Family Christmas.

I love the sound of cars driving through snow on the streets.
I love the noises all muffled in the white.
And weirdly, the smell of exhaust accompanied by freezing cold.
I love warm winter drinks and a lit christmas tree in the dark. 

I love spending 4 days with my cousins that I see every 4 years.  And that my grandma, who is 90, is still taking care of business. 
I don't mind that my nieces are getting taller than me. 
And that the wind chill makes it feel like -25°F

I like sledding
and that I got to go in an actual ice fishing hut and watch my cousin cut through 18 inches of ice to get to those fish.  
And playing dominoes, and Trou du Cul

And I really like sledding at 12:01 on New Years with my sister and her husband and my 10-year-old niece.

The food tour

So the first thing anyone wants to do when they come home is to eat all the food they can't find where they live.  I am no exception.
SOMEBODY PLEASE GET ME A LARGE PORTABLE DRINK for my hand and some TEX MEX in my belly.
You'd think I would at least go for quality, but no.   


Mint M&M's
Egg Nog filled doughnut
Wendy's Junior Cheeseburger Deluxe
Root Beer (and I don't even like root beer)
Butter Rum Life Saver's
Charleston Chews
Taco Bell (such a dissapointment)
Peppermint Candy Canes
Pecan Pie Latte
Gingerbread White Chocolate Mocha
Dr Pepper
Cinnamon Bears
Nibs
and we're only on day 3...

My outfit...

"I ride horses"

drinking & blogging

Thoughts:

I should maybe not get too drunk at book club.

I want to move in to the ridiculously nice club called the Little Red Door.  They make cocktails like me: short, strong and straight to the point.


Another thing to add to the "reasons it is good to be short" list:

Happy Meals


I was so sad to be separating from my book club friends: 2 girls going for mexican food and 2 girls who read and discussed the book (because those are the important details).  And since last time I went to the Little Red Door and had 2 cocktails, I learned my lesson (they are very strong) and decided to go to McDonald's and have a bite....by myself....at 23h.  Doesn't that just sound sad.  It did to me.  Almost all the way on my metro home.
But then I got out of the metro 1 stop early and saw some bitchy 18 year old french girl and was SO glad I wasn't her in her little french bitchy box, in her little outfit and glasses and long hair and hat, and her aire of bored irritation.
And I went to McDonald's and ordered a happy meal (because I am short and it's all I need!  Plus TOYs and yogurt!).  And instead of it being super sad and gray, by myself, with a dead phone (so I couldn't even pretend to have friends), I ordered my food at the little computer screen and it told me there was table service.  I sat myself down and some nice girl came over and gave me my happy meal.  And she even SMILED at me.  It was like a commercial.
And I had a really nice 15 minutes, all by myself. 

Professor

Guess who took a French teacher?  No, it wasn't you.
I did!
He is very nice and very proper.  He comes to my house and, in a very organized format, corrects my French.  I will say that I think he takes a certain delight in it.  They all do, (the French).  They all take delight in correcting you.
It has been beaten into them so hard that they can't help themselves from doing the same.
I almost have sympathy for them
...until they interrupt me,
mid-conversation
to explain how I have made a grammar mistake.

And then I want to swear at them in French. Which I don't do. 
It takes a lot for me to swear in French.  I'll swear in my own language, but it takes a special kind of asshole to elicit French swearing. 

Meat butter

Why you start with the most rich & heavy piece of the meal, I'll never know.

I like butter
I like butter a lot
This is Meat Butter. Ok well it is some poor duck's liver. 
But it tastes like meat butter. 
It is so rich that you have to put LOADS of salt and vinegary onions confit on it.
And then you load it on some bread. 
And that is your appetizer.  Or in French "entrée"
It's commonly served at Christmas.  Thankfully we will be in angloland this year because it is December 2nd and I am already all meat buttered out.