<p>NM, I hope the rash/hives is gone and that you’ve identified a cause.</p>
<p>Zetesis, how did the three kings bread turn out? What is in it?</p>
<p>S1 and H are now grocery shopping; S2 working on a scholarship application. I’m appreciating the quiet time.</p>
<p>Thanks,FallGirl! I 'm now in S1’s apartment in DC waiting for the Redskins game to start. Made my reservation on Open Table for lunch tomorrow at Rasika. We just bought 4 tickets on Stubhub for the Wizards game tomorrow night(S1’s gf is going too) so I am looking forward to a fun day tomorrow in DC. Hope everyone has had a nice weekend!</p>
<p>Moda – get thee to the guest room. If you catch H’s cold, you might find that surgery is rescheduled. </p>
<p>Welcome Mycroft!</p>
<p>We’ve de-decorated all but the lights on the upper gables, so I guess the holidays are over now. D flew back yesterday with some ridiculously heavy luggage (thank you Southwest!) including a whole butternut squash we never found a good day to cook. (I don’t like it except for the Whole Foods butternut squash crab bisque, which must have evil ingredients to make squash taste that good.) </p>
<p>Kind of sad…D’s last semester. It will be the change of an era for us. She’s a bit panicked on the thesis front – she just found out that it is due sometime in March even though she doesn’t graduate until the beginning of May. She got about a dozen pages of it written over break, though as she said, those were the easy pages. Now comes the more challenging data manipulation and analysis. But…her super lightweight class for the semester includes a baby day where they round up a bunch of toddlers and bring them into class for the students to work/play with. She’s happy at that thought. And, the class is supposed to be taught by a fabulous professor, so that should help too.
(Anyone see the story about the new cat coffeehouse opening in London? Get a coffee, and a chance to pet some very happy, mellow cats. Apparently popular in Asia, where pets aren’t allowed in a lot of apartments, and apparently the no-pet rule also applies in a lot of London flats. I think something like that could be a real success on college campuses. Maybe a cat one on one side, and a dog one on the other?)</p>
<p>Such a good weekend …my S2 (getting his MPP this spring ) and my S3 (my original 2013er) came in for the weekend, and S3’s BFF also came to stay for the weekend. We have done a whole bunch of nothing but football and eating, but I don’t care…It is just so nice to have them home.</p>
<p>Both of my boys are so stressed about graduating and going out in to the real world that H and I didn’t say a word about post-graduation plans this weekend. We know they are doing what they need to do in this regard, and just hope they both land in a good place this spring. They each have several versions of their cv, are using the career centers, their professors, their professional networks, their mentors…</p>
<p>Moda - maybe your local library would like the encyclopedias. Our library takes books and has a corner where they sell gently used books. I have an old, old set of encyclopedias from my grandfather and our we all enjoy them… they are interesting to look through and I wanted them when my mother was thinking of tossing them. I couldn’t part with them so now we have them. </p>
<p>Hope NM is better… allergic reactions are no fun. I wonder if it was coconut oil…it seems to be showing up more often, and touted as a healthy oil. </p>
<p>Interesting take on Les Miz… opinions seem to be all over the place with some loving it; others not so keen on it. We saw Lincoln on Friday and thought it was quite good. Les Miz is on our list for next weekend. We try to take MIL out on Fridays and have to work out the timing since she is in assisted living now and is eager to get out and about, but she travels with her walker and is so much weaker than just a year ago. It’s easier to go to earlier movies that aren’t too crowded but that takes a bit of planning with our work schedules and her schedule to fit in a dinner and a movie. Lincoln was a long movie and they had locked up the place before we brought her home. She had to call to be let in ‘past curfew.’</p>
<p>We talked a bit with our son about plans after graduation… and encouraged him to use the services of his school now to work on his resume, find alumni contacts, network and talk to profs for suggestions and ideas. He wasn’t home very long so we hated to nag, but I think we had a few meaningful conversations. Sometimes I’m not sure if we are making an impact; sons can go silent and we sometimes wonder what he’s thinking… it is a stressful time and he keeps some of his thoughts to himself.</p>
<p>Kings bread – last night I was mixing a batch with a new recipe that was essentially a brioche; this one had orange peel in it; I didn’t put in the nut filling to save a few calories. It wasn’t rising at all, so I mixed up another batch that was essentially just cinammon roll dough, shaped like a crown, closer to what I usually make.</p>
<p>The orange brioche was, frankly, awful. It just tasted like medicine or something. I tossed it. The other loaf was fine. D2 got the prize (the hidden almond, in this case)…</p>
<p>Mycroft, we liked Lincoln a lot.</p>
<p>My generous wife and I brought dinner to longtime friends. The wife’s mother is in hospice care at their house. ShawWife cooked two dinners, one to eat with us and one for tomorrow night. Tonight was wild tuna saut</p>
<p>Can I come to dinner, Shawbridge. The tuna sounds amazing. </p>
<p>Zetesis – I made what was supposed to be a NY (yeast) German bakery style crumb cake on Christmas evening, and while the crumb part was rather exactly what I remember from childhood, the yeast cake part was really sour, and not at all like my memory. We ended up eating mostly the crumb topping with a thin layer of the cake. Next year I’m going to shoot for a slightly different recipe, but I’m keeping the crumb technique for sure.</p>
<p>Five years ago, as a high school junior, D, H and I attended a “Prospective Student Information Session” for D’s college, where they featured current students at her college and presented a program. Yesterday, D and I traveled to this event (a little more than an hour away) and she was one of the current students talking about her school and answering questions from prospective students. Really brings the circle around. The last two years she left too early for this program, and her first year they somehow left her off the list of current students so never received any communication about the event.</p>
<p>The event is hosted in an alum’s large home and yesterday it was at the same home as 5 years ago. Pretty surreal being in the exact same place 5 years later but in a different position. Five years ago I helped get the promotional DVD playing (technical issues). D told us that they are producing a new promotional DVD (we viewed the same one yesterday) and she was filmed for the new one, but it is still in production.</p>
<p>After the event we stopped at a large outlet mall on the way home. Took advantage of her employee discount to purchase some beautiful work-appropriate additions to her wardrobe. She had never visited the Charming Charlie’s before (it opened here last summer) and it was a pretty overwhelming experience. My H and S refuse to go into the store so it was a different experience for me as well. She had it on her agenda to purchase some inexpensive “statement” jewelry she’s noticed worn during her previous internships, and this was the place to do it!</p>
<p>When we got home we ate dinner and all watched the Downton Abbey season premiere (including H and S). Great fun. I started some laundry last night and currently have loads in the washer and dryer.</p>
<p>Weekend went by too fast! I started de-constructing the holiday decorations but did not finish. Got sidelined by the need for superglue to repair some items. Oh well, I guess we’ll enjoy partially dismantled Christmas decorations a few more days!</p>
<p>^ D and I love Charming Charlies!</p>
<p>Watched Downton last night. Lots going on there!</p>
<p>c_Q that’s cool that your D is now one of the students who represent her school. I well remember attending some of those type of events several years ago with D.</p>
<p>I am shocked that I have never heard of Charming Charlie’s given how much D likes to shop!<br>
Shhh…maybe she won’t hear us! She received a J. Crew gift card for Christmas and somehow when we were ordering I ended up spending an amount greater than the gift card. Hmmmm. </p>
<p>Our decorations are down, but somehow I doubt they are as involved as everyone else’s. Tree is at the curb awaiting recycling. Back to the grind! </p>
<p>NM, hope you are okay!</p>
<p>Up waiting for the clothes dryer repairman.Hope he comes before noon!</p>
<p>Still having some type of allergic reaction on my face and neck. Instead of welts/large hives I now have a red flush that looks more like a sun burn or heat rash. I think it is slowly getting better.</p>
<p>Decorations are down but still need to do some cleaning out in the four season porch where the tree was set up.</p>
<p>Haven’t heard of Charming Charlie’s. Will have to go look!</p>
<p>After watching a youtube video on Charming Charlie stores I must say I am excited to visit this store. My Ds are accessory girls so it looks perfect for them! Thanks for the tip c_q!</p>
<p>arabrab, you’re invited to dinner. Thanks to my wonderful wife, that isn’t an unusual kind of dinner in our house. The crushed pistachios are newish. But, she tries something new until she perfects it and then stops.</p>
<p>Z, I’m glad that your second bread turned out well. What a pain when a new, untried recipe fails! I think I made a three kings cake many years ago, when the kids were young, with a toy hidden inside. Perhaps the tradition would have stuck if I’d made a cinnamon roll instead.</p>
<p>NM, I hope this reaction disappears soon. Are you taking benadryl or another antihistamine? </p>
<p>I’ve never heard of Charming Charlie’s, either. I will pass the name along to D. I bet she has.</p>
<p>I thought the Downton premiere last night was well done. Shirley Maclaine makes a fitting addition to the mothers group. </p>
<p>c_q, how wonderful for your D and her college! Shaw, your crusted tuna sounds delicious, and your gift of time and dinner to friends, so thoughtful and I’m sure much appreciated.</p>
<p>S2 and I were up at 5:15 this morning because school started again today. Having school begin just after 7 AM, before the sun has risen, is crazy. Our district experimented with a later start for high school students, but too many parents didn’t like the resulting late afternoons, so the flip was a flop. S2 has been sleeping until almost 11AM for the whole break, so this early start was a shock to him.</p>
<p>Buried in Christmas decorations at home, buried in work here…just a quick hello!</p>
<p>NM, when was the last time you had your thyroid tested? My allergist diagnosed my hypothyroidism when I went in with hives.</p>
<p>I have now seen ShawWife’s art…amazing and beautiful!</p>
<p>I love to go to Charming Charlie. I know it is because they organize things by color…for the same reason, I love to to to M&M stores and Lego stores to see the bins of their products organized by color.</p>
<p>I have a new client who is giving me a couple of deals as a test. Their other attorney is “too slow”…but they sent me the deals about 5 days ago and just now sent me the info I need to do them. So I’m hoping they aren’t counting those 5 days against me.</p>
<p>Remember how horrified younger D was that we called the parent whose kid was hosting the all night NY Eve party? I hope that now she understands the reason. Friday night in our town, a kid had a small all night party where lots of drugs were shared. Two kids passed out and the “host” moved them into a bedroom. The host’s dad found them both dead the next morning and the host has been charged with criminally negligent homicide for not calling 911 once they passed out. So sad and so pointless but I hope D gets the idea that it’s not ridiculous to monitor where she’s going and who she’s going to be with.</p>
<p>I am so looking forward to the “boring” days of winter…once the house is back to normal, those cold nights and Saturdays where we can stay in and watch a movie or read a book.</p>
<p>Oh, how awful! That is so sad. :(</p>
<p>^Missy, how awful for everyone involved.</p>
<p>I too am looking forward to some boring days of winter…where I’m curled up by choice, not attrition ;)</p>
<p>Plantmom, I agree that those 7 a.m. starts are counter-intuitive for teens. Don’t understand why ANYBODY needs to be off school by 2 p.m. either…I think it should go til 5 ;)</p>
<p>I have a set of from the 30’s that I really do like (Hitler is an up and coming officer in the military!) but encyclopedia’s from the 90’s… well, seems the internet beats it. </p>
<p>Another realtor comes today at 3. I spent most of yesterday napping and reading to be honest. But am feeling MUCH better today, so thinking I might have dodged a bullet because I had the same thought (delayed surgery).</p>
<p>Speaking of which… the preop is tomorrow afternoon. I am hoping he says something equivalent to results will be fantastic. 
I have to appreciate that he’s not over aggressive but I’d be lying if I said I was convinced this was going to be the end of it. Not surgery per say, but a little filler in the jowl? maybe. ;)</p>