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!