At Michael's yesterday they had the tail-end of Christmas decorations including some little stuffed blue mittens with white embroidery snowflakes and white snowflakes with blue embroidery that were keychains for ten cents each. I bought four. The two mittens are hanging with snowflakes in the foyer.
A few snapshots of the winter decorations in Autumn Hollow.
21 January 2007
14 January 2007
Winter Remnants
We were headed to the new Costco at Cumberland Mall and stopped by the mall to see the new changes that were made (the mall has been undergoing a several million-dollar restoration). So we took a nice walk around the entire area. Kaybee Toys was going out of business and was pretty much stripped. Abercrombie and Fitch and Kirklands are gone. Lots more boring women's clothing stores. Some fronts still empty.
Anyway, unlike the Hallmark shop at the Avenue at West Cobb, the mall Hallmark store still had some leftover Christmas things at 75 percent off. I bought a white bottle brush tree with small red balls. When I got home I wrapped it with what was left of the silver snowflake garland and topped it with a snowflake ornament. It's now a winter tree in the foyer.
They also had some Marjolein Bastin's "Nature's Sketchbook" ornaments left. This year Bastin had done four winter garden ornaments, frosted with white: a sled, an Adirondak chair, a garden cart, and a mailbox. They didn't have any of the mailbox ornaments and the garden cart had a Christmas tree in it. Both the Adirondak chair and the sled, however, are just winter themed, the chair with skates and the sled with mittens. So I bought them for the table.
I also bought a goofy-looking white cartoony-looking bear who has a blue scarf rather than a Christmasy one.
Anyway, unlike the Hallmark shop at the Avenue at West Cobb, the mall Hallmark store still had some leftover Christmas things at 75 percent off. I bought a white bottle brush tree with small red balls. When I got home I wrapped it with what was left of the silver snowflake garland and topped it with a snowflake ornament. It's now a winter tree in the foyer.
They also had some Marjolein Bastin's "Nature's Sketchbook" ornaments left. This year Bastin had done four winter garden ornaments, frosted with white: a sled, an Adirondak chair, a garden cart, and a mailbox. They didn't have any of the mailbox ornaments and the garden cart had a Christmas tree in it. Both the Adirondak chair and the sled, however, are just winter themed, the chair with skates and the sled with mittens. So I bought them for the table.
I also bought a goofy-looking white cartoony-looking bear who has a blue scarf rather than a Christmasy one.
13 January 2007
Tree in Hibernation
Aieeee! It took two and a half hours to take the tree down, get it downstairs (where it's taking up a lot more space than I'd hoped) under plastic, and put the glider rocker back in place. I'm pooped. I don't know how the folks at Christmas to the Max (Melody has 52 trees!) do it. All the ornaments that had string ties on them now have hooks (thank God; I hate string ties on ornaments), the glass stuff is either in its own box (the regular Woolworth-type glass ornaments) or in an old Hallmark box, and the plastic stuff is in Ziplock bags laid flat in the storage container.
I feel decadent. I actually ripped the tinsel off and threw it away. They have made mylar tinsel since I was a kid, because of the lead hazard in the original icicles, but they are making it even thinner today; it's almost as fine as hair. I went crazy picking it off a 4 1/2 foot tree and hanging it back on the cardboard piece they provide in the icicle box; I wasn't going to try to do it with tinsel from a six-foot tree!
I bought three boxes of icicles at Walgreen's on half price after Christmas, so I have tinsel. I just feel my frugal mom is looking down on me and shaking an index finger at me and clucking! :-)
The autumn-theme things are back on the mantel, but I have some snow-themed things on the divider and scattered around the room, in the dining room, and in the foyer. It seems incongruous since it's 69° degrees outside, the windows are all thrown open with the fans going full blast, and it smells like bloody spring outside!
The carpet is still scattered with artificial needles, bits of tinsel and other Christmas flotsam, but it can wait until Monday if it has to, since it's Martin Luther King Day. Right now I'm ready for a good lunch. Hey, James, wanna go to Longhorn?
I feel decadent. I actually ripped the tinsel off and threw it away. They have made mylar tinsel since I was a kid, because of the lead hazard in the original icicles, but they are making it even thinner today; it's almost as fine as hair. I went crazy picking it off a 4 1/2 foot tree and hanging it back on the cardboard piece they provide in the icicle box; I wasn't going to try to do it with tinsel from a six-foot tree!
I bought three boxes of icicles at Walgreen's on half price after Christmas, so I have tinsel. I just feel my frugal mom is looking down on me and shaking an index finger at me and clucking! :-)
The autumn-theme things are back on the mantel, but I have some snow-themed things on the divider and scattered around the room, in the dining room, and in the foyer. It seems incongruous since it's 69° degrees outside, the windows are all thrown open with the fans going full blast, and it smells like bloody spring outside!
The carpet is still scattered with artificial needles, bits of tinsel and other Christmas flotsam, but it can wait until Monday if it has to, since it's Martin Luther King Day. Right now I'm ready for a good lunch. Hey, James, wanna go to Longhorn?
10 January 2007
"Down With the Rosemary and So..."
I am slowly divesting the house of its Christmas finery.Down with the baies and mistletoe,
Down with the holly, ivie all
Wherewith ye deck the Christmas Hall.". . . . . Robert Herrick
It's taking a while because (a) it was put up during successive weeks of Advent, so it can't be taken down in mere hours and (b) I'm attempting to put it up in an orderly manner rather than just tossing it into the clear storage boxes as previously done. So the porch and the foyer now have their winter decorations and the dining room, kitchen, and what small things were in the various bedroom and the wreaths on the doors are cleared away. I have various winter decorations (gathered from Christmas clearance, since apparently in the decorating world winter only happens at Christmas [snark]) dotted about the main floor: a basket of greens, snowmen, etc. All the larger trees (the big tree in the living room, the small tree with the miniature ornaments, and the feather tree) are still up, plus the little adornments in the library and the ornament jars and snowglobes in the living room, and the village. I can probably take down the two small trees tonight and the den decorations, but will need to empty one of the big Xerox paper boxes for the village.
The big tree will need to wait until Friday, when I'm off. There simply isn't enough time after work. In the meantime, the timer continues to turn it on and off at night, so it's a glowing, welcome companion to dinnertime and post-prandial reading, pet encounters, and the odd television program or two.
Once the decorations are down I hope to start a couple of new projects: finishing the nook in the yard before it gets warm (that's like four weeks from now, if not sooner! <wry g>) and painting the "wish" stake for the yard in a fall motif. We'll need to get chairs for the nook; I'm simply going to get the PVC (or whatever it is) Adirondak chairs like we have on the porch, except in a different color. There's no use buying expensive wooden lawn furniture in Georgia; the strong sun will sap all the good out of it in two years and it will end up looking wizened and grey (like the rockers on our front porch) and need replacing.
07 January 2007
St. Distaff's Day
St. Distaff's Day; Or, the Morrow after Twelfth-dayIn other words, "Merrymaking is over, time to get back to work." :-)
Robert Herrick
Partly work and partly play
You must on St. Distaffs Day:
From the plough soon free your team;
Then cane home and fother them:
If the maids a-spinning go,
Burn the flax and fire the tow.
Bring in pails of water then,
Let the maids bewash the men.
Give St. Distaff' all the right:
Then bid Christmas sport good night,
And next morrow every one
To his own vocation.'
More details about St. Distaff's Day and other events of January 7th.
06 January 2007
"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot..."
We finished out the Christmas season with our Twelfth Night party tonight. We had a great time with the folks who came, but it was a small crowd. Several people had told us they had prior obligations, and at least one person had to be with an ailing parent, but we missed the regulars, and the two girls who came were bored without the rest of the kids of their own age who usually show up. I hope everyone's okay.
So we're sitting here ticking down the last few minutes of Christmas season 2006. It was a happy time, even with little annoyances like the traffic on the way to Warner Robins and back and the warm weather that invaded every few days like unwelcome insects. The Marietta tour of homes was terrific; I'd like to do it again next year. The new ARTC venue was enjoyable, and the show, of course, was excellent. Shari's party is always fun, as is getting together with James' family.
And then of course the glitter: checking out Christmas displays, the beautiful decorations, the drive through Life University, tinsel and glitter and glass ornaments, and lights, lights, lights.
The best part: good friends, good family, good food, good feeling. A feeling of home and of love.
I give you a toast, ladies and gentlemen, to Christmas! May it endure forever!
See you next year...
So we're sitting here ticking down the last few minutes of Christmas season 2006. It was a happy time, even with little annoyances like the traffic on the way to Warner Robins and back and the warm weather that invaded every few days like unwelcome insects. The Marietta tour of homes was terrific; I'd like to do it again next year. The new ARTC venue was enjoyable, and the show, of course, was excellent. Shari's party is always fun, as is getting together with James' family.
And then of course the glitter: checking out Christmas displays, the beautiful decorations, the drive through Life University, tinsel and glitter and glass ornaments, and lights, lights, lights.
The best part: good friends, good family, good food, good feeling. A feeling of home and of love.
I give you a toast, ladies and gentlemen, to Christmas! May it endure forever!
See you next year...
Happy Befana Day!
Traditionally, La Befana ("Befana" comes from the word "Epiphany") has delivered little toys and candies to Italian children on January 6. Now many Italian children believe in Santa Claus ("Babbo Natale," "Father Christmas") instead or in addition to.
Befana is usually described as an elderly woman with a wart upon her nose, but many believers will get upset if you envision her so. Some modern drawings make her a perky elderly lady with her ever-present broom.
The tale goes that when the Three Wise Men stopped at her home, she fed them but decided not to accompany them on their journey to the manger because she had too much housework to do. (That sounds like an Italian woman, all right!) Afterwards she felt badly about refusing and hurried after them, but has never caught up with them. She leaves gifts to children in the hope that one of them may be the Christ Child.
About La Befana at Italiansrus.com.
(They also have a great section about Italian Christmas traditions, including an account by a man who spent his 11th Christmas on Ischia, which is where my mother's parents came from.)
A scholarly look at La Befana.
Just a general page about Christmas in Italy.
And a very good page on Epiphany with over a dozen links.
Befana is usually described as an elderly woman with a wart upon her nose, but many believers will get upset if you envision her so. Some modern drawings make her a perky elderly lady with her ever-present broom.
The tale goes that when the Three Wise Men stopped at her home, she fed them but decided not to accompany them on their journey to the manger because she had too much housework to do. (That sounds like an Italian woman, all right!) Afterwards she felt badly about refusing and hurried after them, but has never caught up with them. She leaves gifts to children in the hope that one of them may be the Christ Child.
About La Befana at Italiansrus.com.
(They also have a great section about Italian Christmas traditions, including an account by a man who spent his 11th Christmas on Ischia, which is where my mother's parents came from.)
A scholarly look at La Befana.
Just a general page about Christmas in Italy.
And a very good page on Epiphany with over a dozen links.
"We Three Kings"
We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
Refrain
O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.
Refrain
Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, voices raising,
Worshipping God on high.
Refrain
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.
Refrain
Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.
Refrain
05 January 2007
A Puppy's 12 Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
The Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the second day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the third day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Eight tiny reindeer fragments
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
My wreath in nine pieces
Eight tiny reindeer fragments
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Ten Christmas cards I shoulda mailed
My wreath in nine pieces
Eight tiny reindeer fragments
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Eleven unwrapped presents
Ten Christmas cards I shoulda mailed
My wreath in nine pieces
Eight tiny reindeer fragments
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
A dozen puppy kisses
And I forgot all about the other eleven days.
The Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the second day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the third day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Eight tiny reindeer fragments
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
My wreath in nine pieces
Eight tiny reindeer fragments
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Ten Christmas cards I shoulda mailed
My wreath in nine pieces
Eight tiny reindeer fragments
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
Eleven unwrapped presents
Ten Christmas cards I shoulda mailed
My wreath in nine pieces
Eight tiny reindeer fragments
Seven scraps of wrapping paper
Six yards of soggy ribbon
Five chewed-up stockings
Four broken window candles
Three punctured ornaments
Two leaking bubble lights
And the Santa topper from the Christmas tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas my puppy gave to me
A dozen puppy kisses
And I forgot all about the other eleven days.
. . . Elise Lewis, 1997
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...
...I seem to be coming down with a cold. Have intermittent cough and sinus stuffiness. Not surprising since a lot of folks at the party had colds and so did my mother-in-law. Just hope I don't get an infection; since I developed the penicillin allergy it's a bid hard for them to find something that works on me.
In the meantime, it's a bit late, but here's a recipe for Twelfth Cake...of course.
In the meantime, it's a bit late, but here's a recipe for Twelfth Cake...of course.
04 January 2007
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas...
...as we previously watched the decorations go up, now we watch them come down. As I drove through downtown Smyrna yesterday morning, all their decorations, including the big tree, were still up, but the lights were no longer lit. By the time I got home, everything had disappeared by the strings of lights on the big trees. If this had been just a few wreaths on lampposts and a couple of standing figures, you'd say "so what," but this was an entire "forest" of lighted decorations (Santa, team of reindeer, elves, fireplace, candy canes at the entrance, skaters, snowflakes, strings of blue lights dripping from the trees around the pond, etc.). Those folks were really busy yesterday!
So the square is all dark and somber again.
Meanwhile, here's a different site with a page about the Twelve Days of Christmas. The site includes the entire liturgical calendar.
Today is the saint's day of one of the few American saints, Elizabeth Ann Seton.
A nice page of Christmas Images by Thomas Nast, some on the page, most linked.
And just because it's pretty, a recent photo of Chateau Frontenac in Quebec in the snow. I've been here several times, but never in the winter. Lovely.
So the square is all dark and somber again.
Meanwhile, here's a different site with a page about the Twelve Days of Christmas. The site includes the entire liturgical calendar.
Today is the saint's day of one of the few American saints, Elizabeth Ann Seton.
A nice page of Christmas Images by Thomas Nast, some on the page, most linked.
And just because it's pretty, a recent photo of Chateau Frontenac in Quebec in the snow. I've been here several times, but never in the winter. Lovely.
03 January 2007
On the Tenth Day of Christmas...
...it's back to the $#!$#$!#$! fluorescent lights.
Meanwhile the holiday period has brought back more than Christmas memories:
Every year there's a Christmas episode I get "attached" to and watch several times. In 2005 it was The House Without a Christmas Tree because Mom and I had watched that a lot together.
This year it was the original Christmas episode of All Creatures Great and Small, "Merry Gentlemen." I watched it about a half-dozen times, including once late New Year's night. I think it was because I was feeling a bit homesick after hearing about my godmother, and the halls of Skeldale House and especially the old den and the dining room with its old-fashioned wallpaper put me in mind of all the triple-deckers and old homes of my relatives. There is a scene where Tristan goes into the kitchen with a candle and you can hear the wind "wuthering" outside and the draft guttering the candle and almost feel how cold that stone-floored kitchen was with the stove out in a home that was not centrally heated.
Reminds me of the days when houses weren't as draft-resistant as they are now. You almost never hear the wind blowing around our new home; it has to be gusting hard and then more what we hear is the snap and rattle of the banner outside on the metal flagpole. We had radiators when I was small and I remember the windows turning white with feathery frost patterns on cold mornings in the window that did not have the radiator in front of it; the one near the radiator would be thick with condensation (which dripped into the wooden frames and necessitated the replacement of the windows in 1971).
So does anyone else remember plugging up the front door for the winter? We didn't use our front door in the winter at all; Daddy shoveled the front walk so the mailman could reach the box, but we didn't use the door. It was opened twice all winter, once to put the Christmas wreath up and then to take it down again. A couple of winters we just left it up until spring. You used to be able to tell old New England houses, in fact, by the old Christmas wreaths on their doors into March because their front doors were blocked up. Our front door faced north, so the blocking of the door added extra warmth to the living room. The cracks would be stuffed with strips of old flannel pajamas. Some folks took the precaution of covering the front door, storm door and all, with clear plastic sheeting that was scuffed and transcluscent by spring, but my parents thought that looked ugly.
Meanwhile the holiday period has brought back more than Christmas memories:
Every year there's a Christmas episode I get "attached" to and watch several times. In 2005 it was The House Without a Christmas Tree because Mom and I had watched that a lot together.
This year it was the original Christmas episode of All Creatures Great and Small, "Merry Gentlemen." I watched it about a half-dozen times, including once late New Year's night. I think it was because I was feeling a bit homesick after hearing about my godmother, and the halls of Skeldale House and especially the old den and the dining room with its old-fashioned wallpaper put me in mind of all the triple-deckers and old homes of my relatives. There is a scene where Tristan goes into the kitchen with a candle and you can hear the wind "wuthering" outside and the draft guttering the candle and almost feel how cold that stone-floored kitchen was with the stove out in a home that was not centrally heated.
Reminds me of the days when houses weren't as draft-resistant as they are now. You almost never hear the wind blowing around our new home; it has to be gusting hard and then more what we hear is the snap and rattle of the banner outside on the metal flagpole. We had radiators when I was small and I remember the windows turning white with feathery frost patterns on cold mornings in the window that did not have the radiator in front of it; the one near the radiator would be thick with condensation (which dripped into the wooden frames and necessitated the replacement of the windows in 1971).
So does anyone else remember plugging up the front door for the winter? We didn't use our front door in the winter at all; Daddy shoveled the front walk so the mailman could reach the box, but we didn't use the door. It was opened twice all winter, once to put the Christmas wreath up and then to take it down again. A couple of winters we just left it up until spring. You used to be able to tell old New England houses, in fact, by the old Christmas wreaths on their doors into March because their front doors were blocked up. Our front door faced north, so the blocking of the door added extra warmth to the living room. The cracks would be stuffed with strips of old flannel pajamas. Some folks took the precaution of covering the front door, storm door and all, with clear plastic sheeting that was scuffed and transcluscent by spring, but my parents thought that looked ugly.
02 January 2007
On the Ninth Day of Christmas
Busy, busy, busy.
Since the Big Boss was nice enough to give us the day off, I played catchup on all the things I didn't accomplish last week, including the exciting deep cleaning of the master bathroom shower. :-) I decorated two winter sweatshirts, made two signs for the porch (including the one that says "No Solicitors at any time," which I hope will hold off the guy with the loud muffler who keeps bothering me about having our gutters cleaned), painted another sign, fixed up two snowmen as winter decorations (the sled and sign used to say "Merry Christmas"), put up the "library shelf" wall border in the library (this is cool: we found it at School Box; it's 16 feet of "shelves" with books on it—usually the books are fake on these things, but these are real titles, including ones of Hemingway and Richard Wright, Little Women, even Alistair Cooke's America), did another thrilling job of organizing our iron-on patches, sorted laundry, and other exciting housework things! :-)
While I was crafting watched the service for President Ford, then later put the Dish Network holiday music channel on to enjoy it while it lasts.
Also did the tedious job of updating all my website copyright dates; I'm trying to fix up some mistakes made in previous years that happened because I just did simple search-and-replace, so this is taking a bit longer and I still need to finish.
Meanwhile the long, long vacation is over and I'm off to work tomorrow. Need to get my desk set up so I can start the telework process. Tomorrow I'll probably spend several hours just deleting spam e-mails.
Oh, and I uploaded my newest web page, one dedicated to Margaret Sidney's Five Little Peppers series.
Since the Big Boss was nice enough to give us the day off, I played catchup on all the things I didn't accomplish last week, including the exciting deep cleaning of the master bathroom shower. :-) I decorated two winter sweatshirts, made two signs for the porch (including the one that says "No Solicitors at any time," which I hope will hold off the guy with the loud muffler who keeps bothering me about having our gutters cleaned), painted another sign, fixed up two snowmen as winter decorations (the sled and sign used to say "Merry Christmas"), put up the "library shelf" wall border in the library (this is cool: we found it at School Box; it's 16 feet of "shelves" with books on it—usually the books are fake on these things, but these are real titles, including ones of Hemingway and Richard Wright, Little Women, even Alistair Cooke's America), did another thrilling job of organizing our iron-on patches, sorted laundry, and other exciting housework things! :-)
While I was crafting watched the service for President Ford, then later put the Dish Network holiday music channel on to enjoy it while it lasts.
Also did the tedious job of updating all my website copyright dates; I'm trying to fix up some mistakes made in previous years that happened because I just did simple search-and-replace, so this is taking a bit longer and I still need to finish.
Meanwhile the long, long vacation is over and I'm off to work tomorrow. Need to get my desk set up so I can start the telework process. Tomorrow I'll probably spend several hours just deleting spam e-mails.
Oh, and I uploaded my newest web page, one dedicated to Margaret Sidney's Five Little Peppers series.
01 January 2007
On the Eighth Day of Christmas...
...it was New Year.
We didn't get home until after two a.m. It was a great party: much laughter and munchings, stories and wandering from room to room chatting with friends. The big announcement of the evening: Matt and Kelley are engaged to be married!
We also saw a friend we had not seen for years, Chris Cook, who has always been a talented comic artist. I still have my "Dalek-toon" T-shirt that he did many, many years ago. Well, it turns out Chris has been working professionally in comic art for the last four years; he has drawn the Powerpuff Girls comic book and is also working on a comic involving a robot (don't remember the title, unfortunately). Super!
Got home just in time to miss Rodney on chat, but did get to wish Mike a Happy New Year before collapsing in bed sometime after three. And then back up at ten to watch the "making of" special about the Tournament of Roses parade.
Great parade, and much better weather than last year! There was a wonderful dragon float, but unfortunately the fire that was supposed to spout from the dragons' mouths did not work. However, there was a successful flight by a gentleman with a jet pack on his back. Some lady from American Idol performed. Mike had told me that Oklahoma would be "leading the pack," so to speak, and they did; it's their centennial year.
After the parade we took a ride to Fry's. They had a sale on all the M*A*S*H seasons; I needed the last two. We also stopped at Michael's to spend the 50 percent off coupon; I bought a Valentine's Day wreath for the front door. James got some more blue LEDs for next year.
It is astonishing, the difference in the weather yesterday and today! Yesterday was high 60s, cloudy, sticky, desperately dismal. We drove to Bill and Caran's and back in a hard rain most of the time, warily watching traffic that gets rather skittish when it's wet. Today the sky was a broad, bright blue bowl overhead with cirrus clouds painted lightly on; the air was crisp and 50s, with a stiff breeze blowing from the northwest (the welcome cold front came through during the night). Clouds came in as we were driving home from Gwinnett County.
Then we came home to relax. I can't believe how quickly the past two months zipped by. We had vacation, then it was Thanksgiving, then we did something every weekend before Christmas. Time just flew by, which is both good and bad: it means we were having a good time, but it also made that time so ephermal.
So while James is downstairs having some downtime (probably working on his rocket model for next month's IPMS meeting), I'm here savoring Christmastide: it's cool enough for a fire, I have the "Christmas Wreath" Yankee candle burning, and I'm watching Ask the Manager Christmas shows.
We didn't get home until after two a.m. It was a great party: much laughter and munchings, stories and wandering from room to room chatting with friends. The big announcement of the evening: Matt and Kelley are engaged to be married!
We also saw a friend we had not seen for years, Chris Cook, who has always been a talented comic artist. I still have my "Dalek-toon" T-shirt that he did many, many years ago. Well, it turns out Chris has been working professionally in comic art for the last four years; he has drawn the Powerpuff Girls comic book and is also working on a comic involving a robot (don't remember the title, unfortunately). Super!
Got home just in time to miss Rodney on chat, but did get to wish Mike a Happy New Year before collapsing in bed sometime after three. And then back up at ten to watch the "making of" special about the Tournament of Roses parade.
Great parade, and much better weather than last year! There was a wonderful dragon float, but unfortunately the fire that was supposed to spout from the dragons' mouths did not work. However, there was a successful flight by a gentleman with a jet pack on his back. Some lady from American Idol performed. Mike had told me that Oklahoma would be "leading the pack," so to speak, and they did; it's their centennial year.
After the parade we took a ride to Fry's. They had a sale on all the M*A*S*H seasons; I needed the last two. We also stopped at Michael's to spend the 50 percent off coupon; I bought a Valentine's Day wreath for the front door. James got some more blue LEDs for next year.
It is astonishing, the difference in the weather yesterday and today! Yesterday was high 60s, cloudy, sticky, desperately dismal. We drove to Bill and Caran's and back in a hard rain most of the time, warily watching traffic that gets rather skittish when it's wet. Today the sky was a broad, bright blue bowl overhead with cirrus clouds painted lightly on; the air was crisp and 50s, with a stiff breeze blowing from the northwest (the welcome cold front came through during the night). Clouds came in as we were driving home from Gwinnett County.
Then we came home to relax. I can't believe how quickly the past two months zipped by. We had vacation, then it was Thanksgiving, then we did something every weekend before Christmas. Time just flew by, which is both good and bad: it means we were having a good time, but it also made that time so ephermal.
So while James is downstairs having some downtime (probably working on his rocket model for next month's IPMS meeting), I'm here savoring Christmastide: it's cool enough for a fire, I have the "Christmas Wreath" Yankee candle burning, and I'm watching Ask the Manager Christmas shows.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)