Busy Ass Week

Whew. What a weekend. Disneyland was more fun than I imagined it would be. Everyone would tell me how there was great stuff for adults to do, and that we'd even enjoy the kid stuff. I did have a good time. I was surprised actually. A lot of it had to do with Ed since he can bring out raucous guffaws in me anywhere, anytime. We were on our feet for over 10 hours. Planned to be at Tom & Laura's by 7:00 pm, but didn't make it until 8:30! Poor Tom. He'd worked some crazy insane hours that day and was trying mightily to keep his eyes open while talking with Ed. I'm glad the boys met though.

Yesterday was a frenzy of shopping for Ed's niece (EL) & nephews (NL & JL). They are his sister's (AL) triplets. Did you read what I just wrote? TRIPLETS!!!! Jeezaloo. All age seven. Ed napped on the couch while I went to three different Hallmark stores to get the exact ornaments they'd been wishing for. Sheesh! Stayed up until midnight wrapping and addressing.

Yesterday was also Katie's birthday. Happy 18th, Katie!!! I got her a birthday card with a woman on the front who says she went through 186 cards in order to find the perfect one, and her husband then takes a commercial break to just sign his name. That is EXACTLY what Belov-ED did yesterday. I think he napped for over seven hours.

The Bears lost tonight. Fucking sucked. Big time. Ed went to the SDSU v. Navy basketball game. I listened to the Blues while whipping up a batch of dessert for a test run. I needed to try them out before our Christmas party to make sure they'd turn out ok. My batch of strawberry mascarpone cupcakes turned out pretty good, but I think they can be better. Got the recipe from Giada. I love the Food Network!!!

I wondered what was wrong with my Dutch double chocolate chip cookies when they came out of the oven, and then realized I never added the Dutch cocoa powder. That explained why they were pale and not a chocolaty brown. Yeah, it was THAT kind of night! Lynne & the gang will be my taste testers tomorrow. Ed said he liked the cupcakes, but wasn't sure about the cookies. That's ok, Emeril Lagasse wouldn't have been sure either. It's his recipe.

This week's chock full of excitement and busy-ness. My Christmas party menu is set. Appetizers and drinks. Then a Manly Meat Lasagna (Ed's specialty), a spinach portabello four cheese lasagna, and a grilled shrimp and scallop lasagna. We'll have a mixed green salad and a chopped salad (courtesy of Lynney Love). The dessert table is going to to OFF THE HOOK. Tomorrow I'm going to test run the raspberry lemon thumb prints and candy. On Wednesday we'll get all of our recipe shopping done and begin prepping the prep-ahead stuff.

Thursday night is Navy vs. Utah at the Pointsettia Bowl!!! Now that is going to be a great time. I'm leaving work early to tailgate before the game at 6 pm. Ed was extremely upset and bummed out when Navy lost its coach to Georgia Tech last week, so they'll be playing without Paul Johnson on Thursday. I hope Navy wins so it can cheer my baby up a little bit. Go Navy!

Friday is our Secret Sante exchange at work. We had our crazy fun Christmas dinner at The Ivy last week, so this week is a bit light. Hopefully Boss Man will let us go home early on Friday like he did last week.

Baby sis S flies in on Friday night. We're going to be hangin' out and prepping for Christmas. I'm so excited to see her! We've been playing phone tag for the last week or so. It sucks not having her closer. :-(

Christmas Eve is the 5th anniversay of our first lunch together from back before Ed and I started dating. We'll return to the original scene of the crime: Longboard's! We'll have fish tacos and wax nostalgic about our memories from that day. It'll be fun because I'm sure Ed will once again point out to me how cute he thought my nubby little fingers were even back then. Thanks babe!

Then it's Christmas!!! Too bad it falls on a Tuesday though. My boss said we can come in later if we're feeling "under the weather". I think I shall be!!!

So, before I sign off and get some rest here are some pics from Saturday's trip.

The Christmas tree and holiday decorations beginning to light up as the sun began to set. It was a sight to behold actually. Very beautiful. I felt as if I were in fairy tale.
The tree earlier in the day when we first arrived.
The Haunted Mansion scared the crap out of me at first. Pretty spooky. I took lots of pics for NL since he's really into the Nightmare Before Christmas right now. It's his favorite.
Pretty castle. A little too girly for my taste, but pretty castle nonetheless. It was simply a beautiful day. Blue skies and warm sun. Castle looked cool against the day's backdrop.
By far my favorite ride, Splash Mountain. I didn't think I'd like it because I hate roller coasters, but Ed tricked me into riding. After our first 50 foot drop into water he patiently explained to me that it was not a roller coaster but a flume. I nearly gave him a fluming up his ass. Anyway, I actually ended up liking the ride so much we rode four times! Here's a pic of the wily fox with his foot on the bear's butt trying to push him into the tree. I love this picture. The bear's butt reminds me of Milo's J-Lo booty!!!
These two vulture mocked me right before our "flume" took a 50 foot plunge down a water slide. I wanted to knock them off their perch. Smug fowls. Harumph.
Can you tell how much we loved fluming on Splash Mountain? FUN!!!
Got to see Wrigley the Golden Wonder Dog. We got him a stuffed Eyore toy from Disneyland for Christmas...
...which Wrigs tore to hell and back in about 2 minutes. It was HILARIOUS. I'll post the short video later. God he was sooooo funny! Chumley Cat was also the perfect, misunderstood gentleman. I tried to get Ed to lean in for a kiss from Chums, but Ed didn't fall for it.
Tom, Laura and Wrigs. Hanging out for an hour and a half was brief, but we loved every minute. After the holidays we'll have to plan something more substantial so we can introduce our Goldens!
Guess I better head off to bed. First, I've got to get Achilles off my foot though...