Warm and wonderful

Well, we had a fairly quiet morning and afternoon on Sunday, and that was a good thing, because it has just been full speed ahead since Sunday night.

We went out to dinner courtesy Putnam Pater and Mater, along with Otis's grandmother and her brother (visiting from San Francisco). The place was just packed to the gunwales, doing land-office business, and demonstrating all kinds of other metaphors that imply how busy it was with festive holiday merry-makers. It was a good night, and an extremely high-wattage one.

Monday morning started with brekkies, and guests Stella and Dingo. We had pancakes (Otis made everyone's initials) and appley things (in honor of INB): apple-sage field roast sausages with sauteed apple and onion, applesauce, sparkling apple cider, and Stella's fresh-made (still warm) apple crumble. It was quite the spread. We were joined late in the meal by E-rik and Silvio, fresh from their own brunch with some guppie friends in the neighborhood. We whiled away a pleasant morning (?) together until about 2:00 pm, when it was time for our guests to head off to the movies, and for Otis and I to head up to the Putnam Compound in LFP.

The afternoon comprised a gathering of the full Putnam clan, all kith and kin: dinner for nine. Happily, dinner was take-out Chinese food, so not only was it totally yummy, but no one had to do any kitchen fussing! It was a great day, with everyone in a good mood, and lots of fun abounding. My own good times were abetted by two phone call from afar: Neds skyped in from Spain to catch up before she went to bed, and MaryBee called from sunny Florida for a holiday check-in. It was swell to hear from absent friends.

At the end of the day, it was a good holiday, filled with all the positive energy that a holiday should have.

Now, it's more or less back to work, although there's still some visiting on the agenda this week. Otis has massage appointments lined up, I have prep work to do for school, and there's a job to be found out there. And of course, we need to rest up for the New Year's Eve fest!