The Making of a Tart

I slept over Christine's house on Christmas eve so we had a leg up on the drive to Donner Ranch the following morning. We planned a day of skiing, which scared the living shit out of me, since I had not been in over 20 years.  On Christmas Day I came downstairs at 7AM and joined Christine on the couch.  We had coffee and tarts and were still there at 11AM.  I guess skiing will happen another time. :)

We spent the day drinking Carolans, playing Scrabble (on the board!!), cleaning Christine's room (Merry Christmas) and watching Napolean Dynamite. We did get out and walk in search of a chinese restaurant for dinner, but after almost 5 miles of walking we were back at home unsuccessful.

Maybe the mince tarts were a factor...

We used the Pillsbury pie shells that you unroll for our mini-tarts.  I did help cut out the circles, but I quickly moved into the role of photographer.

I re-rolled the left over dough with Christine's mack-daddy rolling pin and she used the dough to make pretty lattice tops.

I love that I just watched the magic happen -- taking pictures.  I did force (okay, well encourage) Christine to do a proper lattice on the mini-tarts.  And look at the finished masterpiece!

Who let the tarts out?  Woof-woof!

A little dip

Since THIRDeYE rehearsals have not ramped up yet, I took the opportunity to get out of dodge with Christine and the kids. Christine has been having major computer issues and an old friend had an extra computer from work. So we took the 3 hour drive to Santa Cruz and camped out last night before meeting with her friends this morning for brunch.

After a late start and a stop at Jack in the Box for lunch we rolled into Santa Cruz around 3:30PM. Of course, there were signs up at the Sunshine State Beach that announced they were full, but luckily after waiting for a moment and traipsing through the cabbage and corn, we got the last spot. We set up camp, took a quick trip to the KOA for some milk, tea bags and water and came back to eat some dinner.

We then did something fantastic. We took our tea and Oreos and walked to the beach. Yes, it was cold, yes, I was wearing a number of layers, but yes, it was so needed. I took off my shoesies and curled my feet up in the sand and took a stroll.

Christine's kids, Daniel and Emma, got completely soaked which I really don't understand -- um, water's CHILLY, folks! -- but it didn't matter to me as I watched the birds look for food and the big ball of the sun dip down below the horizon. Absolutely beauttiful. The haul back up (and the subsequent trip this morning) left me breathing heavy and caused me to pull my calf muscles in both legs.

I say that the view and the s'mores that followed the sunset made it worth it.

I wonder if the pain of getting out of bed tomorrow morning will chanage my mind.