Making Progress

We're almost ready for Christmas. Tonight I finally got Mr. Incredible and Violet to finish the tree and decide what other decorations they wanted out. We have too much stuff to have it all out each year. After asking him a bazillion times, Mr. Incredible finally brought the box of wrapping paper up from the basement. I would have done it myself, but it was on too high a shelf. Even if I managed to pull it off I'm sure I could not have lowered it without the whole thing falling on my head and spilling all over the floor. I would have said some bad words if that happened. It was better to wait for him.

My blog typing was just interrupted by the door bell. Yes it is 9 pm and the door bell rang. Two teen girls were standing there and sang Jingle Bells, turned and left. Violet said, "that doesn't happen very often." I swear, we get the weirdest things at our front door. I guess that was supposed to warm my heart and fill me with the spirit. It didn't. I was wishing I wasn't wearing my robe and fuzzy feet, and had real clothes on. I was wondering if they were collecting for a charity. I was wondering when the song would end so I could stop letting all the cold air in. Poor girls, they deserved a better audience than me.

Back to our preparations. I bugged Mr. Incredible and Violet enough that they went with me to look at the decorated Christmas trees at the Village Hall the next town over. It was the one Violet hung an ornament on for Girl Scouts. It was nice looking at the trees and seeing how the various organizations decorated them. Mr. Incredible took his camera and got a photo of Violet pointing to her ornament. I'll try to get a copy to post for you all.

Mr. Incredible is going out tomorrow to do some last minute shopping. And get groceries for me. He's gone the last few times too. He says he really likes grocery shopping. I've decided to start taking him up on it. Need anything? I'll have him grab it for you while he's out.

We still have some Christmas projects to do. Violet has a gingerbread kit to do. Every year she does another kit. This year she has the Snoopy Doghouse kit. We're going to bake more cookies. We meant to today, but we forgot. And there's wrapping and stuff. Even with how little we do for the holiday it is quite busy.

We have our menu planned. On Christmas Eve we're having Super Nachos. On Christmas Day it will be make your own mini pizzas. We're seeing Mr. I's family on the 26th. I'm taking a lentil cheese bake. If it is any good I'll post the recipe. I've never made it before. And for New Year's Day I found a recipe for black eyed pea dip.

Do you eat black eyed peas for good luck and financial prosperity on New Year's Day? My mom was raised in the Deep South (Ocean Springs, Mississippi), so we do. No one around here has ever heard of that tradition, so they always look at me like I'm nuts. Now here's the catch, I HATE black eyed peas. They taste like dirt. Several of my adult years I've skipped them. This doesn't seem like the year to tempt fate. So I went searching for a recipe to do something different besides just warm them up straight out of the can. I'm hoping the chiles and cheese will kill the dirt taste.

Don't ask how I know what dirt tastes like.