Christmas with John and Cynthia

We had Christmas with John and Cynthia yesterday. I went to the pool in the morning, bought a 3-month membership, and had a good workout. I came home, had a snack, vacuumed, mopped, and just as I was finishing they arrived. Ellen had made great hors-doevres, including home-made gluten-free crackers, which were delicious! The newly repaired fireplace was cozy, we talked, snacked, exchanged presents, opened gifts from other family, had a tasty supper of roasted root veggies with kale and solyanka (potato, cabbage and cheese casserole). Our gifts included food items, a game, Cranium, and socks. Also a date for a silent movie on New Years Day, and a Koren cartoon book. I gave warm socks, CDs I had made, and a book, The Unlikely Farmer, by George Kempton, a friend going back to Dummerston days in the 1950s. One gift I gave Ellen generated a lot of interest: a box of "Crotchety Cards." This is something new I invented: from the "Instructions" -- "Crotchety Cards are a new invention designed to provide a positive intervention when I seem to be in a crotchety mood. They are a way of my giving permission for you to intervene by selecting a card that seems appropriate at that moment, to, in effect, change the mood. You will give me the card, and I will both immed-iately know that I have been crotchety, and will enter into the new dynamic created by the card. The cards are not a mandate, they make a suggestion and are a mood-changer. I hope you will be willing to give them a try! Your loving husband....." Here are some cards: ggg Crotchety Cards A trip to Allen Brothers for donuts ggg ggg Crotchety Cards A trip to Ocean State Job Lots for whatever ggg ggg Crotchety Cards A trip to Ogunquit to walk on the beach ggg

These cardsheets were cut up into individual cards and put into a little box.

Card box************************* Ellen really liked this idea! I was very pleased. I think it will make a difference.

Our cozy supper