Last day

Well, not the last day of civilization, as some think the Mayans predicted, just my last day at work for a week.  Last week I asked where winter was--it's here.  We're supposed to have snow (or maybe rain, no one seems to know really) and it's supposed to be 0 next week--while I'm in RI.  Swell.  This year I'm planning to leave more heat on in more rooms, hoping to prevent the inevitable freezing of pipes.  My New Year surprise has traditionally been returning to frozen pipes and/or pump.  I'll turn the heat on in the cellar to keep the pump warm, and will be more careful about heat.  Last year I didn't leave the heat on in the bedroom and the pipes in the laundry room split massively.  So I learned about THAT part of the house.  The upstairs stays warm, more or less--but there's no heat at the back of the house so the downstairs gets down to mid-40's sometimes.

I spent a day in Tupper Lake this week, which was a nice change.  They're far from us and have a different mindset in terms of being part of the community of libraries in the system.  I cataloged their stuffed animals (as in taxidermy) and a bunch of old photographs.  They have a huge collection of photos, some of which are labeled and some are just mystery groups.  Too bad about the ones that aren't labeled.

I bought a big roast (standing rib) for Christmas dinner at Liza's.  I'm taking this huge winter squash (mystery kind) that they gave me last weekend when I bought my Christmas tree. The woman who gave it to me said the best thing to do with it is to smash it on the floor then cook it like acorn squash.  Mark hates winter squash so I'll have to do better than that for Christmas.  Our tradition is lobsters on Christmas Eve, and roast beef for Christmas.  What will Anna eat?

I got my tree last Saturday and had it up and decorated by that night.  VERY PROUD of myself.  It's a really nice tree, since I bought it rather than cut it on my land.  I couldn't find any likely candidates though I looked all over, so I gave in and bought one.  Boy they're expensive.  Anyway, I cut off the bottom foot or so and it fits perfectly on my dinner table, hitting the ceiling.  I keep forgetting to take pictures of it.  It's a good tree this year and I'm very happy with it.

Dogs are doing well. I put out a bunch of D-Con last night because the mice are really feeling too comfortable in the kitchen and living room.  Am hoping the dogs don't find it, don't think they will because it's in the kitchen drawer and at the back of the counter.  There was a mouse in the living room this morning, very busy running back & forth.  I don't know if it was moving little blue pellets, or what.  Treasure was sitting right there but was staring into space (really) so missed the whole thing.  Not a good mouser, that dog.  Times like that are when I miss my cat.  I thought of getting another one, but determined that I want THAT cat and not another one.  Last year I spent $200 boarding the cat at Christmas, so it will be nice not to have that expense this time.

I pick up Anna in Montreal tomorrow night.  It will be a lot of fun to be with her, and we'll have a good trip to RI on Sunday and a good visit with Liza and Mark.  I communicated with my cousin in Hanover and we made plans for a visit on our way home from RI.  Just a quick visit to say hello.  He's a wonderful person, one of my favorite people and we never see each other.  He said some lovely things at Henry's memorial all those years ago and I think that's the last time I saw him.

I bought the new Barbara Kingsolver book, just because I had the money and felt like reading it at my convenience.  Also bought the Louise Erdrich book, which won the National Book Award.  I tried reading it before but couldn't finish it.  Am hoping this time around it'll be more interesting to me.  Sometimes those award winners just aren't that great.  I taught my book group that lesson the hard way.

Hoping we all enjoy the holiday season--