i'm at my parents' house in Oregon. there is thick frost on everything outside. mom is downstairs making her infamous lamb balls. (minds out of gutter, please.) and i'm feeling like i already got everything i wanted for Christmas, even though i can't wait to open the presents marked for me under the tree.

yeah, it's definitely the season.

the cheer was a bit hard to come by at first, though. i struggled for a couple weeks, feeling unhappy for no good reason and for a couple very good reasons. but the people who matter most stuck by me, helped me through it and i came out the other side happier, wiser and better for it. and i was reminded of why those people do matter most.

i think the season truly began for me when my girl came over on Friday night so i could cook for her and we could exchange presents. i lit up the hallway with candles and left the living room dark but for the Christmas tree lights and a bowl of even more candles. we made arugula salad with pears, crumbly blue cheese, candied pecans, and a mixture of pomegranate vinaigrette and walnut oil. (i guessed on how to candy pecans and got it right!) very tasty. then it was on to the main course: huge lamb chops covered in a mushroom reduction sauce and accompanied by many different kinds of fresh and dried mushrooms and fresh asparagus spears. it was delicious! one of the better things i've made. and since i'd never cooked for Corinne (how did i let that happen??), she was doubly impressed.

afterwards, we sat in the living room with a bottle of wine and exchanged presents. she got me buttery-soft leather gloves with cashmere lining and a poker set complete with chips and cards. i got her a jade-colored pashima scarf and a new phone to replace hers that was so broken she couldn't dial any numbers that contained a four. (which isn't so good considering my number has a four.) we spent the rest of the night talking and cuddling and schooling one another in the ways of poker.

i was originally supposed to leave for Oregon on Saturday, but the weather conditions and my "to do" list made it a much better plan to leave early on Sunday. that gave everyone, including my parents, an extra day of rest and relaxation. Cory and i spent it wandering around the Fillmore and Union Square, enjoying the sunlight, eating baguette sandwiches, and just being with each other. it was the best present.

she left later in the afternoon to go pack and catch a showing of The Two Towers. Amber arrived a few hours later and we spent the night lounging on the couch, eating pork chop leftovers, and running out for some decadent ice cream at Mitchell's.

we left pretty early the next morning. traffic was ridiculously light and the roads were dry. we cruised out of the Bay Area, stopped briefly at the Vacaville In-n-Out (only to find it didn't open for another 30 minutes), and made it all the way to Redding without a stop. there, we hit the last In-n-Out of civilization and gobbled down a few Double-Doubles. then off to the mountains. the going remained mostly dry and traffic-less, except for a brief and rather odd slow-down near Dunsmir. the snow was waist-, no, chest-high in Mount Shasta where we stopped for gas but the roads had all been plowed. it did feel a bit like driving through a tunnel of ice, though. we arrived in Ashland exactly on time and were greeted by happy parents. dad tried (and failed) to put up the traditional train underneath the tree. mom offered up some of her delicious Russian tea cakes. and we all went out back to talk to the mother deer and her two juvenile offspring that had taken up temporary residence in the back yard.

today, we're all going ice skating with the children of some family friends. tomorrow, i'm helping deliver some presents for my mom's work then it's off to a fancy, festive dinner, all of us dressed to the nines. Christmas we already have tickets to see Two Towers after the present-openings.

but, really, with all of the other stuff, who needs presents?

well...

need? no. want? most definitely.

merry Christmas. happy Hanukkah. whatever the holiday, may it be as wonderful and full of light and joy as mine.