only one pound!

1st

8:30 AM- I wake realizing I was not the one who had to get up and feed the crew. Wow, I got to sleep in like he promised!!! I get out of bed and slowly come to life. I decide I don't need any coffee because we are going to be going to Jill and Mark's in about an hour and a half for mimosas, french toast and tons of bacon.

9:30 AM- I mention to Kev what time it is so he can start his journey into the world. I gather everything I need to make the french toast, bread, syrup..etc as Josie starts getting excited as she stands by me. I tell her she doesn't get to go this time but next trip of the day, she's in...

10:00 AM- Yeah, we are theoretically supposed to be and Jill and Mark's at this exact time. We are just leaving the house. We arrive and their house already smells of wondrous things (Jill *ahem* was making stuffing...well, Mark was making it, but she chopped things before putting them in the crock pot! And his mom didn't need to know that Mark was part of it at all- I'll get to that in a second!).

***gonna stop the whole time thing now...***

Mimosas are handed to us almost immediately upon entering their home. I pull out what I need for making breakfast, assign Mark bacon duty (uncured bacon is soooo good!). Their phone rings to which Mark says "It won't be my mom!" and it IS...Jill and she speak for a little while (this is where Jill tells her "she's" got the stuffing cooking). Mark passes bacon detail to Jill, who does a great job considering she really doesn't eat the stuff (although a nibble here and there never hurt anyone), and chats with his mom for quite a while.

We eat breakfast (which is amazing!!!) and watch Best in Show. Such a funny movie! I love Christopher Guest and can't wait to see what they have in the works right now...

As soon as the movie ends we say we have to go. So we load up the car, not with much other than a few slices of unfrenched bread and the rest of the syrup, and head home to go to the second of our three destinations of the day.

2nd

While at home Kev checks email, etc. Josie is starting to look like she's going to jump out of her skin she's so excited. I get the cheesecake, one of the two I made Wednesday, and the organic berry medley, as well as some treats for Josie (this last one sets her off with tremors of anticipation). We load up the car and head to Diana and Lawrence's house for visiting and munching on cheese, almonds, grapes...

Josie is a hit. She's a super star and everyone loves her. Diana and Lawrence are so sweet to have invited her along. It really meant the world to me knowing that she was welcome. We sit around and talk about random things. Kev is still kind of waking up and not too talkative, but he's not being rude by not saying anything. He is sitting with me, Diana, Allison (a friend visiting from the bay area) and Jenn (a woman I had met when Jill and I first started yoga at the studio). There are others sitting in different spaces, but we are where the food is. Josie, is laying on the floor by Kev.

We have a lovely time with them and the smells coming from their kitchen were amazing. Lawrence is an incredible cook and even though we didn't get to eat his creation (it was a HUGE bird) we got to smell it as it was beginning to cook.

At about 3:00 we made our leave telling them all to have a wonderful rest of their day and thanking them for including us in part. Josie gets in the car and starts whining because she wants to go go go still.

3rd and final

We zip back home, drop off Josie and grab the second cheesecake and berries. We tell the kids we love them and sorry we've not given Simon many laps to sit on throughout the day. We kiss their heads and jump back into the car. I'm sure our neighbors were wondering where we kept going all day, yeah, maybe they weren't.

We get to Amanda's and the scents coming from the kitchen are enticing (and the first thing out of my mouth upon entering the kitchen is "why is my blog pulled up on your computer?). Her laptop was sitting on her work table with my words...m'kay. :) The bird, has decided she doesn't want to conform to Amanda's schedule so we are going to be eating a little later than planned. No big deal, we all adapt. There are many people there, some we've even met before. It was a lively bunch and we all enjoyed each others company as we all flitted around the house.

Dinner, in a word, amazing. At one point I don't think anyone was talking (granted we were all laughing hysterically) but we had to eat. It was all too good to not eat it all at once. Amanda made home made rolls, home made gravy, home made cranberry sauce (which even Kev enjoyed and he's not a fan of the cranberry), she made everything so tasty. We all felt like we ate our own weight in food and then came dessert...

Basically it boils down to a wonderful day full of time with friends who've become like family. We thank everyone for inviting us into their homes and sharing their fare with us. The amazing thing, I only gained one pound!!!

Now, must work on the latte (I'm having a small breakfast today since I really don't feel I can put more food inside me right now) and get ready for work. Joy, work.