Three Things to Talk About

First off just let me say that I came in second place in the gingerbread house contest and I voted for the house that won. The house that came in third I thought should have been disqualified because it had way too many trinkets on it that were not eatable like a costume jewelry for windows and doors and plastic people climbing all over the roof. But the kitchen staff made it and there were no rules, so it is what it is. There was a private party of 100 people from "the outside" booked in our restaurant during the voting period and they all voted in addition to our employees and residents so it was a fair contest but a lady who entered the contest obsessed that everyone would vote for friend’s house or stuff the ballet box for themselves. She was upset there was no way to register who voted and who didn’t and she complained about it all week. As it turned out, her house probably would have won third place if a rule had been in place restricting the decor to all be eatable. If we have rules or not next year she says she’s not entering again and while I’m really competitive with stuff like this, she took it way too seriously.

My house is at the top and the first and third place winners at the bottom of this paragraph. The house that won had the most creative ideas, not the prettiest house but the couple that made it put in a ton of work to make something different out of the standard kit we all started with. I already know what I want to make next year and I've written the idea down on November’s calendar page so I don't forget. This year my theme was a gingerbread shoppe giving out free samples. I think themes help. The house that won had a tiny sign on the lawn that said, “Home Renovations by so and so.”

The problem with making a gingerbread house is that you have way too much candy left over and in my case I ended up with three bags of pretzels. The thin ones I used to trim out the doors, the twisted medium sized that I going to build a fence with but the scale was wrong and the square ones are what I used for windows. I’m not even supposed do eat salty snacks because of my high blood pressure so I got online and found an article title 50 Recipes that start with a bag of Pretzels. I have two parties to go to here that aren’t being put on by the management so we each have to bring something to pass and I’m bringing pretzels coated in white and dark chocolate and rolled in  pecan chips and red sprinkles plus I’m making snowmen in nests of chocolate covered pretzels and a Pina Colada Salad with pretzels. 

From a cute and fun topic to a gross and ugly topic. The photo below was talked at my dermatologist's office this past week for my one month post surgery appointment. The doctor was pleased with the way it looks---no sign of infection and a ring of new tissue forming around the edge. There is a center white area that I’ll need to work harder at scrubbing out when I change the dressing everyday. It’s a scab trying to form above tissue that hasn’t healed yet. In eight weeks I have to send the doctor a photograph and we’ll take it from there. 

I was having so much trouble with the area itching that they hooked me up with a special tape you can only buy online and I’ve got to get more liberal with putting on the Vaseline. They don’t want it to dry out on the surface before the lower levels heal. It’s been over a year since I first discovered what I thought was tick that turned out to be a cancerous mole and I’m betting it will another year before I go without a dressing on it

Back to a fun topic: There's a semi-professional baseball field in town and they find uses for it year around. They host a winter beer festival that I have no desire to attend but for a long time they’ve also hosted a Tour of Christmas Lights that takes people on a long and twisting drive-through it. I lived close by it before I moved and always wanted to see it up close and personal but my husband never did. This year our management offered a trolley ride tour that was as uncomfortable as all get out but the show was spectacular and I now I can cross it off my list of things I've wanted to do.

And forth---I’m not changing the title of this post to Four Things to Talk About because I like the ring of the three ‘T’ words---we had our second annual Tour of Apartments here. Ten of my fellow residents opened their doors to show off their Christmas decorations and general decor, the latter being my main interest in seeing. I don’t do much for Christmas other than a two foot tall tree, and on my main door I have a wreath and on my deck door I have a large red bow so I will never be on the tour.  ©