Sounds like a great holiday, Betty C, in spite of the heat.

We had a wonderful Christmas with my sister, brother and middle son all coming home for the week. I haven’t seen my son since August, so I’ve been giving him a hug every time he walks past me, storing them up for when he’s gone again, not to return until July. He’s working for Habitat for Humanity, so it’s all good, but I sure miss him.

Material gift-wise, I got Roger Ebert’s memoirs (can’t wait to get into that book) and the spouse gave me a shelf stereo system so I’m not tied to earbuds when I’m working in my studio. Yay!

Hope everyone had a joyful time.

Hubby and I went to our favorite back country spot to do some little hike-up, ski-down activity and found not a soul there; no wind (rare here) and nicely sunny.  This place usually gets very busy by mid-day, and right now the snowpack is so thin that all the other steeper places to do this admittedly masochistic sport are just plain unusable. With no change in the current snow patterns it is going to be a nsaty drought year and the CO mountains are going to be bone dry and in flames before July. 

Live to ski, ski to live is the motto at our house, and we haven’t bought a lift ticket in years.  The required amount of climbing up keeps us fit and the cholesterol count super low, so it works for us. 

This year’s Christmas brought the lovely encounter with the very Indian fellow I mentioned in a thread far below; I’m still enjoying his heart-felt and melodious “Merry Christmas”.  It takes a generous and un-Faux News contaminated soul to be friendly about something likely not even associated with one’s personal religion.

As far as the tweet about the poor old kitty goes, quietly expiring in the comfort of ones home is better than a scary ride to the vet’s; we should all be so lucky.

We did our festivities last night. I had the front of the house all spruced up, vacuumed, dusted, etc. but the kitchen looked like the holocaust aftermath. My plan was to keep everyone away from there.

Naturally, I looked out the window just in time to see 3 cars out back and and a group heading for the kitchen entrance. I could barely clear a path to the door before it opened. Sigh, the best laid plans….

Donnah, I read Ebert’s book and really liked it.  Hope you will as well!

We did Christmas Eve at one sister’s, where I scored a flatscreen TV and a promise of wallmount installation in the next week. Whee! Then my other sister hosted Christmas morning and dinner, and we went to my brother-in-law’s (very conservative) family for dessert. The various family dogs really liked the toys I bought, so it all went well. Except that my sister is currently tearing through the garbage and recycling looking for a bracelet she had on that has gone missing.

Oh, and one of the dogs found the birdseed bell that we were going to give one of my brothers-in-law (he keeps a birdfeeder paradise in his backyard), ate the whole thing, and left many “gifts” on the rug for us on Xmas Eve. But at least she didn’t have to go to the vet’s. Seriously.

Where does this Canadian tradition of prize fighting the day after Christmas originate from and who won?

The most important question, Betty, is where can you stream MST3K????

We’re having multiple Christmas-i here.  Saturday my brother came to our house and I cooked.  Sunday we went to Mr. Gimme’s ‘rents in DE and they cooked.  The only child, who I have not seen in a year, will be up Tuesday with the newish boyfriend.  I will cook big on Friday.

I got (among other things) a Cuisinart 4-cup food processor which I’m thrilled about.  I’m the rare woman who asks for, and receives kitchen appliances.

My real “gift” comes tomorrow, when we drive up to Lake Mattamuskeet for the day to watch and listen to the overwintering birdies who are truly a sight (and sound) to behold.  I will be armed with my DSLR Camera and a brand new shiny video camera to get all the action.  I can’t wait.  Best bit is we are going to grab breakfast on the way there (probably McDonalds), grab a slice of pizza and a beer for lunch, and then going to Olive Garden on the way home for dinner so I get to have a whole day without cooking.  Wheeeeeee an actual whole day off!

It comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me IRL that I have a ton of projects going on, in various states of completion.  I had planned to spend the 3-day weekend working on them.  On Xmas Day, I decided I didn’t really feel like doing work.  Crawled back into bed with my tea, a book and a pile of sleeping cats.  It was great!

Where does this Canadian tradition of prize fighting the day after Christmas originate from and who won?

Which tradition ?

The most important question, Betty, is where can you stream MST3K????

Netflix. They’re having a free trial now too. The only annoyances I’ve noticed so far is that occasionally the audio and video don’t exactly synch up, and sometime there will be a few seconds of buffering…