Holiday recap

It's been a long break for the holidays. We went back east from December 22 until Jan 2. Dec. 25 was Chris's mom's 60th birthday, so that took precedence over Christmas.

For her birthday, all of her kids and their spouses came in (8 of us + 4 grandkids). We made a big dinner. When I say we, I mean mostly me because I'm the sole vegetarian and the least likely to get anything edible if other people cook. We made:
the most amazing mushroom soup ever (Hungarian Mushroom Soup from the WaPo; made by me)
My special salad: spinach and spring greens w/ apples, homemade candied walnuts, craisins, goat cheese, red onions (which I pick out but other people love), and my homemade raspberry vinaigrette (me)
Cranberry chutney (from a recipe from Chris's mom; made by me)
Squash & Walnut dish (me)
Green beans almondine (me)
Stuffing (Chris's oldest brother)
Turkey (Chris)
Apple pie (Chris)
Pumpkin pie ("joint" effort: Chris made the crust and I the filling)
Chocolate cake (Chris's oldest brother)

There was a lot of food for 15 of us. The soup basically disappeared even though I made a double portion. The salad, plain green beans (not a casserole), and squash maybe were a little too west coast and obviously, um, healthy for some, but everyone at least tried everything, and Chris's mom liked it all, which was really the important thing. I've never had to cook so much for such a large group, and I learned a bit about the importance of delegating tasks. It went fairly smoothly, though, and we had some good leftovers for the next couple days.

In terms of Christmas, I managed to finish all of the presents by Christmas day (Chris's dad's scarf, which was only needed on the 26 anyway). Chris's mom is likely allergic to her scarf (I bought 100% alpaca because I thought it was just lamb's wool that bothers her!), which is obviously awesome. I think, in the future, I just won't make scarfs for her; bags and things will do. Everyone else seemed to really appreciate their gifts, though Chris's dad's girlfriend definitely appreciated it more than he did. I have pictures of a lot of these that need to be posted, but that will have to wait. Here's what I made for people (with some links):
My mom: Socks (unfinished picture)
My dad: WVU scarf (using a type of farrow/broken/mistake rib with 2 stripes of gold at the ends on a blue background)
My sister: slouchy beret (pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret)
My uncle: WVU scarf (pattern: Patriot Scarf)
My aunt: green, lace hat: (pattern: Foliage)
Chris's mom: itchy, rash-inducing, super soft 100% alpaca scarf (pattern: Short Row Rib)
Chris's mom's partner: Redskins scarf (similar to the WVU scarf but burgundy and gold instead)
Chris's dad: grey, baby alpaca, staggered rib scarf (pattern: Staggered Rib Scarf)

Once we were done in MD, we left the huge, overwhelming, all-family party for WV on Dec. 27. Actually, we stayed in MD some more because my parents rented a condo in Deep Creek, MD near the Wisp ski resort. This was a very odd occurrence, as my mother isn't active, and my dad doesn't ski or anything (though they both used to cross country ski). It was actually nice, a lot less stressful than being in their house for the holidays, and we had a hot tub, a wii, and lots of beer. My sister, her boyfriend, and another friend of hers were all there, so we had some people close in our age range. I discovered that I really, really enjoy classical cross country skiing. I'm happy to find a winter sport, as I don't really enjoy downhill skiing or snowboarding or skate skiing (which must make me an awful cyclist, as everyone seems to do that). Becky and her boyfriend found a brew pub in Deep Creek, which had flatbread pizzas including on that had brie and berries on it and was about the best thing I've ever had. Their beer was decent, even by my standards.

After this excursion, we went to Morgantown for one night. We got to see a bunch of people from over there but not for that long. I also visited my grandmother in the nursing home that she's been in for only a couple months. She's 94 or older, and her physical and mental abilities have just been disintegrating over the past couple years, so it's good to see her in a place where she can get the care that she needs. I was surprised by the quality of the nursing home: it seemed really well run, lots of activities and community involvement (local schools and pets visit a lot), and they bake their own bread and other baked goods, which I've never heard of. Anyway, it's always a bit depressing to see how much she's changed since I was in college, but I'm glad we went. After visiting her, Chris and I drove back to MD, saw the fireworks in Baltimore (just some light rain and no super heavy wind with cancelled fireworks like last year), and hung out with another friend from high school, her husband, and their obsessive dog. The next day, we watched the Gatorbowl with them, too, which was disappointing but whatever.

We flew back on the 2, which only about 15 minutes to make our connection in Detroit. I have finally used the light rail, now, and it was very pleasant. As we got off the bus with our huge bags, the driver said, "Welcome back," and Chris and I both commented on how much we love Seattle, despite the distance from family.