It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Winter has finally arrived in the Adirondacks. The snowplows have started driving by every few minutes, causing mini-earthquakes in our apartment and guaranteeing that we only hear about 50% of any given phone call or television program; AJ's black truck is looking good in its winter white, thanks to the extremely generous layer of salt on the roads; and I finally pulled out my winter boots and hat for the long trek to the office each morning, since, as you may recall, I am still carless. Plus, I've started decorating for Christmas!

Our stockings

My token poinsettia and the classic two-headed reindeer candle holder

My favorite candy cane striped candle

We decided not to get a tree this year, since we will be away for most of the Christmas season, but we are doing other things to get into the Christmas spirit, like... going to see White Christmas in Boston! Yes, it's true! White Christmas is quite possibly my all-time favorite movie, so, needless to say, I am really excited to see it on stage. I only hope I won't be too disappointed with whomever they cast to play Bing Crosby's character. Those are some big shoes to fill.

Okay, random, unrelated tangent...

I love plants. But they do not always love me back. Several have withered away over the years, but two have thrived. One is a diffenbachia that sits by my sink and grows like a weed. It had become tall and noble (a source of great pride), until last night...

I went to get a drink of water, and this is what I found.

Have you ever seen anything so sad? I have no idea what happened. The stem isn't broken, and the only change in its environment is a small ivy plant that I placed next to it. Apparently, diffenbachias are very anti-social! Sorry, diff, I moved the ivy, now straighten up! (No luck so far, but AJ did tape a piece of string to the window to hold it up.)

Okay, two other random reports, and then I'm done for the night.

1. I did teach my first aerobics class last week. No major mishaps, but I definitely have room to grow. I'm still hoping H will move back.

2. Do not rent Vanity Fair with Reese Witherspoon. It's awful. I'm glad Thackeray is not alive to see it, because that is not how he wrote Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Come to think of it, I'm not sure Vanity Fair is good movie material. What makes the book so brilliant is the narrator's sarcasm, and it's hard to capture that tone in dialogue. But, they could have tried a little harder.