This last weekend was packed with Christmas festivities.  The first was the Skoll holiday party on Friday night.  This year the Foundation broke with tradition and held the party up in San Francisco.  After a stressful 95 minute drive, we were very grateful for valet parking and a most delicious dinner at One Market.  This was our first time at First Market, and although the menu was predetermined, it was delicious.  We really loved the dessert - a chocolate hazel nut torte.  Our evening and the company was quite lovely until our trip home.  We had an encounter with an obnoxious pedestrian who chose to give our car a swift kick as we were getting on the on ramp to the Bay Bridge.  Then, when we pulled into our driveway, we noticed that our outdoor Christmas lights were mostly off.  I wondered if we blew a fuse or a few strands somehow went out.  That was wishful thinking.  Instead, some cheerless person had gone to the effort to separate a few of our extension cords and take one home with them, along with a strand of lights!  Who does that?!

Saturday night we attended our ward's Christmas party. (We really are trying to be more integrated after nearly three years of being in this ward!)  Then, on Sunday we had our annual Friends Holiday Christmas Party.  We look forward to this every year.  The Smoots were gracious hosts yet again and we had a relaxing evening with lots of laughs.  We loved connecting with friends we rarely see.  Plus, the ornaments exchanged were top notch this year!  We all came home with pretty great ornaments.  (Unfortunately my favorite one broke within minutes of arriving home.  :(  I'm hoping for a replacement though.)

I think this is the first year that all the social Christmas events have come and gone by the 10th of December.  It made for a busy first week, but now maybe I can start to think about Christmas presents.   There is still an awful lot to do before heading home in not too awfully long....