Missives from the 6th Floor

Friday night was spent moving the un-used holiday decorations back into the basement while Dawnise attended another cookie party with some other spouses from work. Saturday morning we were greeted with a couple inches of snow on the lawn (surely our imagination since we have it on good authority that it never rains in Seattle) and finished prepping for the party, including making two batches of the sweet potato soup that went over so well at Thanksgiving and, of course, baking cookies.

A quick trip to Costco for wine and some sundries and we were in pretty good shape.

Despite the light snow on and off all day and near freezing temperatures, folks started arriving around 6, and the party was in full swing by around 7:30.

The cookie exchange was marked by the recurring inability to the get the cookie distribution (how many of each cookie does each person take) right the first time, but went well anyway, and the traditional gift exchange was an interesting mix of "real" gifts (including the 3rd season of Futurama on DVD) and white elephant gifts (Aladdin and Toy Story on VHS, not even rewound.) Far from the largest cookie party we've hosted, but a comfortable size, allowing both of us to spend time in conversation with folks, not just bouncing from quick chat to quick chat.

For those who missed it, either due to weather or pregnancy, there's always next year :)

The party started breaking up around 9:30 - some folks running for ferries, others wanting to head west before the snow made driving even more treacherous. The last folks left around half-past midnight. We did a bit of cleaning up before hitting the sack around 1:30.

This morning we woke to another couple inches of snow, this time stuck to the street, and temperatures well below freezing. Our vacuum, which had served us faithfully for many years (neither of us can quite remember how old it is, more than 5, less than 15) self-destructed during pre-party cleanup, so after putting dinner in the slow-cooker we hopped in the Subaru (AWD FTW!) and made for Costco, where we bought a new hoover (small-h, as it's not a Hoover, more on that later).

Dawnise didnt slept particularly well and definitely feeling it, so we finished cleaning up and she settled in with a cat and some tea on the sofa. After dinner - slow-cooked shredded pork shoulder roast with mango chipotle bbq sauce - we decided to watch Scrooged (one of our holiday traditions), but we were barely 20 minutes in before Dawnise was dozing on the sofa.

I ushered her upstairs, tucked her into bed, and figure on finishing my glass of wine before turning in early myself.

Tomorrows commute promises to be interesting - as the temperature was bouncing above freezing during the day, and is expected to drop into the mid-teens over night. I anticipate a sheet of ice on the road down the hill. And since it never snows in Seattle, the populous doesn't get much practice driving in conditions like these.

Yea rah rah.