A Saturday off and fun things to do,
Getting cards in the mail and packages, too
Christmas good cheer and the excitement it brings
These are a few of my favorite things.
Shopping for friends and buying them stuff
A warm mug of coffee and a book full of fluff
Being pleasantly surprised when the telephone rings
These are a few of my favorite things.
Wrapping gifts until midnight using bright colored bows
Soft fuzzy socks to help warm up my toes
Elvis, Blue Christmas and, oh, how he sings
These are a few of my favorite things.
When the bills come
When the alarm rings
When I’m worried about getting the flu
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so blue.
People are dropping like flies around me. I’m surrounded by colds and flus and strep and stuff exiting from various orifices and the air is contaminated and no surface is safe to touch. I’m washing my hands 1,364 times a day until my fingers are shriveled and the cuffs of my sleeves are wet in an attempt to stave off the big, bad bugs and the sneak-up-and-slap-you-in-the-back-of-the-head bugs and the starts-out-small-but-turns-deadly-just-like-Jim-Hensen bugs.
I do not want to get sick. I do not have time to be sick. Sickness is for people who have written their holiday cards, finished their shopping, wrapped their gifts and done their baking. Sickness is a luxury I cannot afford. Sickness is for good little worker bees who have lots and lots of sick time accumulated because they only use it for--gasp!!-- sickness. I am too busy to be sick. Sickness would be wasted on me because I couldn’t even enjoy it, I’d have to keep on going and pretend I wasn’t sick.
I cannot get sick in December, but if it’s absolutely necessary, I might be able to pencil in a couple sick days in January. If I must. Until then, if get sick I’m going to have to smack someone.
The Pasta Fagioli was amazing. I added zucchini, beef broth and more cheese than the recipe called for. It was thick and rich and yummy. Definitely a recipe I’ll use again.
Speaking of recipes, I need to post my apple pie recipe from Thanksgiving. It was really good and I’m not big on pie.
The holidays are here and I haven’t done any holiday baking. I have cooking and baking to do this week for various things (a birthday cake for Thursday; lasagna and another cake for a work party on Friday; chili and yet another cake, as well as some other goodies, for a Navy party on Sunday), but I haven’t started my annual cookie, brownie, fudge, candy extravaganza. I should, hopefully, have some time next week. What would Christmas be without chocolate chip cookies and two kinds of fudge?
I’ll starve myself in January…
I decorated three Christmas trees in three days this week. One of them-- mine-- fell over. I do not think it was a result of my decorating. It is a big, broad, fat tree. A plus-sized tree. A tree that should shop at the Men’s Big and Tall Shop (or Lane Bryant, if it’s a girl, which I don’t think it is). A tree so mighty, my twenty-pound cast iron stand could not keep it standing. It fell with a crash and a jingle of bells at 2:30 in the morning the day after I put it up. Why do things like that never happen during the day? I was awake, I was annoyed. The tree is standing again, but I think it is beginning to list to one side and I’m not hopeful of it remaining upright. It is a big, broad, fat, drunken tree. About thirty ornaments fell off, which I will rehang just as soon as a) I have time and b) I’m convinced the tree isn’t going to toss back a bottle of tequila and take another header. Big, broad, fat, drunken, bad tree and it is mine, so I love it anyway.
The other two trees, library trees, are still standing because there is no tequila in the library.
Highlights of the past week, in no particular order:
--Thanksgiving dinner turned out fabulous, thanks to my brand new stove. I heart my Maytag appliances.
--I finally found an apple crumb pie recipe that is incredible. Oh. My. God. Incredible. That kind of incredible.
--I ate my weight in turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. Oh, and pie. Yummy cinnamony apple pie.
--Christmas shopping is underway. Finally. Thankfully.
--The Highly Selective Book Club With Only Two Members(TM) chose a book for December.
--Bruch at the Jefferson Hotel is a decadent experience best reserved for a once-a-year event.
--I made pizza, Steve.
--I lost about four inches of my hair. If found, please do not return.
--I found the most amazing hand cream.
--NaNoWriMo finished without me. Sad, sad. Maybe next year.
--I braved the crowd on Black Friday and lived to tell about it. I did not brave the crowd at 6 a.m., however. I am not that insane.
--Christmas lights were hung from the roof with care.
--I now own a very cool train set that will soon be beneath my Christmas tree (when I get it, hopefully tomorrow).
--Finding the perfect Nativity scene, however, remains an elusive goal.
--Sheri came and went and I want her back. Sad me.
--I realized my to-do list for the month of December will require all of December and the first half of January to complete.
It’s been a nice little break from reality, but I guess it’s time to get back to work. Somehow, I will survive December. I suspect chocolate will be involved in my survival. Lots o’ chocolate. Donations welcome.
Life. Love. Writing. Friendship.
Sex. Books. Movies. Travel. Politics. Feminism. Academia. Insomnia. Rants. Raves. Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Some names have been changed, some stories have been embellished. Thanks for stopping by and beware of the dog. Read more...
