THE COMING DAYS

I'm trying to work up some enthusiasm for the holidays. Mostly I just think about cooking and dishes. Then there is the shopping. A lot of it will be done online. Going to a store and carrying sacks is a scary thought. The cats and the Christmas tree should be fun though. Last year one them kept climbing in the tree to take a nap.

My kittens, who had an unexcellent adventure last week, will stay here. I thought I would give them to a good home but they had other ideas. They eat, sleep, and poop. And purr. So how much trouble can that be? When it cold I will be glad to have them cuddling up in my lap.

We have a new printer for copying Clem & Trixie. I just have to put in a couple of pictures and fix the page numbers and it is ready to copy.

I'm reading GIRL TROUBLE by Holly Goddard Jones.

BOOKS

I should be sleeping. The rest of the world is sleeping. I'm awake, watching Criminal Minds reruns. I can't get a deep breath. My eyes won't let me read.

So much time spent wasted, books left unread, books unwritten. My unread books talk to me. Read me, they say. Most of them will be read in due time.

Mama's PT asks me the funniest things about my books, do I ever get rid of them, have I read them all. Those questions tell me she is not a reader. Of course, I haven't read them all, that's not necessarily the point. Sometimes, I want a book just for the cover, or an old book because of an inscription. I like to find bookmarks in old books.

Dear Blog, you have made me sleepy. Thank you so much.

Making Bread

I've been making banana bread. Tonight I ran out of bananas so I made apple bread, using the same recipe. The most important ingredient is cream cheese. The apple bread is most wonderful. One of the kittens is lapping up the crumbs. She agrees, she loves it. I am going to try and not eat any more tonight.

I seem to have the fidgits tonight. Is fidgits a word? I want to read but mymind keeps wandering, the cats walk on my book, the tv talks to me. Maybe later.

I should be sleeping. I never seem to be able to sleep at the right time. Olivia is in my bed, so warm and cozy, I can't move her. But it's hard to sleep with her. I have to be close enough to hear Mama, afraid the monitor won't wake me. Guess I'll just try to sleep with Olivia.

I haven't read much for a couple of days. But that will change. I have lots of books I want to read, lots of poems to read and to write.

So many things to write.

CATS AND BOOKS

I have a lot of cats. Last night I kept telling myself I would take the kittens to the shelter but I couldn't do it. They are so cute and very spoiled. They would not do well adjusting to another home. They were born in the house and have spent very little time outside. I hope they never find out that I even entertained the idea of taking them off.

I have lots of books, I'm not taking any of them off either.

Dear Blog,

Oh, dear blog, how I have neglected you. I have missed you.
I have been busy. I have found that I can do lots of things I would never have thought I could do. I won't tell you about that.

I will tell you what I've been reading. I recently read SOUTH OF BROAD by Pat Conroy and HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY bu Audrey Niffenegger. I loved them both although they were nothing alike. I wish I hadn't read them yet, and was just starting them now. I read UPHEAVAL by Chris Holbrook, wonderful stories. I read ELI THE GOOD by Silas House. I recommend it totally.

I haven't kept good records of what I have read this year. I like to go over my lists from previous years so I'm going to do much better in 2010. (How can it almost be 2010?)

I have lots of cats. Abby is off with her boyfriends. Sadie is across the street. Sonny Brewer is asleep on the trash can. Lydia is upstairs. The kittens, Pinky Max and Eudora Alice Welty, are sleeping, Pinky Max on the trash compactor, Eudora Alice Welty sitting on the arm chair. Macy has gone outside. The other outside cats are sleeping under the car. If I open the back door they will come running for a midnight snack.

I have finished Clem & Trixie.

I promise to do better, dear blog. Look for me tomorrow.

Love,
Alice

HIVES

Today I discovered I have hives. I'm just relieved it's not fleas! I have no idea what caused me to have hives. I could have figured it out if it had been fleas. I don't like itching. I couldn't get my medicine until tomorrow so I'm still using itchy cream which doesn't do much to help.
I can remember having hives when I was little. Calamine lotion was the remedy. I hated that stuff, it was way too messy, got all over my clothes and didn't stop the itching.

I can see lightning and hear thunder. I love storms. They are so wonderful at the beach, watching them blow in, the clouds swirling, sheets of rain, then it's over. Next the sun cooks us all.

There are strange mushrooms in our front yard.