Thank you for posting the pictures, Shir!

I do still feel like hell, and I had a low fever at the doctor's office, so I guess I wasn't overreacting by going in to see him.

I hate sitting in the doctor's office and arguing with myself over whether or not I'm sick enough to be there. I'm always worried that the doc will say something along the lines of, "You have a cold. Geez, lady, deal with it like the rest of the world does and stop wasting my time." Which has never happened but I always worry about it. More often than not it's, "You really should've come in sooner". And that's my round-a-bout way of saying that I'm glad you got yourself into the doc, Tep.

Actually, here's a dose of health~ma for all the Bitches. Sounds like we could use it.

No real plans tonight. DH is at work and will probably be exhausted when he gets home. That's ok, though. We're having his parents over tomorrow for a postponed Christmas lunch / dinner, so I've been cleaning today in preparation for that. I'm fairly exhausted already. Someone at work asked if I was doing anything special and I said, "Hell yeah! We're partying like fuckin' rockstars! Right up until about 10p or so and then we'll probably go to bed." I tell ya, we're just a couple of geezers.

You mean you aren't going to show up here with Suzi and Kelly and surprise me?

It's your turn, you know.

Happy New Year to all Buffistas. Or:

As the leftover flower children (still fairly plentiful here in Olympia) would say: "Hippy New Year".

As the woman who raises rabbits about eight blocks from here would say: "Hoppy New Year".

As the retired Marine Sargent at the Senior Center would say: "Hup Hup Hup Huppy New Year".

It's not really a surprise if I do it the very next year, silly. Don't worry, though. I'll get you back one day.

Man, last year was awesome.

It was! Please do come visit, some day. There is no snow here.

I am going either bowling, or to see Crystal Method. No idea which yet.

"Hoppy New Year"

Thought that was the microbrewer.

I know this is in Natter, but I'll say it here anyway...my instinct is that Phoebe Buffay would be the best female-Friend F. She's probably pretty unshockable, and she's a massage therapist. Rachel's very pretty, but they make those emery-board jokes for a reason, and Monica is a neat-freak.(Monica and I would get on best with our clothes on, though.) So F Phoebe C Rachel M Monica Wow, I used to be pretty straight before this board. Now, I'm all about Friendly femmeslash. Real life: I think F Perry C-Leblanc(hopefully we'd stay, well, Friends) M-Schwimmer(and this is a bit crass of me, but Schwimmer and Doug Ellin from Entourage are total BFFs, so maybe I'd end up with a husbandAND Networking too.) The womenfolk: F- Aniston C- Cox-Arquette- but only cause you gotta chuck somebody. I'd like to take her out and buy her pasta, cause she's prettier heavier. M- Kudrow. I think she is probably a good partner cause she stays out of the tabs.

erika, finally a FCM close to my heart!

OK, here's my August Reveillon menu:

After checking in, freshening up, and orienting ourselves, we went to the Absinthe Bar for a Sazerac before hitting Restaurant August for our 6pm reservation. We were a little early, and we had a couple of drinks at the bar there- I had a Sazerac followed by a great French 75. Tom had a couple bottles of the Abita seasonal pecan beer, which sounded weird but was actually pretty great.

On to the meal! Tom wanted the 4 course tasting menu and I wanted the 7 course Reveillon menu- we were informed that the entire table needed to order the 7 course meal, due to timing issues, but Tom was able to sub out as many courses as he wanted to, so he subbed out 3 courses. It worked out great! I had the wine pairings, which were very nice.

Here's how it broke down, I will refrain from commenting, because I don't want this to be too long, but everything was AWESOME, one of the 3 best meals of my life (The French Laundry being one of the others)

Amuse: truffle whipped seafood sabayon with fish fume custard served in an eggshell with a brioche crouton and caviar.

Course 1: Spiced pain perdu and roast fois gras with persimmon. Tom said that it was one of the best things he'd ever put in his mouth. (pairing: Champagne, Jean Claude Thevenet, Brut Blanc de Blanc.)

Course 2: Brouillade aux truffle- La Provence farmed eggs, Perigord truffle. so simple, so good. (pairing: Chardonnay, J.M. Boillot 1 er Cru Montagny, Burgundy, 2007.)

Course 3: I had the turtle soup "grand mere" finished off with Pedro Jimenez sherry. (pairing: Zinfendel Surh Luchtel Napa Valley 2006.)

• Tom had the acorn squash mezze luna with satsuma, local chestnuts, and fennel.

Course 4: I had the pocket roast of veal breast with P&G oyster dressing and glazed turnips. (pairing: Tempernillo Marques de Murrieta Reserva, Finca Ygay, Rioja, Spain. 2005.)

• Tom had the slow-cooked venison shoulder with spatzle, braised red cabbage, and stuffed lady apple (stuffed with a dried fruit compote).

Course 5: slow cooked Christmas goose with cranberry, "cracklin" and goose liver stuffed knoedel (potato). There were also braised leeks, and the goose was served both sliced and in a pate/terrine-esque fashion. (pairing: Bordeaux, Chateau de Crusveau, Pessac Leognan, France, 2005.)

Course 6: blue cheese semifreddo with quince, pomegranate and pecan brittle (pairing: Muscat de Beaume de Venise Reserve, Vidal-Fleury, France, 2007.)

• Tom: Crispy fried "berliners" with cranberries, meyer lemon, and rosemary.

Course 7: Warm fall fruit stuffed seckel pear with vanilla cinnamon mousse and candied chestnuts. (pairing: Madeira, Rare Wine Co., Historic Series, "Boston" Bual Reserve, Portugal)

Did you taste one another's selections?