It was so grand to see my 'pool friends' again tonight, as friends Bill and Nancy had a Christmas gathering at their home. Justin made cookies this afternoon so I had fresh baked oatmeal cookies with chocolate and 'scotch chips to take with me. Nancy had said to bring nothing so I took a tray of cookies! Tsk, tsk, tsk on me. Nancy W. picked me up because it was too far for me to walk even though it is just outside of our property. Nancy didn't want to walk it either, since it would be dark when we would be leaving. We got the best parking space because of being among the first to arrive, besides our friend, Bob.
Nancy M. and Bill have done a marvelous job renovating their home which, when purchased, had 'lots of potential'. Oh, I know what that means!! We had one of those, too, and while we did turn it around, while living in it, we swore we'd never do it again. The renovations were pretty close to being done when they had a terrible flood from their main floor into their lower level, where Bill's office is located. Oh, my heart broke for them, once again having to deal with a terrible mess. When Nancy showed Nancy W. and me the repairs, I could not really tell that anything had happened. In fact, they'd done some extra work while in the process of putting things back to right. I'd say, from my perspective, the house and property is done! But homeowners know that is rarely the case.
Nancy has a collection of beautiful and interesting things. We didn't know where to look first as there was so much to take in. In her foyer stood a 7' tall St. Nicholas in rich colors of burgundy and gold. barely escaping the flood they had this late summer. I can't show you the picture because it won't post upright, no matter what I've tried. Nuts! I wanted you to see it!
The food they put out was good, ole upper midwestern stuff including cheese, crackers, and sliced salami (instead of summer sausage). Also, hot cheese dip with scoops, and Nancy W.'s recipe for bacon wrapped smokies. Then, Nancy M. pulled hot ham and cheese sandwiches from the oven. All that plus the candies she had out, and my cookies!
Earlier in the day I had a housekeeper here to clean my room. She had allowed about three hours and used every minute of it plus some more getting things cleaned up. She said the up and down the ladder business takes time as I can certainly attest. She did a wonderful, thorough job and I can now again enjoy my room and bathroom. When she was done, Justin took me to get my car from Mark, who only did a tune-up on it. Once I got that back again, we went to have a late lunch at Metro Diner. We both brought back half of our food for another time. While at Metro, we saw our old friend, Olivia, Justin's classmate who is expecting her 2nd child. We got to see her mom, aunt, and meet her first child, who was adorable. In the parking lot I got to see my big, red car, which she is still driving, with 300,000 miles on it! And, I complain about my little car...
Justin carried out the Christmas decorations from the back bedroom, with our original plan to decorate while Dawn was here. I decided to do it on Monday instead but all the stuff is out so I can work on it over the weekend, not the tree but the rest of the pretties. We shall see!
