Nutcracker!

Rachel's Brownie troop, once again, went to see "The Nutcracker" at a local ballet school. She and I got dressed up the first Saturday in November and did much the same thing as last year -- there was a discussion about the ballet beforehand, and then the girls ate lunch in the cafeteria of the school where it was being performed (Rachel was disappointed that we brought lunch instead of going in with everyone else on pizza, but I had brought Trader Joe's gingersnaps so we got to trade food with folks). I even broke down and bought her a nutcracker -- a Christmas ornament, actually, but I figured she could cut off the loop of thread if she wants. It's now on her dresser.

I was impatient for the performance to end because Drew and I were due at a holiday party put on by my colleagues at The Post, to which we were going with Paula, a friend of mine, and her husband (their daughter, Katrina, was babysitting Rachel). We got home just in time to meet them and head to the party.

We had a great time talking to folks -- one of my colleagues told Drew that "Lisa is a delight to work with," to which Drew replied, "She's even more of a delight to live with." We stayed until dinnertime, then went home. Since none of us were really hungry, we all ended up playing a game of "Apples to Apples" -- we're all at our sarcastic best when we play -- and then Drew and I watched "House of Cards" when Rachel went to sleep. All in all, a busy but great Saturday!