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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 23 December 2000 (Week 52)

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To respond or comment on something I have written email me. I would love to hear from you.  If you have problems reaching me at the first address, I can also be reached at fritchman@triad.rr.com.

Christmas 2000 at the Thompson house!

Read visit my WebCitings  page featuring reviews of interesting web sites.

You can view the Netwidows Recipe web site for recipes from myself and the other Netwidows and the Daynotes Gang.

Saturday, 23 December 2000

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This week has 9 days. Rather than creating a two-day Week 53 page or making a Week 53 page that included five days in 2001, I decided just to make this final week's page for 2000 include the last two days of the year. Starting next year, my diary page will run Monday through Sunday rather than Saturday through Friday.

I've also decided to steal Bob's layout for my daily journal page...

The above message brought to you by my webmaster. Now for my news.

We had a rather quiet day around here yesterday up until late in the day. After going to the gym and the store I spent most of the day in my office working or playing with the dogs. It was very windy and cold so we had to spend a lot of time playing indoors.

Late yesterday afternoon I was taking a break and reading. Malcolm was beside me on the couch cleaning his paws. Except he kept licking the same spot over and over. I took a closer look and lo and behold, he had halfway torn his dew claw on the right leg. It was broken and not bleeding but was obviously bothering him. When Duncan tore his, he tore it all the way and it bled like heck.

I took Malcolm back to the bedroom where Bob was reading and had Bob hold him while I took a look. I decided it needed vet attention as it was broken back into the quick at the base of the nail. So, off we head to the vets, which is right around the corner. They cut if off, cauterized and bandaged it and we were back home in less than thirty minutes. It was really bothering him and he kept trying to chew the bandage off. I finally added some additional vet wrap and tape and he left it alone. 

Two days until Christmas. Try hard as I may, I cannot help but get excited about Christmas day. I love the day and enjoy giving all the neat gifts I have found for people. 

Today I will do some work in my office and maybe go ahead and bake my muffins for Christmas day. I need to clean up my office and put all the wrapping stuff away.

Sunday, 24 December 2000

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I know everyone is busy with last minute preparations but if you tried to read my page from yesterday, you couldn't. Bob forgot to do my redirect and you could not see my page for yesterday. So, if you are interested you can go back and read it too. Sorry.

I have really missed all the Netwidow's postings with the busy holiday season. Welcome back Lynne and Wendy. 

I am now working on my new computer and Christmas present from Bob, Sherlock. We did the swap out yesterday and reconfigured all my software, mail, and Internet stuff. Now I have a really fast computer.

While Bob did some of the stuff on my computer I did the vacuuming and dusting. This morning I will clean the bathrooms and then spend the remainder of the day doing Christmas preparation stuff. I need to get the living room set up for tomorrow and do a little baking.

Duncan woke us up at 6:00 am this morning with one of his vomiting episodes. Unfortunately when this happens Malcolm gets all excited and tries to attack Duncan for some unknown reason. At any rate, we got all the dogs out for an early morning constitutional while I cleaned up the floor. After we brought them back in and gave Duncan his medicine, we headed back to bed. I woke back up at 8:00 and got up, followed not long after by Bob.

We just took Malcolm's bandage off his leg. It looks rather nasty but will heal up fine and he will grow another nail. 

After reading Shelly's post about her memories of Christmas stockings, I too would like to share fond memories of many, many Christmas seasons. We were never allowed in the living room Christmas morning until everyone was awake. I have vague memories of Christmas mornings before my sister came along but plenty of strong ones after that. We would wake up our parents and all go into the living room together to see what Santa had brought. It was always so neatly arranged and my sister and I shared with each other what we had received. And of course, my folks were equally as surprised. Our stockings were always hanging on the door until around the time I turned 14 or so. Then they started hanging the stockings on our bed posts and we were allowed to open them in the morning while my parents slept in. My mom still does stockings for us and does one for Bob, too. Even when I was home from college we still did not go into the living room on Christmas morning until we were all awake. 

Being part of such a wide network of friends with the Netwidows and reading their Christmas stories has made me even more aware of what the true spirit of the Christmas and Yule season is all about. I am truly lucky to still have both my parents to share the holiday with and do not ever take that for granted. I also, more than ever, realize that my love and excitement of the season came from how special my parents made Christmas for us. It carries over into our adult lives and although I do not have children to share the holiday with I still get just as excited about the season. Each year it brings back all those fond memories of the various things we did to make the holiday special to us. Bob hates Christmas and the big hoopla we make of it but has been very patient over the years to at least attend and go along with it somewhat. It still means a great deal to my folks that they continue to make it a special time even though we are grown and have our own households to run. 

For those who will be traveling to friends and relatives tomorrow, drive safely. Merry Christmas or whatever custom or religion you like to celebrate; enjoy the day. I hope Santa is good to all of you. And for those of you following Grinch Bob's plans for Santa, the only thing going up outside tonight are the luminaries along the street. 

Monday, 25 December 2000

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

We had a quiet Christmas Eve reading and listening to Christmas music. Up at 7:00 this morning. No dead Santa or reindeer, just blown over luminary bags. When I got up early this morning around 3:00am to go to the bathroom they were still burning. Several of the houses right around us also put them out making our part of the street very pretty.

Bob needs to clean up the kitchen and load the dish washer and I need to make a pitcher of ice tea. The family should be arriving between 9:30 and 10:00. We will do brunch and began opening stockings followed by presents. We take our time and make it an all day affair rather than rush through. The luxury of not having kids I guess.

Mom is bringing home made cinnamon rolls, sausage balls, and the like for brunch. I made muffins and have a cheese spread and a honey baked ham.

At some point we will get Lenore dressed so she can join us in the living room for gift opening and dinner out with us instead of in her room. We always eat Christmas dinner around 4:30 or 5:00 to end the day.

I will take some pictures with the digital to post on the Christmas page. If you have not seen Wendy's with their dog Daisy under the tree, take a look. You will not see pictures of my three 50 pound plus dogs under the tree but they are getting new toys to play with.

Hope everyone's day was splendid.

Tuesday, 26 December 2000

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We had a wonderful day yesterday. I put up a few of the pictures I took with the digital camera and will add the ones from the 35mm later in the week.

After the family arrived we laid out the brunch food, which was enough to feed most of the neighborhood. Eating was followed by stocking opening and the assault on the pile of presents. We open our gifts very slowly, with each person taking a turn so it does take awhile. The dogs had a good time too with all the people and activity in the house.

We took a break to get drinks and snacks and rolled Lenore out to partake of another round of gift swapping. The dogs also got their new toys to play with and keep them occupied while we did the gift thing. After finishing up I took Lenore back to her room and we cleaned up the kitchen to prepare for dinner.

The standing rib roast went into the oven at 3:00 and around 4:00 we began the other preparations making the rice, heating the green beans, and waiting on the meat. It did not get done until a little after five, mom made the gravy while the bread heated and the meat rested. It turned out perfect. We rolled Lenore back out to have dinner with us in the kitchen. We had a nice meal and just as we were finishing up a friend of my sisters called to say he was on the way. When he arrived, we warmed up some of the food for him. Also, our friend from England that used to live here in Winston and moved away called to wish us a happy holiday. It was good to hear from her.

Everyone left by 8:30 and we read for awhile before turning in. I was pretty tired and slept in this morning until 7:30. I am off to the gym and then back home to finish cleaning up the remains of yesterday's festivities in the living room.

It is very cold with a chance of snow flurries tonight. We will see. 

Wednesday, 27 December 2000

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 As Bob reported on his page yesterday the PC Hardware: Definitive Guide that he and Jerry Pournelle were to publish as a companion to our PC Hardware In A Nutshell, has been cancelled by O'Reilly. Bob and I are instead to publish a 2nd edition of Nutshell. So, we will be working on that in addition to our book as our firsts of the year projects. 

Today is my boxing day, so to speak. I am going to pack up the wrapping stuff and boxes and take them back up to the attic. Instead of working on the living room yesterday, I did the kitchen. Last week I cooked a casserole that boiled over in the oven. I waited to do the cleaning until after the holiday cooking. It is a self cleaning oven but I take the racks out and do them by hand. I also have to manually clean the oven door and window. It takes about three hours and then has to cool. 

I cleaned out the little toaster oven and got out Bob's new coffee grinder that he got for Christmas and set that up. Today, I will gather up all the other Christmas gifts for the kitchen and get them put away and gather up Lenore's stuff and take it in her room.

We did not get the promised bad weather and they have now cancelled the snow for Friday. 

Guess that's all for today.

Thursday, 28 December 2000

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Now that I know Lynne knows about the Magic 8 ball that she was getting for Christmas, I can tell this story. Bob W. was having trouble finding one in England and e-mailed my Bob asking us if we could find one over here and mail it to him. Bob came strolling in the den that morning and asked me if I knew what a Magic 8 ball was. Of course I did. My sister and I had one when we were growing up back in the 60's. They were originally made of heavy plastic by Tyco. Bob had no clue as I tried to describe what they were. 

Bingo, great gift for Bob for Christmas. In the mean time Bob W. located one in the UK and I found one here to give Bob. I don't know about the one's in the UK but the ones now made by Mattel are not as not as nice but it served its purpose. I don't think Bob mentioned that he got lots of tools for Christmas, which he loves. I found him two nut driver sets, one in metric and one in U.S. And a leather took kit with an assortment of pliers and wire cutter tools. He is usually the hardest for me to buy for but this year was the easiest. I found him two books, one on Jack the Ripper and one on forensics. 

I am also very hard to buy for, so I am always appreciative of the things my family comes up with for me. I got some very nice Border Collie stuff from my sister including a mouse pad and some additions to my figurine collection. And a very cute golfer wind chime that can be hung indoors on the wall or outside. Lots of linen for the kitchen, some additional silverware and dishes in my patterns and some very nice pj's. 

Welcome back Leah. We missed your posts and congratulations to Keri on her beautiful new grandson. 

Things are pretty quiet around here right now. We worked on adding some additional software to my new machine yesterday. We still have a few things to do one of which is add an audio cable and get the scanner up and running.

I put Christmas boxes and wrapping paper away yesterday and straightened up the attic a bit. 

Yesterday afternoon we went to the library and out to eat. A restaurant has opened in the little shopping center across the street from the library. The Rose and Thistle was on the other side of town for many years. We ate there when we lived nearby. They had to close when they tore down that area to  reroute Interstate 40 through Winston-Salem. He has now opened back up over here which is nice because we do not have many eating places to choose from right around us. The menu is limited to pizzas, subs and a few main dishes but is good. 

Spinning tonight, so an early dinner. Guess that's all.

Friday, 29 December 2000

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For my regular readers a reminder that today is not the last day of my journal for this week. I will be adding Saturday and Sunday to this week and starting my new journal on Mondays beginning January 1st.

My apologies to Keri for making her a grandmother before her time. The cute little fellow is her Godson. 

I am not sure what I will do today. I need to do a grocery store trip this morning to pick up a few things. I don't know if Bob has any computer projects we need to work on or not. 

And, arriving in the mail yesterday is a new issue of English Home to start reading. Speaking of reading. I am presently reading  a book I picked up in the library book sale  Like Mother, Like Daughter by Marcia Rose. Not the greatest book I have ever picked up but light reading for the holidays. It is one of those generational plots starting off with the mother in the early 1900's  and progressing through the great great granddaughter to present. I have read countless of these types of stories and enjoy them from time to time. In checking Amazon.com it is out of print in hardback and paperback. I looked at the summaries of some of her other writings and it appears that she writes the same type book over and over using a generation of women as a basis for a passage of time through United States history. Like I said, it is light reading. When I mention a book I am reading that contains some graphic language or sexually explicit material I like to forewarn readers who may not enjoy this type of book.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Saturday, 30 December 2000

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I have a new picture of Malcolm on the border collie page playing with one of his toys.

  I need some help from either the folks living in England or the cross stitch pros. This is a pattern that Lenore did a long time ago. She thinks the four symbols represent four different "counties" in England. I cannot find the pattern book where it came from. I can go to the library and find it in one of a thousand cross stitch books but if I can narrow down what the pattern theme might be it would help in what type of pattern books to look in.

She wants me to have it framed and put in on one of those little picture stands. I would like to be able to identify it if possible. Any clues?

Bob's brother came over yesterday afternoon so we did Chinese take out for dinner last night.

I am mad because the whole world is getting snow except us. It is even snowing in areas all around us but not here. Harrumph! 

I will start taking down Christmas decorations this weekend in the den and kitchen. I will leave the tree and living room until New Years Day. I always use this time of year when the house is a mess with Christmas stuff to do a deep clean of each room. I know it seems strange to do spring cleaning in winter but it is the best time of the year for me. 

I am too busy in the spring with outside work to do inside stuff. Now that I work at home I can take a whole week to do it and it takes me that long. I do a room or two a day starting in the back of the house where there are no decorations and work to the rooms in the front of the house. I normally take down blinds and wash curtains but I have just put up new curtains recently and cleaned the blinds well at that time. 

I always leave Bob's office for last. I do vacuum in there every week as best I can, which means the middle of the floor and under his desk. To really clean in there I need a bulldozer and dumpster just to make a path. 

Guess that's all for today. 

Sunday, 31 December 2000

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Another year comes to an end. And so does my first year keeping my diary page as a member of the Netwidows. 

Happy New Year's eve to everyone. We will be staying right here at home. Too many nuts out one the roads. I am sorry to report that I am not a champagne drinker. As a matter of fact, I am not a fizzy drink person period. I don't even like soft drinks. And champagne gives me an instant headache. 

So, I will open my bottle of wine to drink while we try to stay awake long enough to watch the ball drop from Times Square. Bob will be drinking his vintage Coke and we will make popcorn. For some of you, it will already be the new year by that time. Poor dogs. The kids in the neighborhood will be shooting off fire crackers all evening, which scares the hell out of them. It is hard to get them to stay out long enough for their evening constitutional.

Yesterday was another routine day around here. I did a load of Lenore's laundry, some computer stuff, and played with the dogs. We had cream dried beef on noodles for dinner and spent the evening reading. 

This morning I start my marathon house cleaning along with taking down some of the Christmas decorations. The tree and dinning/living room are tomorrow. I also have some computer stuff to do. Bob is doing the laundry. We are having pork loin for dinner with the leftover rice from the Chinese take out the other night and rolls.

Have a safe and happy New Years eve.

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