Poe, Restaurant Week and Storage Solution

The19th of January was Edgar Allan Poe's birthday and the first day of Restaurant Week in our town. They don't have anything in common apart from occurring on the same day - which happens to fall at a time of year when there's absolutely nothing else to do that doesn't involve nearly freezing to death, leaving the country or drinking yourself into an early grave. Hmmm, maybe there is a connection to the author after all.   

His Madness and I started out with Peking Duck and Ahi Tuna at the country club. Obviously, it's no longer a members only situation, these days they let anyone in. The food was great but the decor was so preppy it looked like a Ralph Lauren store had exploded. After the three course meal, wine, drinks, and being surrounded by too much plaid, HM and I decided to watch a movie. In honor of Poe's birthday we settled on The Raven, a movie we had been meaning to watch for about a decade. Since our expectations were low we were surprised when it turned out to be not that bad, although watching the gory details after a big meal was not a good idea.

A few days later we found ourselves at a new, hip, pizza place. The food was excellent but having grown up on a farm I can't look at industrial chic and not think about how painfully hot that galvanized roofing would get in the summer. (One of the most dreaded chores was having to nail the roof on the chicken coop back down after storms.) Then there's those metal chairs, they fit in great with the decor but why do they have to be so uncomfortable?   

Meanwhile, back at Chez Madness, Burt and Ivy along with one unhelpful kitty, were finally getting around to taking down the Christmas trees. This year we all agreed not to try to break our record of keeping the decorations up until Valentine's Day.

 

It did not get off to a good start. Spenser, decided he had a better use for the basket. 

Eventually, the reluctant kitty moved elsewhere and The Crew got to work.

Christmas ornaments, not only are they great earrings . . .

. . . but snotty noses, too. Yuck!

Apparently the Crew were trying Spenser's patience. 

Finally, all the ornaments were removed and it was time to pack up the first tree. Since Burt had disappeared, it was up to Ivy and Kibitz to wrestle it into the bag and down to the basement. 

 

Surprise! Burt was hiding in the bag, waiting for the chance to scare everyone.

He just can't help himself.

They weren't really all that frightened and agreed it was a pretty good prank.

 Since Burt was so happy in the storage bag, Ivy and Kibitz thought he might as well stay there. So they added the tree, zipped it shut and shoved it under the stairs in the basement. Then, after all their hard work they decided it was time to relax and maybe enjoy a glass of Amontillado.

They'll let him out, eventually.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

  

The Holiday Crazies

Normally, Friday the 13th would be the perfect reason to do a spooky blog post, right? Unfortunately, due to experiencing my second slightly disastrous Christmas in a row, my house is currently in full tilt Happy Holiday mode, without one creepy corner (outside of the basement) to photograph the Crew in. Oh, well, there's another one coming - in October, ha!

We're probably not the last people with our decorations still up, at least I hope so. In my defense, it seems like I just got it all done. When your friends and relatives are scattered from coast to coast, Christmas becomes more of a concept than a specific date on the calendar. For our family, it's been a fluid holiday for a long time and since I tend to be a serial procrastinator, that can be both a good and a bad thing. We've never managed to get together prior to the 25th, but usually we celebrate before New Years. Once it even stretched into late January, still all that really matters is that we get to see each other and have a good time. 

This holiday season started out pretty typically . . . for us. During last year's fiasco with my broken ankle and the non-existence of fresh cut trees, we bought an artificial one for our living room. No matter how much I wanted to go back to a real tree, it just didn't make sense. We did get a fresh wreath and garland for the front porch so at least our car got to smell like Christmas.

The rest of the decorating went smoothly and by Christmas most of it was done!

Ivy took the photos for the yearly card and even got them in the mail in time.

Burt and Kibitz were very cooperative and held really still.

There were still cookies to bake, presents to wrap and some complicated ethnic recipes to puzzle out, but the preparations were moving along. 

Then the first virus came down the chimney, followed by a few of its friends. They weren't serious and didn't take too long to get over (the worst parts, anyway) but they just kept coming. At least it did provided an opportunity to get the online shopping done.

Plus Spenser was happy to have someone to keep him company while he watched YouTube.

In the end we coughed and sneezed our way through to the New Year and had a good time, too. Then while driving back from the airport, it dawned on me that I didn't take one single photo! What? Apparently being so focused on what hadn't been done, made me forget about what was really important, duh! The lesson I've finally learned from the last two Christmases is that you never know what's going to happen so it's a good idea to plan for the worst. I think hope for the best, plan for the worst is the actual saying but maybe it should also include, and don't forget to take pictures!

A belated Happy Holidays to everyone who celebrates.

Happy New Year and Happy Friday the 13th, thanks for stopping by!