Company's coming...

... tomorrow, and then again on Monday, and then again on Friday. It's been a busy week so far, and next week will be even busier.

Two of our friends from our old neighborhood, V & S, will be here for lunch tomorrow. V has kept in touch since we left, and has tried to get up here time and time again, but either her sons came to visit or she had an out-of-town conference to go to. (One was really out-of-town... she went to VietNam over the summer, to study their academic procedures... she was very impressed).

V called last week to say hello, then called back this week to see if we would be home tomorrow so they could drive up here. If not this weekend, then V said she wouldn't be able to visit till after the holidays. And V truly wanted to see the house all decked-out for Christmas. V loves Christmas as much as we do, and her collection of Radko ornaments is beyond belief-- all bought at half-price sales after the holidays.

A couple of years ago, V & S invited us to a Christmas party at their house and after we (six couples) had eaten dinner, V asked me if "all the ladies" could walk down to my house to see the decorations. And that's what we did, on that unusually-cold-for-south-Texas night... walked to my house to oooh and aaah over my decorations after we had done the same at V's.

I have a hundred things to do before our out-of-town friends get here on Monday, and more things to do before the second set of out-of-town friends get here on Friday.... but I couldn't tell V that I was busy. To quote my former Library Director/boss (who's coming to visit with his wife a week from today): "There's never enough time to do anything, but somehow we find the time to get everything done."

So that's what I did today-- got everything done today that was on my to-do list for today and tomorrow. And when I was finished with that, I baked cornbread, put together a chicken salad, got everything ready for an ice cream/coconut/Biscotti dessert, and set the dining room table to within an inch of its Thanksgiving-ish best.

I had already found a gift weeks ago for V in one of the shops so that was all wrapped up and ready, in hopes that she would get here before Christmas. So we'll have a Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow, then a Christmas-y dessert when we open presents.

The downstairs doors are closed now, so the cats can't get into the living room and the dining room. As I type, I can hear Mickey Kitty meowing by the kitchen stairway...... "Is it Christmas already?"

Not yet, but it will be....... in 35 days.