Small Town / Smaller Town

I had a purpose yesterday...to find the books I needed for the three reading groups of which I am a member. All three meet in January. I started at the local library, a mere 6 blocks from my home. They had none of the books I sought. I went next to the used bookstore around the corner and came up empty again. So I drove to Mount Pleasant, 11 miles southwest of my small town. Mount Pleasant is officially tiny. I stopped at the Sugar Shack for a diet soda and directions...turn left at the traffic light, it's on the right.

And sure enough, there it was. On the corner. At the very edge of the commercial district, next door to a lovely craftsman style home with a blow up snowman in the yard. The library was small but very well organized. I was the only patron and had the assistance of both librarians in tracking down all three of the books.

I left with The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz for our General group which meets the 2nd Monday of the month, The Book of Lost Things by John Connoly for the Fantasy group which meets the last Friday of the month, and Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben for our Mystery group which meets this Thursday.

The rest of my week-end was spent writing thank you notes to friends and family for the lovely gifts and kindnesses I have received of late, reading, cooking, and basic cleaning. I became somewhat involved in the Coben novel and forgot about some bacon I had frying. I smoked the place up a bit.

Then, tonight, I turned on a Lifetime movie and finished wrapping the gifts for the BGFs. We will be having dinner tomorrow evening at J Alexanders. I am so very pleased with the "pretties" I have for them, I was very tempted to keep at least one for myself. And I am seriously considering tracking down one just like it.

Prissy and I drove to the post office and mailed the thank you notes and rode around a little bit. I live in a very picturesque town, full of historic old, beautiful homes, lovely churches, and classic architecture.

Today I played with my new camera. I took a picture of my Christmas tree and of the wreath on my front door. I love that wreath...I made it myself.

I must go now. 5:00 a.m. comes very early.

Like Herding Cats

I have four friends that I dearly love. We are "women of a certain age", never married, childless, and currently without significant others. Yet we cannot seem to find a time to get together.

We are busy with our jobs and our families. We have other friends. We have elderly parents. We have "stuff to do". My gosh! do we have stuff to do! How can we acumulate so many tasks? When are we to accomplish them?

Of course, I'm currently waking at 3 every morning, so I suppose I could use the two hours before I need to start getting ready for work for things like corespondence, cleaning, cooking, paying bills. I'm just so darn lazy...I'd rather curl up on my side with the cat beside me and pretend to sleep.

On a slightly different note, I must share the Christmas Miracle of 2007. Not a single cut or burn or fall. That's right--I am injury free!

The Ghost of Christmas (JUST) Passed

I spent Saturday evening with my girlfriends. We ate, we drank, we talked, we exchanged gifts. I received a lovely assortment of wonderful things, including triple milled soap and EVOO and vintage handkerchiefs and a photo album. It was a wonderful time. I gave everyone a wreath made of gumdrops (either red or green) a bottle of Kahluah and a bottle of amaretto and a jar of jam (all made by moi) on a Christmas platter.

I worked Monday morning and then headed out from the office to my folks' house. We had a lovely meal and played "Dirty Santa".

I gave my folks a digital camera and memory card. I gave a niece a digital camera. I received a digital camera. It was a camera Christmas. Sis liked her non-stick frying pan and her hubby was thrilled with golf balls and a computer game. The nieces, being teens, were less than effusive, but seemed happy with the gifts they received. The thing they seemed to like best, each of them, was the pen with a cartoon character on top that lights up when you write.

For Christmas dinner, I made a herb crusted standing rib roast with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, Waldorf salad, and beer bread. Dessert was Molten lava cakes. It was a fine meal, even if I do say so myself.

I left the folks' house a little after 6 this morning and got to work by 9. My car is filled with loot and I'm so sleepy I can't keep my eyes open. And to top it all off, we are having systems issues today and there is no one in the entire company that can help.