Thanksgiving weekend

Hmmm it's been awhile since I've blogged.

Work has been really really busy. The project I've been working on the last six months had its first really hard deadline last wednesday. We put together a package of drawings as part of an application for a building permit, a major part of getting a building built. So that was pretty much 9 hour days, three weeks in a row, with the addition of working weekends. At least we were done for Thanksgiving.

Mom hosted this year; she made rolls and mallow pie, my personal favorite,and Tay whipped us up some mashed potatoes. I made oyster stuffing, AND mushroom and sausage stuffing, and Saori cooked up two really good Japanese appetizers, Okonomiyaki and pork skewers with ginger sauce. Sally and Jonathan provided the bird, one of the best I've had, plus some delicious cranberry sauce. Mai, one of Saori and my friends, came along and brought some Japanese curry to the table. Afterwards, we played a variety of board games, which was really fun.

Friday, Saori and I cleaned house and then went out with Tay to see the new 007 movie. Good, but not as good as Casino Royale. We played some cards at mom's for a bit afterwards, which was also fun.

Saturday, we went to dinner at a co-worker's house in Tempe. She is also Japanese and made us hot pot that we at under the traditional Japanese kotatsu.

Today, Saori and I drove up to the lava river cave north of Flagstaff and nearly made it. The forrest road disintigrated into mud pools with the thawing snow in the early afternoon, and the Prius was having some difficulty with it. So we parked the car and started to walk, since my info showed the cavern less than a mile down the road. At the clearing a mile later, we came to a sign indicating the lava tubes were an additional two miles away. We decided that we would just enjoy the walk though the woods back to the car. And that was nice. The air was crisp and cold, there were small patches of snow on the ground, and there was the smell of pine trees.

We drove back to Flagstaff and walked around the old downtown, which was nice and compact. Stopped for a burger and later for some coffee before heading back to Phoenix.