bodner044

Fulfilled.  Peaceful.  Energetic.  Joyful.  Eager.  My holiday hodgepodge of emotions - has it only been a week since I posted last?  So much goodness packed into 7 days! Fulfilled.  Some people warn you that entering the Christmas season with expectations can only to disappointment.  On the contrary, I find that keeping an expectation generic usually avoids any disillusionment.  For example, I hoped for one-on-one time with #1 Daughter, but that's as far as I let my imagination ramble.  So, our ladies-only shopping trip, including a stop in the local diner, was fabulous. Mural on the back wall Norm's News (the diner) resides in John McIntosh's Opera House Square built in 1896.  The upper floor served Flathead Valley residents as an opera house (seating capacity 1,000), lodge meeting hall, ball room, theater, roller skating rink, and high school graduation auditorium.  Today the first floor is home to Western Outdoor, Montana's...

The (gas) fire is flickering, Josh Groban is crooning The Christmas Song and 12 inches of snow blankets the world outside my window.  What better time to recap December's delights? ONE: Christmas baking.  In the US, fruitcake is the butt of many holiday jokes.  But I can tell you that Spousal Unit's fruitcake (we call it Christmas cake) is no joke.  Currants, sultanas, raisins, glace cherries, dried apricots, candied peel, almonds, treacle, lemon rind and orange rind join the normal flour, margarine, eggs and spices in a Mary Berry recipe that has tantalized dozens of our friends and family who had sworn off fruitcake forever!  Maybe it's the brandy that is brushed onto the cake every week from Thanksgiving to Christmas that 'takes the cake'.  Monty the Moose is in charge of quality control - small cake is for my Mom The cake is first served on Christmas morning - accompanied by a healthy slice of cheddar cheese.  And coffee, of course!  Only thre...

On the day I retired, my team surprised me with a luncheon.  Retirement decorations festooned the conference room, and some people had written out cards that began with "Don't Forget To".  Week 41 of retirement - time to verify if I'm following a few of their directives. ONE: Start a new hobby.  Well, I am in partial compliance - I took one of my favorite hobbies - cross-stitch - and jumped into a new top secret project with a firm deadline - the birth of a grand nephew in early October! Progress in early July End of July The secret nature of the piece meant I couldn't post pictures, until now! End of August Of course, with a birth announcement cross-stitch, there is the inevitable conundrum that you want to bestow the gift as soon as the baby arrives, but you can't thread the last needle until you have the date and the weight! October 11 - finished and framed Note from my niece: "It is SOOO beautiful, and it matches his nursery motif perfectly!  You are ...