fossilfreak | Thanksgiving

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 560

201.9 miles

fog

371 recordings of 33 types, 8 old SVU, 32 CPD. 23% clear. (And my remote has pretty much died so I am getting a new one, but this is going to be worse before it gets better.)

I left really early on Thanksgiving so I could go with Roni and Teddy to his hockey game in Fremont! I put Pharoah's food in the doghouse so it wouldn't get rained on, and I figured that way he wouldn't eat it all immediately. He's afraid of the doghouse for some reason, and I planned to get it hauled away, but thought I would at least try to give him some comfort overnight.

It was foggy to start with but at least traffic to Novato wasn't too bad. I could see it was worse in the other direction. I arrived before 9 (which is when I told Roni I would call if I couldn't make it.) We drove to Fremont and then it was wait and wait around, so I walked over to the REI and picked up a geocache. Then I was starving, so had chicken strips (and they took so long they probably had to go catch a chicken!) and watched the beginning of the game from the bar, then joined Roni for the second two periods. Teddy's team lost, 9-2. This was not a surprise, as apparently this year they're pretty awful.

Most of the team parents, from Santa Rosa and Sebastipol and points north, were staying in a hotel in Milpitas, but Roni had to go back for Thanksgiving and then would be there Friday and Saturday nights. The game on Friday was early and she would have to leave Novato by 6 AM! We started back and got into a couple of major traffic jams before we got to Oakland.

We were back in Novato about 3:45 or so. R.J. had been cooking the turkey. He made me a margarita (he makes wonderful margaritas!) and I made up the relish tray. Then I told everyone (Monica and Mark, Genevieve and Charlotte, as well as Roni's family) not to touch it till R.J.'s mother and brother came. (Roni said they wouldn't care but Jan (the brother) actually did admire it and try the rolled olives.) Teddy called it a peacock!! Next year I will do this again, as it comes out better than the train, but also we won't wait for the slowpokes to arrive!

I was feeling really bitter about Bernadette and family, in Oregon. I asked if they'd seen Marie, the ostensible reason we'd gone there, and B. said no, they were really there for Joan. Lucky Joan. Grrrr. Monica doesn't understand "Grandma camp." I pointed out that a lot of people do that (we never did, because usually we lived too far away and then my Mom lived with us.) She says she enjoys her kids and it's not that long until they're gone. In any case, it's still true that Joan sees more of the kids than I do. I said it would be like I saw more of their kids than Helena. Turns out she doesn't see that much of them anyway, but of course having her husband ill made a difference. Anyway, Monica was amazed at how much I see the kids. Once a week, and some weekends, not all that much. If Rich were alive, it would likely be less, but hey, what else do I have to do?

Allan and family were at Max's girlfriend's parents this time. I was sorry to hear that, had hoped to see them. I'd been thinking of visiting a couple of weeks earlier, before I had the leaky pipe problems.

It was a nice dinner. Kathy is not looking well, as they warned me, but was pleasant enough, no worse than usual.

After everyone left I told R.J. he had to try the Amarula. He did, and I don't think he liked it much, but I did! I had had an awful lot to drink this day.

Friday I woke impossibly early and couldn't get back to sleep. So I read, and got up when Roni started moving around, and packed up and left just before she and Teddy left for Fremont. It was a bit foggy here and there, and I actually appreciated it over the Yolo causeway, where it kept the rising sun out of my eyes.

The dog was fine, but hadn't had any food. He may have tried, because some was spilled out of the bowl but it was pushed back in the doghouse further than I'd put it. He was really happy to see me, and very hungry. Also, apparently he didn't sleep at all, because he was pretty well comatose the rest of the day. (So was I, in fact.)

I finished In The Best Families, which was wonderful. Wolfe leaves the house for 5 months(!) in order to get rid of the gangster. I am now reading:

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Pepys' Diary; Embarrassments by PJ Nel; Shattered, Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes; The Little World of Don Camillo, Giovanni Guareschi; and Murder by the Book, Rex Stout.