A LOW KEY CHRISTMAS

I know, I know, Christmas is over. I've been distracted and busy with long neglected upkeep around my place. I got tired of cleaning gutters and I had a company install gutter guards.  Now I have a leak right in front of my front door. They've been back twice to fix things. Maybe by next week it will get fixed  Luckily Christmas was very low key. I put a wreath on the door. The tree in front of my living room window, undecorated.


In the dining room I set up some decorated mini-trees They stay decorated in the box. With one string of lights in the living room window and another facing the street. That was it.


Neighbors, Ron and Suzy asked me over for Christmas Eve for snacks and wine. His sports room his filled with neon lights and the whole place turns red.


He has a huge collection of sports pennants and about a dozen neon beer signs, bottles and related items. It is a fun hobby and the whole room lights up like a Christmas tree.


Christmas Day was at my son, Ken's. A real, live, nice smelling tree. Still low key with their family of four, my brother, Bill, Doug and I.


Doug managed to get the plumbing contractor in and out, the siding finished, the house locked up and came home for Christmas. He said he was growing webs on his feet in all the wet and muck. He was lucky to get over the pass before it snowed. And, grateful for his own bed.


Theresa and brother Clark stopped by for half an hour, to wish us a merry Christmas before they went to her daughter's family in Acampo to spend the day.


I didn't take many pictures, nor did I bake even one cookie. Laurie did a variety and Doug took time to bake his usual cookies. Plus we decided upon a Cajun Christmas with Laurie's Jambalaya recipe, I made chicken and sausage gumbo, some red beans and rice. And, then there was the famous boudin.
When we made it, the first batch was so tasty, it never got as far as the casings. Ken, Laurie, the boys and I ate the whole batch for dinner that night. So the ingredients were right and tasty, but in the casing, the sausage was too dry and we didn't put in all of the rice which gave the ground meat a gritty texture.  I guess it takes experience to make boudin. I took some home, put it in salad, soup and mixed it with potatoes and onions as a stir fry and it was very tasty. Laurie also experimented and used it with with other ingredients and pronounced it "delicious."
We played cards into the evening, and enjoyed the game of Phase 10 and Elevator.


Both my grandsons, Stewart and Mason are talented graphic artists. Stewart is branching out and made this self portrait entirely with dots.


He likes cartooning and grew up on Calvin and Hobbs, his fav.


He is developing his own cartoon strip and I think he has a web-page. Since I can't even draw a tree, I'm very admiring.
Today, I pick out paint colors for the new house.
Tomorrow, Virginia and her family return from Australia, via Vietnam, and points East.
Kristanne and her family stayed in with the flu and had no plans to make it to Calaveras County for Christmas.
Like I said, low key. New Years parties are, as my husband used to say, are for amateurs. We attended a few where there was no driving. He peeled a couple of dead drunks off the road as a cop and shunned New Year parties. Besides, he liked the early morning after parade and the football games.  Ciao, for now.

GRADUATION PARTY-ONLY 105 DEGREES.

Saturday, at 4:00 the counters were laden with food and snacks. Party time, and the weather has cooled to 105 degrees from 111 on Friday.

Laurie put the cake over a container of ice to keep  the frosting from melting. Air conditioning doesn't do much good with doors opening and closing, and movement in and out.

Guests begin arriving. Chairs and sitting places are skimpy because much of the furniture was sold.  The stairs do double duty.

Neighbor Bob, a young 87 loves to flirt, dance, and oil paint. We chatted for a couple of hours.

Kelly and Jeff, are teacher friends.

Many of the students  enjoyed party after party over graduation and weren't very hungry.

They made their way upstairs and congregated on air mattresses the family has been using for beds. Games and a big screen television kept them entertained.

Amber is home schooled and will attend college in Colorado. Her father is the boys scout leader, if I'm remembering correctly.

And you know those annoying little pop-ups you get on your screen?  Well this annoying little pop-up is grandson Theo, blocking a picture of Mason. Next time he gets the mighty hand of Thor.

I don't know the kids name's for the most part. Just that they are all polite and nice and thwart the current reputation of the unruly, spoiled-rotten teens.

Stewart's friend, Paul, has signed on to help with the move to California. Ken decided to pay the boys to load the vans and drive to Valley Springs, to earn money toward their college expenses. They normally have summer jobs, but leaving Vegas means less opportunity to make expenses.

There were a lot of fond farewells.

But most of the graduates will meet again as both Stewart and Mason are now students of University Nevada Reno where many of their friends are enrolled.

This is Dallas. What a beauty and intelligent too.

A good friend, and ex-sister-n-law to Kris, Julia Gold, I hadn't seen in about five years. We had such fun the last time we met. I hope it won't be as long until we next meet.

Enjoying friends I've only heard about before. Laurie and Ken have lived in this Nevada oven for 8 years and expect to see their friends on visits both ways. Friends and family, the best of treasures. Parties make good memories.