I finished wrapping all of the Christmas gifts last evening - unless I suddenly discover that I've neglected to purchase a gift for someone important, an annual worry of mine despite my exhaustive list-making. This year, most of the gifts were in green foil with either gold or red ribbons, with a few in gold foil with red. Here is one of the piles, which are stored in our spare bedroom to prevent pet tampering/gnawing.

The other activity on tap for my evening was cleaning up puppeh vomit, Sprocket because he choked trying to swallow a rawhide strip whole, after gnawing 1/3 of it soggy and pliable, and Mister Fusspot because he'd managed despite our watchfulness to eat a piece of actual bone off the prime rib bone he was given Friday. Normally when we give bones, we let them gnaw the meat off and then take the bones back up. Real bones can splinter and hurt a little fellow. But now I'm consumed with guilt, because he managed to ingest a piece. Thank goodness I bought a Spot-Bot a couple months ago. Both dogs are fine and full of rambunctiousness this morning, so crisis averted.

I have three new books to read, by three different authors I enjoy, and I can't seem to get into any of them. I'm restless, I suppose.

Because of Alan's work schedule, we aren't going to Augusta to see his family for Christmas until the weekend after. He's booked us into a two-room suite with a Jacuzzi and I'm really looking forward to that. Between work schedules, school schedules and various home disasters, we never managed a summer vacation or a 3 - 4 day getaway in the autumn so this will be fun.

Speaking of school - er, writing of it anyway - Alan is done and has received his certification. He is now a certified advanced technical writer. The Husband, he is S-M-R-T.

Mister Fusspot's enjoyment of rawhide gnawing was not diminished in the least by watching his brother hurl one.
(I know the rug looks like we badly need to vacuum but with one large fuzzy cat and two playful doggies, trust me, it pretty much looks like that 3 minutes after being vacuumed.)