Tidbits, Updates, and Pause

Best wishes to visitors of my blog, returning or new. Things have been kinda topsy-turvy at the ol' BHD household, so this post will hold until after Christmas.

Whassup?

Man, I *dislike* that expression. It's so sloppy... I am such an English snob. But I digress.

My partner and I are hosting his mother in our home. She has been with us since 18 December. Let's just say... this year ... we will be delighted to take her back home right after Christmas.

While this blog has been on a temporary off-topic off-schedule, I have received a few questions or suggestions that will become great blog articles, which I intend to write and to post in the near future.

Some questions have included:

• If you don't like the white stitching on boots like Chippewa harness boots, what alternatives are there? (Hint: just dye the white stitching black -- don't get a different, lower-quality brand like Chinese-made Frye boots just because their stitching is black).

• What kind of leather jacket do you recommend that is masculine in appearance yet doesn't have too much bling--chrome zippers, snaps, etc.? (Hint: a motorcycle cop jacket).

• What do you do when boots are finally broken in and you discover that the support for your arches is no longer there? (Hint: Dr. Scholl's gel insoles.)

• I received a pair of boots won on an eBay auction, but the seller sprayed them with something that has left behind a strong smell of fragrance. Should I try to get the seller to accept a return of the boots and refund my money, or what? (Hint: gel odor remover from your local building supplies retailer will do the trick).

These are some examples of legitimate questions that I have received and would serve as good posts for this blog. I just need to find some time to write them.

My last day of work-work for this year is today, Thursday, December 22. I hope to spend time with my family on Friday, visiting the youngest members, twin Great Nephews. Friday afternoon will find me in my chef's kitchen, preparing The Feast of the Seven Fishes for my mother-in-law, who requested the meal. It's a rather large production. Thankfully, one of my senior pals who is a retired pescadore (fish monger) brought me 13 varieties of "fishes" to prepare for M-I-L to enjoy with her usual (noisy) gusto. I just hope she eats eel -- yuck!

Friday evening, spirits and my partner's condition willing, we will enjoy a Christmas concert by a national celebrity at our county's community college that my partner has wanted to hear for months. I just hope his mother enjoys the concert; regardless, the concert is for my partner's enjoyment. Perhaps the heavy meal of many fishes will put M-I-L to sleep (LOL!).

Christmas Eve, my family is switching its Friday Night Family Dinner to Saturday, when we will enjoy festa dei sette pesci (again!) with about 70 siblings, nieces, nephews, the "greats," in-laws, and probably some out-laws, too. My partner and his mother will remain at home because my family overwhelms them with the noise, loud conversations, camaraderie, and fun. But Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the fam... and they know it. We all feel it. So I'll feed M-I-L and my partner early, then take off.

Christmas Day will be quiet. Tell you the truth, it will be rather dull with no surprises. My partner and I gave each other a gift this year by buying a treadmill, which I have been using now for about a month. I'm getting better at it, and anticipate it will help with weight maintenance (or better yet, help me shed a few more pounds.)

I will visit a few senior pals on Christmas Day, and weather permitting, I hope to ride my Harley to visit a few kiddos in my family. However, I'll be home in the early afternoon to begin preparing our Christmas dinner for three. M-I-L will enjoy it -- she always does -- with mannerless, loud gusto -- and we'll once again retire into the basement and watch -- more sappy Christmas movies! Aaaak!

Well, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate -- have a good time, be safe, be well, be-lieve in the spirit that brings us together at this time of year.

See you around the bend...

Life is short: believe in what you do, in who you are, and in what the future will bring brightly to those who believe.