December 10, 2019: A Visit to the Amon Carter Museum
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Our investment advisor at Morgan Stanley, George Gile, does some sort of event for his clients a week or so before Christmas. Last year, we had to miss the event, but this year we attended. It was a wonderful meal at an authentic Chinese restaurant in Richardson- the Royal Szechuan.

There were a dozen or so of us at the dinner. Most were George's clients, but a couple brought guests with them. In the picture at left, George is the second from right, and his assistant, Justin, is at the extreme right. Among the other three guys are two clients and one guest.

The dinner was really an elaborate affair. George, being half Chinese, did all the ordering, and the dinner was a lot like a dim sum affair; there was one dish after another, all served family-style on a lazy susan in the center of the large round table.

All of the food was uniformly good, and having a meal like this was a nice departure from Fred and I sharing one single dish at Howard Wang's, our Chinese restaurant of choice near the house. I would guess that everyone got to have a serving of perhaps fifteen different dishes. As it turned out, George ordered so much food that there was plenty left over for anyone who wanted to take some home.

Justin stopped and got Christmas cupcakes for everyone as well. It was a really pleasant evening. When we came out, I realized we were in the same Chinese shopping center as the one store I know of in Dallas that stocks the powdered Chinese mustard that I use, and since I was just about out, I was able to stop and get a couple of cans.

On Christmas itself, I was doing my usual turkey, this year setting something of a recent record with a turkey just shy of 25 pounds (up from the usual 22-pounders I can usually find). This one's been in the freezer since before we left on our cruise, so now it gets to make its appearance.

Gifts and the Tree

Fred and I usually just exchange things with each other on Christmas, although this year we also laid aside some gifts we wanted to give to some of the folks who would be with us for dinner.

Probably the best picture I took of the two of us this morning is the one at left. I am not as adept as I would like to be in disguising the fact that I'm holding out a selfie stick. Before we tore into the unwrapping ritual, I did get a good picture of Zack and the tree.

Here are more pictures that we took this morning while we were exchanging gifts:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

Dinner

As I mentioned, I did one of the largest turkeys ever, this Christmas. There were going to be eleven of us for dinner, but I wanted to have enough leftovers to freeze to have throughout the year. Fred helped me get everything set up:

The Buffet is Ready...

...as Is the Dining Room Table...

...and the Kitchen Table.

People started arriving around 5PM, although Justin, Gary, and Shannon (our newest resident here) didn't arrive until right at dinnertime after six. I was busy by then, so the pictures I have don't show everyone.

(L-R): Mario, Fred, James, and Floyd

(F-B): Greg, Steve, and Lynne

Steve and Mario are longtime friends who live in Hurst, James and Floyd live across from me, Greg is my oldest friend, and Lynne, who is English, is someone we've known for over twenty years (and is our cat sitter).

Everything went very well, and I think everyone had a good time. I enjoy doing these dinners and, as I said, I like doing a big turkey for the leftovers I can use for months.

This page brought 2019 to a close. We did leave for Florida on the 28th, but the pictures from that trip will be on the first event page for 2020.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	December 10, 2019: A Visit to the Amon Carter Museum
	Return to the Index for 2019