Starting All Over Again

We made it to 2019! Taking everything into consideration, I think that's a remarkable accomplishment. I spent (and I know you did too!) part of this last year worrying about nuclear annihilation and the epidemic of stupidity that has swamped our country so to see the dawning of 2019 is some sort of milestone.
It's hard to fathom but we're celebrating our 8th anniversary of buying this house today. Yikes! That went by in flash.  We have done lots of great things here, and so far haven't done a few funny things- like fix those weird holes in the wall in the living room. (They're conveniently hidden behind the dining table most of the time.) As some one reassured us at our house purchase party, "You have the rest of your lives to do things". I'm paraphrasing but it was something to that effect!
Baring unforeseen disasters (tornado, anyone?) Bob and I are eager to get on with more interesting and challenging projects such as redoing the kitchen sink and making the famous mosaic wall. Last year's tornado did throw us off schedule (not that we have an official "schedule") and we're still picking up the remains of that storm.
Better things in 2019! Impeachment of a certain (neurologically disturbed) Orange Menace? Move forward of effective Climate Change?Making my first million dollars... yay!!! I guess- despite a nasty head cold that Bob and I thoughtfully shared- I'm somewhat cautiously optimistic today.

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

OOps! That's not the tree, but a thoroughly goofy present from a good friend from several years back... but they do get us in the mood for Xmas and all things Xmas-ian...
Like the fabled tree. We do all remember that for the past several years I have been drumming into people's minds (with the infernal Little Drummer Boy beating accompaniment) that the two things necessary for celebrating Christmas are 1.) the Tree and #2.) Cookies.
Here's the first:

All ready to go! Purchased at Home Depot just two nights ago with an accommodating Home Depot employee tearing a tag off a lower priced tree and slapping it on a higher priced tree for us after Bob accused the guy of not wanting to help us out. Way to go, Bob! Always saying that the squeaky wheel gets the grease... Looks great all trimmed and lit. (I always remember the year that a certain relative never decorated their tree and the nude tree just sat in one corner of the room for a couple of weeks. You know who you are!) Kind of like this before photo:

Nothing wrong with this, but it does look naked! Here's the table before the clutter was cleared and the decorations were carefully hung:

That's a fun sort of mess. But we had to clear a path for Bob and I to address Christmas cards. We made a ton of them the other night and now have to say clever things and lick envelopes. You'd think that Jules the Dog would be good at that, but he seems indifferent, despite wearing a respectable amount of glitter on his head. I like these activities. They serve to offset the dark and cold of this time of year. Next, I hit the kitchen to make cookies, and eat too much dough.