A cowgirl in a Christmas tree

Can you spot the cowgirl? Over the years, friends have given me ornaments
reflecting my interest in the West. There's also a buffalo on there.
And the pink VW? Too good not to use
 

I had just settled down for a long winter’s nap—well, not really but a late afternoon nap after a day at my desk—when Jordan stalked in and announced they were here to decorate. They had earlier gotten some of my decorations out of the attic, but the lights were out up there and Christian missed some. I haven’t had a tree in years so we never got down my large collection of ornaments. This year, with the upcoming merger of households, we got them all day and went through the collection ruthlessly. Christian found a small tree and was triumphant that he got the lights to work—I don’t think I even knew I had it. Then he and Jordan had fun decorating while I watched and Jacob ignored them except when asked to do some onerous chore like take the garbage out.

I had planned to make myself the fancy tuna sandwich I didn’t fix for my no-show company last night, but they stayed until nearly 7:30 and I threw together a half a roast beef sandwich. It had been a weird day. We were to have Jacob at church at 8:45 to “acolyte” (I told him I never heard the word as a verb) but he woke up sick. He and his mom both went back to bed and slept till ten. There I was at 7:30 in the morning, hair washed, makeup on, and no place to go. Seemed to be the pattern of my weekend. So I spent the day mostly at my desk, reading a book for a competition.

Did fix Jordan a breakfast she had grave doubts about: put a Tblsp. soft butter in an individual soufflé dish, sprinkle with chives, oregano, parsley; top that with four pieces of artichoke hearts, and then break an egg into each dish (don’t break the yolk). Cover with Parmesan and bake at 400 for ten minutes—fortunately for both of us, her egg was more well done than mine. Good but not outstanding—not sure if I’ll fix it again or maybe adjust seasonings—she suggested green chillies.

So here I am, about to go back to that book. Hoped to finish it tonight, but chances look slim right now.

Hope everyone has a good week.