Yeah, the SO would be in serious trouble if he ever tried to pull off a surprise party for me. But he knows this and instead takes me on wonderful quiet national parks anniversary trips and buys me telescopes for Christmas. Well, just the one, but it was a pretty damn nice one, which I think counts for a lot of Christmases.

That sounds like a good deal, Kathy! We only bought from Omaha Steaks once, and I can't remember what happened, but they were all ruined almost immediately after. Roommate left the freezer door open or something.

Speaking of which, the housesitter left a box of stouffer's out on the counter. But fortunately it was just from this afternoon, so it's still fine and I'm cooking it now.

I am so glad to be home, y'all. I had such a great trip. Fantastic seminars, fun stuff to look at, lots of great time with friends, good food (Oh! I decided since we didn't end up going to hockey that I would splurge on dinner with my spending money, so we did go to Roy's! It was delish. The SO had the trio (salmon, seared ahi, butterfish) and I had the mac nut encrusted mahimahi. I wanted opah but they were out. So nom.) and lovely scenery. But I am still just so happy right now to be in front of the fire with my dog.

I miss the free un-capped internet access, though. I got lots of ebooks while I was gone, but forgot to download music too until the end.

The only surprise party I really enjoyed was when my friends threw me a surprise birthday party in March.

My birthday is in June.

I was at the party for an hour before I realized it was for me. That was funny.

(They did it to make up for missing it the previous June. And they knew I'd be surprised in March, which is when various people would be in town.)

When I was little, I had a friend named Xochitl.

I went to school with a Xochitl as well.

Kathy, congratulations on all of your progress!i am just so happy for you.

Last night I went to one of those restaurants where they bring a bunch of meat around on skewers and you eat as much as you like. I didn't think I'd overdone it, but this morning the thought of eating meat makes me feel slightly queasy.

I've never had as surprise party, but my family threw one for my dad's 75th birthday. It went pretty well, and he seemed to enjoy it. Sadly, he wasn't terribly good at organizing social stuff, and I didn't really know my parents' friends, so Mom didn't get a similar do for her 75th. I think she really would have liked one, too. That's the downside for one person in the family handling all the social organizing, I guess.

I avoid wheat as it's my migraine trigger. I'm not a quinoa fan either. I do like rice pasta (corn pasta's got the wrong texture for me). I can eat some gluten, if I'm careful about it, so I use spelt and rye in baking. They make good bread.

I tried quinoa once, and it was sufficiently nasty that I have never had any desire to go back and try it again with all the rinsing and other prep work that supposedly makes it not taste like that. Life's too short.

I love quinoa. I made a wonderful quinoa salad for our New Years gathering with orange juice, parsley, and garlic that everyone loved.

Where are the affiliate links? Not a great sign that I can't find them.

I also enjoy quinoa a great deal. And it's so pretty!

In today's news of Jesse's bad planning for weather, I walked out of the house into the snow without an umbrella, hood, or even a hat. But I was running late, so I didn't want to go back up. Of course, then the driver was late, so I had extra time to stand around with my hair getting wet.

ok, found them, but a complaint: The Buffista Links is a different place than where the "Links" in the FAQ takes you, and OMG can we get the revamped FAQ up, that thing is so old and irrelevant now.