Random Seasonal Happenings and Thoughts

Well, the Christmas cards are written, unless I get a few unexpected ones. I have a few gifts, the boys have new black jeans and "nice" shirts to wear for Christmas Eve and for the Christmas Party that we are going to on Sunday. Cassidy has new "party" dresses to wear, courtesy of Grandma and PPa, and Aunt Tc and Uncle (Big) Tom. Scott and I will dig into our closets to come up with something nice to wear, and all will be nice. We clean up well. All of us. The outside of the house is decorated, with "tacky" tree and all, but some of my lights blew out so I will be on a quest to get new ones this week. Heaven help me, the stores are getting crowded, and people are getting ruder by the moment. I will survive and won't let them get to me though! I promise. I have started baking the Christmas cookies. Not all are decorated beautifully, but this is the time of year that I bake, and with the new stove, I must say, I am baking well. (Pat, pat, pat, on my own back here) I have made oatmeal raisin cookies, brownsugar marachino cherry drops, harvest walnut cookies, pumpkin cookies, and a batch of premade choc chips. I intend to make sugar cookies and more chocolate from scratch chips. I also intend to make chocolate peanutbutter chip cookies, then I will be done! Cassidy and I have a gingerbread house to put together, the boys can help too if they want, but I bought the kit, it was inexpensive and in the past has been fun to put together. We will get icing all over and it will be a messy cleanup, but a nice tradition just the same.
We went to the Charles Dickens Festival on this past Saturday. My friend Debbie lives in the village of Port Jefferson, where the fest is held. She has an open house every year, goes all out with breakfast, lunch and tons of dessert, Coffee, wine, soda even to go cups for those of us who are running about town to see the attractions of the fest. It was fun. Danny learned to ice skate, with my friend Jon. He did really well, went around the first few times holding the bar, but by the time we were ready to leave the rink, he was skating on his own. Jon played the part of good "uncle" to all of our kids. The ones that went skating he tried to teach, and we all laughed and laughed. The highlight of the day was that an old friend came all the way from North Carolina to come to the fest! Our friend Maria. She, her jusband, Kevin, and their children, Brendan and Caitlin, came to see what the fuss was all about! It was great visiting with them, and Cassidy has a new friend, Caitlin and Cassidy were thick as theives for most of the day. They got along so well for having met each other that day. Now Cassidy and Caitlin have email buddies and pen pals elsewhere! I think that is great!
We are having an open house on New Year's Day, just to return to that word, "NORMAL." We did it a couple of years ago, and it was a lot of work, but fun. It was nice to have old and new friends here, smattered with family everyone's kids running around and playing indoors and out. Hopefully the weather will cooperate like it did that year, it was a very nice day in the high 50's so most of the kids were running out side! I haven't decided what I will make yet, but it will be simple things that can be made ahead, and if someone wants to make something to bring along with them, I won't refuse! Not that I am looking for that, I enjoy doing this kind of thing, so whatever will be will be! That is all for now, kids will be getting up for school soon, need to be getting in the "go" mode, as my sister Margaret used to say!