Life with Boose and Finch

Christmas worked out pretty well. We did Christmas Eve with B's grandpa and mom at PF Changs and did a present exchange and play pool at B's grandpa's house afterwards. Dinner at Sharon's on Christmas Day was also nice, but we're noticing it's starting to get more difficult for her. We may start taking her and Denise out for Christmas dinner starting next year because it's cutting into hangout/talking and isn't as relaxing as it used to be. Ro got almost everything he wanted for Christmas though he's starting to question more seriously if Santa is real. I'm trying to move him into the "open secret" direction. We'll see how it goes. Ro got a new football, Arthur (PBS cartoon) sock set, Peanuts comics, and gift cards. He's been trying to find an excuse to grab anyone he can to go out and throw around his football. Everyone got petanque bags in their stockings. Santa also gave B a measuring stick and light-up cochenette, but B and...

I've had mixed feelings about this being a holiday for awhile - what with celebrating colonization and all. We had a nice day though. For a few years, B's mom had wanted to host Thanksgiving, but B wanted us to bring the turkey. I refused to transport a hot turkey in the car, and so this meant showing up 3-5 hours earlier than when dinner was expected to start to make the turkey at her house. I asked why we couldn't just host. This year B asked me to make two lasagnas, and I did. One was turkey and kale (fresh so I de-stemmed and used it like spinach). The other was cauliflower and eggplant. The tastes of both were good, but I didn't have enough sauce so they turned out a little on the drier side. I'll remember to add in more diced tomatoes to cut the jar sauce next time. I had already added in 5 cloves of garlic, half an onion, and a can of diced tomatoes plus a few extra spices to a large jar of pre-made Kroger sauce (though from Foods Co.), but I think it was t...

We have a ten-year-old! He was excited for his birthday and wanted a laid back last day of being nine. So, I picked him up early for a doctor's appointment, and got him a flu shot. He then was hungry for chicken, so we went to one of his favorite restaurants, Smash Bros Bistro for a chicken sandwich. The owner was nice and changed the tv channel to videos of airshows on YouTube while he ate. We watched Modern Family after we got home and went to bed at a decent hour. On his actual birthday, he woke up with B at 5am. I had been up late wrapping the present I bought and had been hiding in my car. Luckily, he's not into keeping track of what I keep in the trunk area of the Jeep or he would have found the RC airplane sooner. He waited until I woke up at 9am to open that and his other presents and loved that one the most. He wanted to take it out right away, but I looked at the box and saw a note that we should check local ordinances. So, I checked and found a local RC airplane clu...

I hope today is going ok for you. It feels like it's been busy, but I don't know that much new has been going on since my last post. Mom came to visit in time for Ro's joint theater birthday party yesterday and will be heading out tomorrow. We saw Howl's Moving Castle. It came out when I was in high school, but I never saw the whole movie. It was really pretty and there was a lot going on. I think I might go back and read the book. The kids seemed to enjoy the movie even though it was also really long. We all looked over at where all the kids were sitting and it looked like someone dumped a large bucket of popcorn straight on the floor. The other kid's mom watched everyone to see who was trying to leave the theater for whatever reason (more drinks, bathroom, etc) and kept everyone together. It was a much smaller group this year even with having a joint party. The ads in the beginning were the worst - they took up almost a whole hour before the movie actually starte...

Thirty-seven feels like it'll be the same as thirty-six. The weirder part is that I've been remembering how old I am. I had been calling myself thirty until I turned thirty-five. Now I'm actually numbering the ages. I can always remember Ro's age. I usually do math to figure out B's age. Everyone else is harder to remember. August went by pretty quickly. Ro went to WA for two weeks. Emmy came to visit during that time. Usually, we have a trip or something lined up, but we just stayed home and played petanque instead. She broke up with her bf though they had been together for fourteen years and living together for 12-13 of them. He has a terminal health issue that causes him a lot of pain and makes him depressed, but he wasn't doing anything to help himself - even letting her help him. He had quit his job sometime in 2024 without having anything else lined up. Things seemed tense when I drove up to help take care of their dogs so they could go to a wedding. I h...

The car radio has been working fine. But then B accidentally knocked my mounted microphone behind the dashboard with the sun shade. The Jeep was due for an oil change so I took time yesterday morning to do the oil change, and then take apart the center panel to fish everything back where it needs to be. I remounted the microphone in a new spot where it may be less affected, but maybe I'll try to get better mounting tape to keep it in place. Anna said the sound wasn't affected by it being in the dash, but I feel like it works better when it's out.  B and I made it out for a trip at the end of June to see Shakira in San Francisco. She played a really good show. There were four little girls that were sitting behind us who knew the words to many of her Spanish songs and it was adorable to have that chorus behind us. She had quite a few props like a giant inflatable wolf for her encore. I realized that I know more of her music in Spanish than English, but of course she sang anyt...