January 7th

Kristos Rodyvsya  - Merry Christmas [Ukrainian Christmas] to all you followers of the Gregorian calendar.
  It was a chilly day in the Valley, the weather forecast changed only a day ago but before that this was to be a beautiful day.  After you fail at everything else in life, you become a weather forecaster.
  An early start to the day as Marg had to go with the gamblin' gals to the Fort and I had to go to breakfast in the hall with, well anyone who likes a big breakfast, and there were lots of us, even some of the gamblin' gals.
  I had a casual day, so went out to get some weather stripping that I put on the patio door.  A combination of heat and age, these things need periodic maintenance.  I had a couple of tasks assigned while Marg was away today in preparation for hosting happy hour tonight.

   Marg had a great day at the Fort today and brought home the proverbial bacon.  She won at bingo, where she had to split the loot and then added to that with a good day in the casino for a total just over $400.
  When she got home we got everything organized around here as we were hosting the happy hour today.  Every so often we have a food event at happy that is kind of like a pot luck.  Marg had a bunch of wieners she bought and when I asked why so many her answer was that we would do this and provide hot dogs and baked beans.  One of my tasks was to put the slow cooker with the beans on a bit earlier.  Another of my tasks was to gill the wieners for hot dogs tonight.  It was kind of funny as Jerry & Kenny showed up early and were giving me advice on cooking them.  Things like I don't just want mine warmed, I want them cooked, really helpful stuff.  LOL

   We ended up with a couple dozen here and it was helped by Gary bringing his propane fire pit over.  It's amazing how much heat comes off it and well there is the psychological value of looking at a fire pit, I guess and made for a very pleasant evening on our patio.  Everyone brought a dish so we had lots to eat and there were some great desert items as well.  The drinks flowed freely and it became very jovial, in fact down right hilarious.  It's funny everyone else hosts happy, it lasts an hour, we do and it lasts for about 4 or 5 hours.  It ended up being a lot of fun, but I am out of rye whiskey.
 In the end it was a nice party and a joyous Christmas day, even if we had meat instead of the 12 meatless dishes the traditional Ukrainian folks had today.
  Oh yes in case you want the response to the greeting, it is Slavite Yoho.