There's a town in Alabama that has a synagogue like that -- used to be a thriving community, but now most of the Jews have moved -- that made the news several years ago when they started offering some pretty big amount of money (I think it was $40,000) to any young Jewish couple with kids who'd move there and make a commitment to staying for a while.

Most of the Jews that move here come to work at the university. There is still a synagogue in a town 15 miles away--where most of them go. I want to do a larger story on the history of Jews in the community.

Canadians pretty much say everything people think they do. Ask one to say "The moose is loose about the house" sometime.

Give the hairy eyeball to this conversation.

We are not cliches! We do not say aboot!

I was waiting for you to join the conversation, Sue!

I was out finishing my Xmas shopping, (Uh, with the exception of my Buffista Secret Santee, oops.) and then it was the work Xmas party. It was a busy day, eh.

(I will totally cop to saying, eh.)

OK, put my work-secret-santa gift in a prettier bag and have mostly assembled the salad for the potluck. Probably should have something besides two pieces of cheese for dinner, but that decision may be beyond my current capabilities. ETA: aha!I have cookies! That will round out the meal nicely.

We do not say aboot!

Everyone who's ever said that to me was saying aboot at the time. You're aboot-deaf, all of you.

I have not done cards (and probably will not. I suck). I have not sent the three-four presents that need sending. I will, but they'll be late. The tree is up and lit, but has bulbs out and H bought spares and is working his way around the "pre-lit" tree to find and replace the duds. It is not decorated. Some days the only thing that gets me out of bed is knowing I get to open another day on my Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar. I should have been generous and sent it to someone else, but I'm so glad I kept it.

I am under some idiotic spell, and all I want to do is nap. We blew off going to the movies this afternoon because neither of us felt like putting on decent (that is, not "chore") outside clothes and get in the car. Even a brisk walk in the bracing air just makes me even more nappish, and moar coffee just makes me jittery *and* nappy, which is probably entertaining to an observer, but not so effective for me.

In the good column, though, supper last night was an enormous bowl of steamed broccoli dusted with sea salt--NOM! I should do that more often than I do. I got LDB'd last night by the St. Olaf choir from Trondheim on PBS. If you're going to fall, that's a pretty darn good way to go.

And finally, honeycrisp apple cider is amazingly good.

In terms of not wanting to contribute potuck

Nancy's rollups. tasty mini-sandwiches and you "prepare" them by taking the box out of the freezer and putting the sandwiches on a serving platter an hour or so before your scheduled arrival. You can also defrost overnight in the fridge and then put them on serving platter or plate at the last moment.

Sophia, I felt that way watching the show unspoiled.

Yeah, me too.

On rewatch, I could totally see it, but unspoiled, nope.

And I had to rewatch it, like, four times last year because Yuletide.