no walking yet this week

It's the day after Christmas. I had a yummy dinner with my brother and his wife, her mother and sister. Other than that there was no celebration here. There hasn't been in many years, and golly I miss it. I have friends who talk about finding new traditions as their children leave the nest and how happy they are. But that doesn't apply to me. The new reality is a peace-keeping move. 

Thinking about it, actually, I guess there was a little more celebration. I took my Indian international students—a Catholic and a Muslim— to midnight mass at a church close to the school. It was a beautiful service, even if I was lost most of the time. The carol sing before the service was probably my favorite part. They had hand bells, strings, percussion, organ and the guy who sang O Holy Night knocked it out of the ball park. Most importantly K enjoyed it and was filled with all kinds of spirit when I dropped her at the dorm. According to Wikipedia only 3% of India is Catholic. Imagine our surprise when there was a Indian woman in the choir wearing a sari. The girls quickly tracked down the family and went over and said hi before we left. Since it is so close to school—about a mile — she's thinking of going on Sundays. 

Tomorrow we are going ice skating. If there is a god, please return me home in one piece. Visions of broken ankles...or worse... are dancing in my head.

On Wednesday I went to my friend Angels for mac and cheese, and to string popcorn for the little tree her daughter bought. The dog wanted to eat it off the tree so she had to move the chair.  And she did get lots of broken bits.

Christmas Eve I mad popcorn for dinner--yes that's a dinner here.My brother called and to reach the phone I sat the pot on the carpet. It was hot, and when I hung up the phone I went to lift it. It was stuck. I pulled hard and got it. It had burned a ring into the area rug, adhering the fibers to the bottom of the pot.

You can see in this photo where the carpet is missing fiber down to the backing mat. I tried immediately to clean it, but to no avail. Today I got the idea to heat the pot in the oven, hoping to soften the fibers, and maybe scrap them off. Unsure if the pot was even oven-safe and what kind of toxic fumes might happen, I did it very slowly and with the range hood on full blast.

I had cooked lunch in the oven and ate. I put the pot upside down in the warm oven for 3 minutes. That didn't work. I put it in for another two, still nothing. I turned the oven back on and put the pot in while it was pre-heating. In about three minutes I pulled it out and there was some movement. I put it back in for another three,and it worked! I think the pot is clean and usable again.

What else has happened in the last week. Nothing really. Thursday I hope to do a volkssport walk in Phoenixville. I've never done that one.

I've had a freaking cold the entire month of December and it just keeps hanging on. If there is a tissue shortage the problem is I'm buying them all. I am a snot machine.

Wish me luck skating tomorrow. I'm going to buy tickets now for the muni.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll clean up the dead bird in the cellar. The bird part is long gone, but my aversion to dead creatures holds me back from cleaning up the pile of feathers.

Photo stolen from FB: Hendricks Dave, Angel Ackerman, and the OLPH website.