Done this year (20140101 We - 12 Su)

Wow.

Wednesday the 1^st I booted the server from the mirror drive, after a little rescue work. It took the rest of the week before I got around to ordering a replacement, but... Whew.

Friday the 3^rd was our (actual) 38th anniversary. The party was Saturday; pretty good, though far smaller than our usual parties. We need to do more publicizing. Especially among my relatives and the filk list.

Our anniversary dinner was this Friday, the 10^th, because the Herb Farm was closed on the 3^rd. Just as well, really, since we were able to get a room at the Willows Lodge across the parking lot, and spend a lazy evening before and morning after. The room was huge, and had a really cool feature: an opening between the bedroom and the bathroom, so that someone could sit on the bed and someone else in the tub, and they could have a conversation. It could be closed off with a sliding screen, but we didn't. The toilet and roll-in shower were in another room beyond the tub and vanity, with a sliding door. Neat.

Dinner was *amazing*. The truffle theme was wonderful -- better even than the Mycologist's Dream dinner we went to last year. But the best part was the dessert wines. We ordered a glass of the 2001 Chateau d'Yquem (if you want a wine for the cheese course you have to order it separately). And then they brought us a glass of the "Golden Slumber" 1993 Tokaji Esszencia as an anniversary present! Oh. My. God. The Sauterne was sort of like honey made out of sunlight. The Tokaji was more like what a muscat becomes when it goes to heaven and turns into an angel. I mean, wow.

After brunch in the Barking Frog, which is the restaurant associated with the Willows, we hung out in Alderwood Mall for the afternoon, had dinner at Claim Jumpers, and trundled down to the Kenwood Community Center for Betsy Tinney's album release party. Oh. My. God. It was the musical equal of dinner at the Herb Farm. The sheer energy up on stage -- wow.

Burble.

Lots of good links in the notes.

( raw notes )