December miscellaneous

B. and I have been getting a lot of walking in as we are dog-sitting Max this week. (at left) He has been the perfect gentleman - except for jumping on our bed whenever we are not looking - but his presence has been driving the cats crazy. Today, the third day of his stay, Zoe & Devin seem more calm about it all. They still stay up on counters and bookshelves and out of reach for the most part but Devin has taken to walking right up to Max. They are not pals yet but we have hopes that Devin will tolerate him; Zoe just avoids him.

With the writers' strike, we have taken to watching less current tv and more old movies. We watched "The Apartment" which I had never seen before and I really liked it. It was still very enjoyable. Last night we saw "Portrait of Jennie" and that I can't recommend. Maybe it wasn't good in its day either but it sure wasn't very good now. And that was a shame because the star, Joseph Cotton is one of my favorite actors.

We've also been watching some old Perry Mason shows. Have seen all of season one and we are now watching season two (thanks to NetFlix). I especially like seeing the old cars & buildings and the scenery from those days. And, of course, I always like Perry, Della & Paul.

The one current show that we have been enjoying is "Life on Mars", second season. It's a British show but it only goes as far as season two as they've decided to Americanize it. Wish they'd just continue the British version.

I've been busy knitting and crocheting baby blankets lately - one for a friend, one for a nephew and his wife. Both couples' babies are expected this spring and I should easily have the blankets done by then. One blanket will be knitted and that one is a pale pink; the other is crocheted and is being done in a cream color. Watch for their pictures on my blog in the coming months.

Books, books, books

Last week I reserved a bunch of books at the library, making sure that they'd be spaced out. On some of the books, I was the only one reserving it; on others, I was 80th of 80 people waiting. So - how did so many of my reserved books arrive at once?? B. & I stopped at the library today and there were eight books waiting for me - so many that they had set them aside in a separate section!! I'd better get busy reading!

Winter weather

Rain. Sunshine & blue sky. Rain. More sunshine. Rain. Rain. Wind and rain. All in one day.

Shelter Stories

Last week I had to kick a guy out of the computer room because he came in to play games on the computer (Freecell - one of my favorites). The pcs are reserved for job & house hunting, emails, stuff like that. He wasn't happy about that at all but yesterday he again appeared. His first comment was "So, I can't play games?" I assured him that was the case but that I'd be happy to help him with his resume or email. He decided he'd check his email. But first, he had to find his email address. His jacket had lots of pockets and he emptied all of them trying to find it but had no luck. So, we set up a new email address for him and I wrote it down for him on a piece of paper. As he left, he said "I'll put this in my wallet in my locker so I'll have it for next time. Oh - that's probably where my other email address is!"

He was a bit unusual but as we worked on the computer, I learned much of his story and found that he had a brain tumor (untreatable at this stage) - and had been kicked out of his house by the woman he lived with.

I have run into quite a number of folks who are in the shelter because they had health issues and no way to handle the financial aspect. So even if they have gotten through the health problem and are now working or looking for work, they are homeless.

Some of the guys are so overwhelmed with life and their problems that they show no appreciation for the shelter or anyone who tries to help them. But there are others, who are quite appreciative and will say to me "Thanks for coming in today!" - sometimes even if they won't be using the computers that day.

Being the controlling fixer that I am, I wish I could fix their lives. But at least they got some time on the computers and some homemade Christmas cookies...that won't change their lives but maybe it'll help a little.

Cookie Day

Sunday afternoon was dedicated to cookie decorating. There were plenty of cookies to decorate, both sugar cookies & gingerbread men. As always when rolling dough and cutting cookies, by the 3rd time rolling there is generally a good bit of flour worked into the dough. Rather than keep on cutting/rolling the dough and taking a chance on it getting tough, the third or fourth roll is just cut into shapes with a knife - squares, rectangles, whatever. Those cookies usually just get frosted and some sprinkles thrown on top. However, this time, someone got quite creative as you can see on the left - C's postcard cookie.

We all got plenty of cookies and are looking forward to next years "Cookie Day" but for now, I'm pretty much cookied out.

Candy Cane Cookies

Today's baking challenge was candy cane cookies. The recipe makes about twice the amount shown on the pan to the left. It's one of my favorites because it adds a cute touch to cookie gift packages. I also like it because it is almond flavored though you could use peppermint flavoring instead.

It rained all day today. Neither Zoe nor Devin wanted to go out. They just sat at the door looking out pitifully at the rain. Usually they have some time during the day when the rain stops and they can run around outside - but not today. It is forecast that we'll get more rain tomorrow.

Decorations

B. and I put up our little tree today. It's on top of the fireplace, a nice out-of-the-way place that Devin won't be able to reach. He's tempted but he just can't jump that high

Now to move on to the Christmas cards and letters and Christmas baking...