Melina and Melinama on Christmas Eve...

1. She went for a long run. I went on the elliptical trainer and watched "Bleak House" (what a great mini-series it was!).
   
2. Decorated one last present (a book about Sculpey/polymer clay jewelry for Menticia) with hand-made potato-print gift paper.
   
3. Stopped off at Menticia's house to drop off the present. Her mom had unfortunately just burned chile peppers in the microwave, filling the neighborhood with toxic, acrid fumes. The girls were alternately coming out on the porch, choking, and going back in the house to watch tv. We beat a hasty retreat and coughed all the way down town.
   
4. Using one of my numerous gift-cards to Whole Foods Market (earned by playing British Isles music there every month) we had a fun little shopping spree.
   
5. Went home, made two batches of peanut brittle, ate way too much of it.
   
6. Packed up the rest of the peanut brittle - one batch for Melina to take back to Manhattan and one batch for Menticia's family.
   
7. Read in the sunshine.
   
8. Painted a still-life. Melina set it up, so her end had the pretty colorful peppers. The rear end, where I was stationed, was darker and prominently featured a brown tape dispenser.
   
9. Melina dismantled the still life since we needed to consume it. She cooked us spicy turkey sausage and roasted vegetables for dinner.
   
10. We watched "Frequency," a slightly corny but most enjoyable dvd.
    

All in all, a very satisfactory day.