Christmas in Merrillville
For a late Christmas get-together, Liz and I headed over to Merrillville, for a lovely evening/dinner at Katie and Tim’s house.
For a late Christmas get-together, Liz and I headed over to Merrillville, for a lovely evening/dinner at Katie and Tim’s house.
Of particular note: as we were sitting down, one of the veterans (Michael)… shouted out that he wanted to sit next to Liz, because “she gets everything right.” He was referring to one of the prior events (the March outturn), where Liz was really spot-on with a lot of her predictions (the tasting involves trying to guess the age, distillery, casks used, and ABV for each dram).
The tasting was a lot of fun, and I daresay the mini tastes we had afterwards were just as enjoyable. I continue to be awed at the generosity of the folks at these gatherings (Lauren, Steve, and Max in particular).
I’m glad Katie and Tim got to experience a society tasting. And doubly glad they got to see a bit of what happens, at the afterparty of sorts. Lots of really fun conversations, knowledgeable people, and an overall good time.
We brought a few things to share. And also got to sample some Armagnac that Katie and Tim picked up, while they were in southern France earlier this year.
We had drinks to begin the night, and also a few appetizers. And I was pretty impressed with the appetizers, as nearly everything I tried ended up in a bit of a conversation.
While we’ve visited some in the past, we’ve never actually been out on the water. We didn’t end up bringing swimsuits, so we just got the chance to drive around for a bit.
to Merrilville… to hang out with Julie and Bob, and Katie and Tim’s family. We had a big dinner planned, with folks arriving in the afternoon for drinks and gift exchanges.
All told, we used about 70 bags (with 13 leftover). Not too far off, on the original calculations.
Liz and I met up with at Katie and Tim’s lake house, where Julie and Bob were spending the weekend. We had a big afternoon of local breweries to visit, as part of Bob’s birthday celebration.
Tim’s father, Ray, was the officiant who did the marriage all those years ago. He was also the one who officiated last year (when they officially tied the knot). And he was the officiant today, when Tim and Katie were married in front of all their family and friends.
Ray is in the unique position to have married Katie and Tim not once, not twice, but thrice. Which seems like a very special and lucky thing, if you ask me.
It was lovely to get a bit of good news, during a time when everything is dark and uncertain. Congratulations Katie, congratulations Tim! Fantastic news, and looking forward to being able to celebrate in person.
Today and tomorrow are a bit weird, in that I’m staying out in Valparaiso, IN but commuting in to Chicago. I rode in with Bob early in the AM (he came in to work on our place while I was at work), but took the South Shore line back out to Valpo at the end of the day.
Post-dinner, we played a few rounds of Secret Hitler, which Katie had brought over. Last year, we played Ticket to Ride, and this year we brought over Azul.
On our way back, we got a note that several other family members were going to check out the Balloons over Marine Festival. So we re-routed, found a decent parking spot, and gathered at the edge of the park.
We were in the midst of preparing veggies and things when everyone arrived. So much of the time, we all just hung out in the kitchen – cooking, drinking wine, and visiting a bit.