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!)