The Reason I Haven't Blogged in Almost a Year Is..............

The M*A*S*H box set. That's right. 11 seasons. 33 discs. I bought it "for" David as an 1st year wedding anniversary, but it turns out that the gift entertains me just as much. Pierce and McIntyre drop one-liners every other second and they are really funny, 30 years later. For instance, the latest noteworthy one-liner was delivered by Hawkeye was to Father Mulchahey. They were in surgery together and Father M. was called upon to act as a nurse since most of the 4077 caught the flu. Hawkeye says: "Father, now that we're working so closely together, can I call you "Dad?" See? Still funny. We're still in the Henry Blake (so, so funny with his Illinois varsity sweater + fishing hat) phase but look forward to seeing Winchester and Colonel Blake down the road. David chuckles every time Frank Burns is called "ferret face," and I beam, knowing that I found a perfect anniversary gift. One thing that really came as a shocker to me was that, until this recent purchase, I had no idea why Radar was named Radar. I had ZERO recollection of him detecting the choppers before anyone else. Of course, I was 10 years old when I truly watched M*A*S*H the first time around, so I'm cutting myself some slack.

No really, the REAL reason I haven't written is that my Chatham job has pretty much taken over my life. No lie. I really have put things on hold. For instance, I only recently--13 months after our wedding--ordered some wedding pics. Now, knowing what a photophile I am, how is it even possible that I waited that long? I started Chatham in March and was "on probation" for months (a.k.a. I wasn't allowed to take vaca time for that long) and really, that's what I've been up to. Work has made me pretty lame, but it also could be the 37 sneaking up on me. Oh wait, I already had a birthday, so 37 HAS sneaked up on me. Well, I'd love to write more, but disc #4, episode #5 beckons. Shhhhhh, don't tell David I'm gonna watch a couple without him. I'll be ahead but I suspect he watched some too without my knowledge. It's a nasty addiction, I'll tell ya.

Christmas in Kilarney....not really, but in Dormont

So my first married Christmas. Awwwwww. David and I hosted dinner. I am proud to boast of our cheese plate, which David picked out. There was goat cheese with green and red herbs on it that was fabulous and when I asked my new husband if he got it because it was Christmas colored, he replied "No, I got it cause they had samples of it at the store." OK then.

We did the cliched Honeybaked Ham, which--no joke--is amazing how it's spiral sliced and all. Wish I woulda come up with the patent for that. Why people give credit to anyone who cooks a pre-cooked ham is beyond my comprehension, but yet, we did get compliments.

Also on the menu, all made from scratch: Zucchini casserole. Yams with bourbon and pecan sauce. That's right. Green beans with shallot vinaigrette. I blanched 2 lbs. of beans, and felt very Julia about doing so. My mom helped me with a salad --simple red leaf lettuce with her perfected oil to vinegar ratio--and minestra, which is a Greek orzo side dish.

For dessert, I made something I hadn't made since 8th grade French Club--the classique "Buche de Noel" which is French for Yule Log, which means it's supposed to look like a real log. Ours ended up looking like a cocoa-colored pumpkin roll, but whatever. It was tasty. It's not going to win any food photography contests, that's for sure.

After dinner, we had lottery scratch cards for everyone. Real classy, we know. And 5 out of the 8 of us won. David and I found ourselves in the loser category. We had a great day and I was very very happy and satisfied as a hostess. The day went by too quickly, but I did enjoy it and counted my blessings the entire time.