Happy New Year!
With the turning of the year there inevitably come resolutions. I always tell myself not to bother because I’m probably going to do what I want to anyways, but Matt and I were out to dinner before Christmas at Tar & Roses (look how happy he is with his bone marrow!)
and got to talking about a resolution I find that I want to keep and see no reason why I can’t or won’t. Simply put he and I have both decided we are going to learn something new this year. And we don’t just mean some random fact but a whole new skill or subject. Things we have put out as options include:
Beer making
French (for Matt)
Dance (for Me)
There are of course many more possibilities but we are finding that in a lot of cases we are coming up with things we already know a little bit but want to know more. For example he wants to learn how to sharpen his knives really well, which is obviously something he already does for work, but there is so much more about it. I was hoping to improve my knitting or French. Matt also tossed out the idea of our taking a wine class. All awesome things, but they seem kind of like cheating because they aren’t truly NEW. As it’s only January I’m sure we’ll figure it out. Suggestions are welcome, too :)
As I told you last time, we didn’t give each other presents but just picked out a few things we needed/wanted together that fit our budget. One item that did get brought home (thank goodness!) was a new shower head. My fabulously talented boyfriend had it installed on Christmas Eve, all ready to go in the morning :)
We finished the night with one of my favorite Winter cocktails - Jameson and hot spiced apple cider.
Then Matt was very cute and read me The Night Before Christmas before falling asleep sitting up. He does this a lot and it’s so funny. One minute he’s wide awake talking and then *poof* he’s OUT.
Christmas morning we opened presents sent by my wonderful family in RI that had made it here in time (we are finding that for some unknown reason mail takes FOREVER to get across the country).
I made a breakfast of pumpkin pancakes with real Vermont maple syrup (another thing on our list of gifts to ourselves) with bacon for Matt and crispy potatoes (his are on the left, they were cooked in the bacon fat). He insists his tasted better than mine did, but really, when is a potato ever bad?
The rest of the holiday was rather uneventful but ended with more delicious food. It was Matt’s turn to cook and he made us lobster. I even splurged and had butter with mine. If I was stranded on a desert island with only 3 foods for the rest of my life lobster totally makes my list.
On the 26th we headed to Pasadena to visit Matt’s dad and to meet Matt’s little brother for the very first time! He was visiting for just a week and Matt was so excited to see him. It was a really lovely day. We went to Dave & Busters because that seemed like fun for everybody and it was. What is better than racing games and skeeball?
On the ride home we made a detour to see Christmas lights.
The night ended with Legos.
A very good holiday.
So, Matt has started work for Providence and he LOVES it. I’m so relieved. He comes home every night with stories of the people and the food and the customers. It seems that this is a very good fit for him. The chef is opening up another restaurant this month which will take some of the staff to run it and leave new openings at Providence. I think this is coming at a lucky time for Matt because it will give him a chance to hopefully move up quickly. He has the skills, desire and drive so it is lovely that there will be room to advance sooner rather than later. Makes me jealous, just a little, because I miss working with him. In fact, I just miss working. Still no responses to the million and two resumes I’ve sent out, but c’set la vie. Somebody will bite and I’ll get an interview.
While I wait for gainful employment I keep busy with a lot of cooking. I really enjoy it and Matt likes to come home and eat it so thats something. Yet, cooking and cleaning alone isn’t enough to fill a whole day (thank god). Even with applying for things I still have to find ways to keep myself occupied. So, I’m in the beginning stages of writing a ‘something’. Book, maybe, short story, perhaps. Just something. I have a glimmer of an idea (historical fiction) so I’ve started researching it, taking notes, and trying to clarify things in my head. If it comes to anything decent, I’ll let you know.
While Matt’s brother was still in town his dad took us all to Disneyland. I had never been to a theme park so I was excited. Also, I think going to places like that with children who are thrilled to be there make it even better. You can see it through their eyes and it’s even more fun.
Sadly it poured for a large portion of the afternoon, but that didn’t ruin the day. It just gave us an excuse to drink hot chocolate. Matt gave a lesson in rifle shooting, we all went on Pirates of the Caribbean and saw some of the evening parade.
We finished the day with a little sushi back in Santa Monica . . .
And found a cute home for the new friends Matt got me.
Now it is 2013. Matt was working on New Year’s Eve so we didn’t do anything crazy. That was fine with me, to be honest. I watched an Everybody Loves Raymond marathon and ate olives. When he did get home we opened a bottle of bubbly to make a toast, then went to bed. Not too shabby.
On the 2nd we went to the post office and found it was Christmas all over again. Presents from our wonderful families on the East Coast finally found us and it was lucky we hadn’t gotten rid of the tree yet because we were able to set it all up, make a pot of coffee, and open everything.
There you have it. Our holidays. Since then it’s been back to normal. Matt working, me trying to find work. He has a bit of a cold now which isn’t pleasant but is luckily almost gone. I broke two wine glasses in less than a month. Not really news, but it REALLY pisses me off so figured I’d vent for a minute. When did I become so flippin’ clumsy? This is a sign that I should go back to drinking wine out of a coffee mug.
Because we aren’t traveling around now there is less to write that is actually blog-worthy so I’ve decided to post about once a month. That means I’ll (hopefully) have interesting things to tell, and I’ll feel less guilty when I don’t write for a while. As my birthday is coming up in a few weeks we have reservations for a lovely bed and breakfast six hours north in wine country for the weekend. That is a topic definitely more entertaining than my breaking the glassware :)
Happy 2013!!!
