Weekend Review

It was holiday-cheer jam-packed weekend. Pretty awesome. Friday night was the Genetics Department holiday party, so lots of mingling with professors and fellow students, drinking wine and eating what we decided was themed "Fried Foods from Around the World." Eggplant Parmesan, spring rolls, hush puppies, it was bizarre. Trent came, said hello to my boss and his four year old daughter who I had secretly fed about 6 petit fours to (awesome) and was bouncing off the walls, and grabbed a box of pulled pork (his favorite), and we left.

Home to meet up with assistant coach Thomas before picking up Stephen and Amanda. We all headed over to the Masters Crew team holiday party. Very fit and enthusiastic "seasoned" rowers. We enjoyed delicious desserts and wine and good conversation. Finally around midnight, we headed home, forgoing joining up with friends who were out at bars.

Trent was up early to go to Raleigh with Stephen and 10 junior high boys from Durham who were promised fun outings if they got good grades in a community outreach program. They all went BMX biking on a closed course, with rental bikes and full face helmets. Sounds like they had a great time, Trent was exhausted when he got home. Meanwhile, Sadie and I went on a run, and then I cleaned like crazy getting ready for our trip and houseguests when we get home (yay!). Having a dog who sheds and hardwood floors is an interesting experience. I was just getting Sadie out of the tub, after I realized she was causing all the dustbunnies, when Amanda came over. We wrapped presents, made candles, and discussed their upcoming wedding and such.

Trent, Stephen and Jersey came over soon after and the boys made a huge pile of nachos with leftover pulled pork and the dogs played like crazy in the newly fenced yard. Muddy creatures, so much for her bath. They had a great time though. We hung out for a bit before we headed out to do errands. Donations of old clothes, last minute Christmas shopping (I am nearly done!), and a trip to Lowe's for the inevitable home repairs. I was being a bit mopey about not having a Christmas tree this year, when we decided on a compromise. Introducing the...


Christmas Gardenia Bush! We decided that a live plant that we will enjoy for years is a much better plan this year, and we got one big enough to handle some lights and a few ordaments. I put it on a table in front of our big bay window so folks walking their dogs to the park can enjoy our craftyness as well. I love it. Home from shopping and Trent napped while I made delicious mushroom puff pastery goodies before heading over to Elizabeth's house for another Christmas party. I wore my new JCrew dress, which really does demand a peacock feather accessory of some sort, and had a great time catching up with friends and drinking hot toddies, thanks to Deirdre. Our friends Su and Chris just got engaged so it was fun to hear about that. Trent "McGyver-ed" the sink when the handle broke mid-party and we headed home around midnight.

Sunday was a work day. Trent and Stephen had gone to ReStore after BMX-ing and found a perfect set of wood shutters for the house. We sanded them and spray painted them glossy black and installed them (pics in next post). We also put up numbers on a spray painted drawer front that Trent has hundreds of. Long story. But the house looks fantastic. We worked and worked, and then Stephen came over to work and the dogs played like mad, and I had to stop into work for a bit. Home to wash the dog, yet again, and get ready for our last Christmas party of the weekend, at Paul and Sheila's house. They are friends from Davis who recently moved here and just finished their townhouse. Fun to mingle with new folks and try all sorts of Swedish (she is originally from there) holiday treats. We left around 9pm, came home and crashed. Busy weekend! But so fun to share it with great friends, I love that we had three completely independent gatherings to attend. And making such visible progress on the house was awesome.

Some gratitous dog pictures. Sadie, pre-bath, sporting her Christmas outfit.


Sadie after her two exhausting play sessions, and two scrub downs. She looks a bit fatigued. But so fluffy!