Christmas around the House and in the Hood

Around the House

'Tis a small Christmas, but bigger than a boat Christmas

 Is any of that for me?

Our only outdoor lighting; While we are, I'm sure, a disappointment to the neighborhood, our little outdoor tree makes us happy.*

In the Hood
From funky to traditional, from ironic to earnest, CLS is in a Christmas mood.

Clear Lake Shores Annual Christmas Caroling: The Caroling Carters
Oh, my goodness, what a perfect time, one made for me. Forty six golf carts toured the island, stopping mainly at shut-ins' houses to warble out our songs. The singing, while awful, was loud and heartfelt; I fit right in.

Tommy, Tina, Randy, using cell phone light to read their "hymnal."

The Debbies, excited (Bonus: They had both seen the Texans beat the Colts, and they both really care.)

Mark and Maridee, my caroling cart passengers

Mark, Ranola, and Maridee caroling in an unscheduled stop for Tom (voluntarily housebound to prevent others from catching his bad cold).

Next year I hope to add a lawnchair brigade component. May have to import Billy and some others to get it going.

*Moving out of our Baytown house provided an occasion for sloughing off many extraneous items, including 2/3 or more of our Christmas stuff. And while I am not unhappy about most of the sloughing, I do wonder why I thought that we needed to rid ourselves of all of our lights. Aargh!

Gatherings: Family

Despite not making it to Gilhooley's and despite the lack of boudain egg rolls at Thibodeaux's (Will they ever visit again, now that we've disappointed them like this?), Elizabeth and Nathan's visit from California was great. A trip to the Bayway El Toro was always a part of any visit when we lived a few blocks away, but substituting the nearby El Brisa worked just fine. And Tom and I reestablished ourselves as the Sanders/Bell family shuffleboard champions at Jackie's Brickhouse, keeping our cool and breaking through at the end despite our poor showing early. Shows character, no? Now, now Nathan, . . . something about sour grapes?

We saw few friends while they were here (Steve and Ellen were the delightful exception), but did get visits from family, Marian and nephew Eric. Both visits were great. Thank you both for driving from Katy/Houston, a pain of a drive when you take I-45, which they both did.*

When the futon that we had ordered** arrived, Elizabeth and Marian jumped to, putting it together with some help from Nathan. What fun it was to sit and watch! 

And Nathan hung my brass rubbing, risking life and limb on the expandable ladder. Thank you, all.

*Tom and I agree that the relative difficulty of getting to/from Houston from here is the only negative factor in the move from Baytown to Clear Lake Shores. We could get to downtown Houston in an easy half hour from our old neighborhood on I-10, a luxury only those on the unfashionable east side of the city enjoy. 

**In dire need of more seating, aware that one double bed for guests may not be enough, and not yet ready to buy new living room furniture, we went the futon route. It's big and fairly unattractive despite our best efforts, but when hosting a small group now no one will need to sit on the floor. And when we do spring for some good furniture, it can go upstairs. 

Gatherings: Friends

Social Life Abounds

Some of the Stars of the Diabetes Walk (Read: Harry the Irish Wolfhound, who outdrew Clutch )

Birthday Gift for Tommy: Kinetic Sand

Book Club Christmas Dinner

Birthday luncheon for Tina

Brick and bricklayer at local Halloween party

Have I Mentioned That the Island is a Bird Sanctuary?

. . . but mostly we have ducks, ducks, and more ducks:

Some yards seem particularly attractive to the ducks; fortunately, ours is not one of those. Perhaps Annie's presence prevents them from congregating (and pooping) in our yard. Go, Annie.

 

 So we are able to enjoy the omnipresence of the island ducks.