Well, it's been a downright pleasant day. I didn't go to Lansing today, so Emil and I puttered around the house in very much the way we used to do years ago, well before kids, when we were working part-time at our various jobs . . . although the relative poverty got wearing after a while, it sure was nice to have three or four days a week where all we did was whatever we wanted . . .

Today I called around and got some financial matters squared away: I got good news on the health care coverage; we'll switch to my plan at the beginning of the year, and we'll still be able to see the doctors we have been seeing. Better still, I found out that Charlie is covered on our health insurance; I hadn't been sure since he's not a full-time student, but everything's ok, which is a huge relief to me. And I cancelled the car insurance on the Mitsubishi, which will not be driven this winter. Also, I cancelled a phone line; we've had two for too long, mostly because we can't cope with the idea of switching the DSL to our main line; if the internet connection needs to be reconfigured, and the reconfiguration takes too long, we're going to suffer serious withdrawal.

And we did a little Christmas shopping, too. We got Charlie a really awesome Christmas present. When I asked him what he wanted, he said, "Vacations." (Ah, that's my boy!) So we got him a gift certificate from a travel agency; I called "Garry," who had been my travel agent in years past when travel agents were necessary and desirable, and who informed me that we could indeed get a gift certificate, and he'd be happy to help Charlie and we can negotiate his fee . . . So I picked up a bunch of brochures for places that seem within range given the amount he has to spend, and came out of the agency just beaming. Emil's response: "You love to spend money on traveling so much that you don't even care if you're not the one who gets to do it!" And you know, he's right. I had a whale of a time looking at all those brochures, and thinking where I would go with that money . . . (The UP 200, in case you were wondering. And no, they didn't have a brochure for it.) I know Charlie is going to be thrilled.

And now, believe it or not, it's snowing. We have a Heavy Snow Advisory going all night; we're supposed to end up with 5-8 inches before morning. (Emma's hoping for a snow day.) We've already got a few inches, and I'm contemplating skiing around the neighborhood; it looks like it's just about possible now. I truly do love snow . . .