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!