Holiday Happies!

Merry Christmas! I love the ornament reflection photos - this one is of my brother and I in San Francisco. I took it when I went to visit him a couple of weeks ago.

It's been a very busy couple of months - great, fun changes are happening in the Banana life. There's been some wedding planning, some gift shopping, and moving from one apartment to another. None of these things are finished yet. I've still got some family gifts to purchase but as I won't be seeing them until after the holiday, the shopping will be happening then, too.
Charles, the BFF, came up to see me last week and we made a centerpiece for the reception tables, one we think will look great once we've worked out the details. The first attempt was less than ideal.The butterflies were surprisingly easy to cut out and hang - it's what we were trying to hang them from that has become the problem. We'll figure it out eventually.

The actual moving part of the moving is finished. Now there are stacks and stacks of boxes to unpack and all my things to admire and arrange. Very exciting times for me. Six or seven months from now, they'll all be packed up again for our move to the Westside. I've lived in several different neighborhoods in Los Angeles. I shall list them for you: Long Beach (nice) South Central near USC (not nice), Monterey Hills (not nice), Beverly Hills (very nice), Venice Beach (not so nice), Hollywood (nice-ish), Franklin Hills (nice), Los Feliz (nice), Silver Lake (nice), and now, Echo Park (still forming an opinion - so far, nice). The move to Culver City (which is where I'm hoping we'll end up next year) will bring my LA neighborhood list to eleven. I'm planning to settle down when I've reached a baker's dozen.
The dog and the cat have both gotten used to the new place. The Doctor adapted really quickly. He may not have even noticed we'd moved. Ferris, on the other hand, very calmly and deliberately peed on a bed then went into hiding for a week. Cat sightings were rare and exciting things for us. He's only just started to mingle with the group but it doesn't take much to send him back into the closet again. He'll vanish for hours at the slightest provocation. Luckily, he's quit trying to escape out the front door since we survived the Coyote Incident. By the way, coyotes in Echo Park are no joke. Beasts the size of import cars go prancing merrily up the street all night, every night. Soon after we'd moved here, the Doctor and I were outside so that he could get his business taken care of when I noticed one of the coyote monsters standing about fifteen feet from me, just checking us out. The Doctor noticed the coyote just after I did but surprisingly, he didn't bark and I was able to scoop him up into my arms. We all stood like that for a while, just watching each other, and then the coyote decided not to eat us, turned away, and continued his stroll up the street. Once he was out of sight I ran for the front door and no sooner had I opened it than my cat shot past my feet and into the darkness at the end of the driveway. I had a very small heart attack, tossed the dog (gently) into the room, slammed the door shut, turned to run down the driveway after the cat (right into the heart of Freakishly Large Coyote country) and suddenly, the cat, he is running like his tail is on fire back up the driveway and would probably have just torn right through the screen door if I hadn't opened it in time. I don't know what happened down there in the darkness but I'm guessing it was highly educational for Ferris. He used to try to run out the door at least twice a day and since the Coyote Incident, he doesn't even go near it.

SOMETIMES I AM CRAFTY.
I built a Christmas tree and I am extremely proud of it. This was the beginning of the process:

And this was the end result:Isn't that great! I'll be sorry when I have to take it down.

THINGS I HAVE COOKED FROM SCRATCH THIS WEEK:
Clam Chowder. I was told it's the best he's ever had. Success.
Pecan Pie. Not as successful. I couldn't find the right molasses and it was awfully thick and sweet and I threw up later that evening but I'm not sure whether or not that was related to the pie. The other people who ate it were and are fine. And claimed to enjoy the dessert.
Chicken Apple Strata. It took over 24 hours from preparation to pulling it out of the oven and it wasn't amazing. If it's gonna take longer than an hour to make it should be amazing.

And now I have to work.

I've got the annual meme to do so I'll see you soon!