Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Happy Holly Jolly!  What a fun day.  I got up at 5:30 and started making the crust for the Chocolate Peppermint Tart.  This recipe has almost 5 cups of heavy whipping cream, my oh my.  It was really good.  The rest of the meal was awfully good, too: a lovely chicken liver moose, chicken b'stilla, lamb and prune tagine, almond/raisin couscous, and roasted Mediterranean vegetables. We had a Moroccan theme going on.  We wanted to have lots of spices for our Christmas dinner.  Brian made all of the savory stuff and I made dessert.  Yum!

After dinner and before dessert, we went for a walk in the neighborhood.  We saw loads of families out playing with their Christmas toys.  My favorite was the boy who got a Rip-Stick and was riding it with confidence after about 5 minutes.  He learned how by watching a You-Tube video.  How cool!  Later we saw a really little boy, maybe 5 or 6, who just got a new Razor scooter.  He was looking wistfully at my dog, so I asked if he wanted to pet Buckley.  He looked at my dog and said, "No, he'll probably try to kiss me.  I don't like dog kisses."  The look he had on his face was priceless.  Sort of sad and wistful, but determined.  I told him that Buckley would indeed try to kiss him, so he made a good decision.  I wished him well with his Razor and a Merry Christmas.  He smiled and said Merry Christmas back.  It was a strange and sweet interaction. 

Speaking of Buckley... here he and I are, wishing you and yours a Happy day!

Here is a photo of Brian and me enjoying the dog's new toy.  Not a dog in sight.  This was taken about a millisecond after Brian said, "I'm not putting that thing in my mouth!

Of course, here it is 8:04 pm and I haven't even touched the guitar today.  And, rather than practicing, here I am writing my blog.  Hmmm.  Once again, my priorities seem a bit out of place.  My lesson yesterday was pretty good.  I'm definitely making progress, especially after last week's horrible performance at the lesson. I can now get through most of Jingle Bells and Greensleeves without making too many mistakes.  The cussing is down a bit too.  This week's assignment is 4 new scales and a new song: The Entertainer.  Of course, that is really for piano, but so what? It has some quick parts, so we'll see how it goes.  As soon as I post, I'll go practice. 

I really miss my Georgia family today.  My nephew Alex sent a UGA dog toy to my dogs, so that we could have a dog eat dawg Christmas.  He also wrote us a special Gift Rap.  Very goofy, silly, awesome fun!  Of course, I got a dog toy for Christmas, too, but I won't share with the dogs.  It is a little orange squeaky dragon.  They already have a blue and a purple dragon, so this one is mine... paws off!  Merry Christmas to Mom, Laura, Scott, Fred, Jeannie, Alex, Kristen, Mandy and Caleb!

OK, I've stalled long enough.  Now I'm off to practice my guitar.