Friday (it is Friday, isn't it?) randomosity

- Between the midweek holiday and the extended vacation, I've reached that lovely state of affairs where for the first several minutes after awaking, I'm not entirely sure what day of the week it is. Disorienting, but delightful.

- Yesterday, I managed to go to Panera and read until after nine, then run a few errands and still be home by ten thirty. After all that early productivity, I felt justified in taking most of the rest of the day off.

- Not so today. I've a bit of final picking up in the kitchen and a bathroom to clean, but other than that, I'm going to work on rearranging the sewing space. I swapped the floor lamp that had been in the studio for the floor lamp from the living room (a decorator version of an Ott lamp - full spectrum bulb that, while perfect for reading or doing handiwork, didn't add much to the ambiance in the living room when it was on)(too bright) and have yet to figure out how to set up the studio for the best lighting. There is no overhead light in that room and if it is too cold/rainy/dark out to get natural light from the patio door, it tends to be rather cave-like.

- There will be apple crisp tonight. I've caramel cashew custard that should pair very nicely with it. Apple crisp is the perfect dessert for me, as I can make a single serving with little problem. It's also (if you squint, tilt your head and have a great imagination) reasonably healthy. Well, until you pile on the custardy goodness.

- I'm currently reading a book about the spy ring George Washington set up in British-occupied New York City during the Revolutionary War. I had my doubts about it; reading history is generally not my thing. But the book includes many excerpts from letters written between the conspirators, and those alone make the book worth the time. I miss letters. What are future historians going to look to from our time? Archives of text messages and on-line purchase records? Heaven help us.

- It's snowed nineteen of the first twenty-six days of December. The patio table, which never quite got covered with its nice canvas cover, is now covered in snow almost to the bottom of the umbrella (which also never quite...hey, winter came on hard, strong and early; don't judge). Our brick patio walls are about seven inches wide; the tops of those are coated with a nice layer of snow as well.

- Today and tomorrow that snow will melt quite a bit, as temps go up into the thirties, almost forty (if you believe the weather guys) on Saturday. Melting is good, the water that results is not, as overnight Saturday an arctic blast is going to push us into the deep freeze. Below zero temps overnight mean icy sidewalks and road after sunup. Fortunately, I don't have to go out.

- Well, except for New Year's Eve. A friend wants to go see a movie - she mentioned "matinee" several times - and to dinner. We apparently have different views of "matinee", as she has to babysit her grandkids until at least three. I'd hoped to be home safe and warm before six. Not gonna happen. My increasingly crowd-phobic self may just suggest a warmer - and less crowded - day to go out.

- I'd better get to it.