The Holidays and Stuff

Denise shows off her photoshop skills... she does Birthday cards as well. :)



Our album is due out in '08

The Thanksgiving Holiday gave us another opportunity to pack up the truck and make our way to Sacramento, CA. We always have a blast when we go up there, so Denise and I were very excited to get on the road. However, we had to make one little stop before we could hit the highway.....Baron's vet in Santa Monica.

For those non-LA peeps out there, it may appear on a map that Santa Monica is quite close to Hollywood, but if you know LA traffic, then you know that on a good day it will take you at LEAST a half hour to get over there. UGH! The day we had to go was Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, at about 2:00 in the afternoon, just about the time when anyone who had not fled the city yet was trying to get out at that very moment.

A bit of back story, the reason we had to go to the vet was because a few weekends ago, Baron had suddenly become very sick. All the good stuff like puking, diarrhea, etc. We rushed him to the vet, and discovered that Denise had accidentally given him too much of his chemo meds. He was severely dehydrated, had to be put on an IV drip overnight. Denise was devastated and was being so hard on herself. I told her we all make mistakes and that at least we brought him in when we did. She was being down on herself to our friend Laura, and Laura told me if she said one more negative thing about herself I was to kick her in her shins.... I performed my duty when I had to. :) Anyway, the next day we picked him up and he was like a new dog. It's amazing what some fluids will do. The rest of the week and following weekend he was pretty lethargic, so the vet wanted to check him out one more time before we whisked him away to Sacramento, hence, the drive out there on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

After Barons check-up, antibiotics, and a cone for his head (he was obsessively licking) we headed for the I-5. The distance from the vet to the on ramp for the highway (I know, it's really a freeway, but I refuse to change.;) is about 1 mile. It took us ONE HOUR just to reach the on ramp!! Insanity! I could see the veins busting out of Denise's neck as she tried to negotiate the traffic. Once we were physically on the highway, it took us about 2 hours to get away from the city and all the traffic. Obviously we knew there would be traffic, but I believe you can never really prepare yourself for the madness of the Holidays.

The drive for the rest of the way was quite nice, and we reached Sacramento at about 1AM. After some hugs and hellos we all went to bed.

THANKSGIVING!! Yea, I love this Holiday I must say. Even though I don't eat turkey, I love the idea of getting together with friends and/or family, being thankful for what we have, and sharing all this wonderful food together that we spent the day preparing (well, I don't really prepare food, but I set the table! :). Despite the checkered historical past of this day, I like that it isn't necessarily tied to any Religion, and is just a day to be thankful, which I think most people can agree is a good thing. Ok, argument for my pro Thanksgiving feelings over, and on to the food!!

Denise and Becky spent pretty much the whole day cooking, and we ate around 6PM. Denise had bought me a tofurky feast consisting of a small tofurky, carrots and potatoes, dumplings, and veggie gravy. She also made me vegan mashed potatoes and a vegan pumpkin pie!! Best.Girlfriend.EVER!! I am so lucky. :) After all that slaving over an open flame, we devoured the food in about 10 minutes, and all sat back moaning in pain from our full bellies. Denise had to lay on her left side twice to promote digestion! haha! It was a great day with Katy and Becky just hanging out... just what we had envisioned Thanksgiving would be.

The rest of the trip was pretty chill. On Friday, Becky, Katy, and I all rode scooters, while Denise rode the motorcycle, to get coffees at Kim's coffee shop, Butch and Nellies (great name huh?). It was the first time I rode a scooter further than a block, so it was pretty exciting. I LOVED it! Later that night Denise and I met up with Kim, her girlfriend Christy, and our friend Tracy who was visiting from LA as well, at a little bar not far from their house. I learned how to play a couple of dice games at the bar, and attempted to keep a very drunk man off my girlfriend, failing miserably. She ended up taking care of it herself...damn, I have to get better at this Knight in shining armor stuff.

Saturday we went wine tasting, a tradition at this point for us ladies. We all got loaded as usual, and passed out when we got back to the house. Katy and Becky have a couple of friends that are moving to Washington State, so we all had to pep up and go out for their going away gathering. It was nice to see everyone, but after some conversation, food, and funny photos of Becky, it was time to go home.

Sunday was the day Denise and I were driving back, but first we drove to see the place where Katy and Becky are going to have their commitment ceremony. A few weeks ago, they officially became domestic partners, and this October they are going to have a ceremony with their family and friends. The place they have chosen is BEAUTIFUL! It is a gorgeous ranch out in the middle of rolling hills, trees, and a very eclectic garden which is cared for by a woman that manages the ranch. After the tour, we stopped by the local casino because we all have a gambling addiction that we can't quite kick. Ok, I'm trying to be funny, cause isn't gambling addiction hilarious, I mean....I'm retarded. hahaha! We REALLY stopped there because that is where people will stay who are attending the ceremony because it can accommodate everyone. See, less exciting isn't it.

On our way out of town we stopped by a local winery because Katy and Becky are considering using their wine for the ceremony after-party. ;) Above are a couple of pictures we took by the grapes. Someday we will make music to match all our "band" photos.

It was a wonderful Holiday, and we were sad to leave as usual. Who knows when we will head up again, but we always know it will be a great time! WE LOVE U SACRAMENTO LADIES! xo