We’re getting settled in…

We're getting settled in nicely. Yesterday we were actually organized enough to cook dinner for Kevin's parents. It takes a bit of time to get used to cooking in another woman's kitchen (I know, that sounds unfeminist, but it really is Ann's kitchen, though Ron does make a delicious moussaka once a year or so), but we're getting used to it. Kevin made roast lamb while I did side dishes -- risotto/feta-stuffed green peppers and a tomato-orzo dish. We made a bunch of small mistakes -- the lamb came out a bit dry, I forgot to blanch the peppers, so they were definitely on the crispy side, and I needed to both cut down on the amount of onion and cook it longer for the orzo dish. And we didn't manage either an appetizer or a dessert, so I'd have to give the overall meal a B, or at best B+. But a decent first attempt, and I'm sure we'll do better with practice. :-)

Today we took Kavi to Kevin's mom's office to meet the colleagues; Ann works at a child services organization, and so everyone there is extremely baby-friendly. There was much coo-ing. :-) Then Kevin dropped me off at Coffee Roasting so I can catch up a bit on backlogged e-mail. This evening we're leaving Kavi with the grandparents and going to see Stardust with Thida (and possibly Alex).

I do encourage y'all to go see Stardust -- it was a lovely book, and the early reviews for the movie have been really favorable, both from those who have and haven't read the book. Should be a splendid fantasy romance! And of course, if you are going, it's best to go opening weekend, Friday night if you possible can -- the movie business is just like the book business, in that it pays a ridiculous amount of attention to what happens when a title first comes out. Even if I didn't already like the book, even if I didn't already like Neil, I would want this movie to succeed, because if it does, it's going to help open up the possible field for the fantasy novels that I'm going to eventually write and want adapted into movies. :-) So go, already!

Tomorrow, we're hopefully going up to Oakland to see the temporary apartment there. Sometime soon, I'll be meeting with my new writing group (with Tim Pratt, Susan Lee, et. al.), which has kindly allowed me in although I'll only be here for four+ months. Kearny Street wants me to teach a workshop or two for them while I'm in town, and I think I'll try to join my old writing group again too, because I really do want to try to get a lot of writing done in the next few months, and I need the structure. So lots of progress of the social/work front. Even though we're not quite completely unpacked, the Bay Area's starting to feel like home again.