Happy Christmas Billytea and all the antipodeans!

I'm settled in at the house in Monterey, just came back from a nice hilly hike with my sister, two excellent sandwiches at Ike's, and a $200 stop at TJs for groceries. (We are feeding 14 people for 3 days, so this is not actually that excessive.) We still need to get some salmon and shrimp, and some fresh bread.

Waiting on my nieces & BIL to arrive, and then I might send them out to get the fish while I hop in the hot tub before the little kids come back.

Oh, and then I will make a dairy-free apple cake. NOM.

We started our lazy LoTRs marathon yesterday. CJ still doesn't have a gift for KCD and he is on his own for figuring that out. K-Bug is trying to find a way to share time with KCD, but he isn't welcome here and she doesn't feel comfortable going there. Oy, family drama.

I'm one week off the med that we suspected as increasing my depression/anxiety and so far so good. I have been dealing with a cold and sleep ing a bunch so it is hard to tell if everything has been righted.

Gah, KCD just wrote K-Bug asking why she isn't comfortable going there.

Flea, one Christmas my brother drank paint thinner and sealed his eyes shut. I don't remember how they fixed it, but I bet my parents do. Another one I had a bladder infection, but mostly I remember we went to ET for the third time. Everyone has a turn at ruining Christmas, but most of the time the good stuff is what you remember.

I am ensconced in the Catskills, where my brother and niece were in the middle of a surprise visit, so I got to see them, too.

I made a strategic run into Porter Square Books, which is the nice independent bookstore near Jesse's, and instead of gift cards, most relatives are getting calendars. Safe choice, calendars, right?

Got some good presents, so far have been sticking to my diet fairly well. A bit irked that my brother, who I specifically asked for a Christmas ornament, gave me this weird large wall-mounted bell. I have no idea what to do with it (and it's very heavy. And he gAve the same thing to my sister and my parents. He's a crappy gift-giver).

Tomorrow, movies! Though we haven't digured out what yet--probably Into the Woods?

We've had a nice spaghetti dinner and opened an old bottle of wine, which had turned to vinegar and was full of dregs. Luckily, there's beer.

My sister talked to the couple who bought our old farmhouse where we grew up. They've renovated it and it sounds like they've done a good job bringing the place into the current century. I'm glad.

Accidental Dickens!

Something I made today required a mixture of breadcrumbs and beef stock as a binder. I made too much so I just gave the leftovers to the dog as a treat. (Also we are low on chow.) she wolfed it in about a nanosecond and begged for more.

At which point I realize, here's poor orphan Darby, eating only gruel for her Christmas Eve dinner, and earnestly asking "can I have another?" And I about lost it.

That's hilarious, brenda!

Aw. Get her a goose as big as her! You know, after the spirits visit.