Wow, in a half hour it will be the last month of the year. I should have known this was coming what with it getting dark about a half hour after sunrise or so. Every time I turn around it seems the sun has already set for the night. I guess I must have just lived much closer to the end of the time zone in Ohio, because I don't remember it ever getting dark before five there.
But enough whining. Lack of sunshine just means it's dark, not that it's gloomy. And dark days mean that it's time for the holidays. I love holiday season. Or parts of it. I definitely love parts of it. I love buying Christmas gifts for anyone I have a clue what to get. I don't so much love getting presents for people I don't know what to get because I hate buying gifts just to buy them. If I'm going out shopping, I want that payoff of someone actually getting joy out of what I'm giving them. Standards, ya know? And I love holiday lights, even though I never string them here at the RatHaus. Not even on the tree, which has the advantage of not having a three story drop to pavement. But I am thankful for the people who do. They make every drive in the December dark so much more interesting and fun.
Here at home, this season started off pretty well. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal. In fact, we had it in excess because the house was filled with guests for dinner. I adore cooking for large groups. Some of my friends point out I like it so much I do it when there are only a few of us to eat it all. But it's so much fun to make a truly big meal. Not like I'd enjoy catering or anything, but having so many friends together and piled around a table is a wonderful thing. I'm a little sad Thanksgiving's over and am trying to figure out how to lure them all back for more dinners. I had to go out and buy a folding table to fit everyone together for dinner, so I think the least everyone could do is give me more excuses to use it.
I've also had the traditional first flu as well. As happens more often than not, I lost my voice for a few days, exacerbated by the fact that I won't shut up even though I can only get about half the sentence out at any sort of decibel. Thankfully I'm pretty much over it- I know this because I found where I randomly put my wallet last week. (For me, the first indication of illness is not sneezing or coughing, but loss of important stuff like keys and charge cards.)
Others are also already celebrating the season. The cats both have their winter coats coming in and the rats have taken to burrowing farther back of their polarfleece tents. Lynn had operation number N to the Xth, which just might be the final one. I hope so, it involved two plates and seventeen screws. But her leg bones are straight- I saw the x-ray- and with luck in three months or so she'll probably be moving around without crutches. MostlyI can't wait to fly with her somewhere- the TSA is going to go nuts with the amount of metal in her leg. Tony went back on the ice for the first time in years to guard the net in a skate and shoot. He did manage to get up this morning, so I guess he's still got a few of his goalie muscles left. If all goes well for him, maybe I'll give it a go myself. (Just hockey, not netminding, I'm not that crazy.) My brother has already started laying the foundation for his annual 'come home for Christmas' guilt trip. But he only gave it a half-hearted attempt, so I figure I'm probably off the hook this year. Dad didn't give me one at all- of course, he was one half of the mysterious couple that I married last month, so he probably knows better than to push his luck. With him I can push right back that he needs to return to his wedding spot every year.
Anyway, that's your catch-up post for now. I'm going to attempt to keep this a bit more up to date from now on.
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