I gave out bags of small portions of various baked goods this year to friends and family, and have just spent a few minutes answering questions from next door about how to make the cranberry bars that were in the mix. I'd always thought they were perfect alone, but she said her husband crumbled his on top of a bowl of vanilla ice cream. That sounds so good - but I've reached my limit for calories for the time being and now need to work in a few trips to the gym and eat more fruit.

I think during the extreme cold I'll set up in my sewing room and work on projects there. I've realized that because of the lights it has a natural anti-SAD effect and those cold days are also bound to be very dark. I have felt the influence of the unusually overcast weather we've had this fall.

Gift giving this year is including the redistribution of items already here. My daughter's wife has taken up painting (illustration) but the desk she works at is such that her short Ott lamp is positioned in a way that blinds everyone else in the room. I have an Ott lamp on a stand to be overhead that I couldn't pass up when Office Depot was closing (I bagged a $120 lamp for $40) but I don't use it much. My daughter hinted that it would be put to good use there, so I've used a soft paint brush to scoop the dust out of all of the various crevices on the base (it holds a lot of little stuff - it would be great for holding beads, buttons, etc.) and have worked out a gift bag to hold it. The other big thing I need to see if I can fob off give to them is the set of silver plate silverware from my mother. I used it for many years but decided I wanted something that was more modern and packed it up for one of the kids. Or maybe for Replacements.com. It's one of those things that there is no point in keeping if the kids don't want it. She hesitated, and she didn't say "no" - but I suspect they have such a mix of flatware at her house that it would either sit collecting dust in the box of get mixed in and lost as a set.