Baby, It's Cold Outside*

I. Snow is falling in giant fluffy flakes. It is supposed to change into a mix of snow and rain and ice as the day progresses. This is our third winter storm in the past two weeks. I can tell this is going to be a real fun winter. We get more snow than northern Va because we are in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. Aren't we lucky? II. It is so very cold and icey. The kitten just begs to come in where it is warm. Because it can't keep its paws off my Christmas tree he must be in his basket when the kids are not keeping up with him. This is how he sleeps in front of the fire. His head is turned upside down and his little paws are up around his face like a baby. He is the funniest thing to watch while sleeping. I know you are sick of hearing about our Christmas party BUT ... III. I had not planned to buy paper goods. I had planned to use my cocktail service I have been collecting for the past 15 or more years. While I was in Costco a couple of weeks ago they had impressive paper goods at a reasonable price so I gave in to the convience and purchased the plates, napkins and disposable flatware. In an effort to save myself on the clean up afterward. Now, I am one of those women who counts the good silver after every use out of fear one piece might accidentally get thrown away. It is for this very reason I wanted to use the disposable. It never occured to me that disposable flatware would look so real. In fact I hadn't given it much thought until MommaK's husband jumped from his chair and fished a fork out of the garbage thinking someone had thrown away my silver. As I think about it, then and now, I wonder if he has had the task of searching the garbage bags for his wife's silver somewhere in the past. IV. MommaK also brought us a tin of cookies which we opened last night. OHHHHHHH there are some damn good cookies in there and not just cookies! She has mixed in fudge and kisses with all sorts of cookies. I must tell you she is an excellent cookie baker! With all of us nibbling we have eaten almost half of them. Yummmmmmmmy!! V. I have a friend in Australia. My friend sends me things. Things I can buy here but at many many times more the cost of it in Australia. My friend sends me 100% pure eucalyptus and tea tree oils. These little 3oz bottles contain liquid gold. I put a little of the oil in the humidifier and plug it in at night. After two night of sleeping in the vapors of the Scents of Australia the sinus pain, pressure, feeling of being raw completely down the back of the throat is COMPLETELY GONE! when Gracie is having difficulty breathing, I do the same thing for her. It helps better than any prescription drug ever has. So if you know someone or you want to search online and buy it, I promise you the natural healing powers of eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil is all you need. Tea tree oil is a natural antibiotic also. Every home, every first aid kit needs 1 bottle each of these oils. I can't live without them. My friend is sending me a new shipment this week as I am painfully low on my last supply -which has lasted over a year because I use it sparingly and dole it out like bits of treasure from my chest. VI. We are invited to a neighbors Christmas party tomorrow night. For a hostess gift I have been dipping pretzel rods in chocolate them rolling them in nuts or crushed peppermints. I picked up a couple of candy cane striped tumblers at the dollar store to stand them up in then will wrap them in Christmas cellophane. This is a an excellent gift! It looks lovely. It is homemade. It is very tastey. Try it. Your friends will love it! *From my new favorite holiday CD: Dean Martin, Christmas with Dino