Drama Old and New - PLUS Special Edition: Wendy's Birthday

* No blog last week. We took off Thanksgiving week.

Weather: It is now totally night time by the time we arrive at 5. We had a week of clear and very cold (by Seattle standards) weather.
Attendance: Mandy, Wendy, Robin, Jerry, Ann, Steve
Drinks: Beer for Mandy, Greyhound for Wendy, Fancy-pants for Robin, 2 bourbons for Jerry, I think 3 vodka tonics of Ann and Steve arrived late and could only get in 1 beer before we left. Robin left early for a women’s dinner. Amber, our favorite giver of drinks, was off last week.
Conversation: A lot of our conversation revolved around Thanksgiving. Our trips – Wendy to Vancouver and the coast and Mandy to the Tacoma area – and some of their family interactions. Robin and Jerry and Ann and Steve had quiet dinners for 2. We discussed our food successes and disasters – poultry cooked wonderfully (Ann’s duck) and not cooked enough (Wendy’s turkey and 1 of Jerry’s 2 Cornish game hens) – and the wonders and pleasures of Cook’s Illustrated.
New Drama: Mandy has a place of her own (a studio between Freemont and Ballard) after living 3 weeks with a wacko in a house with an exploding toilet. Jerry told Mandy not to worry because he moved out of a similarly uncomfortable house situation after less than 2 months. So, what were your shortest/worst living arrangements?
Old Drama: Ann told this amazing story about her dad’s plan (who used to do contract work for the CIA) to get back a really mean girl during her middle school years. The plan involved forgery, slander and sneaking into the school during off hours. Mandy hopes to make use of this story during her MFA program.
Capitol Hill News: The last of the open businesses on the old Bimbo’s Pine Street block shut down last week. The buildings will be torn down in January.

Special Edition: Wendy’s Birthday

We saw each other again on Sunday for Wendy’s 40th. After a bit of a late start Dan (with great help from Mandy) pulled off a great dinner of pork chops, kale, apple sauce and mashed potatoes. We were at this great room at the Shilshole Bay Marina on a windy, windy, rainy, rainy afternoon. We raised a toast to Wendy using yummy Cup Cake Royal cupcakes. It made for a wonderful Sunday.
Best conversation: Wendy’s cousin Kevin told us about getting professional Christmas pictures taken of his hairless cat. Should I sign up Buster?