better late than ever: merry xmas to one & all!

i am on the tail end of a number of well deserved days off of work, the last day off to be exact. and, it is the day i am getting an hour or two in my studio. here is the holiday board book i finally finished. i had a lot of fun with it and i tried to make it just that: fun and easy. not too challenging. the holidays are too stressful for that. i've been painting more and more. i do enjoy the painting... there will be more of that in the new year for sure.

the holidays are always hectic and this year was no exception. as i have no family living nearby, it is only marc's mom and aunt & uncle that grace us with a visit on holidays. sometimes they are in good spirits and other times, not so much. this was a not so much year. not that it was horrible, but it could have been a little more cheery. life is too short to spend time complaining. oh well. i called my aunt edwina who was in very good spirits indeed. that was a good attitude adjustment for me. a little pick-me-up from my 83 year old aunt in upstate new york. :) anyway, for xmas dinner we had ham, pinneapple chutney, twice baked potatoes, cucumber salad,  and ginger creme brule' for dessert (which i highly recommend). all recipes courtesy fine cooking magazine - yes i cooked all from scratch, thank you! i usually don't make ham for the migraine factor, but marc's family loves it, so i had just a tiny piece and sent them along witha goodie bag of the bulk of it. 

i know there are many of you out there who will think this is strange, but frankly, i don't care... :) my xmas tradition is to listen to holiday punk rock music on xmas day while i cook xmas dinner. i'll answer your first question about that: yes, there is plenty of punk rock xmas music out there, much more than i even own. the second question you have is "you actually LIKE punk rock xmas music" - no - I LOVE IT! some of my perennial faves are: "feliz navi-nada" by el vez," there ain't no sanity claus" by the damned, the classic "merry christmas (i don't wanna fight tonight)" by the ramones, and my beloved angel joey ramone singing "christmas (baby please come home)", and "what a wonderful world" (ok, not really a xmas song, but it fits in my playlist)... don't worry, those of you mortified by the idea of punk rock music at xmas time - i do mix in a bit of dean martin xmas songs (don't ask how, but it works) and some enya and vince guaraldi trio. and least i forget, some surfin' xmas tunes - always my fave - los straitjackets and the ventures (of course). there are some regular rock xmas songs mixed in there too for good measure by bands like smashing pumpkins "christmas time" and fall out boy "what's this?" for those of you keeping track... try it sometime - you just might like it! it's peppy if nothing else. 

our weather roller coaster continues. subzero temps before christmas, then on the 26th it was in the 50's melting the multitude of snow we had on the ground leaving mostly mud and yuck for the dogs in the backyard. sunday, cold and a dusting of snow. today is in the 40's, so we have yuck again. my papillon is very upset indeed. papillons do NOT like to get their feet wet, much less muddy. the cavalier could care less what he walks or runs through or tracks in the house. 

peace to you all and may you all have a wonderful, prosperous new year.