We had a wonderful weekend visiting George. Only one of us in the group got sick (no, not J or I), and there was much wine tasting, laughter, and poker playing. I just wish we could have stayed longer! The vineyards are so beautiful this time of year. And yes, we brought home enough bottles to fill those spaces that have been nagging us recently. We also joined another wine club for Koehler Winery. Gotta have a little variety, right?
Thanksgiving was nice and quiet, and the food was good as usual. Because of our trip, I wasn't able to fix my own turkey last weekend, so I'm doing it this weekend. This is the last Saturday that I have free until the end of the year. The 10th is the 3DC work party, the 17th is the Victorian Dinner, and the 24th...you know. I'm looking forward to the turkey pot pies and the turkey stock that will result from my labors on Saturday.
I need to start with the holiday shopping. I got some decent suggestions from my dad for his Xmas list. My mom will be a little more difficult, but I will come up with something. I already have something I'm making for my sister. When asked, J's parents gave a resounding "I dunno" to the question of what they wanted, so we will be flying by the seat of our pants once again. And don't even get me started on his sister... Yeah, I'd said that we were going to have a talk with the families about not exchanging gifts this year, but it was too late by the time we made that decision. So we'll suck it up this year and have that discussion with them at the appropriate time (on, oh, Christmas Eve or something ).
In preparation for the work party on the 10th, J and I are going into a cleaning frenzy. More accurately, one hour of frenzy each evening before collapsing on the couch to watch our DVR-ed shows. We need to clean up the guest room and the office, bag up our clothes for the Salvation Army to pick up on the 8th, and generally spit-shine everything so it doesn't look like we're complete pigs. Since there will be two people (at least) spending the night, I suspect we will have to move the litter boxes into our bathroom and make the "hall" bathtub presentable upstairs. Man, I hate cleaning. At least we have a decent vacuum now.
We are also trying to decorate and make it look like somebody actually lives in our house. We've already been here for almost two years, and have done nothing to the decor. For starters, I bought some curtains and valances from Target. They are cotton velvet, and the valances have beads. We put them up last night, and they look fancy. I love it! Maybe one of these days we will get around to re-upholstering our dining room chairs. And painting. At least we have pictures on the walls. And we need to find a good place to display the Dickens Village collection. Hi, I'm 80 years old! If I had a front porch, I'd be out there shaking my walking stick at all those damned kids. If I wasn't knitting something.
Speaking of knitting, I am in an ennui. Good thing I only have one project to finish before the holidays - Bobbi Bear for my sister. Which means I should probably get started on it again, eh?
But I digress. I must retaliate for the Paul McCartney Xmas music from the other office with some Manheim Steamroller. Back to work...
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