Pies are in for their final bake. The crust is already too dark, I can tell. And at our elevation it always takes forever for the custard to set. So, dubious. I have plenty of pumpkin, though, so if it fails entirely I can retry.

The Zmayhem sounds lovely, if hectic.

I definitely agree with the too much stuff assessment. The SO is cheerily clearing out his studio, though, and progress is being made. I am zonkered, though, and haven't even tackled the big cooking day yet!

Anyway, if I can completely clean the kitchen this evening to start fresh tomorrow, I think I'll be good. I think I can manage that, although we do have Christmas eve candlelight service to go to tonight. We have to read a thinger for the advent candle lighting, which is confusing to me because I swear it's the one they read last Sunday. But whatevs.

I am still at work, but I got a call to let me know that the family has arrived. So far the five dogs and two cats are all getting along, which bodes well for the next two nights. I get out of here in an hour, stop at the grocery to get the Official Fogelson Beverage (Diet Dr. Pepper), and then let the holidays begin!

The Zmayhem sounds lovely, if hectic.

Well, EM did a nice save by buying and cooking the dinner and splurging on the champagne (and whiskey). Poor thing, she's got three degenerating disks in her neck and in a lot of pain. She's counting the minutes until she can take a Vicodin. She's scheduled for a cortisone shot next Tuesday and is trying to avoid surgery. Though I have repeatedly told her that Teppy and ex-Minion and my Dad all had the back surgery and it was a huge help.

At the moment I have the house to myself, which is itself a bit of a relief. I think JZ scrambled off to the fabric store. She's sewn Emmett a Skooble (aka, Gooble) figure from Yo Gabba Gabba. (He's a very minor character that doesn't have his own figure, but Emmett loves him because Skooble's goofy and pathetic. He's sort of a ghost who can't stop crying.)

So far the five dogs and two cats are all getting along, which bodes well for the next two nights.

Right on not-so-Scrappy animals!

Huh. Black Oak Books reopened. That's great news. Berkeley's suffered a rash of major bookstore closings including Cody's and Black Oak, so that only Moe's was left of the big indie stores.

But Black Oak's owner calculated that the only a bookstore could survive was by owning its own building. So he let his lease go that was costing him $18K/month and has moved to a gentrifying part of West Berkeley and is now only playing a $5K/month mortgage.

I am sorry that so many here are having a rough Christmas. ::hugs all around:: It can be a hard season.

Our house has been very ACTIVE today, what with the four kids running around, some of them fairly overcome with Christmas crazies. We rolled out sugar cookies and baked brownies, that's all been good. And now I am getting a bit of sit down time, in the middle of the day no less! Yay! A brief buffista break to refresh me.

The streets were full today around two. I was hoping for Thanksgiving-style emptiness on the drive back, but no. Fairly normal commute home, just in the middle of the day. Which is better than yesterday in the middle of the day to get home, when there was a standstill on the freeway.

And then to the pharmacy, which had a jampacked parking lot. Judging by the loads in people's arms it wasn't just shopping as normal, but people last-minuting it. And just driving past the mall took extra long because of the number of people turning in.

Bought tickets for the movie tomorrow. 1pm seating and all the good seats were gone. Christmas is really not restful. I imagine the ER will be buzzing.

I imagine the ER will be buzzing.

Sadly, this is probably true.

Pies are done! The crusts look okay, just a bit dark. Nom nom nom. Only I think we have to wait. Oh! Must add whip cream to tomorrow's time-on-target list.

I've been spending the day cleaning off my dvr--just finishing putting Doctor Who Christmas eps on dvd (first Ten ep and first Donna ep).

I also just opened up the last of my presents from my mom. I had gotten the box on Monday, opened up the 12" cast iron skillet and lid that was wrapped in corduroy bags, and set the two wrapped boxes aside for tonight. I accidentally saw the top of the shipping list before I averted my eyes, so I knew that the smaller box was the complete Two Towers soundtrack, but I was guessing that the big box was an enamel-clad cast iron stockpot I had on my wish list. When I opened it up, I was surprised and thrilled to find out that it was the boxed set of Sherlock Holmes annotated short stories!!! (Yes, it was heavy enough to fool me to think it was cast iron!)

I called my mom to thank her, and then called my sister to chat. When I told her about the books, she was really interested to find out which set it was, so I guessed that she had also ordered Sherlock Holmes for me. Sure enough, she had, but luckily enough, it was the set of annotated novels, so as soon as they're delivered next week, I'll have the complete set--yay!!!

Oh it's so lovely when family knows you well enough to gift you right!

We have not wrapped anything. We delegated family stuff to StY and our consciences are clear. We gifted friends before we left last month. Our present to each other this year is a new house. There's the special art poster we've had for twenty years and now have a perfect place to hang that we're having matted and framed, but that won't be ready till next week.

We have mulled cranberry juice, spiced cider, and booze, a gifted batch of Christmas cookies, a brimming fruit bowl, a new batch of chili, and various noshes. I'm about to light a roomful of candles, click on the fireplace dvd and an instrumental cd of carols.

Happy Merry, y'all!