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It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas
7:09 p.m. - 2003-12-19


On Tuesday after work, we went to a Christmas party at the home of a friend of my husband. Their house is very plain looking from the outside, and you would never guess that it is so beautiful inside. It is perched on a hillside overlooking the town, so it looks like a 1950's one-story ranch from the street, but inside, it has windows all along the back overlooking the deck and view. The owners had front walkway decorated with about 25,000 lights(really, that is what they told us), and their house has an eclectic collection of Asian art, quilts, and other fabulous and interesting things. They are not rich people, I don't think, just bought early and have wonderful taste. There were guests from several civic groups - city council, library association, etc. I chatted with the retired lady mayor, who, it turns out, went to my high school, and with a charming older lady who turned out to have taught at my elementary school just before I was there. We had a lovely time reacalling the teachers from way back when. She was sad because she has lost touch with a lot of them, but I told her that through computers you can find anybody. The fun program we have at work makes it possible to find out where you are, what you paid for your house when, not to mention all about the time you sued the plumber or got arrested. Public record is a fun thing - who knew??

Saw the Bean last night and she is recovered from the flu. Jane says it was very scary - Beany woke up in the night delirious and screaming out things. How awful. Melissa had it in Texas and says it is a very bad flu - worse than any she ever had. Thank you, my employer, for your free flu shots.

Had an adventure at the bookstore (B&N) yesterday at lunch. I purchased a $50 gift certificate and several other items. When I got back to the office, I checked my items, and they gave me a $25 gift certificate, but I paid $50. My boss let me go back to the store, and the clerk had to have a big confab with a higher up because the cashierteenboy had put fifty dollars on a $25 certificate. They decided to void out my entire transaction. The manager dude told me to write out another check, and said something vague about maybe voiding out my first check. I told him that I was not going to write out another check until they gave me back the old one, because, I pointed out to him, that would be idiotic. They said as how they couldn't open the register to get my check out. This left me wondering how they planned to void it. Visions of my bank statement with an extra check for $62 on it, leading to hassles with the bank, the store, and hair tearing and cursing filled my mind. So I just told him he had to get the check, and after realizing they couldn't get out of it, he went to an even higher manager, and in two minutes I had my check back. The jerk had written void all over it, so that was good. I guess they couldn't use it twice because they had put some printing on the back of it. Then they rang me up all over again and I was on my way back to work.

I tried my first Enchirito at Taco Bell yesterday, and it was good. I was surprised.

Abby is baking like a whirlwind, and we now have bags and bags of Christmas goodies all over the place. She also makes orange walnuts like my grandmother used to make, so it is nice to carry on the tradition. It is starting to smell a lot like Christmas. Tonight I was supposed to make fish sticks, but they managed to take the nonstick finish off the pan, and no one wants to eat non-stick fish sticks, so I had to make a whole other dinner, which was hot dogs. Who else do you know who can produce toxic fish sticks with no effort?

This weekend we are going to go revisit the Hornet (the aircraft carrier in Alameda) because the girls have not been there yet, then out to lunch at a BBQ place, then we really have to finish up the Christmas shopping and put up the tree.

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