I simply can’t believe my luck.  First of all, mom’s partner Gerry’s son and family are coming to Osoyoos for Christmas for the first time.  They’re coming all the way from Virginia, so mom wants to buy some decent things for them for Christmas.  So she handed me a cheque and basically said, “Get at it.”

Then Luke e mailed me and said, “Look, I hate Christmas shopping, so can you please buy the gifts for Margaret and Brendan for me?”  I e mailed back, “Thank you!”  On my way south to Osoyoos the other day I immediately got an adorable thing at that cute antique shop in Okanagan Falls for Margaret.

And then, joy of joys, mom advised me to do the same for myself as I did last year.  She told me to buy a bunch of stuff that I want, and then say it’s from her.  Last year I wrapped my gifts beautifully, and chose lovely to/from cards.  I plan to do the same again this year and am basically breathless with anticipation of how I’m going to surprise myself.

I’m just not sure how to fit all of that in, as I now seem to be baking daily.  Of course I have to do it, but I’ve noticed I put the dough into the pans with less and less enthusiasm as the days go by.  But I suppose that’s the lure of a seasonal business.  The moment you think you simply can’t make another fruitcake, it’s over and Christmas has arrived.

Yet anything you do over and over again is bound to get monotonous.  The other day one of the nice women at the gym said she feels bored with the gym routine and often has to force herself to come.  I said I feel the same way occasionally, but as a true hypochondriac, there’s no way I could stop going.

Although I have to admit that sometimes when I’m in the class, lifting the weights over my head dozens of times, doing a hundred dead lifts, a myriad of squats and countless stomach crunches, I do feel a bit cranky about it.

Chytra Brown of Savour Magazine asked me for the list of stores which carry my fruitcakes, so I imagine that’ll boost sales when it comes out on December 1st.  Jennifer Schell, the editor of Wine Trails and writer for EAT Magazine and The Capital News also said she’d mention me in her Christmas columns.

Today I was called and interviewed by Kevin Parnell, the business writer for the Kelowna Capital News.  It was a half-hour interview, in which I wildly expounded upon many fanciful things, so I’m somewhat hesitant to read the interview.  Sometimes in the heat of an interview I can say the darndest things.

I’m often working until late afternoon, and sometimes find myself in a less than favourable mood for making an elaborate dinner.  Fortunately Nicky’s been able to keep himself fed with meals like the one he had around 3:00 PM; five scrambled eggs on two pieces of toast, which he spread with a mixture of mayo and a hot sauce called Spiracha hot chili sauce.

I’ve decided that the gym and sleep are the only really necessary things I have to do , and outside of that, I have to concentrate on just two things: shopping and baking.