So---the first two weekends were dominated by the three Christmas concerts/extra rehearsals, etc. we performed-"we" being the Music in the Mountains Festival Chorale-some gorgeous pieces sung to brass accompaniment, organ or just a capella--magical! or so Tom and my neighbors said--I LOVE those concerts and hey! we have new "uniforms" looking so sweet in our black velvet tops and long black satin skirts (there in front of yet-to-be-decked-out tree) though I would like to rethink the pearls thing
then there was some other stuff like the evening street fairs in Nevada City and Grass Valley and I made a few presents and we got a beautiful Christmas tree--I always love ours the best!--and rain rain rain and some snow but mostly rain and 
two days before Christmas I drove to SF so that Rachel and I could spend the day at Academy of Sciences LOVED IT! I'm sure you've seen pictures of the "living roof" with the portholes and they have the coolest tropical biodome with fish birds and butterflies (that's us through the foggy lens) plus an amazing aquarium with a white alligator and tons of very active moray eels and an octopus "walking" all over the glass and moon jellies--all aquariums need to have moon jellies, especially with changing colored lights--hypnotic! and you can walk UNDER the water/fish in one place and there are anemones that look like writing quills WOW and we went to the planetarium show as well and hung out in my favorite kind of gift shop--like old Nature Company that I still miss--then we went to her place and ordered Thai and watched TV and Dylan and Emi came by for awhile then in the morning we picked up Dylan and got back to Grass Valley by early afternoon Christmas Eve 
when we always have some kind of "common pot" meal--usually asian hot pot like this year (see photo) though last year it was cheese fondue--and talk and laugh alot and on Christmas day we just hang around and eat and open fun presents and play games and watch videos--this year we watched some of the Modern Family DVDs we got for Rachel so she could catch up with the first season--we think it's the Perfect Comedy--and both of them had to go back to SF Sunday evening--both Emi and Mike were coming into town--so they took the Camry but we'd had a great couple of days and 
I can't remember much of the next week except that Andy Montessoro our good friend from San Diego drove up to see us from Walnut Creek where he and Miriam and Mark were visiting with Miriam's twin brother a long drive for just a few hours but it was great to see him (I guess Miriam and I shop at the same places) and we also went to see True Grit one day and loved it--can't believe the girl actress and always enjoy watching Major Dude Jeff Bridges and don't EVEN get me started on John Wayne and any comparisons to that version--and of course I ALWAYS watch the rose parade Jan 1 on the tube by myself--the KRLA version with Stephanie Edwards (yay) and Bob Eubanks (boo) because their are no commercials and have a great spot on the route--but that KRLA broadcast turns up on a different channel every year and I'm always frantically searching searching for it just before parade time...last year was on FOX, this year Hallmark for some reason, anyway, Raul rocks, as usual--and OF COURSE I had forgotten to send Emi and Mike's presents back to SF so I had to pack 'em up and mail them then last Friday I drove to Fresno to spend the afternoon with my mom and sister--Terry made me the WARMEST and most wonderful blue cardigan wool sweater and it's very cozy these days when my studio starts out at 48 degrees sometimes and last week I also finished a couple of calligraphies for possible inclusion in a local show and this week I entered a logo contest for the 2011 fair, but forgot to scan it so there's no picture--phooey!--but I have a bunch of projects to be working on so here's to a productive new year for everybody!! Cheers!