This is such a weird December. This year I have actually done what I always try to do, and gotten all my packages mailed at the beginning of the month. I also ordered some gifts online and had them shipped directly to the recipients. Now all I have left to do is to order a few custom calendars, which I will also have mailed directly to the recipients. I may even do that with the ones that are for local people, because I order from Costco, and with current restrictions, people are waiting in line for about an hour to even get into the store. We are lucky because our neighbor goes regularly, and he offers to get things for us while he's there.

In the meantime, I am doing the food and doing regular life, or at least as regular as it can be. We have lots of cool birds in our yard. I see the Sandhill Cranes flying in to roost in the Rio Grande for the night when I drive home from work. I am finding comfort in my pets. Our crazy young dog is settling down. In the morning, she lies on the bed and waits for me to come read and drink my shake. When I get into bed with my shake, she snuggles up against my legs and sleeps. When we got her in April, she insisted that I continuously throw toys for her during that time.

This weekend we will get our tree. This year we may not put the breakable ornaments on the tree, until we know how Shana will react to a tree. I asked her former owner how she is around a Christmas tree, but she only had a tabletop tree.

I have also been making a new set of masks for winter. I got some fabric that has a holiday feel to it but is not holiday-specific, so I can keep wearing them all winter. We got a sewing machine, which makes it so much quicker and easier to make masks. I was able to make a batch for a friend.

How are you all doing?
Allison