I have been in a down mood, blame the season, the lack of seeing either kid (or much of anyone else) lately, and having a lot to do all at once. I slept in today and that helped some - I must have had some busy REM sleep processing all of this.

Working on the holiday letter hasn't helped, there doesn't seem to be much to report in this quiet year. I decided I would pull some of the material from the four days of journaling I did during our February deep freeze with no power. The account of sleeping in the closet with the dogs and making food for myself over candles and a Sterno stove will hopefully make for interesting reading. It comes with art (photos taken during the days).

I may not have results on the COVID test until tomorrow, but I'm 99.99% sure it will be negative, so I'll go ahead and start some of the cookie baking so I can hand them out early next week. I have a lot of hot peppers on the counter that need slicing and freezing and once they're out of the way I'll start krumkaka and Snickerdoodles (not necessarily a holiday cookie, but they're my favorite, so I make them.) Spritz and other cookies that come out of the cookie press are on the list.

Those of you doing the holidays mostly alone, what are you doing to give yourselves a boost? Is there some smell, some music, some holiday movie, that really sets the stage for you? And is there something the rest of us can do to help?