New Year's Eve Afternoon

Very nice day today...... as warm as late Spring... some clouds, some sun. Lots of birds at the feeders, and of course, the squirrels. As I've said for years... they have to eat too.

Just when I thought I had all the Christmas decorations put away, I walked into the dining room last night and saw the three gold bells. They belonged to our friend and neighbor H... she and her husband M lived across the street from us. When they moved a couple of years ago, H had a huge yard sale, and I bought those three Christmas bells. They look as if they were made in the 1950s, and of course, I can't resist much from that decade. Down came the gold bells last night, into the storage closet they went. I guess the holiday is officially over now.

I spent part of this afternoon cutting off some of the palm fronds from the sago palm tree in the backyard. The snow and freezing temperature we had on Christmas Eve turned much of my flower garden to mulch, so I cleaned up part of that as well. We have a lawn service, but I don't know just when they'll be back here. They usually take a couple of weeks off around holiday time. I could've waited till they come back, but I couldn't stand to look out of my kitchen window and seeing all of those dead plants out there. Plus, AngelBoy has been sitting on top of those wilted leaves and when he comes back in, I have to peel off dark green wilted leaves from his silvery fluffy fur. Needless to say, he's never too happy when I try and groom him. He likes to do it himself. Although he does love to be brushed... he will sit there for an hour if I'm brushing him and talking to him. But once I stop talking to him, he thinks brushing-time is over and he walks off. Makes me wonder which he really likes best-- the brushing or the talking.

Dinner out tonight. I already know what I'm going to wear... after trying on three or four outfits this afternoon. It's been a lazy day, except for the gardening that I did. Came in after that and took a hot bubble bath... then tried on clothes for tonight... then exercised a bit and walked Gracie. All set now to just get ready for the night. I finished the book "The Last Noel," by Michael Malone... great holiday story, but it has a sad ending.

Another New Year's Eve.... (Which is a line from one of Barry Manilow's songs.) Dick Clark won't be presiding over New Year's Eve up in NY... he's still recovering from a slight stroke that he had, so Regis Philbin is taking over for him this year. I'm sure Regis will be just fine, but New Year's Eve without Dick Clark is like New Year's Eve without Guy Lombardo. Just not the same.

Happy New Year to all....

Thursday... Crawfish Bisque Soup

Very warm day today..... a little drippy and humid, but the sun was out for a while. I finally got to the supermarket for a more or less normal shopping trip. No matter how 'normal' it is, I still don't enjoy food shopping. When I see women there taking their time going up and down the aisles with a cell phone in one hand while reading labels and comparing this to that and munching on free samples, I could just scream "Don't you have anything better to do?" But of course I don't...... I just ignore them and try to get out of that store as quickly as I can.

I packed away the rest of the Christmas decorations today... everything is out of sight now. While packing away the tree ornaments, I put all the heart-shaped ones into a shoebox. I intend to use them for Valentine's Day.... maybe get some birch branches or something that I can stick into a pretty vase, then hang the heart ornaments on the branches.... it would make a nice centerpiece for our Valentine's Night Charades party.

Dinner tonight was crawfish bisque soup. Made by me... trying to copy a local restaurant's crawfish soup. Their bisque is spicier and richer... mine is almost as good, and healthier. I'm sure they use more butter, heavy cream and sherry in their recipe, but I don't.

I start with about a quarter of an onion, diced up and browned with a crushed glove of garlic. Then I add about 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter... let that melt... add 3 to 4 tblsp. of flour..... let that cook a bit. I added about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of low-fat milk..... let it simmer and thicken up a little.

Into that mixture, I added two cans of 'Healthy Request' (low salt) Campbell's Tomato Soup... don't add water, just the soup. Mix it into the milk... then spice it up with black pepper, Old Bay seasoning, and about 1/4 cup picante sauce. Keep it all simmering... it will thicken up a little with the flour that you added.

Then the crawfish..... I buy them boiled and frozen.... I think the package is about 2 pounds. I'd image that you could use crabmeat or shrimp for this, or lobster meat.... seafood restaurants here offer all sorts of tomato-based shellfish bisques on their menu. I defrost the crawfish, drain them a bit to remove excess water, then into the soup they go. The crawfish are already cooked and peeled, so they just need about 10 minutes simmering.

I thought the bisque had enough 'kick' to it, but my husband added more Old Bay to his bowl. He pronounced it perfect when his lips got numb. Considering that this wasn't exactly a soup day, with the temperature close to 80 degrees, it still made a nice dinner. And the whole project, start to finish, takes about half an hour. (My kind of cooking.)

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve..... we're looking forward to a nice long and leisurely dinner at our favorite restaurant with a few of our friends.
My baby cat (ShadowBaby) just jumped up into my lap. He's trying to curl up on my legs and hide his face underneath my arm. His way of telling me that I'm finished typing for the night.

The Big Tree

The big Christmas tree in the living room was the last tree to go up in this house, and it's the first tree to be taken down. It took us just about the entire day....... first the ornaments, then the lights, then dismanteling the tree stand, then trimming the width of the tree so we could get it out of the front door.

And out it went..... it's now sitting on the curb. AngelBoy keeps looking for the tree... he was drinking the water from the stand and I guess he also misses taking a nap underneath the tree. (Makes me wonder who drank more tree-water.... AngelBoy or that tree.) Tomorrow after the trash truck comes, it will be just a memory. All the little table-top trees are still up in all the rooms. I was too tired after the big tree to tackle the little ones. I can do them one or two at a time during the rest of the week. By New Year's Day, there won't be a sign of Christmas in this house. Although there usually is something left, because I always seem to forget one holiday decoration, then find it just when I think I'm all done with Christmas.

The weather was very warm today.... warm and humid and drippy, and we had a little rain shower this afternoon. I guess the weatherman was right when he said that we'd be in the mid-80s by the end of the week.

Nothing much happening today. I had a bunch of errands to do, which didn't get done, because all I did was take down and pack away Christmas decorations. Tomorrow is another day. All I want to do now is curl up with a book and relax for the rest of the night.

De-Christmasing the House

What goes up must come down, and that's happening here, little by little. Into the storage boxes go the Santas and angels and velvet poinsettias. Tomorrow, I'll start on the big tree. After I get all the ornaments packed away, my husband can take the bubble-lights off. It's been so cold here this month that we've had the heat on in the house every day, which dried out the tree a bit, so we won't be leaving it up for New Year's Eve. I'm hoping to get that tree out on the curb for Thursday's trash pick-up.

Spent this afternoon getting some errands done. Went to get my hair trimmed... went to the shoe store. My husband and I both went, so that was interesting... to see his reaction to a store filled with women's shoes. He laughed at some of the ridiculous styles they have, then made his way to a nearby bookstore while I shopped for shoes.

I went into that store to buy one pair of black dress heels for New Year's Eve. The satin heels that I've loved for years and worn for holidays needed to finally be replaced. Silly of me to think that I could walk into that store and find just one pair of shoes. I found six, put back two, bought four. Three pairs of black dress heels, one pair of gold satin that was just too pretty not to buy. I'm sure I'll be able to build an outfit around those gold heels.

I told my husband that I bought four pairs, told him the 'regular retail' price of the shoes, then told him the price that I paid in that close-out store, and then of course told him how much money I saved him. Four pairs of shoes for the price of two... now honestly, how can anyone buy just one pair?

The temperature is getting warmer again..... it was in the 70s today and should be in the mid-80s by the end of the week. It's so nice not to be bundling up in sweaters, scarves and coats just to walk Gracie around the block. While I was shoe-shopping, everyone else in the store was talking about the snow we had on Christmas Eve. And afterwards, when my husband and I went out to lunch, the customers and owner were also saying that the snow was a nice surprise.

Half an inch of snow on one night is a nice surprise. The last time it snowed anywhere near Houston was in 1947. Our friend F's daughter lives in Ohio... they had 26 inches of snow up there. I doubt if they're calling that a 'nice surprise.'

Lemony Snicket

We went to the movies this afternoon to see "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events." I cannot believe that this film was advertised as "a must-see holiday movie for the entire family." More than that, I can't believe that we wasted our time on this movie.
(If you want to see a holiday movie, then go see The Polar Express.)

My shoulders were aching when we left the theatre today... the film was so dark and dreary and so scary in some parts that I was keeping my shoulders scrunched up near my ears. I know my husband likes Jim Carrey, but honestly, we both could've done without this one.

Gorgeous day out there today.... temperatures warming back up, lots of sun. You'd never know we had half an inch of snow on Christmas Eve if you hadn't seen it yourself. We saved the headlines from the front page of The Houston Chronicle on Christmas Day. Part of the headline read "Sometimes, the best gifts are free" and the photo showed three snowmen on the beach in Galveston.

I started to un-decorate the house today. Little by little, the Christmas things will be going back into the storage closets. I've taken down the display of Christmas cards and I have them in a pile near my desk here. I'll go through them all once again and save the fronts of the cards. I use them to make package decorations and gift tags. All the Christmas towels have either been put away or they're in the washing machine. Tomorrow, I'll walk around the house and put away all the little Santas and angels that are scattered around the house.

I'm hoping to get the big tree in the living room undecorated and out on the lawn for the trash pick-up on Thursday. The tree still looks pretty, but it's getting very dry now and it's losing its needles. Everytime one of the cats goes underneath the tree, they come out covered in needles which end up all over the carpeting. AngelBoy spends so much time under that tree that he's beginning to smell like a furry little fir tree himself.

Looks like there will be just six of us going out to dinner on New Year's Eve. Smaller group this year than last year. Lots of couples will be either out of town or they've already made other commitments. I've made up a few little favors, just to make our table at the restaurant look a bit more festive, and each couple will have a little keepsake from the dinner. (I found candles in the shape of small wine bottles, and fancied them up with ribbons and truffles.)

That's about it... slow day today.... didn't get much done because we went out to see that movie. So here's my tip for the day-- don't bother spending the money for a ticket for dreary old Lemony Snicket.

Boxing Day

I don't know why the British call this "Boxing Day," but it's the day after Christmas and Boxing Day sounds a bit more festive than the day after Christmas.

My husband and I went to see our friend F today...... we brought her all sorts of food from yesterday's dinner, plus her Christmas gifts, which she opened while we were there. She also opened her 'gift cracker' and when she got to the goodies inside the cracker, she took out the paper crown and put it on. Just the perfect accessory if you're dressed in a nightgown, robe and slippers, and wrapped up in a warm afghan.

It has warmed up some since yesterday....... every last flake of snow has melted away and now the Christmas Eve snowfall in Clear Lake is just a memory. Today's Houston Chronicle had pictures of snowmen standing in yards all over Harris and Galveston counties... tiny ones starting at 8" tall, to larger ones measuring three feet from bottom to top. And there's a great photo of three snowmen sitting on the sandy beach in Galveston... a sight we'll not be seeing again anytime soon, I'm sure.

All day long today, my husband and I have been talking about yesterday's Christmas dinner. Except for the fact that our friend F couldn't join us, we all had such a perfectly delightful day and night. Having our little friend C here was just the added magical touch. I have to remind myself that she's not exactly a little girl anymore. She will be 14 next year...... so hard to believe, considering that I've known her since she was in the second grade.

I have to call my sister.... ask her what she got for Christmas... tell her about ours...... So much to tell.... a two-hour phone call, at least.

Christmas Night

Just a short one here..... it's been a long day, and a long night because I've just finished running the dishwasher twice, washing the baking pans, wrapping leftovers, putting everything away and then vacuuming the carpeting. All done, and I'm happy about that.

The day was just fabulous....... we all had such a great time. The dining room table looked beautiful.... red velvet poinsettias running along the center of the table, with tea-light glass votives tucked here and there along its length. For the placecard gifts, I had vintage Christmas postcards (each over 100 years old)...... I put each postcard into a pretty frame, wrote each name in gold on a small square card under the glass......... each framed postcard sat in front of the person's seat but set into the poinsettias so it all looked like one big 'tablescape,' as Colin Cowie would call it. Pretty as a picture, if I do say so myself.

We had the meal in courses.... different silverware and dinnerware for each course. Tossed salad, then A's lasagna, then the turkey breast and trimmings. Then my husband's plum pudding and A's cheesecake. My husband taped a gold dollar coin onto the bottom of everyone's plate. Traditionally, with plum pudding, gold coins get baked into the cake, but his idea was more dramatic--- everyone kept looking for the coin with each bite and they were disappointed because they didn't find any. Then my husband told everyone to take their fork and tap three times on their plate, then he said to look underneath the plate-- and all of us had a gold coin hiding under there. It was a nice surprise, and we all have a nice keepsake of the dinner. We also had traditional Victorian "crackers" after the plum pudding.... the ends of the rolled-up paper 'crackers' break apart and make a firecracker sound, and inside each is a paper crown, a riddle, and a small gift.

After our dinner, and before dessert, we opened up gifts. Lots of surprises for everyone.... a Snoopy Nutcracker for A, plus a Manilow mug for her identical to the one I got for myself and our friend J. Our little friend C made me a soft and beautiful afghan in a pretty blue color with angels and hearts on it. C is indeed our little angel, and it was wonderful to have her and her parents join us for Christmas.

C's mom L made a great first-course salad and a cranberry-apple dish for the turkey. It was great (better than the cranberry sauce I usually make). L will give me the recipe and I'll type it up here later on this week.

Our friend F couldn't be with us for dinner (doctor's orders, after her hospital stay). My husband and I will drive to her house tomorrow. I've already wrapped up four plates of food for her, plus I'll bring her framed placecard/vintage postcard, and her other Christmas gifts. (The framed postcards were part of everyone's Christmas gift... they all got to take theirs home, and I get to think of another good idea for next year's Christmas dinner placecards.)

That's about all I can write for the night........ it's been a long day, and I know I'll sleep very well tonight. Oh--- the snow that fell last night is all melted now. The sun came out around noon-time and it warmed up enough so that our cats could stay on the screen-porch while we had company here. My flowers didn't seem to mind the snow... they all look just fine. And as I thought, today's front page of The Chronicle featured stories about the snowfall. One photo on the front page showed a woman with a snowman put together from yesterday's snow. Are you ready for this--- the snowman was all of eight inches tall.

On that happy little note...... I hope everyone out there had a beautiful Christmas!

We Weren't Dreaming of a White Christmas

Tell me what's wrong with this picture.... my palm tree has snow all over it. All of the flowers in the garden are covered in soft white snow. Even my pink flamingos in the backyard look as if they're wearing white coats.

When I went out to feed the birds just now, I scooped up a handful of snow and made a snowball. Soft, soft snow...... it made a nice snowball. I left it in the yard for AngelBoy. He's out there right now, trying to get from one end of the yard to the other without stepping on the snow. Not much grass there that isn't covered with snow, so he'll be a while unless he decides to step his prissy little feet into the snow.

It doesn't feel as cold as it did yesterday, and the snow is dripping off of the roof and slowly melting. Never thought I'd wake up to a 'white Christmas' here in Clear Lake, but that's what we've got. I haven't taken The Chronicle in from out front, but I'll bet that the southeast Texas snow is on the front page.

I'm sure all the Texas-born kids who've never seen snow will wake up and think this half-inch of snow is truly magical. Which in a way, it is, considering where we live. And it will probably stay nice and clean, unlike city-snow which gets blackened so quickly by city-soot.

Jingle Bells........ Last night, after my husband and I opened our gifts, he surprised me with a big gift....... a trip to Disneyland....... California, here we come......... We have to pick out a date.... He wrapped up a Disneyland guide and printed out tickets on his computer. It was a great surprise... we both started to cry a little. What a great surprise!

Christmas morning. Snow outside. Warm and toasty inside. Time to get going here and get everything ready for the day.

Christmas Eve.... More Snowflakes

Well... never thought I'd see the day.... I went out into the driveway to put the trash out after dinner and saw that my husband's car (red) was covered with white (snow). I came back into the house and told him that he'd better go look at his car. He wanted to know what happened to it. I told him to go out and have a look-see. Which he did.... and he came back in to get his camera so he could get a picture of it.

My neighbor across the street called over to ask us if we'd seen "all the snow" on top of my husband's car. "Sure did," said I. (The neighbor is from Louisiana and hadn't seen much snow.) The snow isn't sticking to the sidewalks or the street, but it sure has made a nice design on that red car. All my impatiens and begonias and azaelas (all of which are in bloom) are dusted with snowflakes now. As long as the temperature doesn't drop down below freezing, I think they'll be okay. Some of our neighbors have covered their flowerbeds with bedsheets. You won't catch me doing that..... besides the fact that it looks so tacky, it's just too cold for me to be out there doing such a thing.

My husband and I had dinner and opened up our gifts..... we both gave each other a bunch of great books....... and Polar Express items.... I got scented candles and soaps, and herbal teas... he got a framed photo of Gracie, and a mug with Gracie's picture on it. My husband found a stuffed cat that looks like the twin of AngelBoy, my blue-eyed Burmese cat. Sitting side by side, you'd just barely see the difference between the two. I put the stuffed cat on the floor by AngelBoy, but he wasn't the least impressed.

I bought my husband a hot chocolate cup and saucer imprinted with the logo from The Polar Express. The set is made in the style of vintage railroad china...... it was so nice that I bought one for myself as well, so we both have one. We loved that movie, and I loved the hot chocolate scene. These cups are really too big for hot chocolate, but they'll make great soup bowls. And I nearly bought The Polar Express Game when I saw it in the Hallmark store. I carried it around, trying to make up my mind whether or not to buy it........ then I put it back. I thought my husband would think it was silly. I guess he wouldn't have.... because he bought the game for me.

Time to make hot chocolate and see what's inside the box holding The Polar Express Game. Jingle Bells to one and all......

Christmas Eve Snowflakes

No sooner had I printed out that last entry, and our phone rang. It was our friend A, who lives three streets up from ours. She told me to look out the window.... which I did.... and what did I see? Teeny, tiny snowflakes..... lots of them....

I went to the breakfast room and looked out into the backyard, and the snowflakes are falling back there as well, and I could see the neighbor behind us out in her yard also. Actually, because of the high fence at the far end of our property, all I could see was the top of the long pole that she uses to clean out her pool. While the snow was falling, she was out there cleaning leaves out of her swimming pool.

Our friend A said that a lot of her neighbors were outside their houses up there... watching the snowflakes. I'm sure that most of them, if they're Texas-born, have never seen snow before. I'm tempted to say "You call this snow?" What's falling here is just miniscule flakes which are melting before they hit the ground. Hardly a blizzard.

But snowflakes they are. And they're falling in Clear Lake. My, my....

Christmas Eve

So cold out there again.... I was freezing when I drove to Kroger for the few things that I'd forgotten to buy at the bigger supermarket at the beginning of the week. I wasn't the only one there just getting three or four items... lots of men on the checkout line with just a couple of grocery items in their arms.

The weatherman said that southeast Texas could even have a sprinkling of snow today, and just a few teeny flakes did happen to fall. If you blinked, you missed them, and if you looked at them sideways, you could've sworn they were just rain. The temperatures are supposed to hover around 40 for the rest of the weekend, then jump back up to the high 60s on Monday.

We're getting ready for tonight here.... just having a dinner of salmon and salad, then my husband and I will open our gifts to each other. I've just finished cleaning the house and polishing my nails... my husband is in the kitchen getting the oyster stuffing together. I've got everything ready for the dining room table... plates and platters and glassware and silverware, serving pieces and napkins, centerpiece and placecard-gifts... all done, just waiting for the final placement tomorrow morning.

I spoke to my sister last night, and she called again this afternoon. She's busy with her dinners for tonight and tomorrow as well. Just her and her husband... unless my mother goes there for dinner tomorrow. I didn't ask... she didn't say. And I didn't want to start that conversation... it never has a good ending. When the mail came today, we got a letter from my dad. He's 85 now and can only see out of one eye, yet his handwriting is still the most beautiful in the world. My grandmother used to say that his handwritten words were like the finest lace. They still are.

My mother lives alone and is an unhappy person. My father lives alone and is very lonely. My sister and I "grew up divorced," as we always call it, and it has affected us in so many ways that we can't begin to count them. It still makes me sad, especially at Christmas. Parents... the things they do with their lives that affect their children's lives in ways that they don't even imagine. There ought to be a book of rules.

Christmas Eve.... tonight will fly by in a heartbeat. Jingle Bells to one and all.

Frigid Thursday Night

Much too cold here.... so cold that I just can't get warm after going out to walk Gracie. She wasn't too thrilled with the walk either...... if I had a little sweater for this dog, I would've put it on her tonight.

My husband and I did a few errands this afternoon, then went to Babbo Bruno's for lunch. While we were there, we made our reservations for New Year's Eve. We came home and I thought I had everything taken care of. Not so.... I'll need to run to the store tomorrow for three things that I forgot to buy when I did the grocery shopping on Monday. I hate having to go there for just a few things... hopefully, I'll be able to get in and out quickly.

Tomorrow will be last-minute things... while my husband is making the oyster stuffing, I'll go through the house dusting and cleaning, then a final vacuuming on Christmas morning and I'll be all set to get the dining room table ready. And get myself ready. I haven't decided on what to wear yet. It's going to be cold, so nothing sleeveless for this Christmas day. And I still have to polish my nails..... I'll do that tomorrow after I clean.

We're all disappointed that our friend F won't be able to be with us for Christmas Day. My husband and I may take a ride to her house the day after Christmas, if she's up for a visit. I'll bring her some plates of food, and her gifts, and we'll have a mini-Christmas with her. This will be the first Christmas with our young friend C, and her parents. C was all excited about coming to our Christmas party with her school friends, and she's all excited about being with us on Christmas Day. There will be 8 of us for dinner on Christmas. And probably enough food to feed 30.

We should all count our blessings. Every day. Every blessed day.

Happy Festivus

Ah, the power of Seinfeld. Their made-up holiday, Festivus, has begun to take on a life of its own. Probably more so now than when the show was still going (before re-runs). There was an article about Festivus in yesterday's Chronicle... lots of Seinfeld fans have their own Festivus celebrations, complete with the aluminum pole and the 'airing of grievances.'

I told my husband that we should celebrate Festivus also, but the idea of an aluminum pole (in lieu of a Christmas tree) just doesn't sit right with me. I would have to decorate it, and of course, that's not keeping with the spirit of Festivus. So we may just 'celebrate' Festivus by going out for lunch. My husband wanted to go out to see a movie also, but I've got too much to do here before Christmas Day to sit still for a movie.

I'm up early because of the cats. Rusty, in particular. It's too cold to let them sleep on the screen-porch, so this is the second time this morning that Rusty has woken me up so he can get to the porch to use the litter box out there. He will not use the boxes in the house. So I was up at 3:30, and now I'm up since 5:30. Rusty and AngelBoy are out on the porch, hopefully using the litter boxes and realizing that it's too cold to be out there for too much longer than the time it takes me to type out a few paragraphs here. And I'm typing quickly.

As Rusty started to pound on the door to be let out just now, I was in the middle of a dream about finding two stray cats. In the dream, there was a car leaving our street after a moving truck packed the contents of the owners house. The two cats were sitting on top of the car, I guess looking to get into the car and be taken to their new home. But the owners (people I didn't recognize) put the cats on my front lawn and drove away. So there I was, with a brownish cat that looked like my AngelBoy and an orange-striped cat that looked like my Rusty.

In the dream, I was trying to explain to my husband how I ended up with two more cats. Jeez.... just the thought... I'm busy enough with three cats. I couldn't possibly think of two more, or even one more. The other day, when the secretaries were here for lunch, one of them told me that she had 20 cats. I couldn't begin to imagine that. I wonder if her cats let her sleep through the night........

Freezing Cold Wednesday

I can't believe how cold it has gotten since this morning... and the rain today didn't help a bit, but I'm sure the flowers loved it. I wonder how my flowers will look tomorrow if it really gets down to freezing during the night.

I've been getting things ready for Christmas dinner today. I've folded napkins and arranged napkin rings. My friend A is into fancy-folding for linen napkins, so of course I had to give that a try. I have pretty floral/tasseled napkin rings for the ladies, and I used gold/ivory cording to make more simple rings for the men. They all look as if they match, being that the gold & ivory cording is on all of them, but the napkin rings for the ladies are much fancier.

The plates are all set up on the buffet... I've decided to serve dinner in courses, instead of setting everything up buffet-style. So I've set out plates for the salad, then the lasagna, then the turkey breast, potatoes, dressing & vegetables.... then dessert and coffee. I'm planning on having everyone open a little gift or two inbetween the lasagna and the turkey, then again before dessert. That way, we can all take our time eating, the food stays hot, and no one feels stuffed. Or too stuffed.

I set up the dining room table with the centerpiece and the placecards and candles, just to see what it will all look like. With a little fussing and rearranging, I got it to where I wanted it, so I'll be able to do it again quickly on Christmas morning. I'm hoping that it isn't freezing on Christmas day, because I'd like to put all the cats and Gracie out on the screen-porch so nothing is touched after I set everything up. No matter what I do, ShadowBaby or AngelBoy needs to see, to help, to touch.... and I can't have that when I start getting the dining room ready. But try explaining that to a cat.

We talked to our friend F today... she made it just fine during her first night home from the hospital. She may or may not be able to join us for Christmas dinner. It depends on the weather: too cold and she's under doctor's order not to go out. So that's one more reason to hope for warmer weather. But one day at a time... no sense in worrying about that now, as she said.

Tomorrow starts the cooking.... my husband will make the oyster dressing, I'll pre-cook the sweet potatoes so they can marinate in the brown sugar and pineapple juice till it's time to roast them on Christmas morning. My husband and I have decided to open our gifts for each other on Christmas Eve... this way, we can take our time and enjoy the tree and the night.

I have a Christmas Cactus plant in my sitting room here.... brought over by one of our neighbors after our holiday party. It had bunches of tiny buds when B brought it here, and now it's just blooming all over with the most beautiful flowers. Thankfully, ShadowBaby hasn't discovered it... or maybe he's just partial to roses, not cactus blooms. A rose just isn't safe with that cat, but he hasn't gone near this plant. I was going to use the cactus as part of the centerpiece on the dining room table for Christmas dinner, but it's too high for that. Plus with the special placecard-gifts that I made, the cactus is just a bit over-the-top for the table.

We're trying to set up a New Year's Eve dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant... I've called some of the couples from the Charades group, and so far there will be 8 of us, which will make a small but intimate dinner party. I've been busy making up favors for that also, and those look great, so that will be a nice little surprise for everyone.

I'm reading "The Last Noel," by Michael Malone... a book that my sister sent me for Christmas. Very good story so far, and my sister told me to have a box of tissues handy when I get to the end of the book. She said she bought a copy for herself too, and read it in two days. Fine for her... she's not up there folding napkins and making napkins rings and favors and arranging plates for a four-course meal for nine people. I told her that at this time of the year, there's no way I could read it that quickly.

That's about it for the day here.... time to go inside and read at least a chapter or two of that book. I'd relax right here in my sitting room, but all three cats are curled up on my pink velvet sofa. Nice. They always get the best seats in the house. I can't remember the last time I curled up on that sofa by myself... the cats always beat me to it.

Tuesday Night

Considering that I've been up and awake since 5:30, it's been a long day. But a good one. Today's lunch with the three secretaries from my husband's department went just fine. They all seemed surprised that I fussed so much, but I could see that they were pleased with all the extra touches. Table linens and good china, the placecards, the favors, and the great food from the Greek Cafe. We had the tree lights turned on, and I had Christmas bells chiming on the front porch.

The dining room looked beautiful and my table centerpiece looked adorable.... the little tree made from the tangerine-sized oranges, plus I used green leaves and tiny red berries from the nandina bushes outside.... I tucked those inbetween the oranges and used a sprig of berries as a tree-topper. Pretty enough for Martha Stewart to say "It's a good thing."

I told my husband that if we don't do a Christmas lunch for the secretaries next year, they'll be disappointed. And this is how 'traditions' begin.... one little memory at a time.

Good news from Frankie... she called this afternoon to tell me that her son was on his way to the hospital to drive her home. She will spend the rest of the week in her house, resting up and getting ready to come here for Christmas day. Needless to say, we're all thrilled about that. We didn't want to bring Christmas dinner to her in the hospital, but we would have.

The weather was strange today. Started out sunny... turned cloudy with rain-showers. Then it warmed up and was sunny again... then it rained and got even warmer, with a little humidity thrown in for good measure. It's supposed to get cold again before the week is over. Frigid cold.

I can only hope the weatherman was reading the wrong script. All the azaelas are in bloom, the impatiens and begonias are growing and glorious. One good freeze and they will all look like cooked spinach. Definitely not "a good thing."

Too Early On Tuesday Morning

It isn't even 6:00 in the morning as I'm typing this, and I've been up and out of bed for almost an hour. AngelBoy slept in the laundry room last night and he started rattling the door when he woke up a little while ago, which woke me up....... then ShadowBaby decided it was time to start his day. I put them both on the screen-porch and tried to go back to sleep but that didn't work.

When I got up the second time, I heard a cat outside and I knew it wasn't one of mine. Don't laugh... you get to know what your own cats sound like if you're really a cat person. I turned on the outside lights and there on the garage roof was a black and white cat. Sort of looked like my neighbor V's cat, but they're away in Colorado this week and she always puts her cats and dog into the kennel when they're out of town. Another neighbor on our street has a black/white cat but this looked bigger than theirs.

Just what I don't need-- a stray cat on the roof. I watched the cat for a while, and so did my own three cats. By that time, they were all on the screen-porch and watching to see what the black/white cat was going to do up there. Our garage is connected to the house with a breezeway, and the stray cat was pacing between the roof of the garage, the roof of the breezeway, and the roof of the screen-porch. I'm surprised that my cats weren't meowing or hissing, but none of them made a sound.

Within half an hour, the black/white cat decided that roof-top living before dawn isn't all that it's cracked up to be. He jumped from the corner of our garage roof to the fence between our yard and the next-door neighbor's yard. The neighbors on that side have a pool, so I hope the cat noticed that without having to swim through it as he went on his way.

I guess I'm just going to get started with my day here. We're having a lunch here for the three secretaries in my husband's department at work. I stopped at the Greek Cafe and got some food there yesterday, so all I have to do is heat everything up and toss a salad together. I've met two of the ladies before, I don't know the third. I told my husband to just invite them all to the Christmas party next year..... he didn't think of it this year till it was too late to ask them, so that's why we're doing the lunch.

My husband said not to fuss. But I always fuss. I made up little placecards... I wrapped up truffles in red & green cellophane, tied that with a thin red ribbon, added a small-size candy cane and little tag with the name written in gold ink. The little bundles look adorable. In my basket of party favors, I found three candles in the shape of Christmas ornaments, all the same, so each secretary will get the same favor as they leave.

And last night, I made a little Christmas tree centerpiece out of small oranges from another neighbor's fruit tree. She had stopped by on Sunday with her granddaughter to show her our tree, and she brought a bunch of oranges that she picked from her tree. The oranges are bitter, and not great for just peeling and eating. This neighbor, who lives next door to A, makes marmalade from these oranges. I had them in a bowl and they looked pretty, but I arranged them into a tree-shape last night, and used toothpicks to hold them together. We have some little bunches of red berries on our nandina bushes, so I'll pick some of those later and add them to the orange tree. It will make a pretty centerpiece on the dining room table for today's lunch. But I won't fuss...

Our friend F is hoping to be out of the hospital in a couple of days. I truly think she needs a good rest from her hospital stay. She has had a lot of visitors every day... friends and co-workers. And her phone never stops ringing from morning till night. Add to that all the interruptions from the nursing staff.... seems like they're always popping in her room to check something or other. When A and I went to see F on Sunday, I told her that if ever I'm brought to the hospital, I'll save everyone the effort of coming to visit me. I just cannot imagine myself being in a hospital bed and having people stand there trying to think of what to say next. No one except my husband sees me in p-js at home, so why would I want people to see me in p-js anywhere else? I've already told my husband not to let anyone in my hospital room if ever I have to be in a hospital room. And anyone who knows me also knows that I'd have to be in a coma to be taken to the hospital in the first place. Jeez... just the thought.

Anyway... on that note.... I guess it's time to start the day here. I'm betting that now that I'm wide awake, all my cats are probably sound asleep. And I sincerely hope that the black/white cat that jumped from my garage roof into R & M's yard isn't doing the backstroke in their pool.

Multi-Task Monday

Don't you love how men think they invented the concept of "multi-tasking?" Women have been multi-tasking since Eve had that apple in one hand and a rake in the other, all the while keeping an eye out for snakes.

Today was my first trip to the supermarket since before our Christmas party. Finally... I have bananas in the house again. My husband came with me, being that there was so much on the grocery list. Between everything we needed for Christmas dinner, plus the regular weekly stuff, and cat food and cat litter and paper products.... the shopping cart was filled to the brim.

Grocery shopping isn't exactly my favorite thing to do. Far from it. And during our little excursion, my husband found out why. Between shopping carts that go their own way as soon as they're half-full, and shoppers on cell phones either talking at the top of their lungs or not paying attention to where they're going, and shelf-stockers putting bread cubes for stuffing in the frozen food section instead of the bread aisle.... and why is that, my husband wanted to know. "Welcome to my world," I told him.

After I wrote out the check for the groceries, I asked my husband to guess the amount we spent in that store. His guess was $140.00. Not even close. We bought a turkey breast for Christmas day, plus I bought fresh oysters and salmon, cat food and litter, breakfast and baking things, lots of paper products and household cleaners, extra soda and beverages for company, lots of salad stuff and vegetables... the total was $217.00. On a normal shopping trip, I usually spend around $80.00, so I didn't think today's bill was all that high. My husband, however, was shocked. I wasn't surprised at his reaction, since he doesn't go to the supermarket that much. Considering that I got all we needed for the next 10 days or so, plus everything for Christmas dinner, that $217.00 wasn't all that high. When I think of what I used to spend up in NY for groceries, as compared to what we spend here, I have no complaints about Texas prices.

I got a nice little surprise in the mail from my young friend L up in New York. L is A's niece, and she was here visiting this past summer. We introduced L to my young friend C, and the two girls hit it off and had a nice time together in August. We're all hoping she comes back for another visit next year. Anyway, L sent me a very nice necklace... a silver chain with a silver "L" dangling from it. The "L" initial is all done in rhinestones and it's very sparkly and pretty. A fun necklace for sure, and a nice surprise in the mailbox. I had mailed Christmas gifts up to L a few weeks ago, and told her to open them up early so she could enjoy them, which she did. A little bit of Christmas here, there and everywhere.

There's a Scrooge on Every Street

Every Christmas for the past eight years that we've lived here, our neighbor on the corner of our street tosses out her holiday lights. And I do mean tosses out. One strand of multi-colored lights are thrown onto the lawn near her front door. However they land is the way they stay for the week before Christmas and the week after.

And why did she start doing that? Here's the story, as I've heard it from our neighbors who've lived on this street much longer than we have:

Our beautiful little street is a cul de sac, with just 15 houses. Years and years ago, when all of these homes were owned by the original buyers, someone on the street decided that instead of different colored Christmas lights all over the houses, it would be nicer if everyone in all of the 15 homes here would put up just white lights for the holiday. (Outside lights, to be exact. What you wanted to do inside was another story, but the theme would be tiny white lights for the outside.)

And that's what everyone did... white lights for the bushes and trees and porches on all the 15 houses, plus red bows on all the mailboxes. Pardon me... did I say 15 houses? Make that 14. The people who lived in the corner house didn't want to join the white-light program. They wanted to string up multi-colored lights and they did. One of the other 14 home-owners went to the corner house, knocked on the door and asked if they would rather put up white lights so the entire street would have the same elegant look.

Legend has it that the owner of that corner house wanted no part of white lights, wanted no part of anyone's theme, and wanted the neighbor to get away from her front door. The multi-colored lights stayed put that year on the corner house. The following Christmas, as the other 14 houses were decked out with white lights again, the corner house had the multi-colored lights... but they weren't put up on the house, they were just tossed out onto the front lawn.

And that's what that woman has done ever since. The only exception is that in the past 10 years or so, she's just taken to tossing out one strand of colored lights, rather than a dozen or so strands. One December night, about 5 or 6 years ago, the woman in that corner house came out to plug in her one strand of lights and instead of finding the multi-colored glow on her lawn, the lights had been decoratively arranged on the large azaela bush near her front door. Needless to say, she was not amused and proceeded to tear the strand of lights off of the azaela, taking half of its blooms off along with the lights. We never did find out just who rearranged those lights...

My husband went to his office for a couple of hours this afternoon, and as he walked in the front door this evening, he said: "Well, Christmas has officially begun." I took one look at the smirk on his face and said: "Let me guess. S has tossed out her Christmas lights?" "Correct," said he.

Thus began a discussion about how best to spread a little Christmas cheer to our totally cheerless corner neighbors. No matter what we came up with, we knew that nothing would work. S has made it clear to just about everyone on the street that she doesn't wish to be friendly. Apparently, she never heard the Texas rule: "There are no strangers in Texas... just friends who haven't yet met." Not only is S not interested in meeting anyone, she does her best to avoid eye contact with everyone else on the street. And probably the planet as well.

Everyone here has just about given up. Lord knows we've all tried. But honestly, how many times can you say "Good morning" to someone who looks the other way?

My one wish..... Wouldn't it be great if all the people on this street got together at 3:00 in the morning and decorated her entire house with white Christmas lights... then the following evening, when S comes out of her front door to plug in her one strand of lights, her whole house would be glowing bright enough to outshine the landing lights at Hobby Airport.

But that probably won't ever happen....... Sure would be nice, though. What really needs to happen is for a four or five-year-old child to go up and ring S's doorbell..... and ask her why there's a string of lights jumbled up on her front lawn. Honestly now-- how could even S look into the innocent eyes of a child and find a reasonable answer to that?

Plum Pudding Sunday

It is a perfectly sunny day, and warming up out there very nicely. As I type, my husband's plum pudding is steaming in the kitchen and pretty soon, the entire house will smell like an English bakery.

Last night was A & D's Christmas Open House..... and what a great party! As soon as you walked up to their front door, you could hear tiny bells coming from their courtyard. D had set up a miniature brass band on a small table there and the Christmas songs it played could be heard as soon as you parked your car. It was the perfect thing to get everyone smiling even before they walked into the front door.

A's dining room table was filled with desserts, everything from cookies to cakes to her homemade cheesecake, which is the best. Her kitchen had all sorts of hot foods set out on the counter-tops, and the table in the breakfast room held lots of chippy-dippy foods to pick on. Hot apple cider was simmering in the kitchen and just the aroma of that gave everyone a boost of holiday spirit.

Lots of people there... neighbors from her street and mine, friends from their church and the sub-division. Everyone oohing and aahing over A's collection of Santas, snowmen, and nutcrackers. No matter where you looked, you saw Christmas. Perfect party!

And now that both our party and A's party are happy memories, we can get down to preparing for the next big day... Christmas dinner. So that's what I'll be doing all this week. First things first-- I have got to get to the supermarket and get everything I need for Christmas day. I haven't been to the supermarket since a couple of days before our party. I kept putting it off, and just using whatever I had in the freezer, the fridge and the pantry-closet. Which made for interesting meals.... I had a baked sweet potato for breakfast one day. And there hasn't been a banana in this house since the day after my party.

There was a Christmas story in the Parade Magazine insert of today's Houston Chronicle. Its title is "Make a Holiday For Someone," written by Mitch Albom. (He's the author of Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven.... books that everyone needs to read!)

The gist of the story is that everyone should get into the holiday spirit and give some Christmas joy to others less fortunate. At the end of this Christmas article, the author writes: "I have always been partial to that Beatles lyric-- And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." I don't know which Beatles song that was from, and I don't think I've ever heard that line before, but I think it is just the best thing to remember.

On that wonderful note.... today is a gorgeous, beautiful day..... sunny and warm, lots of blue sky. Another day that makes you want to go out and hug a tree.

Absolutely Gorgeous Saturday

The sun is out and the day has warmed up....... it's positively Spring-like here. Even the azaelas and roses agree-- they are all in bloom. Now this is a southeast Texas winter day! The day is so gorgeous that I had my car window rolled down a bit, and my Manilow music was blasting away as I drove past the Johnson Space Center. There were a group of deer grazing near the fence there, so I turned down the volume on Barry a bit as I slowed down to watch the deer for a few minutes. Such a glorious day... makes you want to go outside and hug a tree just because of its beauty.

I just got back from the hospital... went to see our friend F. She's doing much, much better and is aiming to get out of there and home this week so she can join us all here for Christmas day. I think the doctor told her just what she needed to hear--- he told her to expect to be in Rehab for three weeks. F heard that and set her mind and body to get out of Rehab within a week's time, and it just may happen.

When I went to see F this morning, I told her that my husband was on his way to the supermarket for all the fixings for the traditional plum pudding that he makes every Christmas. That was even more of an incentive... not only the plum pudding, but the mashed potatoes he always makes for holiday dinners. If I know F like I think I do, she will be here on Christmas day, with bells on.

Tonight is A & D's Christmas party, so I'll be getting ready for that soon. My husband is still busy in the kitchen, mixing up the plum pudding. He'll mix everything up and let it sit in the fridge overnight so everything can 'get happy,' as he calls it. Then he'll bake it tomorrow (actually, it steams, not bakes) and he'll wrap it up when it cools down. On Christmas Day, it will be on the center of the table when it comes time for dessert. We have Victorian 'gift-crackers' that I make... I buy the "snaps" and the paper crowns for them via the Internet, and I tuck a nice surprise into each one before rolling them up in gold foil paper. Very Victorian, lots of fun, and the 'crackers' together with the plum pudding give dessert a very traditional flair.

That's about it for the afternoon. I know Gracie is waiting for a walk... and with my husband still busy in the kitchen, I'll go around the blocks with her. She won't be as excited to walk with me, but that's life. Gracie is wearing a red Christmas ribbon around her neck these days... she's a well-dressed, decked-out Border Collie/Lab for the holidays. That ribbon used to have little ornaments and bells on it, but over the years, she pulled them off one by one. Now the ribbon is just a wide red ribbon with a few tiny bows on it and she likes it just fine. I guess Gracie isn't interested in too many over-the-top accessories. (She doesn't take after me, that's for sure!)

Friday Afternoon

Another not-so-warm day here, but at least the sun came out for a bit. For a while, at least, the temperature seemed to warm up. I wish it would just get back to normal so I can get a good night's sleep again. When it's too cold outside, I don't let Rusty and AngelBoy sleep on the screen-porch. Which means they spend the night in the laundry room... which means that either Rusty or AngelBoy will slap their paw on the laundry room door at 3:00 in the morning because they want to go out on the screen-porch.

Believe me, I've tried to ignore them. But the longer I let them slap their paws on that door, the more noise they make. At times, it sounds as if the door is going to come right off the hinges--- it's one of those bi-fold doors, which makes a racket when they're pounding against it. So out of bed I go, to let them out on the porch for a while. Doesn't take them long to realize how cold it is out there, so they use the litter boxes in the corner of the porch and then they're ready to come back inside.

Of course, there are two litter boxes in the laundry room for them. Rusty, however, will not use a litter box that's inside the house. It took me the longest time to convince him that it was okay to use the litter boxes on the screen-porch. He kept giving me a look that seemed to say: "You want me to do that inside the house???" (He is an outside-cat at heart.)

I ran up to see A this morning... she's getting ready for her Christmas Open House tomorrow night. I walked in her front door and saw that her house looks like my house did last week--- plates ready to be put out for guests, cakes and cookies baking in the oven, chairs set up in little groups around the living room. Party deja vu. My turn last week, her turn this week.

We're going downtown to see "The Nutcracker" tonight, so I haven't done much of anything today except get some things done around the house and touch up my nail polish. I've been meaning to get to the supermarket, but I keep putting that off and just using up whatever is in the pantry closet or the freezer. I will have to do a big grocery shopping by Monday at the latest, so I'll have everything I need for Christmas dinner.

My husband spent part of this morning wrapping up the Christmas gifts he bought yesterday. So now there's a pile of gifts in front of the Christmas tree... his for me, and mine for him. And there's even a small gift in my stocking. Which surprised me, because for all the years we've been married, my husband hasn't put gifts into the Christmas stockings. He did this year, though, so I took one of the smaller gifts I got for him and put it into his stocking.

My sister and I have been opening our Christmas gifts to each other since the beginning of the month. Our 'theme' this year was stocking-stuffer gifts, and we've had fun opening little gifts of scented soaps, notepaper, tree ornaments, herbal teas, flavored hot chocolate, candles and books. We've each got a couple more gifts to open, which we'll probably do over the weekend.

I tried to call F at the hospital today... they're keeping her busy with the breathing therapy sessions and she hasn't been in her room to answer the phone. I guess the more therapy she gets, the quicker she'll be getting out of there.

That's about the story for the afternoon. I am sitting here in a red sweat-suit outfit that has three cats embroidered on the front of it. If my sister saw me in these clothes, she'd be burying me and the outfit in the backyard. Not exactly a chic sort of thing to wear, and I don't go far in it. I'll walk the dog in this get-up, but only if I'm just going around the block. And I wore it up to A's house this morning when I brought her a large pot for the hot apple cider for her party. This is my hanging-around-the-house-on-a-cold-day outfit. Before too long, I'll be changing into something pretty and frilly for the trip downtown to the ballet.

Still so hard to believe that Christmas day is just eight days away now.

Thursday... Still Snapping Cold

Stupid, stupid weather today. Cloudy with rain, cold temperatures, and not until Saturday is the temperature supposed to get up to 65 degrees. Which is still cold in my book. More frigid air is due in from the north next week, so Christmas Day might be cold as well.

Speaking of Christmas Day, there will be one less place setting at our dining room table for Christmas dinner. Our friend F was told that she'll be on the Rehab floor of the hospital for three weeks. She'll be in there for Christmas and New Year's, and needless to say, she is one unhappy buckeroo. When I went to see her today, I nearly stopped at the store to buy her a water pistol, since she keeps telling the nurses that she wishes she owned a gun. I didn't buy her one, because I know for sure she'd be squirting everyone with it if she had one.

I told F that we'll have a special Christmas dinner in January for her when she gets out of the hospital. I'll invite everyone here who is set to have Christmas dinner with us, and we'll do it again in January, just for F. She was happy to hear that, and her eyes puddled up with tears, but I know she'd rather be here for the 'real' Christmas dinner.

All I can say, to everyone out there, is "Don't smoke, don't smoke, don't smoke, don't smoke!" All of our friend F's health problems now, at her age of 73, began years and years ago when she started smoking. And here she is now, with a mind that's "as sharp as a tack," as my dad would say, and a body that just can't keep up because her lungs can't function without the oxygen that's being pumped into her. So I repeat: Don't smoke! Don't smoke! Don't smoke!!!

My husband is on the loose in Clear Lake this afternoon... he's doing his Christmas shopping today. He went out of here with a smile on his face, so he must have a plan. My sister's husband does the same thing... goes out with a plan, but waits till the last few days before the holiday to begin shopping. My sister gives her husband a list. I don't, for the simple reason that I couldn't think of enough things to make a list necessary.

Before my husband left the house, however, I did remind him that the new Ford Thunderbirds now come in a pretty shade of blue. He gave me a look that said "Get real!" And while he was getting ready to leave, he took out the telephone book and turned to the page with the SPCA listing... he told me he was going there to pick out "one of each." I gave him a look that said "With a dog and three cats, our inn is full!"

Just what AngelBoy needs... another four-pawed brother or sister... one look at a new sibling and AngelBoy would be finding a corner to call his own and I'd be calling the carpet cleaner again.

Wednesday Cold Snap

I think today was colder than a snap.... more like a frigid blast. I don't know what the temperature was, but when my husband walked Gracie this morning, he said he could see his breath. So that's too cold for southeast Texas, in my humble opinion.

Our friend F is still in the hospital... and getting cranky, so I know she must be feeling better. F is in her 70s, and not shy about letting her feelings be known. She was giving the nurses a hard time today because she wanted to take a shower. Well, the nurses didn't want her to do that. She's hooked up to all sorts of oxygen and medicine tubes, all of which can't be taken into the shower in the first place. Needless to say, F wasn't a happy camper again today.

On the bright side, at least F isn't freezing in that hospital bed anymore. When A went to visit her yesterday, she brought her a warm robe and a cozy comforter. So I'm sure F has the prettiest bedcover on the third floor now. She's warm and toasty, so that should get rid of some of the crankiness. For a little while...

"A Tuna Christmas" last night was wonderful. We laughed till we cried, and it was nice to see the live production again. We have the video, which is fun to watch, but there's nothing like seeing it live on stage. Now that we've lived in Texas for so many years, we can really appreciate the Texas humor sprinkled throughout the play. The very first time we saw this play, there were parts of the dialogue that we couldn't even understand because the "twang" sounded so deep. Now we listen easily to it and understand every blessed word. And the 1894 Grand Opera House in Galveston is such an intimate setting. Probably isn't a bad seat in the place, but ours were way up front, which was nice. I told my husband that I wish Barry Manilow would go there for a concert!

This weekend, we're going to see "The Nutcracker" at one of the downtown theatres. We saw it a bunch of years ago there, and it will be nice to see it again. The Houston theatres are all in one section of downtown, which makes driving there very convenient. And theatre-goers here dress to the nines, which makes the night very special. Into my closet I will go, and out will come a great outfit... and out will come the long fur, being that the cold snap has snapped us. I wore the fur to the Opera House last night, and I wasn't the only one there in an ankle-length fur coat.

This weekend is also A and D's Christmas party... A's turn to be host, my turn to be a guest. She really goes all out with an elaborate menu for her holiday party. There's all sorts of choices set up on her dining room table... an endless assortment of desserts and appetizers. Plus her famous cheesecake, which is always a hit. It seems like we were all just talking about Christmas parties a few months ago, and now mine is over and done with, and hers is just days away.

We're thinking ahead to New Year's Eve... getting some couples together for a nice dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant. We did that last year and it was a lot of fun... good food, good friends, lots of laughs. I found the cutest little New Year's Eve party favors a couple of months ago and tucked them into my storage closet, just in case we all got together for New Year's Eve. If we hadn't gone out, I would've just saved them all for next year. Thank goodness for this great storage closet.... it's an easy way to keep organized and stay ahead of the holidays.

That's about the story for this day. There's a show on TV tonight, all about the Seinfeld show. We'll probably watch that... we loved Seinfeld when he was on years ago. Surprisingly, there are a lot of Seinfeld fans down here. Personally, I think most of them are transplanted Yankees.

Hospital Blues

I went to the hospital this morning to see our friend F.... and she is not a happy camper. Honestly, being in a hospital deprives a patient of much-needed rest. Seems like someone was always knocking on her door for something or other. Everything from needed medication to unnecessary magazines. And just when you got to thinking that everything was quiet, you hear squeaking wheels from the food-service cart making its way down the hallway.

Every few minutes, F would say "I wish I had a gun." She tells that to the nurses and they think she's joking. They should only know. And it was freezing in that hospital today. I covered F up with a third blanket before I left, and one of the nurses brought her a pair of socks to wear. It was so cold up there that I never even took off my jacket. It was cold here today... an 'artic blast from up north,' as the morning's Chronicle called it. The temperatures will be low today and tomorrow, then by Saturday, we'll be up around 70 degrees. Which is still cold in my book, but 70 is better than 50.

My husband and I are going into Galveston to see "A Tuna Christmas" tonight. Wonderful play that we've seen before, but it's good enough to see again and again. The play is shown in the 1894 Grand Opera House.... a beautiful theatre that makes you feel like you truly are back at the turn of the century. "Tuna" is a made-up Texas town, and the play unfolds with the characters getting ready for Christmas. The best part of the play-- all the characters are played by two men (Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, I believe their names are). They do quick costume changes that get them into so many different characters, from a teenager with an attitude to an old cranky woman with an attitude. Just looking at them in their various get-ups makes you laugh.

We're trying to think of what to do on New Year's Eve this year. Last year, we went with a group of friends to our favorite Italian restaurant. So we'll either do the same thing this year, or possibly have a group of friends here for a fancy-dancy New Year's Eve dinner. We're still thinking. I told my husband to think quickly because we have to make reservations if we're going to the restaurant. I already have party-favors ready for New Year's Eve, so I'll bring them with us if we all go out. I did that last year, and placed the little gifts at everyone's place-setting. People at surrounding tables asked me if they could sit at our table instead of theirs!

My husband just walked into my sitting room here and saw that I was typing into this blogspot ... he said "It's a blog-eat-blog world."

Little Miss E and the Ballet Dress

Funny story that I forgot to mention yesterday........... During our Christmas party, the four-year old girl who lives across the street from us wandered into my sitting room and looked around at some of my keepsakes in here. I happened to come down the hallway and I found her sitting with her doll on my pink velvet fainting sofa. She was wearing a pink dress, and she looked like a little doll herself on that sofa.

Little E asked me why I had a tiny pink dress hanging on my wall. I explained to her that the dress was one that I wore when I was five years old and taking ballet lessons. I told her that it was called a tutu.

"Pink is my favorite color, you know," said E.
"Yes, I know," said I.
"Is pink your favorite color?" she wanted to know.
"Well, I wear pink sometimes, but it's not my favorite color."
"Then can I have that little pink tutu?" she asked.

I explained to little E that I wanted to keep that little ballerina dress because it was one of the few things I had from that part of my life. I told E that I was going to "save" that little dress for myself.

Without missing a beat, E said: "Save it for what? You'll never be that teeny-tiny again, you know."

And how do you answer that? I told little Miss E that I know I'd never wear the dress again but I was going to save it just the same. I promised E that I would look around the local shops and try to find her a ballerina dress similar to the one hanging up in my sitting room.

"Well, if you do, I won't hang it on my wall and save it.... I will wear it!"... said little Miss E.
As they say... out of the mouths of babes.........


I went to see our friend F in the hospital this afternoon. She's not a happy camper being there, that's for sure. Hospitals are certainly no place for relaxing. Someone is always coming into the room for something or other, and just when you think everything has quieted down for a while, that's the moment when one of the other patients starts moaning or groaning. And there's an Alzheimer's patient on F's floor, right across the hall, who is loud and hostile to the nurses there. F has alerted the nursing staff, telling them that she herself will go into his room and toss him unceremoniously out the window if he interrupts her sleep again. They laughed and thought she was kidding.

We're still talking about the party here, and neighbors have called to thank us, and a few have sent flowers and plants and told us what a wonderful time they had. The magician was a nice surprise for everyone, and being that he had been featured in the local newspapers, they felt as if they knew him. Now we're discussing what to do for next year's Christmas party.

Cold here today...... it was sunny this afternoon and not quite as cold as now, but as the sun went down, so did the temperature. It's supposed to be colder tonight, and still colder tomorrow. Oh goodie.... I can hardly wait. Stupid weather....... We get so spoiled with warm weather here that when we do get a cold snap, it is most unwelcome.

Sunday Night

I guess I'm so over-tired that I'm beyond sleeping. Oh well..... maybe the longer I stay awake now, the better I'll sleep tonight. I just got back in from walking Gracie. Tonight is just like last night-- nice and warm, with just a bit of a breeze.... a balmy tropical evening. (My kind of winter!)

Last night was so comfortable that all three tables on our screen-porch were filled with party guests. Two of our cats stayed out in the backyard during the party, and the baby cat spent the night with Gracie in the laundry room. All the 'kids' behaved themselves and kept quiet during the party, and a lot of our friends asked us where we had hidden the dog and the cats.

Our young friend C came to the party last night, along with four of her best friends. We had asked C if she wanted to invite her friends because our party happened to fall on the night when she and her group of friends get together for board games. One of her friends came in with a tray of cookies that he had baked all by himself. Imagine that--- C has found a young boy who cooks and bakes. Smart girl!

Our little four-year-old neighbor across the street came with her brother and her parents. She is the sweetest little girl, with a Shirley Temple face. Until last year, she had Shirley Temple curls, but she asked her brother to give her a hair cut and he did. He cut off so much of her hair that her mom let her get her ears pierced so she'd look more like a little girl again. We're all waiting impatiently for her beautiful curls to grow back. My Christmas gift to little E was a Victorian doll that I'd bought at an estate sale a few years ago. I kept the doll displayed on one of our living room chairs and she always looked sweet sitting there, but I thought it was time to pass that pretty doll along to a little girl. So that's what I did... I put a big red ribbon around the doll's dress and gave it to E for Christmas. She hugged the doll and barely let go of her all night long.

My husband took our annual Christmas photo this weekend. The 'theme' of the photo is The Polar Express, a la the new holiday movie with the voice of Tom Hanks. In the photo, my husband and I are standing in front of the big tree in our living room. Behind us is the foyer and the glass doors, and what do you see when you look through the doors? The Polar Express train, of course. And snow is falling, just as it did in the movie. Which is hysterical, considering it probably hasn't ever snowed here in this part of southeast Texas. But the photo is beautiful, and thanks to my husband's expertise with computer-magic, it's whimsical as well.

And that's about my story of the evening. I'm winding down, so maybe my body is finally realizing just how tired I really am after the party. But as I said... we're already talking about what to plan for next year's party.

Sunday Afternoon... Post-Party

Another great party... we all had such a wonderful night. We had hired a magician to add a little magic to the night, and that turned out very well. Some of his tricks were a little old-fashioned, like the stuffed rabbit he pulled out of his hat, but for the most part, his show was well-received and very much enjoyed. Especially by the children who were here... just watching and listening to them became part of the show.

The dining room table was totally filled with food, from one end to the other. The canapes from both the Greek cafe and the Italian restaurant were all delicious, and some of our neighbors brought over some goodies as well. We had enough desserts for half of Clear Lake, between what I had baked and what our friends brought to the table.

Weather was lovely... warm and balmy, and even so, the huge pot of hot wassail that I had simmering on the stove just disappeared, as did the egg nog. The coffee urn holds 42 cups, and all that was left was just a few cups. I'm glad I thought ahead to take out a dress that wasn't velvet... last night wasn't the night for anything with long sleeves.

I think there were about 60 people here... I haven't had time yet to look in the guest book and count the names. One person missing was our friend F, who went into the hospital the night before the party and she's still there. I went to see her this afternoon and brought her some books to read, as well as two trays of samples of the desserts we had last night. She was truly sorry to get sick just before the party, and she was very much missed.

Today is my husband's birthday, but we're waiting till tomorrow to celebrate that. We're just too worn out from last night's party, plus he had to go into work this afternoon for a graduation ceremony. His gifts are waiting for him on the breakfast room table, along with the Sunday Chronicle, which neither one of us has looked at yet.

The waitress from the Greek cafe was here last night to help me with the party, and that arrangement worked out just fine. When C came here last night, she brought a complete change of uniform for herself and she took a few minutes to change clothes and freshen up after working at the cafe. When she came out in her new outfit, she looked fresh and wonderful and she was such a great help from the beginning to end of the party.

I think it was after 3:00 when we finally got to bed this morning. I ran that dishwasher three times to do all the dishes and silverware, and by the time I got into bed, everything was put away, and my husband had taken out the vacuum and did all the carpeting. Had it not been so late, I would've asked the waitress to stay and help, but I felt it was late enough for her and she'd done more than enough during the party, and that's what I hired her for in the first place.

We're talking about next year's Christmas party.... a few ideas taking seed already. So we'll see what we come up with between now and then. For the moment, I'm ready to just put my head on my pillow and sleep the night away.

Saturday Morning... Before Dawn

I am up too early this morning, courtesy of ShadowBaby. That baby cat just wanted attention this morning, and he kept jumping around on my pillow till I woke up. Now he's out on the screen-porch. It's a little too cool this morning to leave him out there, so I'll give him about 20 minutes and then let him back into the house.

Last night's party at the home of my husband's boss was very nice. They always have a wonderful buffet table there... lots of interesting dishes (most of which I don't try because they're made with meat). She had smoked salmon and grilled vegetables and Greek stuffed grape leaves, so I enjoyed those dishes. "Mrs. Boss" usually has three women helping her with the Christmas party, this year she had four. Nice party, but as I told my husband, everyone is a little cautious and stiff there. Probably just because of whose house they're in.

We live in the same subdivision as the boss and his wife, and they came to our Christmas party last year. They were here when the Mariachi band arrived, and they were thrilled when Santa & Mrs. Claus walked in our front door as the band was leaving. Add to the fact that our home used to belong to the sister of the boss's wife.... We have that little 'connection' and I feel very comfortable at their home, and I hope they felt comfortable at ours as well. They won't be at our Christmas party this year because they've split their huge party into two nights, half last night, half tonight. They seemed to be genuinely disappointed that our parties were on the same night, and they were asking what 'entertainment' I had planned for the party tonight. I told them I had to keep the secret till party time.

Mrs. Boss has an entire room of her home dedicated to her dollhouse collection. Absolutely fabulous to see... hundreds of miniatures, from tiny bars of vintage-looking Ivory soap to Oriental hand-painted silk screens, and even hand-crocheted tableclothes to fit dollhouse-sized dining room tables. Amazing details, all lovingly set up and cared for by Mrs. Boss. That room is her pride and joy and you can see she loves it all. Love is in the details, and she has seen to every blessed detail. Her project this year was hand-painting a set of dollhouse-sized dinnerware. She painted every tiny dish and bowl with a floral pattern that is an exact replica of her own grandmother's china. I can't even begin to imagine how many hours went into that.

Time for me to let ShadowBaby in from the screen-porch. I'm sure he's ready to get back into the warm house by now. It's only about 60 degrees out there, but in the middle of the dark morning, without the sun, it feels colder. Yesterday was a glorious warm and sunny day, and today should be the same. I will be wishing for some free time to sit out in the sun this afternoon, but I know I'll be too busy getting ready for tonight. No time to tan... it's party night!

Fabulous Friday

Absolutely gorgeous weather again today.... I wish I'd had time to go out in the yard and sit in the sun for a while, but I had too much to do today for tomorrow night's party.

I've done everything I can possibly get done until tomorrow morning. All I've left on my list is the very last-minute things that I can't do today. I didn't take time to exercise today, unless walking back and forth throughout the house today can be called 'exercise.' Maybe I can get some exercises in after we get home tonight. I even got the cakes baked and frosted today. Both of them look great and the house smelled heavenly while they were baking. I made a German Chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting, and a Devil's Food cake with chocolate icing. Between all the cookies I baked, and the Greek pastries I bought, plus the two cakes, we should have more than enough.

While I was in the middle of baking, the doorbell rang with a delivery from the local florist. Our neighbor ML across the street sent a beautiful floral arrangement, with a thank-you note for having everyone here for the Christmas party. Such a huge, beautiful arrangement. I called her and told her I was going to put it right in the middle of the dining room table tomorrow night.

I'm sitting here dressed in party clothes for tonight's party at the home of my husband's boss. Two hours till we have to leave, but it didn't take me as long as I thought it would to pick out something to wear and get myself all done up. Or "all dolled up," as my Uncle Mino used to say.

I'm so glad that I reorganized my closets a couple of months ago. I swear I had clothes in there that I hadn't worn yet, which is why I promised myself that I wouldn't go shopping for holiday clothes this year. I'm wearing a silk skirt and blouse that I found last summer... beautiful slinky skirt with a ruffle along the bottom and a slit up the side. I knew when I found this skirt that it would be perfect for a party. And when you happen to find party clothes, you just have to buy them, because when you're actually looking for something like this, you'll never find it.

Anyway.... the house looks great... everything is set for tomorrow. And I know that this weekend will fly by in a heartbeat.

Thursday Evening

Busy, busy day today......... feels like I've only sat down for breakfast and lunch. Gorgeous day today... lots of sun, nice and warm. A lot of birds outside at the feeders all day. I didn't feed them yesterday because of the insect-spray that was put all over the yard, so I guess they're all extra hungry today.

I baked more cookies... those bar cookies with chocolate and butterscotch chip and walnuts and coconut, sprinkled on top of a graham cracker cookie-crust. They went fairly easy. A few of them broke into pieces, which my husband didn't mind at all. As for me, I need to stop sampling every cookie I make or else I'll have to be exercising twice as long as I usually do. I was going to bake the cakes today, but I'll leave that for tomorrow, then I can frost them early on Saturday.

The dining room buffet has all my pretty plates right on top, ready for the party. From dessert size to luncheon size, and lots of pretty patterns. I covered them all up with Saran-wrap, so not a speck of dust can get to them between now and Saturday night. I have a pretty fabric-covered box that holds all of my forks, so that's all set up with the good silverware sets. On Saturday afternoon, I'll take all of the forks from the kitchen drawer and add them to the box.

I've called the restaurants to confirm the food orders, and told them my husband will be by on Saturday to pick everything up. I called the "entertainment" to confirm, and the man said to me "Christmas Party? This Saturday? Really?" Very funny. Everyone's a comedian. I told my husband that story and he laughed out loud.

Speaking of my husband... he was sitting at the little table in our breakfast room this morning, wearing a Santa hat and taking care of last-minute paperwork for his job. Gracie sat next to him, but the cats sort of looked at him funny. ("Who's the guy in the red hat?")

And that's been about the day. Last minute things will just have to wait till the last minute to do, but this year I've got some help. I asked the waitress at the local Greek restaurant to come help out with the party. So that will make it easier on me because I can ask her to replenish the food platters and make sure the dirty plates and forks find their way to the kitchen.

I just looked at my fingernails and realized I didn't write "polish nails" on my to-do list. So I'll have to get that done tomorrow night. Details, details....

Too Early On Thursday Morning

It's just about 5:30 in the morning....... I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep so here I am. Lots of last-minute things to do for our Christmas party on Saturday night, so might as well get an early start today. I'm going to bake more cookies today, then two cakes tomorrow, and I should have enough sweets for everyone.

I drove to Best Buy yesterday afternoon......... our CD player decided to die. I swear, those CD players last two years if you're lucky. I was going to wait till next week to get a new one, since I'm so busy with the party this week, but I missed my music. No Greek music to cook by? No Manilow Christmas music? Not a good thing.

So off I went, and what did I find? Huge boom-boxes that looked like the front of a truck. Not exactly what I had in mind. Fortunately, a finger-snapping young man in Best Buy pointed me in the right direction and I found a smaller CD player to fit on the corner table in the breakfast room. This one even has a digital clock in it. I couldn't figure out how to set the time, so I'll leave that up to my husband.

I also had to run out yesterday to buy hot/cold drink cups for the party. I usually put out glassware for our parties, but there will be too many people here for that. Lord knows I've got enough dishes and flatware for our parties, but I only have enough glasses for 30-35 people. So now I've got some festive cups for the egg nog, soda, iced tea, and hot apple cider.

My sister called yesterday and we opened a couple of gifts. Her gift to me was a beautiful little book called "Plates." Every page was filled with displays of dinner and dessert plates.... such a pretty little book. I love pretty plates..... and I seem to find lots of them. Between the antique and resale shops, and all the estate and yard sales, there's always a plate or two or ten that calls my name. My grandmother (my mother's mom) used to buy different plates, platters, and teacups... she would mix and match all of them. (Her home was 'shabby chic' before anyone ever heard of that phrase.) When I'd go to her house, I'd arrange and rearrange all her beautiful plates and teacups in her kitchen cabinets. I loved that they didn't match. So that's probably how my fascination with plates started.

As a result, I've got singles and half-sets of many patterns of dinnerware. All sizes, from dinner plates to luncheon and cake plates. This year, I have a lot of plates that belonged to my husband's mom. She liked to collect china plates as well. I bring all of them out for our parties... much better and nicer than paper plates. Add to that the sets of silverware that I've collected from estate sales, also non-matching...... Somehow, everything works well together and who cares if the sets don't match.

I got so busy yesterday that I forgot to watch Barry Manilow on Clay Aiken's Christmas Show last night. And why, I might ask, does Clay get a Christmas show, and Barry does not? Who's in charge of that network decision? My friend A dropped by yesterday afternoon..... we got caught up on what's been going on this week... and she got to see our big tree before the living room is filled up with party guests on Saturday night. While she and I were chatting in the breakfast room, half of the outside lights out front decided to go out. One whole side, dark as night, including the reindeer on that side of the lawn. My husband will have to take a look-see at that today... he said it's probably a little fuse. I didn't even know those tiny lights had fuses.

More cookies to bake today...... I'll either do the cashew-butter cookies, or those bar cookies with nuts and chips and coconut. Tomorrow, two cakes to bake. Saturday afternoon, my husband will go and pick up all the food. Another year's Christmas party, almost here. So hard to believe.

The Quackernackle Choir

I have four white ceramic ducks outside by the walkway leading up to our front door. I rescued them a few years ago from a yard sale. I think they were just twenty-five cents each. They're so cute because they're pudgy like little ducklings, and the expressions on their faces are just plain happy. They all seemed quite pleased with themselves sitting at that yard sale over a year ago, and I just couldn't resist them.

When I got them home, the question was where to put them? Outside in the yard, of course, but I didn't want them to get lost in the flower-beds. I had a white wrought-iron plant stand out there in the garden, also a yard sale find. The stand was in the shape of a spiral staircase, with four steps. Every plant that I put on there just burned up in the sun, especially the uppermost one. Hmmm.... four little ducks, four little steps. As my husband's mom always said-- buy what you love, you'll find room for it.

The four ducks, ranging in size from smallest, small, medium, and large, sat right on each of the steps, with the smallest one on the very top. They were happy there all summer long, white pudgy bodies and pouty yellow beaks. Last Christmas, I put red ribbons around their necks. I swear, they looked like choir members, and I christened them my "Quackernackle Choir." Everyone who came to our front door just smiled at the sight of those pudgy porcelain ducks.

I left the ribbons on them after the holiday last year, and they looked perfectly dressed for Valentine's Day with their red bow-ties. As the warmer weather came, the red ribbons faded a bit to orange. In the heat of the summer, round about August, the orange turned to a mustard-y yellow. Time to get rid of those ribbons.

Last night, before I turned off the outside Christmas lights, I was out there with a roll of ribbon. I gave each little duck a new red ribbon for Christmas. My Quackernackle Choir rocks on.

Santa Buddha & Coconut Cookies

My husband came home from work tonight and laughed out loud when he got to the front porch. There sat my happy green Buddha, wearing a Santa hat. The unexpected... makes everyone smile. I got that green three-foot-tall Buddha last year at a yard sale, for the tiny sum of one dollar. I couldn't resist him... he has such a happy face. He's been on the screen-porch since last year and today I thought he needed a change of scenery. And of course he needed a Santa hat to keep his head warm in this 78-degree weather.

Now... the cookies....... I was watching a program on the Food Channel late this afternoon. There's a little TV in the kitchen and while I'm making a simple three-ingredient meal, I like to watch someone making a 37-ingredient feast. Tonight's show was "30-Minute Meals." I think the cook's name is Rachel Ray. She makes easy, good, mostly healthy food that is fuss-free, and tonight she was making coconut cookies. I forget what her main dish was, because I was interested in the cookies.

I had just looked in my Mrs. Field's book this morning... saw a recipe for coconut macaroons and didn't have the marzipan paste that the recipe called for. (Does anyone have that in their pantry?) But Rachel's recipe didn't call for that... and she mixed that batter together in minutes. Into my pantry closet I went, and I had all the ingredients she was using. I put a lid on the salmon I was cooking and started the coconut cookies.

Easy recipe: 2 egg whites, beaten till stiff and glossy. (I added a pinch of cream of tartar.) Add to that 1/3 cup sugar (I used Splenda). Beat together till good and stiff. She added almond extract... I used vanilla-- just a teaspoon. She added a pinch of nutmeg... I left that out. Put the mixer away, and now use a spatula--- She added one and one-half cups shredded coconut... I added that, and mixed in about half a cup of chocolate chips. (Just because I had that small amount left over from the chocolate chip-pecan cookies of the other day.)

Rachel used an ice cream scoop to form about 8 snowball-shaped mounds of coconut. I used a teaspoon to make bite-sized cookies for the party. Into a 325-degree oven, for about 10-12 minutes. You want to watch them because they cook fast and you don't want the bottoms to burn. The tops should be a light brown. I let them cool on a wire rack before arranging them on the platter for the party.

Of course I tasted one... delicious. I left out a few for my husband. He doesn't usually eat coconut cookies, but he said these were great. Now this gives him even more cookies to search for. When I tell him my hiding place, he won't believe how easy they would've been to find. This morning, I told him I should hide the cookies underneath all the paperwork on this desk. (Hint, hint! Clean that desk off before the party!.... Buddha is watching........)

Tuesday... Glorious Sun

Absolutely gorgeous day today.... blue sky, pretty clouds, lots of sun, nice and warm. Now this is what "winter" weather should be like in southeast Texas. And this is how it usually is for the Dickens on The Strand celebration in Galveston. However, last weekend the island city of Galveston received the wrong weather from The Powers That Be.

I've been going through my party to-do list.... getting as much done as possible before tomorrow and Thursday. I plan to go grocery shopping tomorrow, then do more baking on Thursday and Friday. My husband has searched (not too hard) for the chocolate chip pecan cookies that I've already baked. He went so far as to tell me: "B called while you were out... he and P won't be coming to the party after all so he said I could have his share of the chocolate chip pecan cookies." At first, I believed him... then I saw the look on his face and knew he was telling a story. The cookies are safe and sound. I haven't touched a one since I put them all away for the party.

I spent about an hour yesterday trying on party outfits. Three parties coming up-- ours, my husband's job party, our friend A's party. Plus Christmas Day. Four outfits. I've got everything set up in my closet... clothes and shoes... all depends on the weather. A long-sleeved velvet top and a long velvet skirt isn't going to work if it gets up to 88 degrees here. So I've got a couple of back-up outfits... knee-length black dress without sleeves, long black sleeveless dress.

The carpet cleaner was here yesterday. AngelBoy surprised me with a trip into one of his favorite corners, in lieu of a trip to his litter box. I caught him just as he left that corner. I picked him up and looked right into his kitty-blue eyes: "The week of our party and you have to do that?!" He looked right back at me and gave me the softest of meows. Then he blinked at me three times. And what does that mean? I just can't figure this cat out. So much for being a nice person and letting him stay in the house when I'm too busy to keep an eye on him. Into the screen-porch he goes now when he comes in the house.

I'm waiting for the bug-spray guy this afternoon. Living in this part of Texas (and probably every part of Texas) you have to have the grounds around the house sprayed for bugs. Big bugs, little bugs, creepy-crawly bugs... they're all here in this state. And in order to keep them outside and not inside, you need to have everything sprayed every few months. We're overdue for this, but I couldn't let them spray a couple of months ago because we had too many bird nests in the trees. I didn't want to take a chance of having baby birds sprayed with those chemicals.

And I think we have a mouse up in the attic. Every once in a while, we hear teeny tiny scratching up there. Too tiny a sound for a raccoon or a possum, plus all the vents are screened in now, so how would one of those get in? Must be a mouse.... so I asked the pest-control guy to bring us some sort of trap for the attic. Three cats in this house and I have a mouse in the attic. There is no justice in this world.

There was a show on the home decorating channel last night.... all about the holiday window displays in the large stores like Macy's, Harrod's, Neiman Marcus. Such beautiful scenes, and they're working on them all year long. By the time they finish up the windows for this year, someone is already at work thinking up a design for next year's windows. The theme for the New York Macy's windows this year is "The Polar Express." They showed close-ups of the displays... absolutely beautiful work. And the figures looked exactly like the artwork in the book, so the train conductor didn't look like Tom Hanks. Amazing artwork... the man who thought of that idea got all choked up as he watched everyone looking at the Macy's windows.

Anyway... that's the day so far. I hope this weather holds for the rest of the week.

Monday Morning Rain

It has been absolutely pouring outside..... nice and warm, though, but wet, wet, wet. Good day to start on the to-do list for the party. I keep a written list of everything that has to be done before we host a party. As I finish the chores on the list, I pencil in an X next to it. When all is done, I can erase all the X's and save the list for the next party.

So this morning I decided to clean the stove-top and the kitchen counters around it. Every time I clean that stove-top, I vow to just use one burner instead of all four. But I never do. I stand there and scour each of the burners till they look bright and shine-y new. The white stove-top sets into the counter, which is a light pinky salmon color... very tropical looking in there and easy on the eyes. As much as I love that white stove-top, it shows every last speck of everything. Especially when I put my glasses on. I didn't think I had that much to clean there till I put my glasses on... then I saw little speckles here and there... most likely from when I made the pot of lentil soup last week.

I'll be gentle with that stove-top from now till the end of the week... no major cooking, since I don't want to have to be taking a Brillo-pad to it between now and Saturday.

My husband stopped at Kroger's (supermarket) on his way back from his office yesterday. He came home with all sorts of frozen vegetables made by Green Giant, and he found a box of White Castle hamburgers in the freezer section. Don't you love a man who shops? I do... because grocery shopping is one of my least favorite things to do. And I'm guilty of going in and buying the same things I buy week after week, for the simple reason that my aim is to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible. And I try not to make eye contact with most of the other women shoppers in there. My goal is not to get into a conversation about household cleaners or catfish recipes or the free samples they're giving out at the deli counter. Just leave me alone and let me shop in peace and get out of this store!

But let a man go into a supermarket, especially one who might pop in just a few times a year, and it's like a kid in a toy store. Look at this! Look at that! Wow! I didn't know they had these! So of course, my husband was proud of himself when he walked in the door with two grocery bags filled with goodies. I told him to feel free to go to any of the supermarkets at any time and surprise me again with newly discovered treasures.

I think I found the key to this blog-spot printing. When I type into here at night, I sincerely think half of the world is doing the same thing because it prints and publishes very slowly. When I type in the afternoons, every word gets printed quickly and nothing gets lost along the way. Maybe the trick is to type shorter stories earlier in the day. So that's what I'll try to do. Yesterday was awful.... I typed a long funny story about the lighted reindeer and the chocolate pecan cookies.... clicked on the publish button, and it took so long to accept it that everything got lost. Needless to say, when you have to re-type a story the second time, a lot gets left out.

I hear the trash truck on our street.... they must be on the corner. When they get further down to our house, Gracie will start her usual barking... "They're stealing our trash! They're stealing our trash!" Even after all these years, she just doesn't get it.