Update, Beer Weight, Bird Weight

UPDATE

This weekend seemed so long that on Saturday by mid morning we both felt like we’d been off for a couple of days already!  I’m not complaining though and this morning, for the same reason that the weekend seemed long, I feel like crap!  Haha

Thursday after work I’d planned a girl’s dinner for five of us.  We all used to work together and now some of the girls have moved on but we try to get together at least once a year and this past Thursday was that day.  It was a good time, chicken Caesar salad for dinner and a couple glasses of wine.  Friday night after work we met Ray’s daughter and husband at the same pub for dinner and then they came back to our house for further drinks and to decorate our Christmas tree.  Since they are going to Mexico the week before Christmas they figured they would get their Christmas fix with our tree.  It turned out beautifully (Andrea and I decorated while Ray and Jay drank and hurled helpful hints from the sofa).  It’s the first time that our ornaments have been on the same tree together and it’s a beautiful mix.

BEER WEIGHT

Saturday morning I got up early and left Ray asleep in bed.  Went and dropped my car off for service and came home and grabbed his truck to head to the mall.  It was really nice having some alone time with just my coffee and my shopping list and no time pressure at all.  Blissful, really.  I was able to finish all my “listed” Christmas shopping by noon on Saturday and I’m ready for this coming Saturday’s wrapping party (more on that later).  Saturday afternoon we took part in a most beloved Christmas tradition and took a nap in front of the Christmas tree.  As great as a Christmas nap is, the actual point of it was to get ready for Secret Birthday.  Again, same pub as Thursday & Friday, but another group of friends.  (this is most unusual, we’re not that social normally!).  We got together with 3 other couples at the pub for drinks and dinner and had a really great time!  We stayed at the pub until about 11, heard the live band (not bad!) and played the 12 Days of Christmas singing game.  The pub has been running it for 35 years; they separate into 12 groups and then the whole pub sings through the song and the loudest, most boisterous “Day” wins a round. 

Anyway, fun times.  The John B also has a Beer Advent Calendar where, each day in December, a different beer is featured for $3/pint.  Being such a good deal I took advantage of it for Secret Birthday and drank many several of the Granville Island Winter Ale.  SO delicious and festive.  I was also feeling very delicious and festive….until Sunday morning when a wet dog snout woke me up at 8am.  I fed the beast and then went to lay on the couch under a blanket for a little while before getting going for the day and ended up sleeping until noon.  Woops!  Another unfortunate side effect of Beer Advent Calendar is the four pounds I gained overnight.  Stupid stomach reaction to beer!  I’m not too stressed about it, but it’s a bit of a piss off.  Totally worth it this time, though, Secret Birthday only comes around once a year!

BIRD WEIGHT

After laying about for the greater part of the day on Sunday, Ray’s son came by and we all took the dog for a long walk and then Ray and I took off to the book store and the grocery store.  Our grocery list was fairly small for this week so I thought we were going to get away with a weenie little grocery bill.  Until we found our Christmas turkey!  We’ve been arguing back and forth about how big of a bird we need for 13 people, plus leftovers.  Most formulas online say 1-1.5 pounds of bird weight per person.  Since we’re also having a ham, it’s been a debate over the bird size.  We found a turkey that we liked the size of and did a quick calculation while in the grocery store and agreed that it was definitely the bird for us!  Upon getting Bird-man home, we recalculated and discovered that our new fowl is 30.5 pounds!  So…..woops.  Secretly I’m happy that it’s huge, I was the one who wanted a huge turkey and now….well….I have a HUGE turkey!  Plus, after using the discount that we earn at Thrifty’s, the thing only cost us $15.

That’s about all that I’ve got for you today. We’ve been pretty much consumed with Christmas preparations.  Happily, we’re almost done with all of it.  We’ll have our Wrapping Party this coming Saturday and then we’re done until it’s time to actually start cooking for Christmas.  I prefer it this way, instead of loading all the stress and effort at the end of the month, we’ve spread it out as much as we could and so far it’s worked really well.

Off to get some work done, fantasize about winning the lottery and have a cup or two of tea!

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