This Is It ...

He got the news directly from the mouth of his guidance counselor. Then he got a very nice "welcome to Sarah Lawrence" phone call from the associate director of Admissions there.

That's all well and good. Great even. Totally psyched.

But I've been waiting for this hot little number to hold in my hot little hands.

Who doesn't love their very own fat envelope?

Christmas 2013

Happy Holidays! We celebrate Christmas at our house, and the tree is finally done.

So here's our tree, with our newest family member, Roodolph Nuryev, the roomba.
He's on sabbatical until all the decorations he can knock over
are put away for the year. So, if past history is any indication ... July.

Tom never understood why we needed to have garbage on our tree,
but this carved wooden apple core was one of my original ornaments. 
It's always on the tree every year. Don't mess with my apple core.

Souvenir from  Albuquerque, this picture doesn't do justice to this carved gourd.
Also, who else has a fruit-slice-garland on their tree? 
I'm the only one I know!

Humuhumunukunukuapapa'a (I know! I can't believe it's not in spellcheck, either!),
carried with great care from the famous Maui Aquarium debacle of '010 to Honolulu, to Boston. 

Another souvenir -- I see a trend here -- this one from Maine, where the deck hosted hummingbirds,
galore. Oh, and bears. But the life-sized hummingbird ornament fit better in my suitcase.

I wish I could remember when I made this nativity scene. I know I had it in
my office on Church Street, which would have been 1987 (Hi Maurice!).
Every time I put it out now I expect to come down stairs in the morning
and find the dog next to an angel in shreds on the floor.
So far so good.

Spider web. This ornament feels right at home in our house.
It has plenty of company.

And, of course, Scruffy.

Love. Enough said.