2008-11-28

After Morning Offering, at which Phell and Mel joined Mick and me, Mick set out on his somewhat abbreviated Friday rounds – abbreviated both because he has put some Friday customers’ yards to bed already and because a couple of customers had company and wished him to wait until after our return from Nebraska to touch up their yards.

When he came home around 2:00 p.m., he embarked on a marvelous clean-up of our gutters. Then he blew all the leaves where he could mulch them, and cleaned up the Camelot acre so that it looks splendid. And for a finale, he planted the porch flower boxes with pansies, with lots of purple in them in honor of my Purple Winter – I get my hair colored purple on December 23rd!

While Mel played hostess for Phell and Eric, a role at which she excels, I got the Bacon and Egg Casserole with Gruyere and Parmesan Cheeses through its final bake and reheated the biscuits from last night by sprinkling them with water in a paper bag and refreshing them in the microwave. The casserole was a huge success!

We continued conversing until after 11:00 a.m., at which time Eric and his Mom set out on a round of shopping, looking for cheap bulk foods. They are somewhat alarmed about the economy and want to have 3 months of food laid away Just In Case! I admit that I prefer to be more optimistic about how things will pan out. They drove back to Marion County directly after that, so we said good-bye before they shopped. They are wonderful guests, old, old friends with lots to say and always full of fun.

I came upstairs after they left to have my chapel time and write my Holly Journal entry for today, then corrected the recipes we had cooked for Thanksgiving to reflect our additions and changes.

Then I got out my Christmas Gift List and massaged it, putting the giftees into five groups – two girl friends get their own bags, as I will see them in person. The third group is Christmas Day people. The fourth group is Rueckert Christmas people. And the fifth group is those to whom we will mail the presents.

I also printed out my travel sheets, which guide me in getting all my gear ready to pack. I prepared these lists some years ago to avoid forgetting to pack necessities. I will work on crossing items off those lists tomorrow.

While we are gone, Mel, bless her heart, will wrap the presents and place them in their groups for Mick’s ease in handling them when we come home on December 9th.

Mick spent the rest of his afternoon watching his favorite game of the year, the Nebraska game. This year it was versus Colorado and to Mick’s delight, Bo Pelini’s team fought back a marvelously resilient Colorado team to win 40-31! The highlight of the game was an improbable 57-yard field goal swacked in by Alex Henery. Then Husker end Ndamukong Suh intercepted a Buffalo pass and ran it back 30 yards for the game-cinching touchdown. Mick was in alt!

Meanwhile I fiddled with the Christmas letter which we like to enclose in our cards until it fit on the page, and printed them out on the Christmas computer stationary Mick found. Now we’re all set for Mick to put the cards together in Nebraska.

Mick and I bathed at half-time and said good-bye to Mel after the game – she helped Mick cheer the Huskers on – and then came upstairs for a lovely date, after which I went sound asleep. Mick roused me for supper and the Gaia Meditation, at which he offered the closing prayer.