of the day so Drew got the bright idea of going to the movies to see the comedy Daddy's Home, with Will Ferrell.   Surprisingly, there was quite a line to get tickets though there were plenty of empty seats in the theater.  The movie was a typical silly comedy, with Will Farrell playing the dolt who slowly learns how to be a man.  In between some of the grosser parts, it had some funny scenes.  The girls loved it, so that 's why we went.  To hear them laugh.

Couch Time

We were home by 2:30, got out the appetizers of shrimp, spanokopita's, and chips and dip, and sat around eating and talking for a couple of hours, watching the NBA occasionally.  By 4:00, a couple of us had fallen asleep, tired from getting up so early and full from our appetizers. Marlena Face Timed us from Kansas City and it sounds like they had a great Christmas as well.

Around 6:00, everyone was awake, downstairs in the living room, as we debated whether to have dinner or not and decided to hold off till 7:00 and hope the rains stopped because we were going to cook outside.  So we punted for an hour and found a movie on TV the girls wanted to watch called Monster In Law, with Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda.  I smartly kept my mouth shut and just watched until it was time to cook the ground beef koftes.

Drew and I grilled them outside and thankfully, the rain had stopped and the moon came out briefly.  It was actually a nice warm night, like late summer, a good night to have a beer and grill.

Christmas Barbecue

While we were outside, the girls were inside getting dinner ready and Halle, the burgeoning chef, was a big help with everything as the pictures suggest.  Hayden, too, was a big help.

Making Salad With Mom

Jill and Halle, Helping Evie

Our unusual Christmas dinner, Iskender kebabs, koftes with pide, meat, tomato sauce and yogurt was just what we wanted.  We finished the evening off with ice box pudding while watching the rest of the movie.  We only got up to have another piece of the ice box pudding.  

A Warm Virginian Mele Kalikimaka

The Happy Family On Christmas Eve

Christmas Stockings First

Jill's New Earrings

Groovy Ukrainian Hats

Halle Loves Her Hot Chocolate Maker

Sitting here at 6:50, waiting for the girls and their Mom to come downstairs.  Christmas music is on, Drew has his Santa hat on and we are almost ready to begin the festivities. It's too dark to see what it's like outside (66º) but we did get a glimpse of an almost full moon last night.

Yesterday was your typical day before Christmas, as we all went out to madly finish up the shopping we never got done.  It's the maxim that you need the pressure of the last moment to pull the trigger and get something, like finally buy that present.  So Jill and Drew went off around 10:00, to the local shopping area while the rest of us stayed behind, or rather, we waited for Halle and Hayden to get up. Around 11:00, Evie and I and the girls went off to Sports Authority, as Hayden picked out a beanie for here Dad, then off to Stein Mart, for slippers, and Justice for Halle, ending up at Target where the girls got a complicated coffee from Starbucks.  The girls were excited to have gotten some neat things for their family, so it was a good day of shopping.

Making Icebox Pudding With Granny

We were home around 2:00 and then the prepping for dinner began, with both girls helping Granny. First, they put together our dessert for last night, an old family favorite, ice box pudding, basically layered angel food cake, with chocolate mousse in between, and whipped cream on top.  Then, they made two kinds of rolls, cinnamon crescent rolls, and a pan of dinner rolls to go with our dinner. Finally, they put together my favorite, twice baked potatoes, so they were ready to put in the oven before dinner. Since we were having beef fondue for dinner, they put together a couple of different sauces for dipping.  While we were doing that, Jill and Drew went over to a friend's new house, for a glass of wine and appetizers.  I took Coco for a walk since the rain had stopped.  He still was a reluctant participant so I had to drag him along.

Jill And Her Mom

Pre prandial drinks began around 5:00, Bloody Marys, beer, brie and crackers, not too much because we did not want to spoil our dinner. Around 6:30, Jill put together a Caesar salad and I cut up the meat, and we sat down to a dinner of fondue, with beef, mushrooms, chicken and shrimp.  It's a fun dinner because it's so leisurely, as we wait our turn to put our fork in the pot.

Ready For Fondue

Chrismtas Eve In Bristow With The Bissells

Afterwards, the girls, Evie, Coco and I went out for a night walk, looking at all the lights and glimpsing, as I mentioned the moon.  It was unseasonably warm so I was out in a long sleep tee shirt.  When we got home, Drew had ELF ready to watch, so the rest of the evening, we watched a movie though by the time we finished, both Jill and Drew were asleep on the couch.

Sort Of The Moon

Griswald's Of Bristow Replete With Christmas Music

It's now 8:00 and the excitement of presents has ebbed, the girls are trying on various outfits, and Evie and Jill are in the kitchen, starting to get breakfast together.  The girls seem happy with their presents so it's been a good Christmas.  Weatherwise, it's the same old, same old---gray, warm and wet.

It's The Day Before Christmas And It's Still Raining And Warm

Halle and Carleigh, Cookie Decorators Supreme

Bristow At 8:00 AM

No one had to get up early this morning yet Drew and I were both up at 6:00, talking some football, politics, the trouble with America and how to fix it.  It ain't easy!  It's raining out side, so that Coco, their dog, has to be forced out in the early morning.  He's no fool.  It already feels warm out, 65º, at 6:15 in the morning and we may have record highs in the 70's later in the day.  Not very Christmas like.  It looks like another gray, wet, and warm day for the family here in Virginia.

Coco In The Morning

Yesterday was about as miserable a day as one could imagine.  It literally rained fairly hard most of the day, forming ponds on the roads, driveways and walks.  It might lessen in amount some during the day but it always seemed to rain.  It did not stop Evie from finishing up the cookies with Halle and her friend, Carleigh. The girls had a great time decorating the cookies and really became good at it.

Both Hayden and Jill were up early for workouts at 7:30 and 8:00, a well disciplined duo. Drew, fortunately worked from home so he was able to miss what I am sure would have been traffic jams caused by the rain.  I stupidly decided to drive to Trader Joe's to pick up some goodies for home. What's a little rain, right.  Well, there was a lot of rain and I fortunately did not take # 66 back to Bristow as I could see it was backed up because of an accident.  Trader Joe's was busy, of course, lots of people buying wines and cheeses for the holidays.  I did, too.

When I got home around 12:00, Evie was making ham and egg sandwiches for the crew, so I was home early enough to also get one though we hardly put a dent in the leftover ham from Sunday night. Around 1:30, Drew and Jill took off to do their penultimate shopping and the girls and Evie and I sat in the living room and watched a movie with a Christmas setting, Home Alone.  I had forgotten how boring the first third was, how funny the last third.  Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are perfect foils for Macaulay Culkin, a charming brat.  We did not do much the rest of the afternoon after the movie. Evie played some Monopoly with the girls, I read, Jill napped, and Drew went for a run and came home soaking wet, of course.

Halle And Granny Kneading The Dough For Cloverleaf Rolls

We started getting ready to go out to Bonefish with Drew's parents around 5:00. And there was just enough time for Evie to put together the dough for her cloverleaf rolls, which we will have with our Christmas Eve dinner. About ten minutes before we left, the girls whined enough about going that we relented, let them stay home and order a pizza from Domino's.  We met Drew's parents at Bonefish, and had a great time with them.  Drew's Dad is a retired Army Full Bird Colonel, who flew two year long helicopter tours during the Vietnam War.  He stayed in the army until he retired after 27 years and ended his career at both VMI and Mary Baldwin College , working with both men and women cadets. He's a great guy and I really enjoyed talking to him.  Surprisingly Bonefish was not busy, maybe because it was a couple days before Christmas.  We all ordered fish and enjoyed them, especially Bonefish's famous appetizer, Bang Bang Shrimp.

Dinner With Mike And Jan Bissell, Jill's In Laws

We did not get home till 9:00, then relaxed with a nice bourbon on the rocks and watched the Adele Special from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on NBC.  It was a nice way to end the evening with Jill and Drew...family, music, and a good bourbon!

Today, at last, will be the last day of shopping.  Drew's taking the girls' out early so they can pick out some gifts, and around noon, he will pick up our groceries from Harris Teeter, which Jill ordered yesterday, so they will have them all packed and ready for him.  Pretty cool.  And then the cooking begins for the day.

Bah, Humbug!

Hayden In Her New Giraffe Onesies

8:30

It's 8:00 and a miserable, wet, warm and foggy morning here in Bristow,VA, with record highs in the making for the next couple of days.  No snow this year for Christmas unless you are in the mountains out West.  I guess I should not complain because we at least have family, our health, much to be thankful for.  So, let it rain, let it warm up,  I don't care.  I have my grandchildren!

At the moment, Jill is off at Boot Camp, Hayden at track practice, both being 'good girls,' while Drew and I lull around on the couch, with cups of coffee, watching the news.  And Evie and Halle are still sleeping, the lucky dogs.  It's a shock to think it's already Wednesday, as the days seem to blend into one another.  We are kind of stuck in the house, not being able to get out except to do some shopping. So Tuesday we spent most of the day in the house though Evie and Halle had a productive afternoon, doing some shopping and making Halle's present for her Dad.  She is excited.  Jill and I did some shopping after dropping Hayden off at a friends for a gift exchange, then hit a new local restaurant for lunch called Nando's, famous for their Peri Peri Chicken.  It's either Peruvian or Portuguese influenced though I am sure I ate at Nando's in Pretoria, South Africa in 1996, when I spent a couple of months in that amazing country on my sabbatical.  When we picked up Hayden after lunch, she pranced out in her new giraffe onesies.

Making Cookies And A Mess

Mid afternoon, Halle had Carleigh, a friend, over to make cookies with Evie.  So for the next couple of hours, the girls helped Evie make sugar cookies, starting from scratch.  The girls were typically silly, making it a challenging afternoon for Evie but they had fun and made lots of Christmas cookies so they can decorate them today.  My lone exercise for the day was dragging a reluctant dog on a walk around the neighborhood.  I am not sure what his problem is, whether he just wants to go home or is scared of something but he always seemed to look back to the where we had come from.

Carleigh And Halle

We were not sure what to have for dinner, so Jill asked for her favorite, in fact, all our kids favorite, Greek Lemon chicken, with rice.  So Evie got it ready mid afternoon before the cookie making, so that for dinner, all she needed to do was put it in the oven for a couple of hours and make the lemon/oregano gravy to put over both the chicken and rice.  Everyone loved it, even the girls, so hardly any was left.

Jill And Her Hayden

And the rest of the evening, a modern Christmas miracle took place.  We  sat around in the living room for a couple of hours, without the TV, just TALKING.  It was fun as we laughed and laughed, told stories, talked about our families, childhoods, grandparents, the usual, with little if any politics.

And Winter Begins With A Blah, Gray Skies and Rain

"Don't Go", Marlena!

8:40

It's just after 8:00 and I have been up for an hour.  Drew left at 5:00 for work, to avoid traffic and Jill is at Boot Camp, a workout at the gym.  The rest are sleeping I assume and will be for the next hour or so.  Why not?  It's a miserable looking day at the moment, wet and gray though warming up.  It may stop by noon.

Leaving, Alas, For Home

Nick

Yesterday was a day of recovery, of recouping for all of us.  We did not realize what a weekend of partying did to us.  So, I cannot say we did much yesterday other than hang out, look for some easy things to do.  The major event was an excursion to the local shopping center/mall. Hayden needed to buy presents for some of her girlfriends, so Evie went with her to help pick out the gifts, and Halle tagged along.  They spent a good hour in Target, going crazy trying to find something that was not junk.  And they did some grocery shopping for dinner.  Drew had dropped them off, as he had things to do as well, so he picked them up later.  Jill went into work for a few hours, so I was 'home alone,' reading, napping, and watching the reruns of Steve Harvey announcing the wrong winner of the Miss Universe Contest.  That was the news of the day, repeated every half hour on every news channel except for ESPN.

Everyone was home by 5:00, even Drew, so we relaxed until dinner, Evie downstairs with Halle watching a movie, Hayden half asleep on the couch.  Around 6:00, we had some wine, and started to get dinner ready, as Halle, still exhausted from the weekend, fell asleep on the couch and slept through dinner.  Dinner was spaghetti, meatballs, salad, and garlic bread, made by Hayden.  It tasted good after a weekend of amazing dinners and partying.  Afterwards, we watched some TV but Hayden and I did up the dishes.  I quizzed her on the Presidents and state capitals, just as my Mom used to do with me when we washed dishes.  It was fun.  The night ended with Evie's favorite dessert, Nutty Buddies.  We all love those chocolate and nut covered ice cream cones.  We all went to bed before 10:00, even the girls went without a whine.