Tiny Bit More (Cheese) Christmas

I was shopping in an Independent Grocers before Christmas and this woman was handling out cheese samples. I don't usually take samples because 1) I'm usually wearing a mask now and 2) even before masks, I just find it kind of awkward, plus I'm kind of a picky eater. But this woman looked kind of disconsolate about no one taking her samples, so I tried two little pieces of cheese. One was Oka. I've had Oka before and I don't remember it making a huge impression on me, but this Oka was freaking good and I said "I like that, I want to buy that", so she gave me a coupon for one dollar off (which I'm pretty sure I forgot to use). I bought an Oka and a Brie. I meant to save them for Christmas, but weather was coming in and I was baking shortbread every day and my back was a mess so we mostly just had cheese and crackers every night until the cheese was gone - Matt agreed the Oka was really good. Then I went out and bought a massive wedge, and we ate some at Christmas and some at New Year's and we still have some and we still haven't gone off it, so either we've both suddenly become the age at which people are magically attuned to the greatness of Oka, or we were ridiculous Oka-ignoring losers before. Dunno.

I remembered what Eve and I left the house for on the 27th. It was the (n)th annual Gingerbread House and Friendsmas with Eve and her friends (yes, another fucking tradition, but one I really really like, even though I only participate peripherally). Last year they did it on New Year's Eve because Covid had prevented them from all being together until then, and I'm not sure I got a lot of pictures. The time before that was in 2019, and before that I think was the first time? Maybe? And then I found matching gingerbread pajama pants for all of them at Old Navy in one of the perfectest examples of serendipity EVER. 

Jody (HI JODY) and I had picked up some Gingerbread House kits earlier in November because we remembered a frantic search one year when they were all sold out. But we forgot to tell Di, Marianna's Mom, the Greek Goddess Hostess with the Perpetual Mostest (in an extremely gracious, generous, doesn't-even-realize-she's-out-Momming-you-effortlessly kind of way), so of course we showed up with our piddly little house kits and she had these:

LITERAL GINGERBREAD MANSIONS

Some things were the same as the first time. The trash talking:



Alison's crude but effective method of addressing structural problems:



I think this was the first year they started off with tequila shots





Eve and Davis demonstrated their customary grace and artistry



Marianna and Davis went a little more mainstream this year



To a point

Marianna warming the icing in her bosom

Then presents. We sometimes do this ahead of time, but this year we lived on the edge and Eve and I headed out just before going over to Marianna's house. We went a couple of places, but got most of the stuff at Indigo. I had seen someone with an adult colouring book on our way in, and I was saying "I think what would be great for Jackson is one of those colouring books with swears", and suddenly I happened upon this

I held it up and Eve looked at me and just as I thought she was going to ask me what the hell I was thinking, she said "but we have to get one for Alison too". She rounded this out with a slightly obscene emojj fidget toy

"Prancing around in the fancy section with my eggplant squishy"

The next day, Eve and her friends did a serial killer Escape Room



and then she came with us to meet Matt's colleague's really cute baby



And then she hung out with her friends for New Year's Eve and we hung out with our neighbours and I think it might have been our first New Year's apart, which is fine







Then the Greek friend left for an all-night Greek afterparty and the others came back to our place to hang for a bit before I drove them home, and Lucy really, really didn't understand that Jackson was NOT going to play with her right now



Whew, we're in 2023.