A Christmas Story

Boston is expecting eight inches of snow tonight. It will only take one inch to make this the snowiest December in Boston on record, which seems to be the harbinger of the bad winter that everyone is predicting. This is perfect storytelling-by-the-fire weather.

Having written yesterday about Stacy's adventuresome Christmas Eve, it occurred to us that we never blogged about last Christmas' Stacy story. So, we thought we'd amuse you not with photos, but with "tales of the stories of Christmases long, long ago." (Or, um, of Christmas 2006.)

As we mentioned on the blog last year (click here to reread the post) Christmas 2006 began with an overnight family sightseeing trip to Maine. By the time we crossed into the state of Maine, we were ready for coffee and sodas.

Anyone familiar with New England highway system knows that a highway gas/food/lodging sign is no guarantee that such establishment(s) will exist within a short distance of the exit. Often, one must drive several miles off the exit, and sometimes onto another small highway, before reaching the aforementioned food/gas/bathroom. (It's terribly convenient, and we've always wanted to thank the highway commissions here in lovely New England for the jolly adventures these fun little signs have afforded us on any number of trips.) After seeing such a sign directing us to the next exit, we exited, and enjoyed a few miles of desolate, winding (but very pretty) countryside road. Eventually, just as we were about to turn around and return to the highway, we spotted a charming, rustic establishment marked, "Country Store," and pulled in. Stacy was sitting in the front passenger-side seat, so she went inside for the drinks and snacks, leaving the rest of us (Brian, me (Sherry) and my mom) in the car.

The rest of us sat in the car and chatted for some time, waiting for Stacy. And we chatted some more. And eventually we realized that Stacy had been inside for quite a while. Actually, she'd been in there for far longer than we would have expected for her to buy a few things and even take a stop in the restroom.

"Maybe there was a line at the counter," I suggested.

"Or for the bathroom." Brian piped in.

"Except--" Pat butted in.

"We're the only people here," we all realized in unison. There were no other cars in front of the store, and looking up and down the road in either direction, there were no other cars on this backcountry road. No one had gone in, or come out, since we got here (except Stacy). We were a bit unsettled, but dismissed our feelings and continued chatting. But after a few more minutes, it just seemed a little too odd that Stacy had not returned.

We started to wonder if everything was okay inside. And, on the desolate country road, our imaginations began to reel. What if someone was hurt? What if something sinister was happening inside? We were only half joking. Brian volunteered to go check out what was taking so long.

"Okay, Brian," Pat said, semi-casually, but with a hint of nervousness, "Come back out right away and let us know if everything is okay." Brian promised he would, and went inside.

Mom and I remained in the car and waited. And waited. And waited. Several minutes later, Brian had not returned. Mom and I were starting to get worried. Should we go inside? Brian had said he'd be right back out. Stacy had been in there now for a very long time. No one had come out of the store. And we were in the middle of nowhere. No cars had passed in the entire time we were sitting there in the car. The quaint New England countryside was beginning to take on the air of a scene straight out of Deliverance.

"Okay, Mom," I directed. "I'm going inside. Don't worry. If I'm not back out here in a couple of minutes or less, I want you to get on your cell phone and call 911."

"But honey, I don't think I can get service," she objected.

"Okay, if you can't get service, I want you to take the car and go to the next closest house and try to call or get help."

"Okay, honey. Come right back out!"

I put on a brave face, and walked up the stairs of the Country Store. I slowly opened the squeaky door and listened. Silence. I tiptoed in, and peeked around until I could see the front counter. And Stacy. And Brian.

"Stacy! Brian! Are you guys okay? What's going on?" I looked around for any signs of anyone else. A clerk? A robber? What could have happened?

. . .

Several minutes later, we exited the store together. Mom had her cell phone out and was getting ready to dial. She looked relieved. "What happened in there?"

Brian, Stacy and I erupted in laughter, and filled Mom in on the details.

When Stacy entered the store, the clerk, relieved, hurriedly told her that she had needed to go to the bathroom for a very, very long time, but the store bathroom was out of order. Stacy was the first person who had come by in quite a while and looked like a trustworthy sort. She implored Stacy to mind the store while she ran to her home (out behind the store), to use the restroom. Before Stacy could articulate an answer, the clerk bolted out the back door, and left Stacy to mind the store. Brian had stayed to keep Stacy company inside. The clerk, a very sweet lady, returned shortly after I entered the store, and was incredibly grateful for Stacy's service. She rang up our goods and wished us a Merry Christmas. As it turns out, small New England towns really are a lot more like Newhart than like that creepy Appalachian town in Deliverance. :)

These days, whenever we end up waiting for Stacy to do anything, we joke that she's "minding the store."

Christmas

Merry Christmas!

We didn't get our camera fixed in time, so unfortunately, we have no photos of us. We will get it fixed ASAP, we promise! In the meantime, here are some photos taken by others of Boston and places we saw on our pre-Christmas drive. (You know, so you don't get bored.)

Our Christmas update, nevertheless: The season was incredibly busy. In addition to working a TON this month, we went to a LOT of Christmas parties, especially work parties. Two for Sherry's firm (one for her group, one for the firm), one for the local court, one at the home of Sherry's boss, Doug, at the DA's office, and a very nice holiday brunch at the home of Sherry's co-worker Rishi and his lovely wife Shivani. We missed all the hospital parties because of Brian's work schedule, or we'd have gone to several more and, perhaps, would not have slept all month. ;) We also hosted our own small dinner party somewhere in there.

Sherry's mom, Pat, and sister, Stacy, joined us for Christmas. It was snowing when Stacy arrived, and she was thrilled. (She lives in Long Beach!)

The weekend before Christmas, the three ladies went on a drive around New England (while Brian worked) and Stacy satisfied her desire for picturesque New England Christmas views.

On Christmas Eve, we had our usual fondue feast. This year, instead of a traditional Gruyere and Emmenthaler fondue, we started with a cheddar and beer fondue, which was different and good. We followed that with a beef fondue with several dipping sauces. A balsamic mint sauce recipe that we flagrantly ripped off from our friends Mike and Cheri Weaver was the clear favorite. (Mike and Cheri are doctors, but they could be chefs. Sherry was standing in Whole Foods the day before Christmas Eve wishing they were around so she could ask them for their balsamic mint recipe, when, lo and behold, Mike tapped her on the shoulder to say hi. He was buying for their Christmas dinner as well. Our own little Christmas miracle! LOL.) We rounded out the meal with a dessert of terrific turtle fondue, with the added dramatic flair of flambe.

We then opened one gift each (as is our tradition), rolled ourselves out of the house and headed over to Trinity Church in Copley Square (pictured left and below right, click for link) for what we thought would be a peaceful Christmas Eve midnight mass. In the middle of mass, however, the drama began. We were seated in the balcony seats running along the upper side of the church. (It's a huge church.) Stacy began having a problem with one of her contacts and decided to make her way down the stairs to the bathroom because her eye hurt. On her way down, something happened and Stacy fell all the way down the flight of stairs, completing, according to bystanders, three somersaults on her way down before hitting her head very hard on one of the bottom stairs. None of the family saw it happen, but a church elder came up looking for us to tell us that Stacy had fallen very badly. We were terrified, and Brian went to her to check her out. He informs us that, given the nature of the fall, Stacy could have been very seriously injured. She ended up with a sprained neck, a very bruised and swollen arm, a bad bump on her head and some rather bloodied ankles. Everyone at the church was very concerned, and the Reverend personally checked on Stacy both at the end of mass and via telephone on Christmas Day. She seems to be doing fine now, and we are very thankful for that.

Christmas Day was nice and restful, and except for poor Stacy's injuries, we had a great time. We opened gifts, had a traditional Christmas dinner, and basically made some serious strides toward becoming fat and lazy. :)

We hope everyone had a terrific holiday!

The weather outside is frightful

We're in the midst of quite a storm here in Boston! But, thankully, the fire is so delightful, as I (Sherry) sit here next to it-- finally. The snow started coming down at noon, and by 2:00, cars outdoors were snowed in. The governor closed all state buildings (including the courthouses) as of 2:00 p.m. I stayed at work until shortly after 3:00, and the roads were barely passable by the time I drove home. The drive, which usually takes about 15 minutes, took over an hour. Brian's commute at night was even worse. I tried to drive him to work in the Cherokee, but after well over an hour, we were maybe halfway to the hospital. Brian got out, walked several blocks to the subway, and then had to wait on delayed trains. It was nuts. I got home over 2 hours after we left.

Catching Up With Chi-Os

We have a lot of friends with new changes, and a lot of them happen to be Sherry's sisters from Chi-O (click for link) back at UCLA (click for link), so here's a shout out to some dear Chi-O's with news.

Adrian and her husband Josh (also high school sweethearts) are expecting their first baby, a little boy, on February 1st. Adrian just had her baby shower, and reports that she had a lovely time. Sherry wishes she could have been there. Congratulations and good luck, Adrian and Josh!

Leslie (Jones Golba) works for Wells Fargo corporate. She and her husband Brad recently welcomed twins, Caitlin and Cameron. Aren't they sooo cute?! Congratulations, Les and Brad!

Ann is a freelance journalist who has contributed to Conde Nast Traveler, the International Herald Tribune and many other publications. Ann and her husband, Chris, a diplomat, recently moved back to the States from their previous post in Beijing. They are here for a year before heading out to their next assignment in the far reaches of the globe. (Forgive the old, sweaty, NYC-in-humid-summer photo of us! We promise to get a better photo with the Mah-Kleins before they head off to darkest Peru, or wherever they're headed next.) Annie just started a new blog (click for link), which features her articles and also includes food, restaurants and cookbook reviews. (She also tells us that, for her birthday back in the spring, she met up for dinner in Paris with her husband Chris and our fellow Chi-O Leslie (Fuhs Allen) and her husband, who are ex-pats there. How's that for worldwide sisterhood?)

Danielle just returned from a trip to Ghana with Habitat for Humanity. She also is almost finished with her Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

Nicole and Steve recently traveled to the Ukraine, and sent back a ton of super cool photos! Nicole is a nurse, and Steven an engineer, and they live in the Bay Area. We miss their Super Bowl and houseboating parties.

Dana and her longtime love, Todd, recently became engaged. Congratulations, Dana and Todd! Dana's an architect in Atlanta, but has her sights on returning to the Golden State. She's truly a California girl.

And finally, Congratulations, Becky and Mark on your new house, and Happy Housewarming!

Pictures from Thanksgiving Weekend

Here are some photos from Thanksgiving weekend. Ann and Dale sent us a ton, but it will take a while to upload them individually to Smugmug (unless we can get them in another format), so here are a few for your enjoyment, and we'll post the rest to our photo page later on (and note the update on here).

Thanksgiving Day

(at home in Boston)

Brian, Jens and Mia in Monument Square, near our house, on Thanksgiving afternoon.

Sherry (Hsieh) grew up eating Chinese food with turkey in it for Thanksgiving dinner in San Diego, so she's actually never had some traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Here, Sherry explains to Sherry and Jens (who originates from Germany), traditional dishes such as sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and stuffing. For the foodies out there (Ann), Sherry offers this advice: Everything came out well and was hot at the same time, but the turkey (which had been brined and otherwise was very juicy and tasty) should have switched oven shelf positions with the sweet potatoes for the last part of the cooking, as the turkey (bottom shelf) did not get quite brown enough on top to look perfect (even if it tasted great), and the sweet potatoes (top shelf) were a little bit browner than she would have preferred. (Sweet potatoes are Sherry's favorite, and became Sherry Hsieh's newly discovered favorite Thanksgiving food as well.)

Ready to give thanks and eat!

Thanksgiving Weekend in New York

Dale had never been to NYC, so of course, we visited the Empire State

Building. It really never gets old to stand on the viewing deck. How cool is the Empire State Building shadow picture that Brian took (above right)?

Brian and Sherry at the Mandarin Oriental.

Sherry, Brian and Ann check out the department store windows. Macy's had the best windows, but shopping in the "world's largest department store" on the day after Thanksgiving was a nightmare. (Though Sherry and Ann, undaunted, still managed to walk out with purchases. For themselves. Very productive Christmas shopping.)

Brian and Sherry in Times Square.

Winter is here

Well, Thanksgiving has passed, and we are fully into winter here in Boston. Our first snow came two days before Thanksgiving. Brian's mom and stepfather (Ann and Dale) were here, and it was definitely a big change from Arizona for them!

Thanksgiving was nice. Sherry cooked at home, while Brian worked a morning football game at Charlestown High. (The Harvard Ortho department works the high school football games as team physicians, and Brian has been working the Townie games all season. Football on Thanksgiving Day is a Boston tradition.) Ann, Dale, Sherry, Jens and Mia joined us for appetizers, followed by a dinner of roast turkey, ham with a mustard trio and chutney, brioche, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows and almonds, green bean casserole, and homemade cranberry sauce. For dessert, we had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, ice cream, mulled cider with brandy, and coffee.

The following day, we headed to New York with Ann and Dale. We stayed two nights while enjoying New York at Christmas, complete with, among other things, department store window viewing, enjoying some great restaurants, seeing an off-Broadway show, and late-night ice skating at Rockefeller Center.

Dale flew back after the weekend and Ann stayed on for another 5 days, so she was able to attend Boston's Christmas Tree Lighting with Sherry.

Brian is working nights right now, so he could not make it. Unfortunately, he's on night float for all of December and January, so we're not really seeing each other. Brian leaves the house around 5:30 p.m., and comes back between 8 and 10 a.m. Sherry leaves the house between 7 and 7:30 a.m. (before Brian gets home), and usually gets home between 7:30-8 p.m. (after Brian is gone). So, we only see each other on Saturday night, which is Brian's night off. It's a terrible schedule to have over the holidays and, sadly, we're just hoping to get through it this year, with the hope that it will never happen again.

We did get the opportunity last Saturday night to go to a fun Christmas party held by Sherry's boss at the D.A.'s office. It was a great time, even though it was by far the coldest night we've had thus far. Which leads to our recent revelation: This winter is going to be harsh. The temperatures have dropped well below what we remember for December, and in addition to our pre-Thanksgiving snow, it's been snowing on and off for the past couple of days (a welcome reprieve from too-cold-to-snow temperatures). Sherry, who usually takes a quick bus ride to the firm, is having to drive to work at the D.A.'s office, and deal with snow and ice on the car for the first time. The only thing that makes up for it is that, two days before Thanksgiving, we bought a 4 wheel drive vehicle. It really makes a difference getting out of our steep, snowy driveway!

Well, that's the update on us. Other than working a lot, we're deep in the midst of holiday decorating, and a bunch of Christmas parties. Sorry there aren't any pics in this post. We're waiting on photos from others for Thanksgiving pics, as our camera is still broken!