Wednesday 12-16-09

I guess no news is good news.

It's good here for the most part.

We are going to Nashville this weekend to stay in the Orpyland Hotel and see the Rockettes at the Grand Old Opry. Next week we've got a cabin for Christmas Eve Eve at Calloway Gardens where they put up a lotta lotta lights. My shopping is all done and all the presents are wrapped except a new cymbal case ordered online that isn't in yet. So yep, pretty good here.

My bane: the dog continues to chew things up out of the blue - paper, Christmas cards, envelopes and he got into two candy dishes and devoured all the hard candy in them.

It does sound pretty good there. I'm still not quite done with shopping and I haven't wrapped anything except what I've already given. I have a bit of baking left to do for upcoming events.

Things are pretty good here too, but I'm exhausted and looking forward to lazing around on Christmas day.

We're snowed in at the moment, but I just ordered the last gift I need from Amazon and took advantage of the free month of Prime 2 day shipping they gave me to get it here by Tuesday. We're leaving the day after Xmas to drive to Charleston for our anniversary and then will drive up the SC coast to Myrtle Beach and stay at some resort place with the rest of the family who are coming down the next day for a week to celebrate our parents' 50th anniversary on January 1, 2010. So, enjoying the non-traveling, being "trapped" in the house time while I can..

Hugh, I loved the "it snowed" video you posted. It looks like a fun white Christmas for your family.

We made it back last night, oy vey the traffic! We were several hours later than planned and so tired of being in the car. I was mistaken about staying in the Opryland hotel - we were in the downtown Hilton because it was free (Rob's business travel pays off!) but we walked (and walked and walked!) around the hotel and paid $9 a head for the 10 minute boat ride (plus $25 for the picture - what rubes we are.) The Rockette's show was good but our seats were nosebleed level. We also toured the Belle Meade plantation home on our way out.

We head to Calloway tomorrow and I'm dreading the ride. We're only spending one night there but that puts us coming home on Christmas Eve which doesn't give me much time to prepare for the Christmas day feast for our friends that Rob "planned" at the last minute and threw at me. Other than the time crunch due to traveling I'm rather glad - it will be much more cheerful and festive sharing the day.

I think I mentioned I sent a card to ready and I told her that if she was ever online that I was on facebook. And up popped a friend request from her! But then....the Christmas card was just returned mail, lol, so I guess she found me without ever seeing it. What a coincidence!!! I've sent her a message but haven't heard back - her's looks to be a fairly new account so I'm wondering if she just had internet access for the holidays or maybe she's away from access for the holidays. At any rate, I was thinking I would ask her here if I see her there again.

Now, I need to go coat some pretzels and bake cookies.

Hey, how IS Ready doing? Thanks, it took long enough to upload (only to have it instantly deleted by Facebook with a rude message about using copyrighted material as background music, tsk tsk), I'm glad it was worth it. I just finished the bourbon pumpkin mousse for tonight's party and made a batch of no-bake peanut butter/choclate candy just because I hate to waste half a can of leftover evaporated milk.

We're back from Callaway. Had a nice time, not too cold on the trolley for the festival of lights. The cabin was a nice, roomy two bedroom with 2 patios - too bad we weren't there long enough to use all the facilities. We did make s'mores but mostly used the microwave because the wood they left us never would catch.

Came straight home and started cooking. The cornbread for the dressing is cooling and the cream cheese for the caramel pecan cheesecake is softening while I eat a ham sammich for lunch. I've got 3 kinds of cookies to bake today and I want to get the dressing mixed and ready to cook tomorrow.

The china's going in the dishwasher after the regular load finishes. Laundry's going, the dog's getting bathed (not by me thank God) and Rob's rebuilding the downstairs toilet :rolleye: trying to stop a leaky valve.

Thank heavens I had finished all the gift wrapping and other Christmas related duties so I can devote the day to cooking (and supervising the rest of the family cleaning).

Hugh, I wonder how f/b caught the music violation so fast. And that it happened to you, always so careful to use the registered trademark symbol, lol.