brainylady

I did find a box of stove-top stuffing last night! At a small Western-food store. ("Western food" being mostly products whose names are spelled creatively in an attempt to align themselves with real food -- "cheez" and so on.) I've never had it before, and I fear it will be gross. But there has to be stuffing, and I'm certainly not going to make it from scratch in our toaster oven! We are having four friends for dinner on Thursday; Bill is going to make mashed potatoes, and we'll have carrots. No Brussels sprouts, sadly. Like last year, we'll go down the street to the Duck Man for a whole duck. Me, I'll just eat the vegetables and stuffing. (Note to self: find a can of vegetarian gravy.) For dessert, we have a store-bought cheesecake in the fridge. Oh, sigh, I can't wait to have a real Xmas dinner again! My mother makes her own cranberry sauce! Need I say more?

I'm really enjoying looking at other bloggers' wintery photos. Have you seen Claudia's snowy yard? What about Mary's view? And Fo's snowy day! I feel a little more Christmassy when I see people's snow photos. I remember a moment in February 2002, just a few days before Bill and I were set to come to Taiwan. We were at his parents' place in Ontario, and we were outside one night and bundled up (probably smoking cigarettes like dedicated lunatics), and the temperature was minus 17 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit), plus there was a wind chill. I remember saying to Bill, "Soon we'll be dreaming of wind chill, looking back fondly on wind chill." Isn't it funny how we block out bad parts in favor of romance? I look at snow pictures and think "Winter Wonderland!" I don't think of falling on my ass on a sidewalk, or scraping ice off my windshield while freezing water seeps through my boots, or having my nostrils frozen shut. I think "Hot chocolate and fireplaces and snow angels and pretty pretty pretty!" Next year at this time, when I'm back in Ontario, I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune. (Instead of "Let It Snow," maybe "Hark! Get Me the Hell Out of Here.")

Aww, look what Kerrie found: it's a free pattern for a knitted Santa, and one for Mrs. Claus, too!