Amy and Vahl always have a big dinner on Christmas for his family. This year was special because Dayla is dating a lawyer named Craig seriously and Amy and Vahl invited his family, Craig, Sr., Carol, and Kyle to visit from Chicago.
We did not take any food, but Willy and Luke took gifts for Amy and Dayla and we took a bottle of 2008 De Ponte Pinot Noir, a Gruet Blanc de Noir champagne, and a bottle of 2016 Benton Lane Rose.
According to Suzette, Amy had everything catered, there was Posole, tamales, and blue corn enchiladas, plus a baked ham, which could have been a swirl cut ham and several cheeses. The best cheese was a soft cheese named Saint Angel. The cheeses were served with oat biscuits, which I love.
Suzette told me the blue corn enchiladas were very picante, so I did not eat any of them. Suzette later told me the enchiladas did not agree with her.
Everyone was friendly. I was particularly attracted to Ric Spiegal who is two years younger than me and went to Sunday school with me and Billy for a while and played with Billy when we were growing up in Fort Worth.
Ric and I talked for a long time comparing notes and reacquainting ourselves. I really hit it off with his wife, Mary, who is an actor’s agent in Dallas and grew up in Tanglewood in Fort Worth and went to Paschal H.S. as Ric, Billy, and I did. We shared information about the film industry in New Mexico, which she is interested in entering.
Craig, Sr.was also interesting. He is an attorney in Chicago and mainly deals with tech start-ups. He has a client who is forming a real estate block chain, similar to the one I am helping start, it seems.
After dinner, at around 4:30 we walked up Chusco to the corner and when we returned I watched the sunset with Aaron, Vahl’s son who was visiting from Denver.
We finally left after most others did, we said goodnight and drove home at around 6:30.
When we returned home I drank the last of the chai Luke had made this morning and then bites of the foie gras Jill made and some Serrano ham. I washed that down with a small glass of ruby port.
It is 9:00 and I am lying in bed blogging out this post.
We love spending time with our family and am happy Amy has found a family and lets us share them with her.
Since I almost died last Christmas, I am thrilled to be feeling better this Christmas. I am not back to my original level of health, but feel like I am at 80%, which, thankfully, is much better than 2% or 0%. Suzette, who deals with old folks all the time tells me that I am at 100%, which I guess means that 80% is my new normal. Although not thrilled to be feeling pain occasionally, I am thrilled to be able to enjoy the holiday season with family and friends.
Also, this has turned out to be a great year in the stock market for me and instructional. My portfolio has grown 16% so far. A commentator said the other day, “investors usually worry about their losses instead of being happy about their gains”. My experience this year was a good example. I was worried that Trump would mess up the China trade negotiation and so I sold 1000 shares of Apple at 187, to develop a reserve of cash in case the Market dropped. The Market did exactly the opposite.
Apple shares went up 100 points since I sold the 1000 shares, which means I lost $100,000 in value, but the Apple shares I kept have increased by $100 each and my portfolio has increased in value.
So I am happy in so many ways.
Bon Appetit
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