What's on your Saturday menu RNYers?

Thank you... I am feeling pretty good... Just a little bored... I hate being stuck at home!

I'm sorry you have to deal with shingles. Not fair!

Thank you... It was not as bad as it could have been but I would have been happier if they could have either hit me like in October that would have been much more convenient! Would have worked much better for my schedule.

Oh Penny, I'm so sorry to hear you have shingles and on your FACE, too! I had them once and so did my daughter and they are horribly painful. I hope yours go away really soon.

Thanks Karen, I have been lucky the pain has not been bad more of an inconvenience with my eye swelling up shut...

By the way you rock as Mrs. Claus those lucky little kids....

Oh wow. That's not fun. Sorry you're dealing with shingles hope it clears up quickly!

Hi all, happy Saturday!

I'm getting my tree this weekend - I really love decorating Christmas trees! For many years, I went kind of crazy when putting the lights on the tree - I wrapped each strand from deep in the tree by the trunk, around and around each branch, tightly, so that anyone looking would not see the wires, just the lights. And I put so, so many lights on! I don't have cathedral ceilings, and my 7.5-8' trees always touch the ceiling. Around that size tree, I would put 1700 lights! Obviously I was into lots of radiance and sparkle! I actually had to divide the lights between two different rooms so as not to blow a circuit! I put the tree in a corner of the living room by the fireplace, and right by a walk-through bookcase that goes from the living room to the dining room. So half the lights went to the dining room/kitchen circuit and the rest to the living room/office. Even so, if I would forget and run the microwave or dishwasher, the circuit would be overloaded and half the tree would go dark. So I would do my best to remember, and would turn off that half of the lights before heating anything in the microwave. The only problem with this whole lights-seen-from-space plan was that it took me three days to finish wrapping all the lights! Also, by the time Christmas arrived, my tree was looking the worse for wear in the daylight, because each branch was strung so tightly and weighed down with the lights. But it was still dazzling at night!

Anyway, last year I revamped my attitude towards the lights, used far fewer strands, and just lightly positioned them instead of wrapping. Getting all the lights on only took an hour or two - a vast improvement! Not to mention how much easier they were to remove come January! Although my tree could no longer be seen by the International Space Station, it looked very beautiful, and as a bonus, the boughs retained their uplift to the end, instead of being pulled relentlessly downwards. So from now on I will appreciate the benefits of an unwrapped tree!

As I am writing this, I can hear coyotes yipping and howling in the hills! They must have just caught something. (It's the middle of the night here).

QOTD: I love and will always love It's a Wonderful Life, Love Actually, A Christmas Story, The Bishop's Wife, A Charlie Brown Christmas (I love when the kids all go skating, and I love Vince Guaraldi's piano), and Miracle on 34th Street, especially the original version. Also, The Polar Express (I think Chris van Arlsberg is an amazing illustrator!). And Planes, Trains, And Automobiles! I miss John Candy.

First: coffee (a holiday blend!) with cashew milk, and a vanilla protein drink

B: turkey, Bouncing Berry cheddar (this is a fabulous aged Welsh Cheddar, dotted throughout with cranberries - very festive!)

L: roast beef, mustard

D: Ham, green beans

Wishing everybody a fun and relaxing Saturday!

You are my Christmas decor hero!

That made me laugh! (My family refers to me as the Christmas Fairy!)

We need to see a picture of your decorated tree!