Black Friday

and I avoided the stores like the plague. When I was a child, it was our family tradition to make fruitcakes on this day--the day after Thanksgiving. The hard part was putting them back for two weeks to ripen. When I got my own home, I began making them the Saturday after my birthday--which is November 11. That way, by the time Christmas season got here, they would be ready. Now, since I can't eat them, and Cody doesn't like them, we don't even bother. I know most people don't like fruitcake, and it's the butt of ridicule everywhere, but I love it, and miss being able to eat it.

We woke up to the first hard frost of the year. It was cold, too. Thirty one degrees. It almost feels like winter out there.

Even Rylea didn't stay out long. My rousing breakfast of pumpkin pie and hot chocolate hit the spot.

Pumpkin pie is a vegetable. Really, it is.

After lunch, Cody and I went driving. Cody is driving now. Yes, he is.

And I am getting grayer by the day. Or should I say, by the mile?

When we got back home, Cody got the Christmas tree out and put it together, with a little puppy assistance.


I was kind of worried about how Jake would react to the tree, but after a few curious sniffs he has completely ignored it.

We got the lights up, and will decorate it tomorrow.


Now, it's late. Cody is in the living room watching Star Trek movies. Jake is sleeping under my desk. Rylea is outside barking like a fool, and I'm about to head for bed.

After one more episode of Lost, that is.

Goodnight.