In The Dark

 Thank the Good Lord I woke up once again.  When you get to this age, you're thankful every time you open your eyes, even if it is at 2:05 in the morning.  They say that anyone born before 1947 is now a 1%er because only 1% of those folks are still alive.  I'm not sure if that's from all the good living on the ranch or from all the preservatives in today's food!!!

I did a little cooking in the morning since the 38 degree fog kept me at bay all day long.  I chopped up the rest of the turkey, threw in some carrots and a can of cream of chicken soup.  Chicken - turkey ... you say tomato, I say tomaato!  Lastly, some rice and peas made for quite the tasty lunch.  

Okay, to be honest, it's not all that good, and sadly I have two more quarts of it to eat.  

I have to admit I'm giving it up to Amazon.  I ordered these sketchers one day and they were delivered the next.  I was reluctant to try them on.  I'm used to big and wide running shoes.  These are small and narrow.  So narrow in fact, I was sure they were not going to work.  I slipped them on.  WHAT?  They fit perfect!

I thought they would slip on my heel ... which they did for a couple of hours, but now feel REALLY good!    I can wear them with or without socks and they are washable too!  True to size, I've had them on ever since.  I ordered another pair because they are on sale for $45.00 instead of the normal $60.00.  Even at $60 I would buy them.  My running shoes ran well over $100.00.  And so far my back feels MUCH better.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to gussy up once again for yet another Christmas party.  This is the Twelve Days of Christmas, as in the Partridge in a Pear Tree song.  Instead of going bar to bar this year, they changed it up to house to house.  

Off I went in the dark fog.  I chose to go the least traffic congested way, which meant country roads where the white lines have been erased over the years and there are no street lights.  That was probably a mistake.  I missed the first turn, RECALCULATING and couldn't see the second one.  I did a four point turnaround in the middle of the road and backtracked.  I made that turn, but almost ran off the side of the overpass for lack of ANY distinctive signs there even WAS a road there.

This was a gated community, so I got out, pushed all the buttons and waited.  Nothing.  It took three tries before the gate began to move.  Whew ... I made it!!!  

I am very thankful this Christmas, that even though I said I would do this, they completely forgot me and conned twelve other folks into doing it.  Wow the preparation!  This one had beef sliders, loads of chips and dips, all the usual party fare, including dessert of lemon squares.

Each one has a signature drink to boot.  Since basically I don't do alcohol, they made a "light" one for me.  This was margarita mix, vodka, triple sec and lemon juice, topped with cranberries and a swig of rosemary.  I'm telling you, that rosemary made ALL the difference.  You could smell it as well as taste it.  It had me smiling all night long.  Oh ... and a sugar rim.  This one is a keeper if I can steal the recipe.

Basically the same large group is going house to house three times a week.  No one ever said Elks don't like to party!  The cool part is I have known most of these people for 15 years ... and now I get to see where they live.  This was a condo with a huge back yard wrapped around two sides of the house.  

Of course I loved the dog on the wall and the waterfall.  In fact, they have THREE waterfalls.  I would do this if I ever spent any time on my patio.  

The fireplace ... that's a keeper.  It's really not under the orange tree, but it's close.  Obviously the orange tree is a happy camper!  It's covered in oranges!

Though I only wanted to stay an hour, two hours later I was trying to get out the door.  Again, driving at night isn't something I enjoy any more.  I made it back to the gate they said would automatically open.  It did not.  Hmmm maybe there is another OUT gate.  I drove around the streets twice, turning around at two dead ends before going BACK to the first gate.  Lucky for me, THIS time it opened.  I'M FREE!!!!

There's another party tonight, and yet ANOTHER one Monday night.  They are running a bit behind since Christmas is so close.   I think I'll have to skip those.  That's WAY too much time spent getting ready to go out for me.  One day a week I can do.  Two days maybe.  Three or more?  Oh heck NO.  I like lounging around the house too much.

Besides, I need at LEAST two days of doing absolute nothing, to gear up for Bingo!!