No competition

 I enjoy receiving Christmas news letters, I really do.  I especially like the ones with lots of pictures of children and/or grandchildren, or even pets.  But my good friends know that, about 40 years ago I gave up trying to compete with all the amazing accomplishments touted in Christmas news letters and resorted to "poems" that hit the highlights of my year.  One page, large print, plenty of white space, something people can read in 30 seconds or less.  I figure my close friends already know what I and my family have been up to and anyone else who cares can give me a call.  What brings this to mind is a news letter I received yesterday.  It was from a casual friend I've gotten to know this past year through Zoom meetings.  The letter was typed, four pages long, single spaced tiny print.  It listed, in great detail, all of the surgeries, recovery struggles and medical exams she has been through this year and a blow by blow description of the genealogy research she has been doing.  That last part might have been interesting to her family.  I did read the whole thing and have decided that I will continue with my silly poems, and the shorter and, considering the age of many of my friends, the larger the print, the better.  

I'll add that to my list.

 Today, according to my west coast brother who is enjoying eight degree weather right now, is "Still Need to Do Day."  Since I am a master of procrastination, and have been most of my life, I can embrace this day.  Not only do I put things off, but I make 'to do' lists every day.  These lists serve the dual purpose of allowing me to cross off the things I do accomplish (very satisfying) and giving me a head start on my 'to do' list for tomorrow - the things I still need to do.  Today, for example, I was able to scratch off get an oil change, buy groceries and pick up my mail (I always slip in an easy one).  Tomorrow's list is already started with two things I didn't finished today (church-related paper work and cleaning bathtubs) both so easy to put off.  Many years ago someone told me that procrastinators are perfectionists who tend to put things off because they fear they won't do a perfect job.  I really don't think that's my problem.  

Again?

 Today is National Chocolate Candy Day, and if you, like me, are thinking there seem to be a lot of days that celebrate chocolate in any given year, I think you're right.  Of course chocolate is a basic food group but still.  How many National Broccoli Days do you remember during the past 12 months?  or Liver and Onions Day? or Kohlrabi Day? or Asparagus Day? or Pot Roast Day? or Hard Boiled Eggs Day???  You get the idea.  I am happy to announce that, thanks to the Christmas generosity of friends and family, I am very well supplied to celebrate this happy chocolate day.  Cheers, everyone. 

a marvelous mug

 I have never received such a nice looking gift (the mug I mentioned yesterday) with such incomplete directions.  Or maybe I am just over complicating matters.  The paperwork that came with this heat holding mug shows how to press the on button and what the various colored lights on it mean.  Red - flashing, the mug's battery is charging up.  Green - it's charged and ready for me to pour in the tea.  When I followed their directions and went on line to learn more, I got a video demonstration of how to press the on button.  I really had figured that out.  What I finally discovered, after diligent searching, was that, if I want to keep my tea warm for longer than an hour and a half, I need to keep the mug on the little electric charging coaster. which first needs to be charged itself.  It turns out that what makes the mug hold heat is a liquid between the inner and outer layers that, evidently, holds the heat, once it's charged up.  This is supposed to be amazing new technology and I supposed it is but, I must admit, it reminds me of the feeding dish I had for my son when he was a baby.  I could pull out a little plug, fill the inside of the dish (between the layers of plastic) with hot water, pop the plug back in, and it would keep his food warm while he dawdled over his food.  What goes around comes around I guess.

'Twas the night after Christmas...

It's the night after Christmas and I can relax. 

The china is stacked in the cabinet with care, 

and the sparkly goblets have followed them there.  

The old faithful crockpot is back on it's shelf 

and the kitchen is cleaned by my jolly old self.  

And, if all goes well, 

I will have figured out how to charge up my new 

programable self heating mug before New Year. 

To be continued...

winding down

 Well, the big day is over.  I cooked and set a fancy table.  Ten of us crowded around it and enjoyed a really nice pot roast and a delicious salad.  My daughter-in-law made the salad.  I wasn't too thrilled about the carrots and potatoes I cooked with the roast, but they were ok.  On second thought, only nine of us enjoyed the roast, one of my granddaughters is a vegetarian, actually a pescatarian (she will eat fish but that wasn't on the menu).  She wouldn't even eat the veggies because they were cooked with the beef.  On the other hand, I did make sure the main course was completely gluten free for my daughter-in-law and provided non-dairy creamer for my son's coffee since he's lactose intolerant.  I don't remember cooking being so complicated before they all grew up.  Happily, we were all able to enjoy the delicious cranberry cake that my son-in-law baked for dessert.  He also brought an array of delicious cookies and candies, which we snacked on all afternoon.  Gifts were exchanged, laughs and memories were shared. It was a very merry family Christmas and now the dishes are stacked on the counters with care and I am heading for bed. 

What's red and white and red and white and red and white and red and white?  Santa rolling down the hill.  Sorry, I couldn't resist one last Santa joke.

It's Christmas Eve

  

CHRISTMAS 2021

2021 has been a year of coming alive

In so many ways.

Goodbye Zoom, hello real people.

It’s good to be out in the world.

Not traveling yet, but that will come.

I’ve had my shots, booster, flu shot and all.

Still loving those masks – they cover the wrinkles.

Had a part in a play, shared the stage with my son.

Such fun!

In rehearsal now for the next one.

Had weavings displayed in a gallery show.

Tutoring a fifth grader

And cheering on my grands –

In college and working and finishing high school.

My kids and their spouses are all simply fine,

Four different careers, each very well done.

The grand pets are thriving,

In their homes not mine.

And on Christmas Day they’ll all come

Over the river and into downtown

For dinner at my place,

My joy is complete.  May yours be too.

 

Merry Christmas, and God’s peace and great blessings,

As you experience the new of 2022.

 

green beans, continued

 I love it when things work out at the grocery store (or anywhere else for that matter).  I was right and the recipe for green bean casserole was on the back of the can of green beans, Del Monte to be exact.  Good for them! I was pleased to find the recipe and the beans, then proceeded to search for the other ingredients.  Happily, almost all of the ingredients were in the same aisle.  The real challenge came when I spied the only two cans of French fried onion rings on the very top shelf, one stacked on top of the other.  When I stood on my tiptoes I could just reach the bottom can.  I carefully eased it forward to the edge of the shelf, keeping the other can balanced on top, lifted them both down without incident and put them in my cart.  That's when I noticed I had an audience.  The aisle had been empty when I started my attempt.  Bottom line, I have everything I need for the casserole and my Christmas dinner, and I received a polite smattering of applause.  

Searching..

How hard can it be?  I think I mentioned a few days ago that I have volunteered to make green bean casserole for eighteen homeless women in a shelter on Monday evening.  I forgot to remember, when volunteering, that I have never made green bean casserole.  My brother used to make the green bean casserole for all of our family gatherings.  He had been refining his recipe over many years and it was delicious, but I never thought to ask him for it before he died.  Since I'm doing my grocery shopping tomorrow, I thought I'd better find a recipe.  I checked Google and several of my old cookbooks (I mean, the recipe has been around for a long time) and have found some consistencies - green beans, mushroom soup, canned onion rings.  But some add all kinds of spices, some include grated cheese, cheddar or swiss, baking time ranges from 20 minutes to an hour.  I think what I will do is check the labels on the green bean cans or the mushroom soup cans.  After all, my favorite recipe for pumpkin pie is on the Libby's cans of pumpkin.  Maybe it's on the cans of fried onions.  I mean what else do you use those onions for?  The hunt is on! It's probably good for me that I just have to drop off the casserole and leave.  I don't have to watch and see if anyone likes it.  But I'm not too concerned.  I have a theory that any veggie is improved by piling on plenty of cheese.

that time of year

 It's another solstice.  They come around every six months.  When I was in elementary school we were taught that the winter solstice was on December 21.  Now I have learned, from weather persons and Google, that the solstice can actually happen any time from Dec. 20 to 23.  This year though it actually is on the 21st so it seems official to me.  Since this is the 24 hour span with the most darkness (in our hemisphere) it seems appropriate that it is also National Flashlight Day.  In the olden days it was probably National Lantern Day.  I would like to do a little bragging here.  Earlier this year I learned how to operate the flashlight on my cell phone.  I think it was my grandson who showed me how.  Shake it hard, the light comes on, shake it again and the light goes off.  How easy is that?  Isn't it amazing what phones can do these days?  Happy WS everyone.  

An old fashioned treat

 Have you ever noticed how sometimes, when you're walking through a store something will just reach out and grab you or sneak into your cart when your back is turned?  When I was much younger and had toddlers riding in my shopping cart, I blamed it on them.  Those littles have amazingly long arms.  But these days it still seems to happen.  This week, for example, a box of chocolate covered cherries landed in my basket at Walgreens.  A much smaller target than a shopping cart but it happened.  But these candies were covered in more than chocolate.  A sweet memory accompanied them.  Chocolate covered cherries were my mother-in-law's very favorite candy and every year my husband would give her a box for Christmas. She always shared them of course.  So, in her honor, I shared them with my house guest and we finished off the box quite quickly.  Sweet memories indeed.  

too much of a good thing??

 I've had a friend staying with me for the last five days.  She had lived here in Fort Wayne for over 50 years, then, four months ago, moved to South Carolina to live nearer her son and his family.  She has lots of friends in this area and did her best to see most of them over these few days.  This has made her a very easy guest for me.  She ate breakfast, lunch and supper out every day and I didn't have to cook for her at all.  Many of our friends are mutual so we did some things together.  This afternoon for example, we went to a carry-in supper with members of a church group we are/were both in.  I know I am old enough to practice self control but, to avoid hurting anyone's feelings, it is absolutely essential to eat some of everything others have brought.  So I made the effort.  It was the least I could do.  Over the course of an hour and a half, I drank wine (I wasn't driving) ate little sandwiches, veggies and dill dip, cranberry coated goat cheese with crackers, meat balls, olives and meat and cheese roll-ups. So far so good, but then we went on to desserts.  After lemon pound cake, a spicy bunt cake with real whipped creamo, chocolates and homemade caramels I was really starting to feel a sugar overload.  So I drank more decaf coffee and ate one more caramel.  They really were delicious.  I'm pretty sure I shouldn't eat another sweet until Christmas, maybe Christmas 2022.  I'm sure the fact that I was sent home with two slices of cake and four homemade caramels (they are soooo good) won't tempt me at all.  I will just go turn off the kitchen light right now, ignore all the goodies on the counter, and go straight to bed.   

Time to worry?

 In my daily text exchange with my west coast brother today, I asked him if my Christmas package had arrived yet.  UPS had told me it would be there on the 17th and I was curious to know if that was accurate.  As it turned out it actually did arrive on the 17th, so all good there.  During the same exchange, I told my brother that his package to me had arrived a couple of days ago and was safely under the tree to which he responded "Glad ours got there, they didn't tape over the air holes did they?"  To which, after some thought, I replied "Air holes??? Uh oh! Probably shouldn't have had that 'Do not open 'til Christmas' sticker on it.  I love texting.  It gives me time to think of what I want to say before I respond.  You know what I'm talking about.  We've all had times when we thought of a snappy retort in the middle of the night which we wish we had used in a conversation the prior afternoon.  Hooray for texting.

Ugly???

 Today is National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day.  I'm sorry but I have a problem with this.  I own three Christmas sweaters and three Christmas/winter sweatshirts and I don't think any of them are ugly.  One sweatshirt has a penguin all dressed up for the holidays, another has Charley Brown and his Christmas tree and the third has a snowman.  What's so ugly about that?  My sweater selection includes one with a row of cute penguins and lots of snowflakes, one with a big Christmas tree on the front and a smaller one on the back and a black cardigan with big flashy poinsettias on it.  Now I ask you, do those sound ugly to you?  Perhaps my taste just isn't very sophisticated.  But speaking of Christmas outfits, I just finished watching the 1954 movie White Christmas staring Bing Crosby and they had some pretty fabulous outfits.  I wouldn't mind having a floor length red velvet gown with white fur trim.  I also wouldn't mind having the figure to go with it, but that ship has sailed.  

A truly fine idea

 Yesterday was Cat Herders Day.  i didn't comment on it because everyone knows that no one can herd cats.  And. if you look at it the other way, I don't think cats would ever bother to herd anything.  Chase and catch, yes, but herd?  I don't think so. On the other hand, today is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day and I can celebrate that, although I don't think I can go as far as chocolate covered broccoli or chocolate covered asparagus and certainly not chocolate covered cats, herders or not.  I did go to a carry-in lunch today and got to sample chocolate coated tiramisu and chocolate/caramel coated nuts so I think I have celebrated sufficiently.  

It's all in how you look at it.

 First, the riddle du jour.  Sorry, but this one needed to be shared.  "What do Spanish speaking sheep say at Christmas?"  

"Fleece Navidad!"  

Today is International Tea Day which is a natural for me because I drink tea every day, and have drunk it in several different nations.  One of my favorite tea related memories happened at the Duke Hotel in London.  My friend and I arrived a little too early for check in, but instead of just telling us so and leaving us to fend for ourselves for an hour, the charming clerk assured us that they were getting our room ready as we spoke, escorted us into a small, quiet parlor and brought us tea and biscuits (cookies to you) to help us pass the time.  I knew I had landed in my kind of place.  

that birthday gift

 Yesterday I mentioned that my daughter and son-in-law gave me a unique birthday gift.  My daughter's former jobs in the military included being a helicopter mechanic and assembling bombs so you might guess that this wasn't a soft and fuzzy gift.  It's a bright orange tool, about seven inches long with two hard points mounted across from each other at one end and a hook containing a sharp blade at the other.  I have actually seen these advertised on TV.  The idea is that, if you ever drive your car into a river or lake, the weighted double pointed end can be used to break a window and the blade end will help you cut yourself out of a jammed seat belt.  I am pleased to have this tool just in case, but I am usually very careful when I drive across the St. Mary's River.  Of course it is an old bridge and one never knows.  There may be other times when it would come in handy and I will keep it in a convenient location in my car but I think its best use will be to remind me to be careful.  A side thought, if anyone ever tries to break into my car when I'm in it, those weighted points could probably do some damage to hands or head.  Although I must admit Fiats are not high on the list of frequently highjacked cars.  

Happy Birthday to me

 Today is my 77th birthday.  It's been a great day, actually a very food-full day.  My son took me to lunch, seared tuna at Halls, yummy, and my daughter and son-in-law took me to Smoky Bones for supper.  My first time there.  The ribs, as promised, were excellent.  I received some birthday cards but many more Facebook notes and text messages.  My clever granddaughter and her friend texted me wishes for a happy 30th birthday.  I got an interesting gift which I will talk about in tomorrow's blog.  My funniest card was from my daughter and son-in-law. On the front "From Both of Us"  "Where would we be without you Mom?" with a cute cartoon picture of a man and woman.  Inside "One of us wouldn't exist and the other would be married to some loser."  Maybe you had to be there, but it made me laugh.  

more thoughts on baking

 There was a sign-up sheet at church last week asking for volunteers to prepare parts of some meals over the holidays.  One of my good friends was sitting at the table with the lists so I felt a certain pressure to volunteer.  I agreed to make a side dish for (not more than) 18 homeless women. So today she told me she's making meatloaf and asked me which side dish I would be bringing and I said, without thinking, green bean casserole.  It was after I got home from church that I realized I have never made green bean casserole in my life.  It was my brother's specialty and he brought it to all of our holiday dinners.  He died two years ago and I've been missing it, which is why it probably came to mind when I was thinking about side dishes.  My first thought, being of a certain generation, was to dig out my old cookbooks a find a recipe.  Then I realized it would be quicker to just Google it.  So I did, and found about a dozen variations.  They all sound good and they all used green beans and those canned crinkly onions so now I just need to pick one.  I'm leaning toward the one that says 'serves six.'  Three times six equals 18 and I'm all about easy math.  

keeping it simple

 This evening I watched the special Christmas edition of The Great British Baking Show.  I like this show.  It's fun to watch competitors make dishes I will probably never even taste, let alone make.  One of the main reasons is that I don't own a huge counter top, super strong food processor.  When I do whip up a cake it's using my good old hand held avocado green mixer.  The color will give you a clue to it's age, but it still works and it fits in my cupboard when I'm finished with it.  The other reason is laziness.  Tonight, while watching the show, I was able to add five items to my list of foods I will not be including on my Christmas day menu.  I will not be making a completely edible ginger bread house.  I did like how she decorated all of the flat surfaces before she assembled the house though, very smart.  I will not be making Minced Pie, although it did look tasty.  I will also not be making Stolen or Tunis Cake with Marzipan decoration or Black Bun with Short Crust pastry.  Most of these baked goods contained lots of fruit including raisins and currants (is there a difference?) which reminded me that I am one of the few people in the world who like fruit cake.  I will look for one on my next trip to the grocery store.  

Not another one?

 Ok, I promise this is the last one.  What do you call a person who is afraid of Santa?  Claustrophobic! Ho, ho, ho!  

Seriously, today is Dewey Decimal Day.  So here's a salute to all my librarian friends past and present.  Sometimes I wonder why I didn't become a librarian.  I haunted our small town library as a youth.  I thought it was so neat how the librarian (who had been the librarian since my father was a lad) stamped the due date on the little card and slipped it into the paper pocket inside the front cover of the book. In high school I volunteered to help in the school library.  In college I worked in a section of the library called Teaching Materials Services where teachers could check out pre-assembled displays to use in the classroom.  I can't even estimate how many letters, numbers and cute little critters I cut out.  But as college jobs went it was not too bad.  Looking back on it, I honestly don't know why I never even considered being a librarian.  Perhaps I suspected, deep down, that I would much rather be reading books than shelving them.  

riddle time

 What is Santa's native language?

North Polish.   That's from my west coast brother.

What three numbers give the same answer when added or multiplied?

I'll let you figure that one out.

What special invention allows people to see through solid walls?

Can you tell that my exercise leader has been telling us riddles in class?  That's not a riddle, just a fact.  

Another riddle she asked was 'What is the only animal that can't jump (not counting me)?'

The answer to the riddle is 'an elephant' but that's not really true.  She did some research between classes and it turns out there are something like 26 animals who can't jump.  They include starfish, hippos, rhinos, slugs, snakes and giraffes.  Sorry, that's all I can remember.  

 Today is "Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day."  When I learned this, I realized that, although I have never actually traveled back, or forward, in time, I have stood on the brink a few times.  When the neighbor and my brother and I played Cowboys and Indians (sorry, I know that's not PC but it's what we called it back then) in our old apple orchard and the corn crib with a 'main street' through the middle, we were there.  When I toured Carlsbad Cavern, remembering all the stories my recently dead mother had told me of her trip there in 1935, we touched hands. And, a few years ago, I stood on the hillside in Israel called Shepherds' Hill, looking down on Bethlehem.  It was daytime, not a silent night, and no one really knows if it's the actual hill where the shepherds watched their flocks, but every Christmas Eve I'm watching with those shepherds.

I'm no Longfellow

 I'm trying to write my annual Christmas poem, and I use the word poem very loosely.  I've tried some openings

"Over the river and through the traffic, to Nana's apartment they'll come..."

or how about "Dashing through the rain.."

or "Jingle Bells, jingle bells, FedEx all the way..."

or maybe  "There's no place like on-line shopping for the holidays.."

Nope, not there yet.  You will just have to wait for the final draft.  

 Today is National Microwave Oven Day, a day that really deserves celebrating.  I didn't own a microwave until we moved back from Ohio to Fort Wayne in 1982.  I never thought I needed one but since it was built in and came with the house I decided to learn to use it.  I think it may have been the first microwave ever, it was certainly quite elderly.  But it worked and I soon came to appreciate the joy of  quick and easy.  Four years before I downsized I remodeled my kitchen.  It looked great, with all new appliances including a lovely built in microwave.  Of course, when I downsized I had to leave the microwave behind.  The buyers would not have appreciated a gaping hole above the stove.  There was no microwave in my apartment and I decided I really could get along without one.  After all, how hard is it to heat things on the stove?  That decision lasted about two weeks, then I took myself off to Walmart and bought a nifty little red model that fit in a corner of the counter.  Happily, it is not hard to install a microwave.  "Do I use it much?" you ask.  Only about four or five times a day.  Happy Microwave Oven Day everyone.  Go and give yours a little pat, or better yet heat a cup of tea.

splish splash

 On this day in 1933 Prohibition was repealed, so it is, fittingly, National Repeal Day.  It's also Bathtub Party Day.  Now I have given a number of parties in my life, for birthdays, New Years Eve, Halloween, the usual, but I have never hosted, or even been invited to, a Bathtub Party. I'm not even sure what a Bathtub Party would be like. Would you and a few of your closest friends be standing around in your tub, drinking (bathtub gin?) and singing (because singing always sounds better in the tub)?  Actually, now that I think about it, I do remember one Bathtub Party.  I was five years old and my parents were entertaining our pastor and his wife and daughter.  Little Holly Heiny and I hit it off right away and had a great time playing together after dinner while the grown-ups talked.  In our roaming around the house we discovered that there was an inch of water in the bathtub.  I don't know why the water hadn't drained or why we decided that splashing in it would be great fun.  We took our shoes off, but, for some reason, left our socks on, then got in the tub and splashed and splashed and splashed.  Evidently we were a little noisy because before very long my father came in to see what we were up to.  He was not amused.  Scenes of slips and falls, concussions and law suits probably flashed through his mind. He lifted me out of that tub, zippy quick, gave me one quick swat on the bottom (the only time in my life he ever spanked me - no doubt that's why I remember it) and sent me off to tell my mother what I'd been up to.  It gets blurry after that but I'm pretty sure I was sent right to bed and Holly's parents took her home.  I'm glad that when, as a grown up, I entertained our pastor and his wife at our house, things went much better, except for our dog chewing a big hole in the pastor's wife's sweater.  But that's a story for another day.  

Let's go to the movies.

 Netflix has been running a series of original Christmas movies over the last week or so and I have watched a few of them.  I admit that the ones I usually am drawn to are the romances.  "A Castle for Christmas" was a recent good one.  This evening, however, I was pulled into watching what was essentially a children's story, a variation on the origin of Santa stories.  I turned it on when I discovered that it starred one of my favorite actors, Dame Maggie Smith.  She's been in Downton Abby and so many other great shows.  The fact that she has more wrinkles than I do simply increases my admiration.  So I was prepared to enjoy her performance, which I did, but I discovered a whole other dimension.  It turns out that the movie was filmed in the far northern reaches of Finland where I visited a few years ago.  As I watched the views of seemingly endless sweeps of snow and pine trees, little log cabins, and a reindeer pulling a wooden sleigh while the young hero trudged through the cold, I remembered that visit.  The area of Finland we visited was also part of the territory of Lapland.  This is where we rode in a one-reindeer sleigh, visited "the real Santa" in his village, rode in a dog-sled and trudged through a lot of cold.  I have never been colder in my life than on that trip.  Friends I was traveling with kept saying it was their favorite trip ever, but I found myself thinking longingly of hot, sunny Spain.  So the movie was a fun flashback to a very interesting trip, but without the cold.  Very nice indeed.  

I feel so safe.

I got my flu shot today at Walgreens.  I had tried to get it last Sunday but was told, in no uncertain terms, that I would have to make an appointment.  I have never, in any other year, had to make a reservation for a flu shot.  But, on Monday I went on line and registered and even printed out and filled in the required form.  Which I dutifully turned in when I got there today.  I mentioned to the nice young pharmacist who gave me my shot (quite painlessly) and slapped on the required red bandaid, that I had never had to have an appointment for a flu shot before.  He said they have really been 'slammed' this week. I suppose that's true what with Covid shots and boosters and shingles and pneumonia shots as well as flu shots.  While I was waiting my turn, without seeing anyone come out, an elderly couple came in (about my age) and signed in to be next after me.  I guess that qualifies as 'slammed.'  They evidently also had an appointment.  My generation is good at following directions.  

time flies

 Today is National Fritters Day.  Of course, when I learned that, my mind naturally turned to apple fritters, my very favorite kind of donut.  But fritter has another meaning and I must say, modestly, that I am an excellent fritterer.  I can fritter away time with the best of them.  I start each day with the best of intentions.  I even make lists of my good intentions, including house work, paperwork, and meetings.  But strangely, by the end of the day, I find I have only accomplished about half of what I set out to do.  I've been debating what to do about this.  I could be more focused I suppose, and work harder, but where's the fun in that?  I think perhaps I should write more realistic lists, something like - eat breakfast, make my bed, text a few friends, take time out to read a good book, eat lunch, take a nap, read a good book, eat supper, watch some TV, write in my blog and go to bed.  I'm pretty sure I could accomplish that list.  In fact I think I have.  Good night.

It's December

 It's December, a great month for many reasons.  Each year my son-in-law gives me a custom calendar full of pictures of my children, grandchildren and even the dogs.  I've been saving these for years and they are wonderful albums.  This morning, when I flipped the page to December, I discovered a picture of my daughter wearing something I had given her pre-pandemic.  It was a full-size pink bunny suit, like the one featured in the ever popular movie "A Christmas Story."  My son-in-law loves that movie and my daughter is a good sport.  Happy December everyone.