That is good news, maeve, that the power is on! I hope you have an efficient wood or pellet stove to keep the house warm and for cooking. I blocked off my drafty fireplace and my television is in front of it. Yesterday morning when we were sitting there so I brought up NetFlix and we streamed a video of a burning fireplace. It looked pretty good, considering the TV is only a foot or so in front of the actual fireplace. I had my own music CDs playing and the streaming program had music, so I muted the television. Every so often someone would laugh and point at the closed caption of "[crackling]" or "[popping]" showing on the screen. :)

I moved some things around before dinner last night and made note that I am storing some table place mats that I haven't used in years. I think that is this evening's project, culling placemats and vinyl tablecloths that are from the days when small children ate at the table. Michelle, does Jeremiah use any plastic placemats? My kids had a lot of Sesame Street characters under their plates. (These are old and kind of cracked up, so I won't offer to send them! I'm sure you can find them in any grocery or toy store for a couple of bucks each.)

Making a list of errands to run after the new year. I called a place I wanted to stop at to drop off an item for repair but they're away till Jan. 2. Trying to take advantage of the slow season, but some things have come to a stop. The saga of my eyeglasses continues, they're still not ready. The Rx was wrong so needing replacement and when the new lens came in today and the optician was taking the wrong lens off of the frame the bridge piece broke. Ordered new from other store, maybe ready tomorrow.

I steamed some broccoli for my backyard pack for part of their dinner. They're okay with raw, but they really love cooked. They'll be in overnight because it's still down below freezing and their garage gets a little chilly. That's why my house was looking so good this morning, I had to be sure everything was up and they wouldn't get into food or opened gifts after I went to bed.

Not much to taking down decorations, it's just the mantle and some lights in the yard now. Not a flashy year, but the mantle looks as elegant as ever with holiday lights, cut crystal, and a few glass tree ornaments in some of the crystal bowls.

SRS