I had a staff retreat with my co-workers at the Del Mar Races. We worked all morning and closed the office at noon today.

Here we are on our way to early retirement



When choosing a horse we worked on our our team work - I thought we were motivated and worked well together



It was a beautiful sunny day with a ton of people there - were they all on vacation? Or, were they all on a staff retreat? I did notice a lot of conferring when examining the horses which indicated a fair amount of 'team work'.



I think we were having second thoughts on the horse(s) we had picked



Marine and Stacie were super sensible with their big-rimmed hats and I will definitely wear one next year - my skin was quite pink at the end of the day


Misuk enjoying her kettle corn



I arrived home a little less well off than I left this morning but I had a great day. Once home I wanted a simple dinner and an early night. We had mushroom and mascapone cheese ravioli with a sun-dried tomato cream sauce. I was too tired to prepare a salad so this was it

It's around 7:45 am and I'm waiting for Alex to bring me coffee and the newspaper in bed - my weekly treat. While the coffee is brewing I thought I could tell you about Alex being still slightly drunk from our night out at the Strong Ale Festival held at Pizza Port in Carlsbad Village. We're not shy of a drink or two but rarely do we have so much that we end up drunk. But last night was an exception. We were out with friends at the festival and the place was packed with mostly college age kids. To get in we had to line up outside for about an hour - something I haven't done since, well, a long time ago. Our admission price included a glass and 8 tastings of beer with an alcohol content of no less that 8% and up to 14%. That beer was strong! I could barely manage to try 4 of them while Alex happily tasted 8 beers of his choice (mostly stouts which brought back fond memories of one of our earliest dates). We had a great time with Ann and Diana and friends and participated fully in the lively happenings of the night. Cheering when someone dropped a glass, booing when one of the beers ran out. So here we are the next morning and Alex is groaning his way around the kitchen and complaining of still feeling a little tipsy. It's nothing that a cup of coffee can't put right but I'm wondering if the coffee will ever be made.

Alex had a book signing up in Los Angeles today. We drove up early this morning and had a brunch before going to Dark Delicacies for the signing


We were a little early so sat outside for a while - notice the poster advertising his book?


While he was signing books for his fans I went shopping along Melrose Avenue.

We are all sitting on the couch with with swollen bellies wondering why we ate as much as we did. It has been a long and full day with presents and much eating and drinking.

The day didn't start too early and it got off to a good start with Multigrain toast w/scrambled eggs & Canadian bacon, coffee, and fresh fruit salad.

Klaus tucking in to the first meal of the day - his scrambled eggs



The idea was to eat a substantial breakfast that would last us until our dinner later in the day. Did it work? Not really! I had put out nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate to snack on if anyone got a bit peckish and a fair amount got eaten during the day.

Anyway, after breakfast we all sat around the Christmas tree drinking mimosas and opened our presents. I won't go into details but Santa bought us all some really cool stuff as well as the oddities that always show up in the stockings.

Before and after the presents were opened



It was a beautiful day and we spent some time outside reading before getting dinner ready. Yesterday we had all done a lot of preparation to make today easier. We had a nice table setting for the occasion.



The Menu
Butternut Squash Soup with Melted Blue Cheese. It was so warm we ate the soup out on the patio before moving inside for the main course.



Mustard and Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Cauliflower Puree and
Brussels Sprouts and Roasted Red Onion



Arugula, Pear and Stilton Salad. We got to this part and skipped it because we were so full.

Christmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce for dessert. I had bought these items from the English import store and can't imagine a Christmas at home without them.

I bought Alex an electronic keyboard because he wants to learn how to play the piano. The keyboard is soft and rolls up for easy storage.


It was a fabulous day but I'm glad it's bedtime.