Christmas Is Coming!

Winter is lovely here in the desert!  The sky is almost always blue, and it gets only minimally chilly.  So far it's only gotten down into the low 40s for us.  I appreciate the clear blue skies and the light breezes that smell FRESH (instead of dusty).

Yet we know that Christmas really is coming!

The leaves are falling.

Greg put up our outside lights!

I put on our flannel sheets, which are cozy and warm.

The leaves on our Chinese Elm trees are turning yellow and falling off.  Today especially, I have enjoyed sitting on the couch and gazing into the backyard to watch them.

The sunsets have been beautiful.

This year I ordered gift bags with drawstrings, and they're bringing me lots of joy.  I don't enjoy wrapping presents, I don't enjoy the waste of typical gift wrap and bows, but I DO love presents looking pretty!  These bags are the perfect solution and I look forward to reusing them for many years.

Little Mister helped me fill out Christmas cards; he did his part by being extra cute.

When he's not going crazy playing with a ping pong ball, he's sleeping under this blanket tent on the couch.  He's really minimal trouble for being a kitten (though I guess he's still recovering from such a rough early life).

Last week he had an eye infection, but we got some ointment and it's all better.  He doesn't have any worms.  He's healthy!  Once he gains some more weight (he's gone from 1.8 pounds to 3.4 pounds last Tuesday!), he'll be ready to get some vaccinations (which are important for him because our other cats aren't vaccinated and never go outside).   

They get along fairly well.  For the first couple of weeks, the other cats really didn't want to be around me when the kitten was around, but now they've accepted that he's here and they're willing to snuggle me again.

And that baby is pretty super adorable!

We've watched some of our favorite Christmas movies, but there are more to come!



Our favorites are:

The Ref (not safe for children or sensitive ears!)

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

White Christmas

The Year Without A Santa Claus

Northern Exposure Christmas Episode: Seoul Mates

Charlie Brown Christmas

Mr Bean's Christmas

I have been walking outside through the Riparian Preserve with my dear friend Cindy again now that her house mate has recovered from COVID.  He did go to the ER once because he was having trouble breathing, but they told him that's just how horrible the illness is and he needed to go home and keep resting.  We have another friend whose family member was told she probably needed supplemental oxygen, but they didn't have any extra, there was no room in the hospital, so she should just go home and try to get better on her own.

Cindy and I walk through the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert to the canal, and then walk and walk.|
I love this view of Four Peaks.

Duck footprints:

MANY fish!

Changing leaves along the road:

We did have a bit of rain on Thursday, which was wonderful and felt wintry!



We will be celebating Christmas by ourselves, but I still wanted to wear something festive and not boring, so I found these sequined pants and ordered them.  They fit well and are extra cute and kind of subtle.

Here's a close-up of the sequined stripe:

I hope you and your family have a cozy, snuggly evening and that you're sinking into the time at home rather than fighting it.