Some of the cute faces of FACES...from the left: Alex B., Sarah, Alyssa, Mary, Sammie, Kate, Jenny, Lora, Nicky, Luke, and Weston at Chili's enjoying Christmas lunch and gift exchange.
READING: Catherine the Great by Virginia Rounding...still working on it as it is 506 pages of pure reading pleasure and that doesn't even take into consideration the end papers!
POOLSIDE READING: Carolyn Hart's mysteries.
LISTENING TO: Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding, who died 40 years ago this week in an airplane crash...ah, Otis...this is one fine song. (I also like Michael Bolton's recording of this song very much...plus you have the added advantage of getting to look at Michael when he sings it...not a bad deal at all.)
COOKING THROUGH: Nothing really special...Seared tilapia with tomato basil sauce and Farfalle with Peas, Pignoli, and Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano for supper...come on over if it sounds good to you, I can set an extra plate or two and I'd love to see you!
FAV NEW FIND: Margaret gave me the most beautiful bookmark today...it has little beads on each end with a long strand separating them and I absolutely love it...it looks very "girly" and she could not have found a more perfect gift for me...a bookmark! Isn't it beautiful? And, it's mine...I get to look at it every day! It's so pretty...I can't believe it's mine to keep! (See photo, click to enlarge.) 
FAV THING TODAY: Christmas lunch with the FACES group...well, at least the ones that could make it today! It was so great to see everyone, laugh, and just be together.
FUNNY BIT I AM STILL CHUCKLING OVER: Yesterday I asked Matt what he had for lunch and he said, "Chicken Caesar Salad," to which I replied, "I thought they were having lasagna," as I know he loves Italian food. "Oh, they did, but I had forgotten my notebook in my last class and had to go back to get it, so by the time I got to the lunchroom all the kids were saying, "Don't get the lasagna!" Apparently, the lunch ladies did not realize that the lasagnas were frozen in the middle and were handing them out in that state. By the time the kids figured it out, there was very little time to return it to get it heated, so Matt opted for another choice. I said, "Good call." He replied, "Well, Matt March ate the whole thing frozen and said it wasn't all that bad." OMW...this just goes to prove my point: Teenage boys will eat ANYTHING not nailed down. Can you even imagine eating half frozen lasagna? Still chuckling to myself about it.
GOING TO: Make every effort to get our family Christmas cards and photo in the mail by the end of the weekend. (Week two of this, so you can see that I did not get them all finished last weekend, right? Good intentions, follow-through slightly lacking.)
PRAYING FOR: Hannah Roth, one of the freshman girls at Guerin, who is suffering much with liver cancer and waiting patiently for a liver transplant. Please join me.