We had to put Pixie down on the 13th. She wasn't able to keep food or medicine down, couldn't use the box, and all her actions were classic symptoms of an animal in pain. We shed a lot of tears. She was such a beautiful cat. My, I miss her a lot. Saturday, took her to the crematorium and will pick her up later today.

Wednesday, the electrician came out and put his tubes in place in the frame for the hot tub. Thursday, we had miserable weather and the concrete guys cancelled. We finally got the concrete poured on Friday afternoon. The next five days are supposed to be nice (in the low 40's), so the flagstone and brick will be laid Monday through Wednesday. I suspect they will be finished by then.

Went to 3 holiday parties yesterday. The first was in the late afternoon at one of Clif's co-worker's. Visited with a few people I had met before and had an ok time. The second was at the Peter & Mary Beth's. Enjoyed visiting with them and with Dave & Valerie. After that, we came home and went to the Walkers. That was a zoo. There must have been at least 75 people in the house, and they were all on the main level. Clif had a beer and I a glass of champagne along with a few munchies from the table. We sat on a couple chairs in the family room because we were tired of standing, and then realized we knew absolutely no one there, couldn't hear for the noise and decided to come home. So we did. Watched a little football and crashed around 9:30.

Three hours later, I woke up and couldn't sleep. So, I came down stairs and tried to get signed up on Social Security's web site to electronically file W-3 and W-2s. Log-in registration process is not without glitches and I couldn't get it finished. Will call them on Monday, and if it cannot be fixed easily, to hell with it, I'll just send the paper ones in again this year. Sewed a bit, made up the 12th night invitations, and got a couple more christmas cards out. Will probably take a nap, since I've gotten not enough sleep. Clif is going with Fred and Guy to Pottsville, PA, for a kosho seminar during the day.

Our electronic toothbrush died, so I need to buy a new one. Also need to make a trip to Ginny & Matt's to take out our contribution to the family gift exchange. Marcy called yesterday to thank us for the muffins. Haven't heard from Joe & Trina. They are being really cold towards me, although Joe and Clif talk regularly.

Delta decided not to go on strike, which is a good thing, since two of the three legs of our trip are on that airline. Have packed the skis, and took the Xmas presents upstairs to pack in suitcases. Will pull out the ski clothes and start packing Monday or Tuesday. Everything else is ready to go. Outta here on Thursday.