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.