SRS, our dog, Luna, is very very shaggy, right now! I was just checking to see how much the grooming salon would charge to give her a good bath. I used to do Merlee, as he was so good. He'd climb right in the the bathtub and I would use the detachable showerhead on him. Luna has shown no affinity for water other than to drink it. No matter how enticing, she would not get in the wading pool we bought for her, she runs from the garden hose, and she doesn't particularly like going out into the rain. With my wrist sprained and sore thumb, even with Roger's help, I don't think were ready to tackle it. She really does look like a ragamuffin right now; Morgan teases her about being Miss Shaggy Butt.

He came over yesterday and helped me vacuum out the couch and sweep. He also read aloud to me while I did some other cleaning things. Did the usual loads of laundry, Rog did the dishes, and after four hours Morgan went home. He and I had a lot of fun also, looking at Jacquie Lawson's virtual Advent calendar, and catching up on this year's to date. That led to YouTubewhere I found an old Disney Christmas poem with sing-along carols with the lyrics on the screen. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and others all sang along with us. When Morgan left, he was singing over and over, " we wish you a Merry Christmas, etc." at the top of his lungs. He can be such a joy and makes me laugh.

This morning it was 22° out when we had to go to an early Coumadin clinic appointment, then to a session of hand/arm therapy picking up where we left off a month ago. I was relieved that he didn't think I'd gone back to square one, some improvement even showed up, so I think the qi gong has been helping, as well as my own regimen of rest, better posture, and using the other hand on the trackball, judiciously.

We came back to the house for a late breakfast and then went to the Goodwill store were I found a beautiful black Ralph Lauren turtleneck sweater, a couple of other nice long sleeved pullovers, and a nice roomy wool coat with a lining, so the wool won't make me itch, and it is long enough to cover my bum. I hadn't really had a good warm winter coat in quite a while as I hadn't gone out that much and, I could swear, our car used to be better at warming up. Maybe it's just me. Roger did change the thermostat which hasn't seemed to change things much, but he has a couple of other things up his sleeve. in the meantime, I won't be making any more early in the day appointments!

Penny, that's really neat the way you buy things at Oxfam, then redo them and take them back. The jewellery sounds beautiful. I've decided I need to wear some hematite so am off to the jewellery table to rework an old necklace.

While Roger and I were out, we also stopped at the health food store and bought a vial of lavender and some tiny brown glass bottles with stoppers in them. We also bought a sea sponge. I don't remember if it was you, Penny, who gave me the idea. For small Christmas present,I'm going to send a small glass jar with the tin lid, a small vial of lavender oil, and a note, to each person, which explains how a few drops of oil on the sponge in the jar will work as aromatherapy to aid in sleeping. It's a small thing, but I think my family will all appreciate it.

Speaking of Luna, if she leans on me any more I think my chair may fall over. LOL she has not had her run today and of course she keeps hearing her name since I'm using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to dictate this. I guess it's time to see how warm my new coat is. When I come back in, I hope to write the yearly holiday letter and get a start on cards.

Ho, ho, ho,

kat