Writing Habit: Day 3

Describe your yesterday; use rich details.

I feel as if I’m cheating since Christmas happened yesterday. No shortage of rich details. Richie and I swore off holiday travel years ago. The idea of flying to his family for one holiday then a month later repeating the torture for mine proved too daunting. Now we just stay in SF and relax. We slept in as long as the cats would allow. Not that much in the scheme of things but the difference between an alarm jarring you at 6:00 and waking on your own at 7:20 feels huge. I typically get up first to deal with the cats’ breakfast and coffee. Stumble downstairs, hit the espresso machine’s power button, find clean bowls, and serve up wet food to the girls. Alice is always eager—rubbing against my legs and crying as if she’s tragically abused. Sydney, ironically the larger, plumper sister, waits just beyond reach and almost seems relucant to eat. Next I froth milk, pull espresso shots, and produce two single cappuccinos. Rich’s gets a dusting of chocolate and raw sugar. After running his upstairs, I settled down on the kitchen rug with my iPad and Sydney curled up in my lap. We stayed that way for half an hour or so. Then I made myself a second cappuccino, double this time, and started thinking about breakfast. My mother has baked cranberry-orange-pecan bread at Christmas as long as I can remember. I suppose you could call it a family tradition. This year, she sent a pair of loaves so I toasted two slices just for myself. Richie came downstairs; it seemed like a good time to open gifts. He always buys and wraps toys and treats for the girls. Not that they have a comprehension of Christmas of course. Most years they seem to prefer the discarded wrapping paper and ribbons over actual toys. That said, this year’s stuffed mice proved a big hit with both of them. I got him a sweater, a couple of shirts, and an overpriced, scented candle in a artfully macabre holder. He loved it. I unwrapped Ethiopian coffee, dark chocolates, and matched pair of blended scotch. My husband knows me well. We facetimed with his family. I texted with my nephews. And the next time I looked at the clock, it was after 1:00. Long time friends were due at 4:00 for an early dinner so I rushed through a shower then started cooking. Rich had requested a vegetarian version of his family’s traditional chicken paprikash. I also roasted Brussels sprouts in a garlic-citrus sauce. A simple salad of arugula, romaine, radicchio, cucumber, and tomato rounded out the meal. The guys arrived a few minutes early bearing both bubbly and still wine. Over the next five plus hours, we put a big dent in the food. Finished off both the sparkling and still wines. Got into the scotch, and finished off a bottle of absinthe (a 2014 gift). After our guests took their leave, Rich cleaned up. I snuggled with the cats. Then we watched the season 3 finale of Please Like Me, which happened to be its first Christmas episode. If you know the series, you might expect Josh’s Christmas lunch to go horribly wrong. It did but I found it an odd way to end the season. All the story arcs were left unresolved. Not in an amusing or cliffhanger way, just messy. We headed upstairs and into bed just after 11:00. All in all, not a bad way to spend the holiday if I do say so myself.