Party central!

Beth takes a long time getting ready today -- it turns out she was trying on her party outfit for tonight's big New Year's Eve party! She's ready!

When she finally comes downstairs, it's time for breakfast, which she shares with Pan. Pan likes her cereal and milk. We're planning to do a little work this morning and then head over to Curves by noon.

More later...

Almost year-end...

It's Tuesday and we start out with a nice breakfast -- oatmeal with baked pears and pecans, a really yummy way to start the day! Beth is wearing one of her new outfits, new pants and a jacket, which is perfect for this bright, sunny and warm day.

Nancy does some work at home, and then we go to Aixois to meet up with our friend Paul who's helping Nancy with her work. At Aixois, we see other friends Dennis and Eileen and John Donnelly and have nice chats with all of them. Beth tells everyone about Pan, in great detail, especially telling how cute and lovable she is.

We go home to work a little more -- well, Nancy is working but Bethie is taking care of Pan who wants to be held. Then it's time for some exercise in the beautiful day!

We go to Curves, where Beth has another great workout and gets another coupon to take back to Columbus. Nancy runs while Beth is at Curves, and then both go to pick up Brian's mail and make a little stop at the grocery.

It's nearly dinnertime already! Beth prepares an email to Scott (with help from Pan) while Nancy makes up a dish with chicken, peppers, celery, tomatoes, asparagus, olives and noodles. It is very tasty! We also have a nice salad, and after cleaning up for bed, Beth gets the last of the cookies. Oh well -- that's a good way to end the day!

Monday's adventures

A pattern is developing -- in the mornings, the kitten Pan is so very excited and goofy, she plays wildly with everything. I think she especially likes to jump on Beth when she's sitting at her little table -- it makes Beth squeal in surprise (sometimes in pain from the tiny sharp claws)! After an hour or so, the kitten gets tired and relaxes on someone's lap.

After Pan was calm today, we went out to run errands and do some shopping. We mailed some packages and visited some of the local shops in Brookside, then we went downtown to a little shop I like. We found a really beautiful little sweater-jacket for Beth. Now she's got a couple of new outfits to take back to Columbus.

We're getting very excited for the party at Max's house tomorrow. After that we'll have a New Year's dinner at Aixois. Beth can't wait!

When back from the shopping, it was time for Curves! Today the woman working there gave Beth an official note from Curves to take back to her Columbus Curves, so they can make sure to give Beth credit for the workout! How nice! While Beth worked out, Nancy went for a run.

After that, it was time to get ready for dinner. While Nancy prepared the meal, Beth tried to write an email to Scott. Do you have any idea how hard it is to type on a computer with a kitten playing in your lap, on the keyboard, climbing all over you? It took forever -- she had to stop for dinner!

Dinner was a simple one -- we had ham, green beans and salad. Then we had baked pears for dessert. After that, a little rest before the fire and then time for bed!

A nice day!

Sunday's journeys

A bright morning, still a bit of crispness in the air from last night's gentle snow dusting, but it promises to warm. Birds and squirrels are active at the birdfeeder by my desk window, now Pan's favorite spot too. She perches there (atop her scratching post) and watches the birds taking turns at the feeder.

We had a slow breakfast with the newspapers and coffee -- good ham and cheese in a simple omelet, the way I like to make it. After it warmed up a bit, I went for a nice run while Beth kept busy with Pan, who was particularly playful today again. I saw a big red-tailed hawk on my run today.

When I came back and cleaned up, we decided to go shopping. We would see about exchanging two of the three robes and maybe finding Beth some new clothes. She has been doing such a good job at Curves that her pants are now all too baggy on her, they look enormous! Same with some of her shirts -- she is easily two sizes smaller than last year.

Our first stop was at Target, where it was easy to get credit for the two robes. We found some things but when Beth tried them on they didn't quite work. So we got only a little black turtleneck shirt for her -- this will go nicely with the sequined jacket for New Year's Eve.

Next stop, the Plaza. We walked through Barnes & Noble looking for bargains and calendars, with a little luck; and then over to J. Jill where they had a big sale on.

Beth saw items she liked right away, and even more as we got further into the store. She can get very excited: "Oh, Nancy, look!" and "oh Nancy, come here" in her little sing-song voice. It always makes me laugh.

We found a lovely black swing jacket, very stylish and with 3/4-length sleeves that were just perfect on Beth! We also found a nice pair of pants that actually fit, in a pretty pale blue color. Yippee -- A new outfit for Beth!

We looked around a little more but didn't buy anything else. We stopped by Brian's house to get his newspaper; Beth is so happy to help out because she is just crazy about Brian. And then back to the house where we got boxes ready for mailing. Beth wrote the notes that go inside. (No more about this -- we don't want to ruin the surprise for Mike, Ken and Scott!)

For dinner, we had a very casual meal in the kitchen of the leftover lasagne and salad, with cookies for dessert. (Usually we have dinner in the dining room, where Beth helps set the table with placemats, plates, pretty napkins and silverware. We even light the candles on the table to make everything more festive.)

Beth was playing music all day, and at the end of Sarah Brightman, it was time to go up for her shower. She was so cheerful and fun all day, and now was pleasantly tired and ready to go clean up. I think she had a fun day, even with not too much adventure in it.

Baking day!

So, it's Saturday -- it's a nice day, not too cold. We have a sleepy morning, except for Pan. She is so excited to see everybody, she jumps and plays all morning, just as silly as she can be. She plays with a ribbon, with her Christmas toy, with an aluminum foil ball, with Nancy's shoelaces, with the newspapers, you name it and she plays with it! Until she gets completely tired and naps.

Nancy and Beth go out to run some errands -- first stop is a cooking store, where Beth picks out some cookie cutters and some sprinkles. Then it's the grocery, where we get supplies for cookies. We also stop by Brian and Pam's house to pick up the newspaper and mail while they are in Winnipeg.

Back at home, while Beth holds the kitten, Nancy makes a big pan of lasagne. We'll have it for dinner later. Beth reads one of her new books, "Wabi Sabi" to Pan.

Next up, when Beth can let the kitty sleep by itself, we start in on the cookies. Beth had suggested that we make Christmas cut-outs and we can give some to Mike, Ken and Scott. What a great idea!

So, check out the photos of Beth making the cookies -- she did most of the hard work: mixing the ingredients into cookie dough (and tasting it), cutting the cookies into shapes, mixing up the icing, adding the coloring, and then decorating the cookies with icing and sprinkles.

After we finished all of them, we made a little plate with a variety of our cookies and took them next door to our neighbors and wished them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We also told them about our new kitten and invited them to come and meet her.

Dinner was our lasagne and salad. After a shower, Beth came back downstairs to sit in front of the fire with us and more importantly, to have a cookie for dessert!

A good day!

The Day After

So nice to sleep in a little! When we were all up, Nancy made ham & cheese omlets for breakfast and then Beth decided to write an email to Scott. It took a little while but she did a great job and Scott loved getting the note from her.

It was a warm day in KC -- the temperature got up to about 66 degrees, a new record. It made for a nice day to run! We saw lots of birdies at the feeder.

In the afternoon, we went to visit Andrea. When we got there, Vince was already there so we got to talk with him, too. They had a swing band at Andrea's place, and lots of people were dancing. They also had a little buffet table with some snacks. We listened to the music and visited Andrea -- she wanted us to see her decorations outside her apartment. She gave Beth a little Santa as a present.

When we got home, it was a good time for some exercise! Beth got into her exercise gear and a new bright yellow fleece top and we went to Curves! At last! Yipee! Beth did just great, very vigorous exercising for about 40 minutes.

By the time we got home, it was time for dinner. Nancy made a salad and a vegetable-chicken stir-fry with peanut sauce and broccoli, celery, carrots, mushrooms, red pepper and green peppers and ginger, over rice. It was a pretty good batch!

Ahhh, a nice day! There are a few photos here -- Hope you enjoy them!

Merry Christmas!

Yippee! It's finally here!

Beth was up early and we set off to Erin & Drew's house to spend the morning with the kids ... and open presents. Brian and Pam were there, and Patsy. Poppy had gotten a pretty dress for Christmas and she insisted on wearing it! Graham and Lily got little iPods and they were quietly listening to their new music -- every once in a while, they'd let us know what was playing: Mamma Mia!

Then the opening of presents. So nice! Beth got a beautiful robe from Erin and Drew, and then another one from Brian and Pam! She also got a big box full of markers, pencils and pastels from Patsy -- a perfect gift! It was loads of fun.

After the gifts were open and the paper and boxes all collected, we went back to our house. Our Christmas Tree was lit and there were presents all around. The kitten ran around exploring the living room while we handed out presents to each other.

Beth got some socks and undies (a family tradition) and also ANOTHER robe! She got a Christmas t-shirt, a fleece shirt, a couple of books (both about kitties!) and some CDs. Nancy surprised Tom with a couple of goofy hats from Scotland -- with the help of our friend Fabi who did the shopping and shipping to get the hats to us in time for Christmas. It was a great surprise!



Next stop, back to Erin & Drew's house for dinner. They had a lovely turkey, dressing, gravy, potatoes, green beans, spaghetti squash, rolls, cranberry and salad, and then apple cinnamon cake and Nancy's banana butterscotch cream pie for dessert. Wow! After all that, we were stuffed and tired and headed for home. We have some photos here.

We stayed home and sat by the fire until time for bed. It was a wonderful day.

Christmas Eve

Beth and the kitten were inseparable! Beth was continually cooing to her and telling her stories, holding her, playing with her, and on and on. It was an important job, and Beth also made gift tags for all the presents that Nancy was wrapping. It seemed to take all day, but it went very fast because we were so excited about the events in the evening -- Beth couldn't wait for the party at Patsy's house!

Then we got all dressed up and headed out to have a Christmas Eve dinner with Vince and Mary Lynn and Andrea. We went to California Pizza Kitchen, where they gave us a nice big booth and we all exchanged presents. It was a nice dinner.

Next stop: Patsy's party for all the family. She had a beautiful table full of great food, and Beth couldn't resist having a second little dinner (just tastes, really) of the ham, lasagne, cheesy potatoes and sausage bagel. There also was a giant platter full of cookies and Beth had just one!

The party was really nice, and Beth got to talk to many people. Everyone commented on her pretty outfit, with sequins and sparkles. It was a lovely evening!

Wow! What a busy day!

It's Tuesday and it started off busy and never let up!

It was our scheduled day for our house cleaning, and our helpers came at 8:30 a.m. -- that was early for Beth, but all was well despite a slightly disrupted breakfast. She started out with a slice of English muffin bread and peach-pear jam and coffee, and later finished up with some yogurt.

Nancy went for a run in the morning, and oh it was nice, a clear and cool rain. But -- uh oh -- about 2 miles out the temperature dropped and the rain started making everything slick. She slipped and slid her way home, slowly! And then it seemed like a good time to start baking nutbread and nut rolls, using Mom's old recipe.

While Nancy was baking, Beth was holding the kitty. She kept up a running monologue for the kitty, explaining all about Christmas and then telling the kitty all about our family and on and on, occasionally stopping to sing a song along with the music. (Oh, I was wrong about something -- somehow Beth slipped the Kenny G disc into the pile that we bought, so yes, she has it here ... in my house... and I'll even admit that I like it!)

After the afternoon of baking, we had more errands to run. There was another visit to the grocery (more baking supplies!) and a quick visit to the Plaza. Everywhere we went we saw friends of ours and stopped to talk. By the time we got back from our errands, it was time to get ready for our party at Aixois, the French restaurant. Our good friend Kevin dropped by with a treat, and we sat and chatted with him for a while. He liked Pan alot!

A friend of ours traditionally plays Santa Claus -- it started years ago when he was built like Santa and even had a long white beard; but now he's skinny and he shaved off his beard. But he still makes a grand Santa (and we're all glad he's healthier, too!). Anyway, Santa was at Aixois from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., so we invited all our old friends from the bookstore to meet us there for Christmas cheer.

It was a wonderful group! Bethie got hugs from everyone -- Paul and Gail, Santa, Kent, Max, Cee and Michael, Steve, George and I'm sure I'm forgetting some! Beth even got to sing a Christmas song with Cee and Michael -- they remembered one year past when we spent a whole afternoon singing, and Beth knew all the words to all the carols! In the photo above, Beth is leading the group in singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

You can see our photos here.

Oh, it was a lovely evening.

Then time to head for home. Nancy made tacos for dinner, and that's about it for today!

A big surprise! (well, actually a tiny one)

It's Monday, Dec. 22.

Beth slept in and came down to breakfast at about 9:30 a.m. She said she slept great!

We had Janet's English muffin bread and jam for breakfast, plus some cereal and coffee. Beth started work again on one of her artworks, leftover from Thanksgiving. Nancy did a little work at the computer and then we got ready to go out and run some errands.

After a few stops for supplies like wrapping paper and groceries, we came home and started decorating our Christmas tree. Beth was a very good decorator, always carefullly selecting a spot for the pretty ornaments. She really liked a couple of the old ones that Mom & me had made back when I was tiny -- you know it was really old because it was back when she was still trying to teach me to sew! But Beth really liked it. I'll see about adding some photos here soon.

Then, after a little while, Tom said we had to go out with him. Very mysterious! He drove out to a place called KC -- Kitty City! He had arranged for us to take home a rescued baby kitty, just 10 weeks old!

We went into the house and Beth was in heaven! Immediately a little tortiseshell came up and rubbed against her and wanted to play, while an old white kitty yawned and stretched for her. Then we saw all the babies! There were three little ones in one tiny bathroom, our kitty and her two sisters.

And, in another room, there were about six cats, all slightly older -- a black one (ornery), a siamese one, a black & white, etc., etc. They were all scurrying around, just as playful as could be! Beth couldn't stop oooohing and ahhhhing over each one.

We took the kitty that Tom had picked out for Nancy's Christmas present and Beth nearly cried when she understood that we were going to take her home with us! She recovered quickly though, and said "Just one?"

We stopped off at the kids' house on the way home to show them the new kitty. You can guess how much they loved taking turns holding her and listening to her purr. Graham suggested we name her "Cutie" because, well, you can guess.



Now we're all home. Just finished up a nice dinner ... Beth peeled potatoes for a little augratin dish or potatoes dauphine, and we had ham and leftover rice, green beans and a yummy salad with feta cheese.

Tomorrow will be another busy day and we have GOT to make time for Curves!

Getting to KC

Well, Beth made it!

Plane was about 45 minutes late, not sure why, but all was well when she finally got off the plane in freezing KC. It was about, oh, 9 degrees above ZERO! Good thing she was ready for it!

We stopped off to go shopping (!) on the way home -- we bought Bethie a stack of CDs that she picked out -- KD Lang, Sting, Clannad, Whitney Houston, Anita Baker, Simon & Garfunkel -- but I drew the line at Kenny G. (Not in my house.)

We went home and got settled, and then before too long it was time for dinner! We had plans to meet up with our good good friends Tim & Janet Wiglesworth and Aften McK & Don Wylie. All of them were so happy to see Beth again!

Dinner was at Princess Garden, an old favorite of ours -- but, oddly, the first time Beth had been there. She loved dinner -- didn't have to look at a menu, as Wylie had pre-ordered everything for us: two roast duck, cold beef salad, green beans, egg rolls and a wonderful chicken dish. Yummy -- Beth loved it all! Oh, and a glass of wine too!

We traded Xmas gifts with our friends -- every year, Janet makes a wonderful loaf of English muffin bread and Peach-Pear Jam. We also got something from Aften, but haven't opened it yet!

Next stop, home and an extra blanket on Beth's cozy bed. She was asleep before the light went out! Photos