Okay, last year's project to hang lights in Tuckahoe turned into a total fiasco -- wrong lights, wrong placement, wrong attitude... even the wrong vermouth. This year we made up for it: stopped at Stews and got a crate of lights -- no blinkers, no chasers, no funny business. We'd gotten the pork and the vermouth the day before. We were set.

It went well. But it was freezy cold. And it's not quite the same without Da Chimpz following us around trying to help (those were the days). After a few hours of that my hands could not keep the blood circulating, so I went upstairs to sip my vermouth while the food cooked.

Went on Monday evening to get the Berea-Rose family Christmas tree. Bought a wholly adequate tree at the nearby luxe garden outlet. Even got 10 percent off! They told me pull the car around and someone would check my receipt and tie my tree. So that's what we did. But no one was there. We stood around for a while, staring at the one wrapped tree that was sitting there and had to be ours. We and even had the crazy idea that it would fit in the Jeep, even with the backseat up and the boys in the car. Yeah, fail on that. Had to look priceless though, like the Grinch trying to stuff the tree up the chimney. Finally we lashed it to the roof ourselves and drove off, fully expecting the thing to fall off. Now it's here, all decorate and hung with light strings that only partially work. Which is a whole other story.