Pink Dainties, Frango Mint Cake, the Ray Conniff Singers, and Other Trivial Pursuits of a Jolly Writer on Holiday

Busy. Busy. Busy. The last week has included a variety of church activities and services, Christmas day at my mom's, the Ray Conniff singers (because Christmas isn't Christmas without the Conniff Christmas albums), deep cleaning (because writing takes priority the rest of the year), multiple trips to Goodwill to unload what we hope will be someone else's treasure, baking (including pink dainties from my days as part of the Lincoln Jr High home ec program, wheat bread, and four Frango Mint cakes), barbecuing of the bird for Wednesday's Christmas with P's family (because bbq'd turkey tastes awesome, and baking would have taken twice as long), and too much red wine (because now that I've graduated and Vermont College residencies are a thing of the past, I'm way out of practice. But it tasted soooo good going down.)

Overall, fun was had by all, except by our youngest, S, who coughed her way through most of our Wednesday Christmas celebration with P's family. Turns out she has an ear infection and sinus thing. Poor thing. I've been sick for Christmas. It's not fun being unable to have join in with everyone, especially when cousins are visiting. On a positive note, the heavy duty cough formula she took last night gave her her first good night's sleep in almost a week; so, I think she'll be in good shape to enjoy our annual New Year's Eve celebration with our good friends from high school K and D.

Appetite for writing: Since E's home from school and P took the week off between Christmas and New Year's, I've given myself permission not to write. The break's done my muse good. I can feel it relaxing, storing away memories, and gearing up for work once break's over.

Current read: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. The bustle of the season hasn't allowed much time for reading; so this book's taken longer to finish than the requisite two weeks the library gave me. To add insult to injury, the system wouldn't allow me to renew online because the book has multiple holds. Luckily, the librarian behind the desk yesterday took pity on me and overrode the computer so I could keep the book long enough to finish it. Overall, Meyer's latest is a page-turning blend of vampires and werewolves, along with a human MC loyal to both groups. The push-pull between the MC and the two groups makes for exciting reading.