"Felice Navidad"...Gung Hoy Fa Choy

The following is a comment I received as appended to the Birthday blog.

My subscription to your blog will soon expire. If you continue to skip days without any news, I will be forced to terminate my subscription and ask for money back.

This is the thanks I get for writing 110 or so blogs for my readers' edification, entertainment, and education? ? A crank who probably has delusions of adequecy wants his money back? And this is the season to be jolly? This artichoke, this onion, this infected radish, this spongy melon should put on an ill-fitting Santa suit, get on his reindeer sled and fly back north with the other snowflakes and have his nose turn into a carrot and his eyes into two black coals!

I'm truly sorry that some of you have been spoiled rotten into expecting a blog-a-day. At times I need a rest in order to think of more words that I've forgotten. I do, on occasion, have a memory loss.

Last night we went out with Marylyn and Dick to the Chinese Garden. When we got there, it was more like a forest than a garden what with parties of 8, 10, 12, etc. with obvious great grandchildren, plain grandchildren, parents, grandparents and great grandparents milling around outside--overrunning the parking lot waiting for their number to be called to get a table. We finally did. I thought we would get a good deal for dinner because I had a coupon calling for 10% off , good Monday-Thursday with exception of weekends or holidays. When we sat and looked at the "special" menu we found that the prices for all dinners were doubled and nothing available for less than $16.99. The 1 1/4 lb. lobster that previously was $11.99 was now $22.99. Ah! but my coupon said "10% off". Rhoda said they wouldn't take it because it was a holiday; I said it was Dec. 24 and not a holiday. Dec. 25 was the holiday. I was fully confident that I was in the right. But when I showed the coupon to the waiter he laughed in my face with gales of laughter and all the other tables roared with glee at my chutzpah. I reminded the waiter that Dec. 24 was not a holiday, but he claimed it was a Chinese holiday and therefore the coupon was not viable. So much for the season being "jolly".

After dinner and grudgingly paying the check, we four came back to our place about 9pm and chatted animatedly until about 12:30 am. Of course we had pictures around the house including a few of Rich Higgins, and they were curious to know some of the details about him. I did have a video of CNN news in 1991 when the hostages were brought home including Richard's body along with Bill Buckley's at Andrews Air Force Base in Md. Marilyn and Dick were fascinated by the video and so Christmas Eve wore on. I gave Dick a copy of Robin's book which he said he would love to read. As I write this, it is now Christmas Day, 2007, and I slept till almost 1pm having worked on a crossword puzzle until about 2am. Rhoda is making a brisket. I had brunch consisting of a baked apple, 2 mallomars, and coffee. Such is life.