I'm done! I may not be ready for Christmas, but I'm finished shopping! (and baking and decorating and....) I'm glad I took the week off of work, but it seems like I didn't get a lot of rest. I do still need to wrap, but since we can't put anything under the tree, I didn't even bother wrapping yet. I'll do that just before Christmas, and the presents will still stay outside in the guest-house. I hope next Christmas is a bit calmer with the kittens!

AJ had a follow-up with his cardiologist in Redding yesterday. I think we see him only so we have a local doctor. He scheduled AJ an appointment next September (he sees his Chico cardiologist in May) for another follow-up, and said basically the same thing - he at least has his notes, etc., so if he ends up at the emergency room, they can call him instead of Dr. K. The long and short - he's pretty stable, so unless something changes, he'll continue with the meds he is on. His true test will be soccer next spring. Since it is not as competitive as school or DIII, he should be okay if he has to stop for a second or two for his heart. AJ said that when it acts up, it calms down very quickly, so - we'll see! If his heart gets too out of control, we can always try the ablation again.

AJ also got new glasses! A few years ago, he was diagnosed as farsighted, and had reading glasses, which of course he hardly ever wore. I expected this year to be the same - not a lot of changes, but....he is now nearsighted! Dr. C said AJ didn't know he couldn't see well until he put good lenses on him - what a difference. His new glasses came in on Wednesday, and he spent most of Thursday marveling at what he could see. Originally, he was only going to wear them to drive, but he likes being able to see everything, and is wearing them all the time.

I found a new scarf I like better than the flower scarf. It uses Lion's Hometown USA yarn, which is a soft, thick yarn. It can be worn two ways - as a looped scarf or as a neck-warmer.

Here is is on the table - it is about 45 inches long - fastened with three buttons (I wish I had some rhinestone buttons in my button box, but these were what I had on hand)

Here it is on - I love it - it is so soft and warm, and stylish! (pictures aren't the best - I need to bet a manikin or something for pictures!)

The bank puts on an annual Christmas breakfast for the staff each year - the officers prepare and serve quiche, eggs, sausage, bacon, waffles, OJ, coffee, danishes, etc. to the staff. We also collect baskets of 'stuff'' from the staff and then raffle off the gift baskets. My job (for the last couple of years) has been to help with the baskets. Since I'm not the best wrapper in the whole world, I pull in one of my staff (who is MARVELOUS at it) to help us. The gifts donated by the staff range from candles to candy to wine to ornaments, etc. The other Officer assigned to the task and I set everything out, and then do what Toni tells us! Since the range of items is so large, it can be a challenge to put things together and make an attractive basket. We had a baking basket (full of cookie mixes, hot pads, etc.) a beauty basket (full of lotions, candles, soaps, etc.) a romantic basket (filled with candy, candles, wine, etc.) and others. We did good! For this, I went to work on Thursday (on my vacation!) We managed to get all the baskets put together and wrapped in a couple of hours. Then on Friday morning, I was at work at 6:30 a.m.! (So much for sleeping in on vacation!) Breakfast started at 7:00, so I was there to help with the last minute arrangements, and to serve. After breakfast, we had an ornament exchange. We draw names in November, and have a $5.00 limit. I got the cutest ornament - a 'Girl's Survival Kit' ornament banner over a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates. I'll have to take a picture of it - too cute!

My ornament came with a piece of foil tissue paper. While I was showing my ornament to Ralph, the kittens stole the paper. It has been a huge hit as a toy!

Who says you have to buy cat toys!