'Tis the Season?!

I understand the lure of sales during the holidays: Black Friday and all the sales leading up to Christmas provide the perfect opportunity to procure the perfect holiday gift at a perfectly discounted price. Of course, huge numbers of other people are also aware of the sales and can be counted on to make your shopping experience one that will have you cursing the very holiday spirit that brought this plague upon you in the first place. Those upbeat, fun-loving Christmas carols will become a soundtrack to the terror; the jostling for position on the sidewalks, in the stores and finally on the subway home with your arms full of Christmas booty will beat the last remnants of good cheer right out of you. Personally, I make every attempt to avoid the holiday rush, as I value my sanity and want to continue to enjoy the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album without flashbacks to the carnage at Macy’s. In light of this, I have to say that one advertisement has changed my perspective on holiday shopping forever. Nothing says “Merry Christmas!” like a whole goat! Or better yet, burnt goat head and feet! You know how you shop and shop for the perfect gift and when you turn around it’s staring you right in the face…literally? You can bet I was at the store waiting in line hours before it opened, elbowing my way to the goat isle hoping to get my hands on as many whole goats as I could possibly carry.


Ah, the joys of living in Carribean Brooklyn. Seriously though, if I buy a whole goat will it still be alive, struggling in the meat section under cellophane? What if I opt for the burnt head and feet only, what will happen to the rest of the Christmas goat? And lastly, what the hell do I do with these goats and goat parts?! These are important and thought-provoking questions that I will leave you with during these few weeks leading up to Christmas. When you receive a package in the mail from us this year, remember the trouble we went through to acquire the goat and subsequently wrestle it into the mailbox with postage perched precariously on its burnt head and/or feet.

Merry Christmas, everyone…goat heads and feet for all, and for all a good night!

Thanksgiving Blog

Here's the belated Thanksgiving blog. We got so busy after Turkey Day I didn't have time until now to blog about it.

My mom and dad came out to visit; and they stayed with us for the first time ever! We had lived in a one bedroom until last year, so they always stayed in a hotel before. So, of course, we had to pull out all the stops. Katie made an excellent cranberry bruschetta (using cranberries instead of tomatoes), and we had a very yummy cheese and veggie tray. We cooked a great dinner for them, including Dan's now-famous cheese-cloth basted turkey, gravy, and stuffing from scratch (I cooked it in the bird for the first time this year) and Katie's famous green-bean casserole, candied yams, garlic-cheesy mashed potatoes, and homemade cranberry sauce (from scratch). We also had copious amounts of tasty wine. We took walks in Prospect Park (and the neighboring historical neighborhood of Park Slope) and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. For our "only-in-New York" fix, we took a 90-minute backstage tour of the Met Opera followed by a great jazz brunch at the Blue Note, one of the flagship jazz clubs in NYC. Between the two activities we took a nice long walk through Central Park, which is where the above picture was taken. We played tons of games like Quiddler, Taboo, cribbage, hearts, UNO, Phase 10, Five Crowns, and probably some others, some of which spurred the formation of several inside jokes...like: PUD-ding?!

All in all, a good time was had by all. And the time really flew. Then it was back to the grind and the push to the end of the semester, which is only now finally wrapping up. Katie just finished school today, and I have a few more days to go, but I have basically given all my finals so I can mentally cruise to the end of the semester. We'll try to put up some more posts during the holidays since we can't be with our family in the Pacific Northwest. Look for a repeat of the Christmas letter and also check out other recently added pictures!