Oh my friends! I have had to the most excellent morning here, much of it thanks to YOU and the lively way you describe the little snippets of your lives. Such fun. It bouys my spirit to know there are so many, warm, gentle, and thoughtful people out there. I am home today (duh)because there is nothing of great consequence going on in the shop, nothing that can't "keep" until tomorrow, at least. I assisted the helpmeet in hauling the remaining pieces of insulation up to the attic in the garage (fibreglass is nasty stuff). The drywallers are here and the installation is in progress (should go out and a "look-see"). The snow has stopped for now (more to come later on, I think), we have another 6" of very light powder. It's beautiful outdoors. And I'm particularly enjoying the snowfalls. It will be fun to mark the solstice and begin to watch the change in the morning sky until we monkey with the clocks again. ;) Denise, your bathroom walls appear to be in the very color family I have in mind for the salon. I rather like Ben. Moore #619, "Copper Patina" on the card before me. :) Another Chatty Kathy fan here! Mine had auburn hair and freckles over her nose (like me). Her dress was red and white and she arrived for my birthday. That was the same year my father presented me with a "party dress". It was apricot with a smocked bodice and a very delicate brown rosette with satin streamers at the waist. I grew up in a "neighborhood" and there were birthday parties around the block. The invitation would arrive in the mail and you either wrote back or called with your acceptance (Mary!). Girls wore dresses and "party shoes" and the boys got dressed up, too. Boys were ALWAYS on the guest list at that time. You played games, had cake and ice cream, the celebrant received small gifts, and then you played more games before going home afterwards. They were a TOTAL blast. Even though sometimes you had to write a thank you note. I can't top the drowning or Kathy being hurled out a car window. That's pretty funny stuff; was the "perp." the brother you just lost, V.? The Christmas shots have made me grin and guffaw with regularity. I think Michelle must be about the same age as me... the "mod" slacks looks like something I'd have worn. Mum made most of my clothes, too and she was game to try anything... . I love Deanne with her sidearm defending the tea set against all comers, LOL. Tim "on the 'phone" is a good one, too. Count me as another observer of backgrounds and going back to "look again" and what some other shaHp eyed person has noted. Good, good fun. Count me in as another who would move to Eden's house! You and Kathy and so many others share the same philosophy of giving that Mum and Dad did. Everyday was Christmas to them; if they spied something really special they'd just bring it home and present it, but there were only 2 kids at home, too! It was never about quantity anyway. I don't have Chatty Kathy any more but I do have some interesting toys from my childhood still (my Breyer model horses, Noah's Ark, Barbies, Ginny Dolls). I had big plans for Angela Lansbury! action shots with the snowblower, working on the Salon... you're wrecking it, Eden! :) And I howled over Soupy Sales with bad teeth... LOL. Anita, "helpmeet" is a term for a spouse that dates from the middle ages. Sometimes you see it as "helpmate", but I like the other better. I like what it says to me: two people who help each other and meet each other half way. MOST of the time. I like that it makes people think for a split second, too. ;) Homeschooling really does evoke connotations. To some it smacks of really, really fundamentalist religion and an effort to control the information a child receives. To others it is seen as a matter of practicality; liveaboards, for instance; homeschooling allows their families great freedom to do the sorts of things they want to do when they want to do them. My experience with homeschooled kids has been uniformly positive, but so much of how a kid relates to other kids is dependent upon other aspects of their home life and the social circles in which they and their parents move. (the drywallers left a bit ago because the foreman is going to his daughter's dance recital this afternoon. You should have seen him light up as he told me about her. He can't be much more than 24-25 yrs. old!). BABY BOUVIERS... do we know how many there are yet? I think spring '08 is going to be a really "big" year, you guys. Requisite cookware: 1.) good set of saucepans with snug lids a combination colander/steamer for a big soup/pasta pan. 2.) set of mixing bowls, measuring cups, and spoons, spatulas. 3.) cookie sheet, cake pans, pie plate, loaf pan, COOLING RACK. 4.) Pyrex casserole dishes and an oven thermometer. 5.) Roasting pan with rack. 6.) Potholders, oven mitts. We bought our pots for our second anniversary, shortly after the yard sale special's handle fell off. They're by Meyer and have a thick, heavyish bottom. There are 3 saucepans, and the soup/pasta pan with the drain/colander/steamer thing that fits snugly inside it. It was under $100 and they work great (so I'm told). They're easy to wash, too. ;) I agree completely that they can't be too heavy. And large pots should have good, sturdy side handles for ease and safety. I'm "big" on tools, anyway, you guys. Working doesn't HAVE to be drudgery if you have the right equipment to complete the "job" with relative ease. The helpmeet dragged out the ladder on Tuesday and put some right angle hooks above the second floor windows. It was a complete "indulgence" for me. I made a few more decorations for the house last weekend. He was up on the ladder, predrilling for them. "You know, 'hon., I never thought I'd see the day when I cursed Colonial Williamsburg". He did tell me they looked nice, though. What do you guys think about a "jabot" of roping for the sides of the windows next year? It really was a blast to make these and they didn't take too long once I decided what I wanted to do. I think this could be a fun project for an older child; good history and science lessons easily linked to it. As for "aesthetics", I've tried to stay away from using ribbon, though all the fruit is fake. I think it was Kathy who mentioned the need for red; I agree!, but I've had a dickens of time finding fake berries in bright red. I love the real ones (Ilex verticillata or Blue Princess) but they look terrible in a week (so does real fruit). I also do best with needled evergreens if the weather is really cold/dry; I do condition the greens for a day/3 before but broadleaf sprigs blanche out fast. My new boots have proven a real hit. Foolishly, however, I overlooked the purchase of some Yaktrax. My present cleats don't fit them, the driveway is a sheet of ice under the new snow, and the store is OUT OF THEM until January. Have to dig out a ski pole, I guess. :) But, walking carefully, I was able to get this shot: these two shots are from in the Salon: That is NOT my car out in the snow. This is the first time in my life I've not had to clean off a car after a snow. I missed all the hassle of the last ice storm and it was great. And, Wendy, I nodded in full agreement about removing the snow before it turns to cement, but leaving it on the cars because it's soft and easy to remove under the crust! A good brush and a couple of scrapers make it easier. The slush that remained here froze solid and the driveway is like a skating rink right now. I wonder what the rain for Sunday will do to it?

I really had never thought about it before reading this thread, but I have no happy memories of childhood Christmases. Kind of makes me feel like a Grinch for saying so, too. But what so many of you have mentioned as adding to the enjoyment of the holiday, I guess we just didn't have. Money was no problem, but my parents were not social and we didn't have family or guests to share the day; Christmas dinner was a big production for my mother to prepare and it was clear she didn't enjoy it, and as a picky eater, I didn't enjoy it either. I had nobody to have fun with as my sibling and I did not get along well and weren't interested in the same activities or toys,etc. When I was in my teens, mother remarried and all of the above went from bad to worse. Luckily, once I had my own children I was able to create happy memories with and for them. My kids have many happy holiday memories and share them often. I know it would make my parents very sad to think that I don't have happy holiday memories and that's what makes me feel Grinchy for saying I don't.

@Trail, my husband laughs and says these aren't mountains just hills. He's from California and thinks I'm funny calling them mountains. It's the Georgia hills around the Civil War battlefields, different ones on different days.. There are definite trails and lately have just been going straight up the paved road with all the rain and then it is just so vertical running down. I haven't got the stamina to run up but do walk it fast. It's so cold I want to go as fast as I personally can which is more like the St. Petersburg shuffle but I'll take it. It took me almost a year to work up to being able to do it nonstop both ways without resting, gaining some speed. At first I would come home and nearly pass out the rest of the day but now I find it is giving me more energy. I always walked but never this hard and then one day I just thought I would like to start running and so I did a little more each day. I could only go a little way at first and then worked up to it. I ran a lot when I was way younger but was always getting hurt with either ankle, knee, hip. Something. I would go for miles but had to stop with the injuries. I admire people who I see out there older than me running straight up that mountain, that is my goal. I envy that their body is still able to bear it. The old joints just don't hold up that well. My neighbor still runs marathons in her 50's and there are many way older also. I'm so envious of them.

Here is the recipe for Tiramisu, from Bice Ristorante in Chicago; courtesy of the Infant Welfare Society cookbook. 4 cups strong coffee or espresso, cooled (I find I have extra of this mixture so you can probably cut it down) 1/2 C rum 1/2 C Kahlua 3 C sugar, divided 3 packages (24 each) lady fingers (the hard Italian style) 4 C whipping cream 2 lbs mascarpone cheese Strega liqueur, to taste (I skip this) 1 t vanilla 7 eggs, well beaten Cocoa powder Powdered sugar Chocolate shavings Line bottom and long sides of a 15x10" jelly roll pan with parchment paper or flour and butter bottom and sides of pan. (I just use a regular glass baking dish 9 x 13 or largest I have, and use a couple as needed; I skip the parchment and the flour/butter.) Combine coffee, rum, Kahlua and 2 C sugar in bowl. Dip lady fingers in coffee mixture. Cover bottom of the pan with lady fingers. (Note, if you have the soft lady fingers and they fall apart, just line the bottom of the pan with lady fingers and sprinkle the espresso mixture over until they are fairly moist.) Cheese layer: Whip cream with mascarpone cheese, 1 C sugar, liqueur and vanilla. Add eggs and mix well. Spread half of the cheese mixture over the lady fingers. Dip the remaining lady fingers into the coffee mixture and layer over the cheese mixture. The fourth layer is the remaining cheese mixture spread over the lady fingers. Chill. To serve: sift powdered cocoa over the top, then sift powdered sugar on top. Top with chocolate shavings and serve. Note: Here's how I make chocolate shavings; either from Martha Stewart or New Basics. Melt good quality dark chocolate and paint it in a thin layer onto the bottom of a smooth bottom pan. Cool in refrigerator for just a few minutes (until no shiny melty spots show.) Run a small metal spatula along the bottom of the pan in thin strips to form curls. If the chocolate shatters and crumbles into little bits it's too cold; let sit at room temp for a minute. If it smears, it's too warm and needs to be chilled a bit more. HTH!