Holiday Madness, part 2

nguyen xmas 08
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

after all that, xmas with my family was relatively quiet--as much as it can be for them. this year, my uncle traded in the knife play on his hands, part of his clowning around after some wine, all in the name of entertainment, except that he's not a robot, nor are we in aliens, the movie, and instead riled up bela, my cousin's bulldog, to growling and hyperactivity. seriously, i really thought there was going to be an incident that would require going to the emergency room for stitches.

it was a wonderful surprise that my cousin thierry, his wife and alana, their 3 year old daughter joined us for xmas. he has the great job of playing and writing about video games, and at three, alana is already savvy with the game controller. it makes me wonder what the future will be like. we think we're pretty tech savvy now, but can we keep up?

more fabulous meals, inappropriate sexual innuendos and other family chicanery made for another typical gathering. i didn't participate in any of the cooking, though i would have loved to have contributed. my family is full of cooks, so that responsibility was shared among my aunts and uncles.

through the last few weeks, on top of everything else, i've been helping my mom with designing a postcard for an upcoming exhibition she will be in, a greeting card for new year's for the buddhist temple, and business cards for my mom. it was a bit more stressful due to the tight deadlines, but i am happy that that is done with as well. i was relieved when a new web job that is suppose to be completed by next mon has been delayed. it came as no surprise that given the option of going out and and staying in, we opted to stay in new years eve after a leisurely hot pot dinner with my mom and family.

mike & i received quite a few kitchen gadgets for xmas, which i'm excited to use, including a fancy kuhn rikon salt grinder, an ice cream attachment for our mixer (yes, homemade ice cream) and an immersion blender, which should make the soup-making easier (and less messy). i am looking forward to more cooking and baking in 2009, and hopefully, i can thank my family and friends by warming their stomachs.