Home Again

Is this what mornings look like in your house? Everyone on their computers/tablets/pads? This was us every morning and right before we went to bed.

Saturday morning, we got our running gear on and ran for 5 miles through that pretty park we had walked through Thanksgiving afternoon. The smell of pine is so refreshing!

Then it was time to prepare for a Meet the Author party that Tina organized. Meaning she asked her friends if they wanted to come over for a cocktail party and buy a book signed by its very writer and they all jumped at the idea (I'm pretty sure the cocktail part was the main draw, but am fine with that). Tina loves to cook, so always has all these fun kitchen gadgets. This one was an ice cream machine. You just put frozen fruit in the thing, nothing else, and it immediately comes out the consistency of ice cream. Hmmm.






Next up - samosas. Of course, this put Tina and Michael head to head in a race to the finish. Guess who won?

 

Then it was time to gain some new Idiot fans and sign a few books. Just like my last book signing, this was a lot of fun.

At one point, Tina and Ron made a quick speech full of encouragement and support, and I got a little teary eyed. Hugs! Their new friends easily welcomed Michael and me into the the group as well, and we appreciated their enthusiasm.






When it came time to go to bed, Tina broke out this DVD. It's a crackling fire. Ooooh, it does feel hot! We ended up sleeping with it on - we liked the crackles in the surround sound.

And then at 4am, we all had to get up to make the trip back to the ferry. Zzzzz. It was 46 degrees out. I forgot the joy of having frost on the car and seeing my breath in the crisp air.  I wouldn't mind forgetting it again.









This time the ferry left 20 minutes late and the trip took just over 4 hours. I think their published time of 3 1/2 hours is a bit ambitious. Thankfully, the ride was smooth enough that everyone kept their breakfasts down and we were able to sit inside.

Upon our return, the cats refused to come greet us. When they did come out, they refused to let us touch them. Eventually, they forgave us and everything's back to normal.



It's 3:30pm. Is it too early to go to bed?