Moment to Moment

Dear Friends

Thursday through Saturday afternoon found me totally alone. Except for the occasional phone call, I didn't talk to a soul. Crocheted. Shopped. Around the house stuff was taken care of. I was missing Don a lot.

He and Quanah called Friday afternoon after they pulled out of Fort Wayne. Q was driving the U-Haul. Don was driving Q's car (an unanticipated event as a towbar hadn't been reserved). This made for interesting communication possibilities. Quanah did not have a car charger for his cell phone. Don didn't HAVE a cell phone. It was raining, snow was coming in. I was pushing anxiety away, ruthlessly. Don followed Quanah and they worked out a series of signals to communicate problems, needs to pull over, etc. The idea of getting a set of walkie-talkies was a good one but they required charging before using. Since that wasn't possible, they relied on signals.

By the time they reached Oklahoma City, Saturday night they had gone through a bad storm and they decided to spend the night in OK City, get a good night's rest and than push on. Weather projections through the Texas Panhandle, NM, and AZ (along Interstate 40) were looking clear. Projected icy conditions for heading down to the panhandle and westward didn't happen. Thank you GOD.

Food shopping is finished (she thought hopefully) and tomorrow is preparation day. We are picking Erin up at Sacramento airport tonight so we will have three women in the house having fun in the kitchen. This will be a first for me. Another first is sharing cooking preparations for another household. Elaine suggested we make larger portions of food and trade, thereby reducing the cooking work overall.

How cool an idea is this?, I ask. So I'm making double batches of cranberry sauce and green bean casserole. Elaine is make double batches of yams and mashed potatoes. We'll trade off tomorrow afternoon or evening.

All I really need to do now is finish wrapping some gifts, pat myself on the back for not forgetting a card for Don this year, and get the turkey cleaned on Christmas Eve, all prepped to receive the dressing and get slipped into the oven Christmas morning.

I'm off for the airport now. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you. Have a wonderful and fun-filled holiday season.

Hugs

Annie