December 30, 2017 - Saturday - I think Riley gave me her cold. Not feeling too great and didn't feel like cooking so I made some cornbread to go with some of leftovers I had in the fridge. I don't know that I've made cornbread more than once or twice. I don't know why because I love it and this was so easy and delicious.

December 29, 2017 - Friday - I had some bananas that went soft while I was gone to dad's. I decided to make some Double Chocolate Banana Bread with them. This turned out really good and only lasted a few days. Not too shabby considering this is only the second time I've tried this.

December 28, 2017 - Thursday - This is one of my Christmas presents. I don't know anything about good kitchen knives. I have what I thought was a decent sharp knife, but it doesn't compare to this new one. I made chicken noodle soup, yes again, and it made cutting the chicken and veggies so much faster. Just had to be more careful not to cut myself.

December 27, 2017 - Wednesday - Made it back to Dallas last night and went out to lunch with a friend today. We went to have Indian food at Roti Grill. I almost always want to try something new here but I always end up getting the same thing. I can't imagine not getting this and an order of their naan. Mmmmmmmm.

December 26, 2017 - Tuesday - I have a cousin who's staying with my dad while he's remodeling his own home. Yesterday he was out and rescued this sweet girl off the highway in Ft. Worth. He took her today to check for a microchip but she didn't have one. She's so sweet and playful with his other dog and loves to relax on the couch and be petted.

December 25, 2017 - Monday - So when I was packing to come stay with dad I just packed quickly and stuffed things in my bag. When I was pull stuff out to get dressed this morning. I happened to grab these. I'm still having quite a flare up so it kinda seems fitting that these are what I'm wearing Christmas Day.

December 24, 2017 - Sunday - Woke up with a pretty good flare up going. Still went out to breakfast with my dad and my cousin at a diner they like a lot. The food is good there but this big cup of hot cocoa was really worth getting out in the cold for.

December 23, 2017 - Saturday - Went out to the country to stay with the family for the holidays. It was a beautiful sunset this evening. The only bad thing is my dad's heater went out so we had at make it through the night with some space heaters. It wasn't too bad it was a bit chilly.

December 22, 2017 - Friday - I finally decide to start watching the current season of The Walking Dead. I had to go back and watch the last episode of last season to remind myself how it ended. I watched the last season well after the season ended. I'm still not over Episode 1 of last season.

December 21, 2017 - Thursday - It wasn't as cold today as the last couple of days but I pulled these out and tossed them in the dryer for a bit to make them nice and toasty. I've had these for probably a decade if not longer and they lost a few feathers in the dryer but they are still one of my favorite gifts. That and they're from a really dear friend.

December 20, 2017 - Wednesday - Okay, these aren't Christmas cookies, but I was craving a bit of a snack.

December 19, 2017 - Tuesday - Watching old-school cartoons this evening while cooking and cleaning. I have some Little Rascals videos but I think I'm going to ask Santa for some Three Stooges videos for Christmas. Those are always good for lots of laughs.

December 18, 2017 - Monday - Went to the grocery store yesterday. I got everything to make chicken noodle soup again. Also blackberries were on sale. I got a few packages to snack on. I hate getting the seeds stuck in my teeth but these were really sweet.

December 17, 2017 - Sunday - My sister and brother-in-law invited the family over for a big menudo breakfast. It's so worth getting up early again for. I had my share along with fresh home-made tortillas. My brother-in-law makes really good brownies too. I had my share of those too.

December 16, 2017 - Saturday - Made plans to see the new Star Wars movie today with a friend. We've done this with the last two movies. This friend gets up really early. I took this while walking Grace this morning after getting ready. I really liked the movie but had no idea it was 2 1/2 hours long.

December 15, 2017 - Friday - Our office has done some downsizing again. Unfortunately, myself and two other coworkers were part of it this time. We found out Wednesday. I made a frittata this morning before going in as a going away breakfast for all of us. It's been a great experience working there and I've made some really great lifelong friends too.

December 14, 2017 - Thursday - Love the Christmas time of year with all the lights. Had dinner with a friend tonight to celebrate her birthday and my half birthday. We're exactly 6 months apart. Well 6 months and 9 years. We were missing our third friend. He travels way too much. We even had a celebratory cannoli.

December 13, 2017 - Wednesday - Came across this while walking Grace this morning. Thankfully it's just an empty box and not... well you know.

December 12, 2017 - Tuesday - I had a great afternoon off. I had lunch with a couple of friends that I don't see nearly often enough. This evening I was watching The Way Way Back. Steve Carell is a complete butthead in this one. I took this photo to show my friend I had lunch with. She has a Hot Dog Man in her place just like this one only smaller.

December 11, 2017 - Monday - This evening my dad returned from his trip with my sister to Spain. He also turned 75. Fortunately he landed in time for dinner and a bunch of us met him to celebrate his return and his birthday. He was quite hesitant to go on the trip and and not too excited, but came back wanting to go again. He may have caught the travel bug.

December 10, 2017 - Sunday - Today started out really rough. The flare up blossomed during the night. Thankfully I have friend's and family to help distract me when I'm going a bit stir crazy. Later in the evening I finally started watch Season 2. In spite of not sleeping well last night I had to make myself stop watching and go to bed.

December 9, 2017 - Saturday - I woke up yesterday with the hint of a flare up. Today was more than a hint. In spite of that I made something I've never made before, a pot of beans. A while back I texted my sister's to ask for mom's recipe. Within an hour them cooking my place smelled like our house growing up. So good and so easy.

December 8, 2017 - Friday - We have a simple, modern Christmas tree at work with some really big, heavy, glass ornaments. We've had this tree for about 5 years I think and have yet to have a casualty among them. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything until we've taken it down and put them away.

December 7, 2017 - Thursday - Walking out of the office today at lunch I picked these up. See we do have a Fall in Texas. Sure it was 85 a couple of days ago, it's supposed to get down to 28 tonight and it's snowing in Austin, San Antonio and Houston, but it perfect weather for a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup tonight.

December 6, 2017 - Wednesday - After work I went to see Riley at her work to take her some dinner. I traded her a burger and tots from Keller's for a Banana Split. Obviously I have great negotiating skills.

December 5, 2017 - Tuesday - After cooking the last couple of days I didn't feel like cooking tonight. Going with a good old classic tonight with a cold glass of milk.

December 4, 2017 - Monday - Went grocery shopping yesterday. In anticipation of the coming cold weather, I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup again. Now that I think about it I should have gotten stuff to make stew too. I was really hungry when I made my shopping list. Good thing I ate before I went shopping.

December 3, 2017 - Sunday - There's a Super Moon out tonight. When I went out to take a photo of it it was super cloudy. Only occasionally could you even see where the moon was. I had to dodge a bunch of these on my porch to get out so on my way back in I decided to get down and get on their level and see if I could get one to smile.

December 2, 2017 - Saturday - It's taken about a month to get my Photo library back to as fixed as it's going to get. While finishing it up this morning I came across a photo of one of these eggs in a hole and decided it would be the perfect thing for a late breakfast.

December 1, 2017 - Friday - My boss order this tiny projector and asked me to figure out how it works. Supposedly you can plug in your phone or iPad into it and project it onto whatever. We shall see. Literally.