Month: December 2009

  • Merry Christmas!

    By jingo, we've got a white Christmas here in Fort Worth!  Snowed most of yesterday, at times reaching blizzard conditions.     Brianna, of course, was quick to take advantage of it:

     

    You can just make out (it was hard to capture with the camera) her Christmas greeting in the snow:

    Last night after the girls finally went to sleep (thought they were never going down!), Zhenya went to work adding more decorations to the tree;  Dmitry was involved with the new laptop he received from Carolyn and her family:

    Zhenya examining the finished product, and presents:

    The boys in front of the tree, prior to letting the girls in:

    At last it was time for the poppets to open their presents!

    Santa brought Brianna a scooter, and a motorized car for Bridgette.  ;^)

    The street conditions haven't kept visitors from coming...Viktor and Joe are here (one coming from the west, the other from the east).  The cheesecakes have been chilling in the garage (no space in the fridge, so I decided to let the cold weather work for me), the wild rice is cooking, and I've got a few more presents to wrap before making the trek to Jeanne's in Arlington.  Later! 

  • It's astounding how Target....

    ....which, along with most all the retail industry, starts cramming Christmas down our collective throats starting before Halloween, can't wait till the actual holiday has come and gone to stuff it into the trash bin.

    At my near-daily trip to SuperTarget today, I not only spotted Valentine socks where the Christmas socks had been, but flip-flops hanging on the wall in the shoe department.  Spring dinnerware and Valentine towels are also prominently displayed.

    Mercy Maud. 

  • You know what really frosts my cookies?

    First, people that don't bother putting their grocery carts into the cart-round-up thingummy, and second, people who sort of do but don't take the trouble to put it in properly, leaving it sticking out into the parking lot aisle or whatever you'd call it.

    If I've shoved a bunch of carts into a neat row once, I've done it a couple of dozen times.  Those carriers (what are they called, anyway?) hold a fair number of carts if people will push theirs into the one already there, IYSWIM.  Just shove 'em in any which way leads to a few taking up the space, and carts being a hazard.

    Grumble, grumble, grumble.... 

  • Christmas performances have been the order of the day.

    Well, the days, as in yesterday and this afternoon.  Last night Mom, Mrs. Lambert, Mrs. Simmons and I went to Will Rogers Auditorium (where the parking is a mess, what with a National Cutting Horse event going on) to see Meredith and Margaret in Margo Dean's annual Ballet Concerto Christmas performance.  Thinking about it, I daresay it was billed as a "holiday" thing, seeing as how there was a flamenco dancer in a number about Hannukah.

    That aside, the girls were darling!  Meredith was a elf....second from the right most of the time:

    Margaret was a toy soldier (THE toy soldier, in fact), but came on so fast I almost missed it:

    She marched in, then marched out, and right smartly too, with a big grin on her face.  That girl loves being on stage!  ;^)

    This afternoon was the 4th annual Christmas concert at my bro-in-law, Richard's, retirement home (or whatever they're called).  He sang "O Holy Night" in a duet with another gentleman, and read a Scripture passage.  It was very nice indeed, and the goodies afterward were excellent.  >;^> Tomorrow afternoon is Kirstin's baby shower!  It's barely possible I'll have a photo or two from it.

  • Christmas is roaring up on us, isn't it?

    Tomorrow is the Christmas cantata at Christ Chapel, and we've been practicing since October.  Services are at 9:15, 11:00, and 5:00, with the same program at each.  Plus, my granddaughter, Brianna, is in the children's choir.  If you can make it, please come!  If you can't, it can be accessed via the internet at http://www.ccbc.rbm.tv/. 

    We have kittens, BTW.  Four kittens.  Four active, getting-under-everyone's-feet kittens.  Three white with black spots on top of their heads, and one tortoise shell (that is Brianna's, however, so it's not available).  How many adorable kittens can I put you down for?

    On November 24th all my children and grandchildren (except Jonathan, who is still in Costa Rica) gathered at Great Wolf Lodge for a night.  I'd arranged for a photographer to come and take various pictures; here is a selection:

     

    Me with my grandkids (barring Baby Boo, who is still incommunicato, not being due until next month).  I think they're darling, and all smart people will agree with me.  >;^>  Speaking of darling, I love this one of the Twofers!

    This is one of my favorites:

    That's Benjamin, Bryson, Hannah, and Brianna, looking longingly down at the indoor water park.

    Carolyn joined us, and here's a photo of her and Dmitry:

    Dearest Zhenya and me:

    One of the whole kit-and-kaboodle:

    I've got some candids, too, though not very many, and I've yet to get them off my camera.  Boo to me!  I'll do that soon.