Last minute stuff

Busy day today…. One Solstice celebration down, one family Christmas to go. Got lots done. Did the final lay-in-provisions shopping trip and found a couple of last-minute stocking stuffers. While shopping I got caught in a cloudburst so dense that by the time I’d walked from the car to the front door, I was soaked. A couple of hours later, I was working in the family room (downstairs) and realized that water was seeping in around the fireplace hearth. Sigh…. This is an old, although (thankfully) rare problem that has happened when we either have flood levels of rain or when there is a sudden huge DUMP, as there was today. Anyway, I sopped up the carpet with a couple of towels and turned on a space heater to warm up the room, and it seems to have fixed the problem. Since Scott and Rebecca will be staying in this room in two days, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it being dry!

I now find myself in the unusual position of actually being ready for the holiday. Imagine—time to sit in front of the fire, read, hang out, etc. As they say in that annoying commercial, priceless.

Above is a picture of the tree and our presents. Our tree is small this year—a table-topper. I think it’s perfect—especially for my small living room, with space at a premium.

Tomorrow I’m getting a haircut and then my friend Valerie and I are baking Hoska (say HOE-skuh), a traditional Czech braided bread. Two days from now, Mom and Joe will be here, and Erin, Scott, and Rebecca will be en route. No Katie this year—sniff. She’s holding out for a longer (and cheaper!) spring visit, which will be wonderful. She may own a dog by then—see her blog!