A kiss is still a kiss

We woke up this morning to snow. We didn't get much, but still the weather was cold enough to send me out to the garage for an armful of logs. We've spent the last few days eating, talking, and playing games by the fire. I saw no reason to change that pattern.

It was a good day to make soup from leftovers. I searched through the refrigerator to find some leftover squash that Shaggy Hair Boy had roasted, a bag of leeks from our CSA, and some celery stalks. I grabbed some potatoes, onions, and apples from the counter, chopped everything up, and then threw in a bunch of spices. There's really no way to make soup wrong.

When With-a-Why arrived home from his voice lesson, he had his girlfriend Shy Smile with him -- and two bags of groceries. "We're going to make soup," he announced.

"Two different kinds," Shy Smile said. She'd brought her mother's recipes with her.

I moved my pot of soup to the back burner. "I'm done with the kitchen," I said. "You can use the two front burners." You can never have too much soup.

Dandelion Niece and Taekwondo Nephew joined us around the table for the game where everyone writes names of famous people on slips of paper and then we have to guess them in teams. "We've been told not to eat here," Tawkwondo Nephew said every time I offered him food. "We're supposed to eat at Grandma's house."

"I love that everyone's cooking so much," said Boy-in-Black as he finished a bowl of soup.

Beautiful Smart Wonderful Daughter and Sailor Boy arrived with a big tin of homemade cookies. Sailor Boy's family, who live in our town, always spend the Saturday after Christmas making huge batches of Christmas cookies, an event that we usually benefit from. They're sugar cookies, decorated with icing and sprinkles. I put on the kettle for tea.

Taekwondo Nephew and Dandelion Niece gave us hugs as they left. "We're driving back home after we eat supper at Grandma's house," Tawkwondo Nephew said.

"We'll see you again at Christmas time!" everyone called as they headed out the door.

Shaggy Hair Boy has a job Monday night, so he settled down at the piano to practice. He'll be playing for an older crowd so we heard stuff like  As Time Goes By, After You've Gone, and Rose Room. Boy-in-Black found a trivia game online so as many people as possible crowded around him on the couch, everyone shouting out answers while he typed as fast as he could. I think our household must have the record for how many people we usually manage to fit on one couch.

When we heard a knock on the door, everyone knew who it was. Quick is the only extra who ever knocks — everyone else just walks in. That's one of the nice things about Thanksgiving week: all of our college-age extras are home.

Our downstairs is one big room so there's not much privacy. Luckily, none of the young couples are at all self-conscious. When With-a-Why and Shy Smile were cooking, I looked over to see that they'd put down their knives and were dancing by the stove.