Merry Birthday!

I realize that the snow that's being dumped on New England right now is the biggest news and I should probably be blogging about that, but I haven't yet blogged about Doug's Merry Birthday. In order of priority, Doug comes before snow, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the snow blog.

On December 16th, Cotton turned 29 (at some point we all get a little sensitive about our age, don't we?) and we threw a Merry Birthday party to celebrate the Saturday before the big day. To prepare we made a lot of food (note the chili to the left (a pre-cooking shot because it just didn't turn out very well post-cooking and I am too embarrassed to show the end result)), but I have to say that I am so out of practice with cooking that it was not my best job in that area. I still have trouble timing everything correctly - getting everything to be ready at the same time, and not letting things cook too long. Plus, I also have an incredibly sensitive smoke detector in my house, which was adding to the chaos in the already chaotic kitchen. It kept beeping and yelling, "Fire! Fire!", which I'm sure made our guests feel completely safe. Thanks to Curt for tending to the alarm while I opened windows and tried to air out the place.

The Merry Birthday was really a Wii party... who doesn't love to play Wii? And if you have never played, which some people hadn't, then it's quickly addicting. Doug had gotten Mario Kart as a gift from my parents, and that was a hit. Unfortunately, only two people can play at a time in this house, because we only have two wheels. If anyone ever wants to battle in 4-player Mario Kart, please bring it on (and bring your wheels...) because the game is loads of fun. You can't be Wario, though. I've claimed him as mine.

Boxing was another hit... ha! Anyway, besides Mario Kart, Wii boxing is my favorite Wii game. I love watching my Mii knock out another Mii, and I love dancing around and doing all the boxing moves. I feel energetic when I play Wii boxing. Here we have a photo of Chris and Arlene duking it out. Mad props to Arlene for her boxing abilities! I don't have any shots of anyone playing tennis, but that was really the only game with four players that night. I have not yet gotten the hang of Wii tennis. My Mii spends most of her time watching the ball sail past her, or flailing her racket around in hopes of somehow making contact with the ball. I'm not surprised at my poor showing at Wii tennis - it's not like my skills on the real court are any different.

Doug's Merry Birthday night ended with him enjoying some birthday apple pie (yes, I agree, dear - not my best pie). The highlight of the evening, though, came when all guests were gone, the mess cleared away, the dishes mostly washed - Doug donned his new pajamas (his "Wii-jays" - I love that!) for one last game of Mario Kart. There were quite a few of us who were hoping that this outfit would be worn the entire evening, but Doug is perhaps getting to the point in his life where he cares about what people think of him? I certainly hope not, because that's not the Doug I know and love, but at least I got a shot of him in his regalia and can now post it on the Internet for all to see.

On Sunday, the family went to see my youngest niece, Maria, make her artistic debut as a bon-bon in Albano's Nutcracker. This event was unfortunately held in the Mohegan Sun Arena. The arena usually hosts musical acts like Britney Spears, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton, Janet Jackson - big draw shows. It is also home to the Connecticut Sun, so you can imagine the type of place it is. Large, bleacher seating with metal floors, plastic seats with cupholders, a concrete slab for a main floor... All of this would have been great if we were, in fact, seeing a slightly has-been rock act, but for a ballet? It was just odd. Not to mention the fact that the concession stands were open, so throughout the performance I was hearing people munching on their nachos and fake orange cheese, or opening up another bag of BBQ potato chips. I am not trying to be snooty about the fine arts, but BBQ Lays and Tchaikovsky just don't really go well together for me.

Despite all of this, Miss Maria had a wonderful day and was a fantastic bon-bon. I see nothing but fame and fortune in her future as an artist. After all, if she grows tired of ballet at some point, which at this point she doubts she will, she can always turn to gymnastics. Either way, she'll certainly be a star on the stage for all the world to enjoy. I've posted a couple of photos of the event here for everyone to see Maria's debut. This first one is of the Mother Bon-Bon - Maria was one of the bon-bons who were hidden underneath this very large skirt, which opened and unleashed a sea of pink tu-tus. This next one is of Maria. She's slightly left of the center, with her eyes closed - concentrating on her routine, I have no doubt. This last one is of her with the Sugar Plum Fairy (who, I swear, weighted 70 pounds) and Prince Charming, the Nutcracker come to life in Candyland. Prince Charming agreed - Maria was a stellar bon-bon.

Finally (what's with these marathon posts?), let's move on to Doug's birthday dinner. On the 16th, Doug decided that for his special birthday dinner he wanted to go to Kikuyama, one of the only restaurants in Dedham Square. It was pretty good! I think the best part was the cooking of the food right at your little table. Doug did enjoy his sake, though. The raspberry flavor was a little sweet for me, but I think I could learn to like sake. Here we have Doug toasting to himself with some raspberry sake. And here we have a flaming onion. Once the onion was done burning, the chef chopped it up and added it to our meals.

So, that's that. In a few minutes Doug and I will venture outside to see if it's worth it to shovel again... it's still snowing rather heavily, and the Patriots are now on, so maybe we'll just wait until later. I do believe a snowblower will be on our Christmas lists next year!