trying out the new camera, and an uplifting little christmas story

Tonight was the kids' band concert, and it was a really nice concert too.

This was lunch.  We did eventually get this disheveled house neatened up.

 A niece and an auntie:

 This was a gorgeous nap.  I fell asleep before he did and he kept waking me up, "Gramma, milk all gone."

"Okay, fine.  Just put it over there. I'm sleeping."   I put my nose back in his hair and dozed again. 

He had more to say, talking around the pacifier, "Gramma, trains." 

"Go to sleep."

It was hard to drag myself from here and get back to work.

 Okay, this is the part about the uplifting little Christmas story.

 My dad sent this fruitcake for me.  I  asked my mom why??

She laughed, "When he saw it he thought of you!"  (I hate fruitcake, but I didn't expect him to remember that, made me laugh.)

This goes back to many years ago when I worked at a place that gave Christmas bonuses, so everyone would get a hundred dollars or $200 depending on how many hours we'd worked.

Well one year they discontinued this without notice and we all got FRUITCAKE.  Okay, that's just an insult when you're anticipating $100 and get handed a $5 fruitcake.

It wasn't a loaf like this though, it was a circle cake with a hole in the middle.  I wanted the thing out of the kitchen so I tied it to the swing set for the birds and squirrels.

They didn't eat it, but I did see our dog--an elegant standard poodle named Tammy--leaping through the air snapping at the fruitcake.

The kids and the Tammy by the Christmas tree, 1983

See, wasn't that a lovely little story?   

The kids did try to eat it tonight while we were at the band concert, but they were defeated.  I saw the bites they spit out in the trash.

These guys stopped by tonight for a little while:

 It's hat day at school tomorrow, so they picked out some hats.

And that is that.  

Onward. 

As you know, tomorrow is FRIDAY, the best day OF the week, and this was a pretty fine Thursday, so look out.    love, Val