A seething mass of turgid drama.

We went out last night for a belated anniversary dinner. We chose the place we have been to a few times (Trestle) and had originally scheduled for the wife's birthday last year before lockdown cancelled everything. Their North Beach space is too small to warrant reopening under the current restrictions, but they are owned by a company that runs a new large restaurant in the Financial District. Said restaurant opened right before plague time and was designed for expense account dinners, so it is large and well-ventilated. This means that Trestle is operating a pop-up out of this space.

In other words, we had a lovely dinner - indoors, sitting in a booth far away from the few other patrons, and basically a pre-plague dining experience. The PMJ soundtrack didn't hurt either.

We went out for dinner last night for the wife's birthday. At a Michelin-rated restaurant. In public. For the first time since January 2020.
It was glorious. (Mostly.)
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Thanksgiving was about as nice as it could be under the circumstances. I stayed in bed until the decadent time of 7:30. The wife went for her workout, I picked her up, and we eased into the cooking.

Dinner was the four of us - the two couples in the building, since we've shared lockdown the whole time. In previous years we have each cooked a turkey, in part because we all have different traditional stuffings. But I just was not feeling it this year so the neighbors did theirs (stuffings: oatmeal for him, cornbread for her; my family's is sage bread) and we cooked a variety of side dishes: cranberry-onion chutney, which was quite good and had no ridges; brussels sprouts; sous vide carrots, which were adequate but nothing special; and baked yams. I also made an apple pie and the curvy upstairs neighbor made pecan. We had a nice bottle of local Cab Sauv with dinner and we provided port for dessert.

I was pleasantly replete, not overstuffed. But I did not sleep well nonetheless.

I am thankful for our health, for our constrained social circle, and for the kitties - in a normal year, we would not have brought them home so soon after losing Galen. They have been a bright spot.

Last weekend turned into a baking extravaganza. Sourdough pizza, bread and walnut bread, and English muffins. I baked the pizza in the toaster oven because I didn't want to heat up the regular oven for one pizza... and now I have ordered a toaster oven pizza stone. (I am still craving pizza as that one did not scratch the itch.)

We went to visit Wendy and Josh for a Sunday brunch. I took the aforementioned English muffins and house-made pancetta for Eggses Benedict. We socially-distanced on their front porch. It was lovely to see them. It was also lovely to pet their cats. We should try to have people over to the top of our yard while the weather is nice.

I have not been sleeping well. It's not any one particular thing as far as I can tell; my brain isn't cycling. But this morning I woke up around 12:30 and didn't get back to sleep until after 2:30. Which makes getting up at 5 difficult. It's probably just as well I didn't plan to go into the office today.

The Netflix recommendations from the WSJ have given us two series we like more than I expected: Toast, which I wasn't sure about but grew on me as we watched it, and Middleditch and Schwartz, which is fascinating to watch for long-form improv. And frequently very funny. Too bad there are only three episodes.

The wife's divisible-by-five birthday yesterday was... well, as expected. She did a workout by computer with her gym. I made a decent dinner (chicken liver risotto with leek scapes); we opened a nice bottle of champagne; and I made a very good version of this cake, in individual bunny cakelet molds and an orange sugar glaze rather than buttercream, so that we could see the bunnies.

But clearly no party for any of us right now.

Welp, we're ordered to shelter in place except for necessities, starting at midnight. I can't say I'm surprised. But it will make the wife's birthday this coming Sunday much less fun for her. (The restaurant cancelled our reservation last night.)

I suspect our April 1 anniversary will be similarly affected.

One of the side benefits to Project Reorg is that there is now a lot more space - well, everywhere, but this is specifically about our family room.

We haven't decorated for Xmas in quite a few years. We just really weren't feeling it. And realistically, there wasn't really room for a tree. Now there is. And... we still aren't really feeling it this year. Maybe if there was more time after Thanksgiving, so we'll see next year. (I really would like to put up my King Harold ornament.)

In bond trading terms, I changed my age handle yesterday - that is, the leading digit of my age.
It's not a big deal. Nor does it particularly feel celebration-worthy. Frankly, staying married almost 20 years feels like far more of an accomplishment...

Along those lines I had a very low-key day yesterday. I made cotignac from Cariadoc's very ripe quinces. (Which took two days rather than the one I expected. Hence today is jelly and quince butter will have to wait until next weekend.) I spent some time with the wife and cat. I played a computer game.

We did go out to dinner; but it wasn't one of the very formal, high-end places that we've sometimes gone to. I just wasn't inspired for that. We tried Trestle, a small place that only serves a nightly prix-fixe dinner. That way they only make eight dishes all week (three courses, each with two alternates, and an optional add-on two-choice pasta course). That means they are at the low-end price-wise for their quality, and it's a regular industry hangout as well. This was pumpkin week: every single item used pumpkin. Not my favorite ingredient, but at least everything was different - it wasn't a one-note series of flavors. The dishes we had were all good. I wouldn't put it on my must-return list, but I don't regret trying it either.

The only down note was the cab we took to the restaurant. Not only was the car clearly in need of repair, but the cabbie was old and didn't know where and how he was going. We basically had to direct him via our phones. No tip for him. I blame Lubers for this: they have driven many cabs out of business, and many of those who were more competent have found other work. Not that Lubers are more competent, sadly.

I'm using the birthday as an excuse to take today off work.

After the last few weekends of Project Reorg, we made a calculated decision to not push it this weekend. So I read a couple books, got bills paid, pet the cat, snoozed... it was really nice.

Since we had warm weather and it was our turn for the weekly homeowners' meeting, I grilled some tri-tip (after sous viding to medium rare) and corn, and baked beans in the Instant Pot. (Side note: the pot leaves beans a bit al dente, which is nice in a stew. But for baked beans I prefer a softer texture.) We had blackberries, raspberries, and creme anglaise for dessert. The big thing was using the upstairs space for the first time! I dragged our plastic tourney table up along with folding chairs. We even ate with disposable bowls and silverware. Eventually we'll get some patio furniture, but there are more urgent uses for our HOA funds.

Monday Chaz and Karen came up to the city. We met them at Monk's Kettle and spent time with Rachael. She showed us the downstairs where her curing happens; the bresaola is funkier than mine (in a good way), no doubt because of the kegs of beer stored down there too. Several beers, good pub grub, and fabulous conversation.

But I failed to win the lottery, so I'm back at work today.

I have started counting events remaining. (One, Collegium. June Crown doesn't count because I am not in charge.) I haven't started counting down the days yet - that may happen in June.

ETA: I am looking forward to cracking the expensive single malt I bought in 2016 as a step-down treat, so that worked! It's even better that all three of the Principality exchequers who I worked closely with will be there to try it too.