Christmas tidings

Well, that was fun.
Wally and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas.

I can't believe how much we ate and ...

slept.

I hope your holiday was just as sweetly spent.

One thing I've noticed is how important it is to unearth oneself from the mundane "everyday"

to create the rituals that matter.

for me, it's the beauty and quiet and relationships, and of course,

food!

With a bad back this month and a cold that seemed to come on like a shadow,leaving me quite weary, I let a lot slide this year.

Fortunately, Wally picked up the slack and between the two of us, we pulled together a festive holiday for two.

Wherever you are in the world, in your life, I hope you remember that there is always someone who cares, even if you haven't met them yet. I don't mean a sweetheart per se, but just someone who really gets you and knows your true heart and loves you just the way you are. Along the way, we learn that being that someone is often how we create that reality for ourselves.

Now take Muji for example, or, as I sometimes call him,  "nudje-y" (noodge is Yiddish for pestering)

Muji can be the most charming of cats,

loving to a fault, he is SO sweet, that I've often wondered how he would ever make it in the "real world", the one where he'd have to fend for himself.

"Fend for myself??"

Well, in many ways, I identify with his confusion.

And so this sweet little misfit who needs love and affection despite his 

ENORMOUS hairiness ( my goodness, I have to wear a special apron to hold him)

has found a place in our hearts

and so we've learned to endure the gravelly nagging "song of his people"

and love him just the same.

By the way, that isn't Muji's cigar case on the table, nor is it Wally's, but a co-worker of Wally's who is saving them for him ( for me ) for art projects.

I have some more pictures to share of how we spent our holidays coming up.

"stay tuned"

(Geez, I suppose only my generation knows what that means, LOL. It's like translating another language just to talk the way I always have. Part of the slide into redundancy I suppose. Did I ever tell you about the time I made a reference to Katherine Hepburn to a bright looking young woman? She said she didn't know her- as if she was a local woman. Oh please don't tell me you don't either. Well, that's what I mean about redundancy. sigh )