We never went to the Marine Ball in Bangkok, because it was extremely expensive and a major undertaking given that we lived outside of the city and Saturday night traffic could be insane. In Bogota though, it was much closer and less expensive, so we figured, why not?
We got the tickets easily enough, but I had the worst luck getting a dress. First I ordered one from the same place as several other people, but for some unknown reason, mine got sent back. Then, I tried again through Amazon. It's a moth later, and that one STILL hasn't shown up. I finally threw up my hands and picked something out of my closet.
In all my worry about the dress, I had completely forgotten about the beautification process. Luckily, my friends hadn't. They helped me get appointments for hair, makeup, and nails at a nice little place just down the street. Since my dress was black and white, I thought red nails would be fun. They made me happy.
I hadn't gotten my hair and makeup professionally done since my wedding, so I wasn't quite as enthused about that process. The guy was really nice, but he put on a LOT of makeup.
When I got home, the girls weren't sure what to make of me. Elena kept looking at me and giggling, and Vivian did this big dramatic thing like she didn't know who I was. Crazy kids.
Jeff and I finished getting ready, and then some friends came over to pre-party.
For next year, we'll know to pre-party longer and arrive later. There was a "cocktail hour" that started at 6:00. It was a bunch of people crowded into the hallway area in front of the ballroom with two overpriced and understaffed bars. Once we finally got in, the room was nice. We were at a table with friends which helped, although we had to practically kidnap a waiter to get the bottles of wine on the table opened. The ceremony was interesting.
They were also kind enough to keep the music to background volume during dinner, so that we could hear each other and enjoy each other's company.
After dinner, they put on some good dance tunes, and my friends and I got up to dance, while Jeff and his friends stayed at the table to drink and talk. It was a fun night.
The following Thursday was Thanksgiving. We hosted for the first time, which was a lot of fun, but also a LOT of work. I started the day before with pumpkin pie and gravy base.
Elena carefully supervised the pumpkin pie cooking process and conducted a taste test the next morning, to make sure they were celebration ready.
Our Thanksgiving started early with a sausage ball enhanced parade viewing party.
The commissary was out of actual sausage, so we used ground pork and spices to make our own. It wasn't as good as Jimmy Dean's, but it got the job done. We also served cinnamon rolls, mimosas, and bloody maries, so everyone was happy. Elena got dressed up for the parade, but then refused to smile for a picture.
After the parade, Vivian got dressed up and smiled nicely.
Elena made up for her previous grouchiness by helping to set the table.
I got to work spatchcocking the turkey while Jeff watched and kept telling me to be careful of my fingers, which were still pretty from the Marine Ball.
I was pretty impressed that I could get it mostly done with the kitchen shears. There was just one piece of bone that required knife sawing at the end. Then it was a quick flip and rib crack and the turkey was spatchcocked!
I'm really glad I figured this all out last year, since there is NO WAY a full sized turkey would have fit in our current, teeny tiny oven. But with spatchcocking, it fit nicely on a cookie sheet, and into the oven it went. I was a bit worried about our temperamental oven, but it did its job, and the turkey came out crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.
I also made the same crock pot stuffing as last year, this time with our homemade sausage. All the guests brought extra dishes, and we decided the best way to serve was to just line all the dishes up in the kitchen and let people make up their own plates. Luckily, we have a lot of counter space.
What we were limited on was chairs and tables. We managed to fit all the adults around a makeshift "table".
While the kids got their own special set up with pillows.
We all stuffed ourselves silly, and then it was time for everyone to roll home. Jeff and I got the girls into bed and most of the mess cleaned up.
The hardest part of Thanksgiving was that the girls and I had to get up and go to school the next day. Luckily, we've gotten into a pretty good morning routine where they ride with me. I'm getting the hang of driving in Bogotá, and while the jerks who think that they're the only ones that matter piss me off on a daily basis, the only thing that really frightens me is the potholes. There are some HUGE potholes on the "highway" between our house and the school. Added to that is the fact that the buses pick up and drop people off on the right hand side of the five lane road, while the bus lane is on the far left side of the road, so the buses regularly cut across ALL the middle lanes of traffic, while motorcycles zoom in between the lanes. It is not a relaxing commute. The girls are great passengers though, and we have fun listening to music, so it is doable, just not my favorite part of the day. Elena is in full Frozen/Elsa mode, so we have to listen to "Let It Go" at least once each day.
Once we get to school, I drop everything in my corner, which I've made much more cozy and colorful than it was at the beginning of the year.
And it's so great to be in the same place as the girls all day. For example, Vivian's class invited parents to come see the ecolodge islands they'd designed, and it was super easy for me to pop over and admire hers during my planning period.
We have to park quite a ways from the school, and there's this really cool playground we have to walk by most days, which is hard for the girls to do. The other morning, for some unknown reason, there was almost no traffic, and we got to school early, so I let the girls have some play time.
Part of the reason we have to hustle past the playground in the afternoons is that we have to get Vivi to swimming twice a week. She's still more of a dreamer than a hardcore swimmer, but she enjoys it. The other day they had a fun day competition and she won a chocolate medal, which she was very pleased with.
Elena is pretty worn out after school most days, especially on Fridays when there's no nap, because we get out of school early. She needs a bottle and some quiet time before she's pleasant to be around.
We finally got the pictures hung last Tuesday, just in time for Thanksgiving, so it is really starting to feel like this apartment is our home. The goal for this weekend is to get the Christmas decorations up. The holiday season has already begun in Bogotá. Christmas trees and Christmas lights are going up all over. The other night we were putting the girls to bed when we heard lots of loud explosions. After a moment of concern, we realized it was fireworks, and we could see them from our balcony!
It was a fantastic display, and it went on for quite a while. We found out afterwards that it was put on by our local mall to celebrate the start of the Christmas season. I think we're really going to enjoy the way Colombians do Christmas.
