Friday, Dec 23rd

Christmas Eve Eve, the one day of the year you can say this.  LOL
  It rained last night and was still sprinkling in the morning.  By mid morning it was cleared up and the sun was starting to poke holes in the clouds.  Turned out to be a nice day.  The shortest day of the year has past, now the days get longer, I think down here it's only a minute a day, not like home.
  It was a big cooking day for Marg, not so much for me.  She started out boiling cabbage and making rice for the cabbage rolls [holubtsi].  Well it was lazy cabbage rolls actually, but I like them just as much as regular ones.  In fact if you are one of the later people to get the dish, you can't tell the difference between regular and lazy ones after everyone has dug through them.  The windows in here were steamed up pretty good, just like home.
  While this was going on she sent me to deliver some of the Christmas goodie bags she made.  They were fancy little bags with an assortment of sweets.  I got about 4 delivered as my instructions were not to leave them on anyone's step, but to make sure they got them and took the inside.  There must have been a melting aspect to them or something that attracted the birds, not sure.  Pretty cool when I dropped off the one at the park mangers' place as the kids were there and Aggie said oh look kids what Marg sent for you.  I said something about I know they don't like chocolate and would rather have vegetables and dip, but they know Marg is always good for treats and were all excited.
  When I got back she had done the first mountain of dishes and was making tiny crepes for the next dish.  This is the one with cottage cheese inside them and smothered in cream [nalyshnyka] and a big favourite at home and here.  Usually some of her girl friends come by to get a couple even if they are at another table.  One of the ladies questioned why Marg is making 2 dishes.  Her reply was she is accustomed to making a lot more because she tries to make everyone's favourite so that Christmas dinner is special for our family.  A couple of things have happened this past week that make me believe it is not our kitchen work they wanted in recruiting us to the team, rather the kitchen team want Marg's side dishes.  Typical of any pot luck, there are the folks who bring some small thing and eat the most, but hey, it's Christmas so she is just making lots.  I am only popular by default, I come with Marg.
  People have been stopping by pretty much the whole day, our Christmas card count is now at 30, with only a couple of them from home.  We also have a half dozen or so goodie bags.  It's a nice community that we are part of in Apache Junction; one of the many reasons we keep returning.
  By the time she finished it was happy hour.  Another one with a small group, but I like it better that way because you can actually have a conversation without all the background noise.  She took a plate of the chocolates she got from Costco.  They are dark chocolate sea salt caramels and were very popular with the people there.
  During the day Linda had made arrangements for a small group of us to go to Dirtwater Café.  It's a great place for the all-you-can-eat fish [cod] and is popular on Friday's.  I had the Rueben and a 24 oz beer.  About half the group had fish, the rest something else.  It was a fun group and we got sat back on the patio where there is always an entertainer.  A good day in the Valley of the Sun.