The dinner they served was amazing. We had two appetizers, a green olive tempanade on crustini and mini bbq pork sliders. For dinner they served potato au gratin, skirt steak with balsamic glaze and roasted fig, salad with grilled peaches and candied pecans. There were three mini desserts, a rum raisin ice cream, salted dark chocolate bark and panna cotta with fresh berries. The husband did all the cooking. I was truly amazed at how wonderful the meal was. I felt like I was at a real grown-up dinner party. But by the end of the evening I found I had nothing in common with anyone at the party, other than our love of good wine and good food. But they didn't talk about that, they talked baseball (The Giants (?) were vying for the playoffs) and the difference between living in Portugal and Brazil. I know nothing about what they were talking about. I kind of wished they talked Statistics since I know a little about that! Don commented that they were a little more worldly than we are. We've traveled over seas several times but I felt like a country bumpkin listening to them talk about stuff. It was quite the experience. The wife who invited us to the winery was not a faculty member so she may call still, but I'm thinking her husband won't want to do that. If they call, I'll try to convince Don to go.
We're getting the car!!! The guy who cut my hair the other day mentioned that we could get a pass for $88 for 8 weeks to park on the street. The only condition is that we have to move the car a block away every 72 hours. So we downloaded an application from the city and sent it off with the check. Hopefully it won't take long to get the decal. This will save us hundreds of dollars. We were paying $300 a month to park the car in a garage far enough away that we have to get a bus to go get it (rather, Don has to get a bus to go get the car) and now we'll pay $88 for 8 weeks and I'll actually be able to drive it!
Since we had the car yesterday so that we could drive to Oakland, we did our wine shopping at BevMo and drove around for a while. I don't know why we haven't done this before. It seems we're always driving to get somewhere and not really enjoying the area with the car. We found Union Street which looks to be a better shopping area than Chestnut Street so we're going to go Tuesday and actually do some Christmas shopping. I'm determined to buy more gifts for other people than for ourselves! So after driving around for a while, we tried to find a place on the street to park the car until we had to leave for Oakland. We drove several blocks until we found a space big enough to fit the car. Finding spots to park on the street could be a little difficult. I imagine during the week might not be so bad when everyone's at work, but the weekend might be a problem. Oh well. I think it's great that we spent the first half of our trip walking everywhere and the second having easier access to the car.
Did I mention that we almost stayed in Mill Valley while we were here? I read in the paper this morning that Mill Valley Film Festival begins the weekend Don will be in Columbia, leaving me here by myself... with no car. Guess who's going to be at the Film Festival? Billy Bob Thorton, Ben Affleck, Ewan McGregor, Dustin Hoffman and Stevie Nicks to name a few. Don will be in Columbia the first weekend, but some family and friends will be here the second weekend. Maybe we can catch a glimpse of some famous faces!
Not much else to report. Other than the fact that the exterminator will be here this week to take care of the rat problem. When he came to check out the back yard, he said it was a "haven for rats". And rats can climb:
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| Our Front Entryway |
When I walk outside or walk back inside I have to look up to make sure there's not a rat waiting to pounce.
We're off to watch last night's new on Hulu.
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