For the Man (or Woman) Who Has Everything

When we moved back in early September, I went through my husband's collections of tools. Unbelievable the stuff we accumulate over the years but still we didn't have a set of these. Thanks to Phila for an early morning giggle.

It's around 7:30 on Saturday morning, Ray is still sleeping (as we both should be but I seem to have a built in alarm clock), and the cat is staring at me over the top of the computer. It's like sharing space with a vulture.

Anyhow, I was trying to catch up on some of my blog reading when I ran across the above. Stopped because I knew if I didn't post it right now I'd forget where I found it.

It's cold here for California; nights are down to around freezing, but I can't complain when I look at what's happening in the midwest and now on the east coast. I hope all of you who live in those areas are getting through it. So many have lost power and/or are snowed in.

Ray had his first regular medical appointment since the surgery and it went well. The doctor simplified some of the prescriptions and wrote them for 90 days rather than the month at a time he'd been doing. It will save us about $50/$75 per month and every little bit helps. The best thing is that many of the symptoms he'd had before the surgery have disappeared along with the medication he'd been taking for them. He can go without the oxygen much of the day as long as he's indoors. That alone would make me feel much better. Amazing the difference a properly functioning heart can make.

Still talking to the girls 3 or 4 times a week and it's good to hear from them. There's a lot going on in their lives than I can't talk about here (or maybe I can but I don't want to take the chance). There's always email.

I think I'm almost ready for Christmas. I'll go through the menu and figure out what I still need (like the ham which I'll buy this week because they went on sale), cranberries, cherries, and possibly pineapple. I ran out of cloves and almost fainted when I saw the prices. My friend Janet brought me a few whole ones from her stash and Dawn will share her ground cloves. I don't use them often or I would have been watching for sales but they're almost mandatory with ham. Tim is bringing a cheesecake from Barnes & Noble, we'll make our usual pumpkin pies (no pecan this year I don't think), and I get a free Sara Lee pie with the ham. Should be plenty. I think we'll have six people not counting Jonathan and Zachary although I hear Jonathan eats as much as his dad these days. Of course, I'll probably have a few dropins, at least for dessert.

The hardest part will be scaling down on quantities but we love leftovers, I'll make turkey soup out of the carcass and white beans from the hambone on New Year's (yes I know black-eye peas are traditional, Diane, Karen, and my other southern friends, but I like white beans).

I've figured out I can seat 8 if I have to and I can put up a card table in the kitchen (biggest room in the house). The guys will probably take their plates to the living room anyhow. Or I can put a cloth over my washer and dryer and use them to hold the food. I always do a buffet anyway and my family is accustomed to my improvising.

I'm managing so far not to catch my usual holiday cold but my back has been bothering me a little lately. Nothing serious as long as I don't sit too long in one place; even here. Probably just the cold (relatively speaking) weather.

The cat got bored with staring and is now sleeping. It's hard work being a vulture. I should go start some sort of Saturday morning breakfast. We're careful with Ray's "diet" but about once a week I cook a few pieces of bacon, poached eggs, and maybe pancakes. We make up for it with a light lunch.

Thanks to all for the comments, have a good weekend, and take care everyone.