November 06, 2004 - 11:33 p.m. Tonight we took Spencer's kitchen hostage and made a delicious meal of fettuccini alfredo with salad and chocolate cake for dessert. I love cooking with Nyssa and Rebecca with Spencer's mom popping in every now and then to tell us something about where things are or the oven or whatever. It was great with all eight of us--Nyssa, Rebecca, Spencer, Spencer's parents, David and his sister Dana, and me, naturally--around the table talking about normal dinner table things. Doing even boring work like making chocolate frosting (with peppermint extract) is fun when the three of us were singing "Let it Snow" and laughing hysterically. I'm so proud that we had no disasters (until Nyssa dropped the pasta in the sink) and were actually proud to place our food on the table. It was so satisfying to have Spencer say, "Well, girls, that was delicious" at the end of the meal. Even doing the dishes was fun with Nyssa and Rebecca. This may seem really insignificant, but it was so nice to be in a real kitchen with good friends making great food. And Spencer's mom certainly didn't mind! Really though, we'll have to do this again. I offered that we could use my kitchen next time, but no one was up for that. Wonder why. ...before & after...