Weather: snowing

Reading: Cane River, Lalita Tademy

Knitting: a scarf

We have snow tonight, the first snow of the year. It is supposed to turn to freezing rain by late tonight, though. This is just in time for youngest daughter to come home from Chicago for Christmas. Poor critter has been seeing nothing but snow, and she gets home, and there's more of the stuff, and not many people here know how to drive in it, so everyone is late late late.

Went to the Gabriel family Chirstmas party this afternoon. We were late because of the weather and how the traffic crept along because of it -- it started while we were on the road. We exchanged gifts, which we do by drawing names. Some of the people who were supposedly participating turned out they weren't really participating, so some people did not get presents. This happens now and then, and I wish it didn't. I don't know what the answer is. Coal in stockings for those folks seems so uncivilized, you know? Seems like someone could send a note to one of us and write, "Hey, I don't really want to do it this year," and then we'd shuffle the names around. We could do that, I think, and it'd be fine. It was good to see everyone. I want to make up to the people who didn't get presents. My husband took a look at the bills a couple of days ago and made a pronouncement: "Don't spend any more money." This was a good thing to say, a necessary thing to say. I am going to try to behave myself. The snow and ice will help for a day or two.

Snow! We got none last year, and I like to see it falling. We're not out of toilet paper or eggs or booze, and we have four movies on hand that we hanve't seen yet, so let it snow.