Between Holidays

The week after Christmas we ate lots of leftover turkey and I was on pager duty for three days. I only had to work for a few hours and I didn't mind at all. My pager didn't actually go off, but I had other Blackboard support duties. That Tuesday night, we watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which DC gave me for my birthday. I enjoyed watching it a second time and my mom didn't even fall asleep once.

On Wednesday night, that week, my dad and I went to the Melting Pot, to use the gift certificate that E&ES gave us for taking care of the turtles in fall of 2004. It was pouring rain the whole way and it's in North Raleigh, so it wasn't the most pleasant drive. The food more than made up for it. We had Traditional Swiss cheese fondue for four people, one sirloin and shrimp entree (substituting more shrimp for the sirloin, since we don't eat beef) and solid dark chocolate fondue for dessert. The best part was that our waiter also allowed us to subtitute in the dessert, so we only dipped pineapple, strawberries and marshmallows! I think fruit dipped in chocolate is just heavenly.

Throughout the week, we had fun with the Geomag set that JH gave me. If I recall correctly, I made the pooched out dodecahedron on the left and my dad made the small icosohedron on the right. Basically, the supporting pentagon pieces had to pooch out in order for the shape to stay stable enough. They couldn't be depressed inside, because they hit each other.

On Friday, my parents and I visited JJ and JA. My parents hadn't seen their new Old House before, so that was a treat for them. Their garage is so awesome and their house is really beautiful. It was fun visiting with all of them, including their beagles.

That night, my dad and I went to Vinnie's, so I could do something about my tomtato sauce withdrawl symptoms by eating a plate of four cheese ravioli with red sauce.

On New Year's Eve, my dad and I watched the first half of the PBS Bob Dylan documentary, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Mom consoled FIFO during potential fireworks. We happily shared a bottle of sparkling apple cider. Happy New Year everyone!