Christmas Eve Day - December 24th -

Kat and Rachel and two Habitat team members came over today to decorate the cookies. First we had lunch on the west lanai. Louise is from Minnesota, now living in California. Kaya is from Toronto, Canada. They are the first to arrive for the build.

I got the oven heating, and started slicing up the cookie dough. The house began to have the wonderful smell of gingerbread wafting through. How I love that smell. It takes me back to my home in Iowa, and mother baking gingerbread men and us decorating them. White faces and jackets, with raisins and red hots for eyes, mouths and buttons. As I began having kids, and making gingerbread men, the frosting was not always the requisite white, and the kids used sprinkles and colored sugar also. I also made most of my cut out Christmas cookies with the gingerbread recipe. Mother always used a sugar cookie recipe for the the trees, bells, stars, etc. I remember one year when Bob and I were living in Pittsburgh, and Frank and Siobhan and Kat were young. We had a party to go to, and I had just made about six dozen gingerbread men. The babysitters came over, and I asked them if they would decorate them. When we came back home, all the gingerbread people had been decorated in multicolored pastels of bikinis, speedos, sunglasses, etc. It was hysterical, although at the time, I am sure I was not really happy, as they were supposed to be gifts. I got over it.

So I mixed up the white frosting, gave it along with food dyes, bowls, etc., and let Kat and friends go at it. The results were spectacular. Very festive and colorful.
I just tried to upload a picture, but am still having trouble getting them to transfer from my photos to my blog. Kat has shown me how to do it, but it may be just where I am. When I can, I will insert pictures in past and present blogs.
Anyway, when the decorating was finished, we put the cookies in a foil lined box, and layered them between wax paper, and put all of them in the freezer for the Habitat Chrsitmas party tomorrow night. It is so humid here, that it is better to put stuff in the freezer to keep it.

Kat and the girls left to pick up more people at the airport, and Artie and John and I got ready to go down to the bookstore for chanting, then dinner, and then to watch a hilarious Christmas movie, which we had already seen - THE NATIVITY. Terri, the owner of the bookstore, used to be a DJ among other things, and she puts together a tape of five difference chants each week. It was actually a different venue for me, but I loved it. There were about ten or twelve of us there. Most had done this before, I think I was probably the only one who hadn't. We just sat around on chairs or on the floor. Terri had copies for all of us. Most of the chants were in Sankrit, so I just pronounced things as they looked and sounded to me. That lasted for about an hour, but seemed much shorter. Then Artie had made a stew and some biscuits, others had brought things, so we had dinner and chatted. Around 7PM, Terri put on the movie - I loved watching it for the second time. We all wished each other Merry Christmas and hugged and kissed, and went off to our respective homes. A very pleasant Christmas Eve, indeed.

Life is good.
Adieu, Adios, Mahalo,
I love you all.
Sally