Calvin and I hosted the third annual Christmas party here at the house, and it was the usual rowdy crowd so it was a lot of fun.  As soon as Luke arrives, the mood goes up and the party begins as he’s the most social human being ever born.  Calvin made two batches of his whisky punch and people brought their own booze as well, so vehicles were left, and cabs were taken home.

I noticed a lot of full but opened cans of beer this morning which I just dumped down the sink, recoiling at the stench.  I’m not a beer or wine person as I realize fermented liquor isn’t good for me, yet when I drink distilled liquor, I’m perfectly fine.  Drunk, but fine.  I took a couple of Gravol prior to hitting the bed at 12:30 and then woke up at 8:00 feeling pretty darn good for all that occurred the night prior.

Mom thought she was sick the other day, but when I arrived it was evident it was a crabby mood and nothing further.  She’ll be 99 in February so it’s easy to understand why a person would be cranky, especially as the body and mind start to let you down.  I’m 69 and already a wreck with my bum knee so I hope to God I’m not punished with that kind of longevity.

Mom likes to torture the people at Shoppers Drug Mart for some reason.  When they ask her if she has enough meds at home she says yes, then she calls them and asks why they didn’t deliver her medication, and they reply because she told them not to as she had a lot.  It’s kind of fun as I’ve had to make some of those calls on her behalf, and it causes a lot of bewilderment.

Here’s something insane I like to do.  I look for Dean Martin Christmas specials from the 1960’s and 1970’s on You Tube and enjoy them as my gramma and I watched all of these.  Granny had a serious crush on Dean Martin.  She’s been dead for 35 years and I still miss her so much but this way we spend an hour together and it’s wonderful.

I’m now making a chaja cake, which I saw on the Great Canadian Baking Show, because tomorrow the crones are coming for dinner as it’s Donna’s birthday.  We like to do a combined Christmas and birthday get-together, usually here, which is nice as why decorate if no one’s going to see it?  And especially this year as Calvin did a fantastic job on the outdoor lights.

Once that’s over I can concentrate on the last batches of cookies and any wrapping plus getting the groceries together for Christmas Day when the nice Hamiltons will come for dinner, as they often do.  Fred will wear his Christmas vest, all beautifully appliquéd by Julie with Christmas trees, lights, and everything else related to the theme.

Luke solved a lot of Christmas present fear and loathing by telling me what he wanted and then ordering it on Amazon, and I picked out stuff I would like and so we’ll be getting things that could be of some use.  Mom’ll get a glut of chocolate, which is her most prized gift of all. 

And so we’ve come to the last blog of 2023, and I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and thanks a lot for your readership, it means a lot to me.  Let’s all hope for soul enrichment in 2024. XO