A wonderful day in the neighborhood......

Just finished some pumpkin spice Chai tea and a couple of loverly cookies with that wonderful soft white icing and green and red sprinkles.... they were bought but some one's Mom baked them.... you know.... I did manage to get some baking done. Three small cranberry loaves and two big loaves of Cinnamon Swirl Bread. Needed to take them to tennis......

Played cardio tennis today and I swear I have put on 15 pounds since Friday with my snacking and the candy JUMPING into my grocery cart today after tennis at the store. I lumbered on the tennis court, yes lumbered. I swear I don't know where the candy came from in the photo below, I really don't know where the stuff came from....

However, I will direct your attention to the orange tag - "Beyond Repair" - found it on the sidewalk by the grocery store and all of a sudden chuckled and thought of myself..... Can you imagine waking up one morning with this tag hanging around your neck saying you are beyond repair. Yup, I can - or my tacky brother would hang it on my toe for the heck of it..... (he told me the other day they needed to update the meaning for "stupid" in the dictionary after I stapled my fatty thigh with my trusty staple gun.) Brothers! Hmmm, maybe I dropped him too many times on his head when he was little and I was 13 months older than him? You think....

Now, back to the real reason I am posting....... in keeping with the Christmas spirit, here is the "red" tree. This is where I channel Martha Stewart when putting all those itsy bitsy ribbons on it. I really love this tree and have had it for many years.

Hello Martha (Stewart) - Love you!

The dining room table is all done.....

My bedroom is taken care of this year............

And Grandma's sewing machine always has the "A Cup of Christmas Tea" teapot and cup....

If you are not familiar with that story - google it. It is a favorite of mine every year... I love rereading it and will even have a cup of Christmas tea .....I bought the Tea Set a few months before my mother died. I was going to travel to Oklahoma City with it and have Christmas tea with her in her room in the nursing home. But it was not to be, she died in October 1998..... I kept the set and celebrate her life when I bring it out at Christmas time. I know she enjoys the tea with me - I feel her presence.

AND, I was so excited to get a Santa Dollar in change last week. I didn't realize I had received it until I was straightening out my dollar bills in my purse and there it was. I consider it my lucky dollar and am keeping it! Enjoy your evening tonight.... My sugarplums dance where they want to as long as they leave my chocolate alone! Ho Ho Ho.....