One month �til my birthday!
9:15 p.m.
The tree, which Hubby was supposed to get on Monday, is the top seven and-a-half feet of a �wild� 11-footer which we found at the closed farmer�s market at the corner of Route 143 and Chemin MacDonald. We were headed south after refusing the only two left at the paint store parking lot, both rather short and scrubby looking, but a bargain at $10 (the money going to a children�s charity) when Little Princess and I both noticed trees leaning up against the side of the plastic garage which is a ubiquitous sight in the Townships during the winter months. As we pulled into the yard, an old guy came out of the house next door, accompanied by two dogs: a gorgeous calm golden retriever who peed on everything in sight, including the trees and the front wheel of our car, and another golden pomeranian-type yapper. The proprietor spoke no English and I believe he was also a little deaf. He ended up getting his tape measure, hatchet and saw and removed the bottom three and-a-half feet from the best looking tree of the lot, then chopped off the lower branches. We tied it to the roof rack and headed north, after paying the man the grand sum of $15. I think we got ourselves a deal.
We drove to Neville�s and bought a plain wreath there for the princely amount of $14.35 plus tax, which is now hanging on our front door, duly decorated with salvaged ornaments from wreaths of Christmases past. The phony mistletoe is hanging in the entrance, the clock is merrily ticking and chiming (I think I�ve got it regulated so it�ll not gain or lose) and meals have been planned for the next couple of days. Tomorrow evening we�ve invited a friend of Hubby�s, one of his guitar-playing squash and tennis buddies whose wife and daughter have taken off to the Carribbean for the entire holiday period, leaving him alone for Christmas. I�ve got curdled milk aging for a vegetarian lasagne. On Brumalia itself, which also happens to be the first candle of Chanukah this year, I�ve planned to make potato latkes and have invited a student who may or may not make it, depending on whether or not he can get out of going home for the occasion.
My resolution to lose weight will have to be forestalled until after the holidays I fear as both Little Princess and I are heavily into chocolate these days. We just finished making dough for gingerbread persons (it is chilling and we�ll finish the rolling, cutting and baking process tomorrow), Scotch shortbread and mint Nanaimo bars (from a mix but just as good as those made from scratch).
This afternoon I went to the book store to pick up my copies of BIack Cat TaIes VII (the publication incorporating work done by the members of the writing group during the year) and ended up joining Little Princess at the Java with the singer in the band and a friend of theirs who has moved away from the area but is here visiting his sister for the holidays. He is a very interesting young man, being from a Catholic family, but is so taken with orthodox Judaism that he has adopted all the rituals such as kashrut, keeping the sabbath (to extremes) and studying the Torah, but he refuses to actually convert because he has such respect for the Jewish religion that he fears his joining of it would diminish or sully it in some way (I think fear of circumcision also has something to do with it). I can only shake my head at this W00dy AIIen way of thinking (�I wouldn�t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member�), but we had a pleasant afternoon nonetheless.
The one fly in the ointment is the non-arrival of Buddy Boy�s presents from tshirthell.com. I shall wrap up an empty box and place inside an IOU so that he will have something to look forward to when the mail next arrives. But I still feel badly about it. There will be plenty of other presents under the Brumalia shrubbery for him, so hopefully their omission won�t be felt too keenly, and they will arrive eventually.
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