Busy Day

Oh boy, was this a busy day! I spent almost the entire day inside cleaning and organizing and decorating for Christmas. You'd think with my little house that I wouldn't have to spend so much time doing such things. And the truth of the matter is that I don't. I should, but I don't. And therein lies the reason for the day-long session that resulted in only one room being somewhat put in its place and another undergoing a major overhaul. There is more to be done, but I have an aching sense of satisfaction at having at least started what needed to be done.

There were little things that made the day go by pleasantly. One of them was a "That Girl" marathon on TV Land. It's been forever since I've seen an episode, so I was happily surprised to see how sweet and pure and funny it was. In a time where it's difficult to find anything on TV that doesn't put you on edge because of the language or morality (or lack thereof), it was refreshing to see something that was without a single questionable or cringable frame. Mind you, I didn't sit and watch so much as watch/listen while I worked around the house. Anne and Donald were fun company.

I went out several times to take trash to the dumpster and once to go to the store to get quarters so I could do my laundry (how pitiful is that). The place I went to didn't have any rolls of quarters. I said I really only needed one quarter, so the guy said "Oh, I can help you there" and gave me a quarter out of his own pocket! How nice was that?! That's one of the drawbacks to living in a condo...you don't have your own laundry, so are at the mercy of things like quarters and others who get there ahead of you. Such a bother!

PBS has a tribute to James Taylor going on right now. I am enjoying hearing old favorites sugn with a new twist by quite a number of other big-name artists. I went to a James Taylor concert a few years ago out at Tanglewood in Western Mass. It was an outdoor concert at the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The place was packed. You could hardly walk around. We had brought our own seats knowing that there would be nowhere close to sit. It was fun to sit there comfortably amongs the trees and listen to James Tayler live and in the flesh! The traffic was terrible though...so bad, in fact, that part of his band was late to the concert!

I am trying to decide what to do for dinner in a couple of weeks. For some reason, I decided that I was going to host the family at my house the Sabbath before Christmas. So now I have to figure out what to make. I have no idea what to do. It's been years since I cooked for so many (11), and at least 1/3 of them are very picky eaters. I've been wracking my brain, scouring recipes and magazines...so far nothing. Meanwhile, I went to dinner yesterday at my sister's. She had invited two doctor friends of ours and was under pressure to produce an elegant lunch as the wife in this couple is a gourmet cook. Everything she makes is exquisitely perfect. The lunch was excellent for all her nerves. Lauren made these "meatballs' with an apricot sauce that was out of this world.

Well, the weekend is about done with. The week ahead will be busy. I do prefer that to being bored =)