The Weather Outside is Frightful!

Actually, "frightful" doesn't quite cover it; it's bitter.  The heat has been on so much that  we're becoming dessicated and so we've got vaporizers running on both floors.  They really help with general comfort and now we're not being shocked every time we touch something.  The steamer we put on top of the wood burning stove has rusted and the enamel flaked off.  I've been looking for another, but don't want to spend a fortune and don't want another rusty mess.  Meanwhile, a regular pot filled with water suffices.

We're coming along with all things Christmas.  The shopping is almost finished and I enjoy Santa and his elves (aka US Postal Service and UPS) arriving with our purchases.  The Christmas cards are almost completed; I'm doing them all by hand this year as I couldn't get the address labels to print.  I find joy in listening to the Christmas music of Andrea Bocelli, Handel, Manheim Steamroller, Celtic Woman, and Maggie Sansone and while singing along, go through our list.  I should be able to get them all in the mail by the end of this week.  I like keeping in touch with people and sending them Christmas wishes -- even if they don't send cards -- it's my way of letting them know they are in our hearts.

We'll be having the kids (I hope all four (includes wonderful DIL)), both grand daughters, and Richard's parents here for Christmas Eve when we celebrate a truncated version of the Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci).  We'll probably do only four:  a hot crab dip; linguini with shrimp and mussels piccata; and fried calamari.  If anything in my life brings back childhood memories, it's this feast -- fodder for another post.