George is one of those unlucky people who has his birthday at Christmastime. I kept putting off thinking about what to get him for his birthday yesterday, since I was all wound up about Christmas presents. It had even occured to me to do the unthinkable and just "forego" the birthday present, or give him one of his Christmas presents instead. That is exactly why it is bad to have a birthday at Christmastime: people just can't help but try to take shortcuts.
In the end, feeling very guilty for my stingy thoughts, I bought him a new pair of slacks and a matching knit shirt. I wanted to buy him a warm hat for "show snoveling" as he calls it, but didn't find one. Time to get the knitting needles out. He also got a new deep fryer (can't wait to try that out), a box of beautiful pears from Harry and David, an LLBean maroon sweater, another beautiful plaid shirt and dinner at a Korean restaurant with his son and daughter-in-law.
No, I didn't make this cake in the picture; Martha Stewart did, but we can dream can't we? Did you hear the news that they had a Christmas decorating contest at her prison? Prison employees shopped at the local K-Mart, spending no more than $25, and each team gave them their list. Martha's team lost. I'm sure by now you have realized that I am a dyed-in-the-wool Martha Stewart fan, that I can't help myself, and that I have not lost my admiration for her talents even though her lustre is a bit tarnished by being extraordinarily greedy and being sent to prison. She still makes beautiful stuff.
Back to the real world. George's office mates have special lunches for birthdays and events, (unlike my office that seldom celebrate together), so he also got to go out for lunch yesterday with his co-workers at my favorite Portugese restaurant, Atasca. Do I sound a little jealous? I feel like my day was mostly keeping nose to grindstone, and I had milk and cereal for dinner. Somehow, the fun has GOT to start soon!! Michael said that they had a flyer at his workplace yesterday about how to beat "holiday stress". He said, "I don't know what all that stress is about, we just sit on a couch and watch James Bond." Funny, Michael.
It is cold--7 degrees this morning--but with hope for warmer weather soon. Looks like Michael and Michelle will have good travel weather on Thursday. I can't wait to see them and for the fun to begin!
Have a wonderful stress-free day!
