Saturday's Christmas Hunk of the Day!

This is it gang. The last shopping day before Christmas, and Santa doesn't appear to have any toys in his pack.



No, wait. I see it now... Silly me...

Merry Christmas Eve!

Don't you just love Christmas Eve? All the hype and the preparations are (hopefully) done, giving you the opportunity to relax and enjoy the warmth of the season. To gaze at your tree while you sip a cup of hot cider. To watch sappy old movies and Christmas specials you've seen a million times and will probably watch a million more. To nibble on the cookies you've been baking all week and maybe spike a little eggnog.

Egg Nog

4 eggs
4 tbsp rum (optional)
6 tbsp powdered sugar
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
dash of salt
1 cup cream

Beat egg yolks with other ingredients and then beat into stiffly beaten egg whites. Chill and serve.

OR, for a quicker, easier version, just dump it all in the blender and let 'er rip!

Christmas Eve has become just such a time for us in the past few years. We used to spend the whole day making the 100 mile trip to and from Louisville to visit with family and friends, usually not getting home until midnight. It was hectic and rushed; we'd barely get settled into a conversation at one place before having to hustle on to another. Some years the visit to the cemetery to take a tree or wreath to our son who died before he was born got missed. One year we got there only to wind up locking the keys in the truck and having to walk a good distance in the freezing cold to the nearest telephone and then having to wait for the locksmith; hoping he'd get there before they locked the gates to the cemetery. This, of course, was before any of us carried a cell phone--though even if we had, they probably would have been locked in along with the keys.

But lately, we've been doing the rounds on the Saturday before Christmas, giving us the luxury of a Christmas Eve spent at home with just me and the guys. I always liked getting home late in the old days, because I would spend the stroke of midnight feeding the horses up at the barn, hoping that the old myth that animals can talk at that time was true, but there's a lot to be said for being inside where it's snug and warm. Besides, if they ever talked to me, it certainly wasn't in English!

I love the glow of candles, the scent of pine, and the sparkle of the lights on the tree. We've already watched most of our Christmas favorites, beginning with Scrooge and A Wish for Wings That Work on Thanksgiving night and A Christmas Story the night Mikey came home from college, so The Santa Clause will be what we have left for Christmas Eve.

This year we'll have the added blessing of (hopefully) getting Peaches home and healthy in time for Christmas. Unfortunately, the treats I bought for her gift will have to wait another week or so until she's fully healed and can eat regular dog food, but something tells me she really won't mind. She'll just be glad to be home, and so will we.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow, but for now,

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

PS: Hop on over to Casablanca Authors for a chance to win a signed copy of Fugitive!