Good morning GH. It is just past 12:00 AM in "The City" and the current temperature is 29 degrees. Light snow is falling. There is another winter weather advisory in effect from now until the later morning, with the greatest snowfall occurring between midnight and 8:00 AM. We may see between three and six inches of additional accumulation along the shore of the "Big Lake." Naturally, that's where we live. It's a good thing we don't have to go out until Friday afternoon for P/T.

I am currently watching an old John Wayne movie on the television in the dining room as I type this blog. Mary and Adam would say that there is nothing unusual about that. In fact last year, Mary got me a John Wayne statuette for Christmas. It doubles as an ornament on our tree, and a decoration in my office the rest of the year. I thought that it couldn't get any better than that, but this year, I found out that it could.

We waited until after breakfast to open our presents. Our day started great with French toast and maple syrup. That came after Sugar the Weather Dog had returned from her morning constitutional. Sugar began her day with a walk. Then she got to switch roles to that of the estate sous dog, and clean up the leftover egg batter that Mary had used for the French toast.

My Christmas present this year was the quilt that Mary has been working on for about a year. It is knitted with my favorite stitch, and I love it. Sugar got a special treat too, a reindeer shaped biscuit from the store downtown. She loved her present too. I was rather pedestrian in my gifts to Mary. A stainless steel bowl and a covered measuring cup for her kitchen. When you get older, it gets hard to buy things that don't repeat themselves. Since I finished the first set of highlighting late last night, I don't have any more to do until tomorrow.

Speaking of Mary and special presents, there is more to the story. As I mentioned, I was watching a John Wayne movie when a commercial came on for one of the many products that is advertised these days. Most of these commercials feature attractive young women whose job it is to attract you to the product. That's where Mary comes back into the story.

When I was young, I had the opportunity to meet Mary at the gas station where I was working. I've told this story before, but what I didn't mention, was that even then, she was one of those attractive young women. Not an actress, but a young lady with potential. Attractive sure, but with an intellect to back it up. Plus, she talked to me and accepted my invitation to dinner. That was over forty years ago, and nothing has changed. She is still beautiful to me and her intellect is sharper than ever.

But I digress. The second part of my present came later. About 4:30 PM, Mary came down from working and told me to come to the kitchen and help her with dinner. She was planning on making lentil based shepherd's pie, part of our Christmas tradition. My contribution was mostly moral support, but I like to think that that is an important job. I did help with the potatoes after Mary created a glass of eggnog for me, consisting of almond milk, an egg, and cinnamon, mixed with spiced rum. It was great. Once she got everything everything chopped, assembled and in the oven, she made a gravy of her own devising. It was the perfect complement for the shepherd's pie. Finally, dinner was served. Sugar the Sous Dog also assisted in the cleanup of the dinner prep. The pie was excellent and I got to have one of my favorite things as a side, jellied cranberry sauce.

Afterwards, I retired to my chair while Mary cleaned the kitchen. She doesn't want me handling her china with only one good hand. But once again, I digress. In addition to her intellectual abilities, Mary has morphed into a great chef. She adapts and changes recipes to suit my finicky tastes. What more could a man ask? In short, along with her tolerance of me, she can cook with the best of them.

I guess that it is time to close out this tale. Christmas was great again this year. As Mary said, traditions become traditions when they are instituted. So we have a traditional Christmas of shepherd's pie and sharing presents that don't cost a lot, but which are both useful and wanted. I hope I did okay.

Tea time will be sometime after sunrise at 8:15 AM. Then highlighting, more "homework" for me, and reading. I think it is time to get back to Cheerios and apples for breakfast. Ciao.