Joanna came up on Wed night. And I went out there, to my parents' in Alamo (East Bay -- just south of Walnut Creek) on Wed night. We had Jo's fav Beef Stroganoff. And cheese pie (not to be confused with cheesecake). We all watched Dawson's Creek, or read or talked and then watched Felicity and/or read or talked in the family room with the fireplace going. Then we watched Law & Order (a fav of mine, my dad's and Jo's).

On Xgiving Thursday we had Jo's fav breakfast, umm, what's it called, Bernaise (sp?) sauce, Canadian bacon, English Muffin, eggs. I separated mine into a specially prepared by Mom Sheared Egg, Canadian Bacon, English Muffin with peanut butter. Very good.

Then around 2:30 my friends came out from the City (actually Berkeley) for Xgiving eats. My friends, Genevieve and John, are serious hardcore environmentalists. And my parents are serious hardcore Republicans. But everyone got along pretty well, as the topic of politics was continually squashed by me.

We played Balderdash, or some other board game which was fun. Except that Genevieve and John beat me and Jo. Jo and I should not have been on the same team. Our pettiness sabotaged our playing, me thinks.

Then we were going to watch football or something, and John was turning around the stations and we ended up on Raiders of the Lost Ark just starting on USA network. We watched that for a while and then ate...

Turkey, homemade rolls, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, some other stuff, pumpkin pie (I love p.p.).

Then back to the family room, the fireplace and the end of Raiders. The very end. We missed the melting faces. Then Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom started. No one much liked it, but no one had really seen it since it's original release so we watched it. Then of course, they had The Last Crusade on so we watched that. Then John and Genevieve left.

I was going to leave the next day and stop by Berkeley and maybe see Unbreakable with them. But in the morning I was guilted into hanging around with my family. I had some of mom's delicious coffee cake. Then Jo and Andrea and I saw Unbreakable at the newly refurbished (looks like the AMC 1000 Van Ness) Crow Canyon Cinemas in San Ramon. It was entertaining. Popcorn was good.

Then Hilary came over to my parents' house that night. Jo and Hilary went to high school together. We had left overs, talked, another fire in the fireplace, etc. Then Hilary left -- and promised to see us again at Xmas -- and Mom and Jo and I watched Some Came Running.

Some Came Running is a great 1958 Vincente Minnelli film with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine. We watched it, because, Mom just read the book (which I got her for her birthday). Then the next day before I left we rewatched some of the movie (Jo had fallen asleep and missed some).

The end. Next up: Xmas and New Years.

Mid-November Tales, "Shoes III", is here.

Trip to Los Angeles Story, "Birthday: Shoes Pt II", is here.

American Rag San Francisco story, "Shoes", is here.