Today was my last day of work before Christmas, too. Joe and I have three days off!! A miracle. Christmas is almost here, and we are almost ready. 
We are going to see "Sherlock Holmes" the new movie tomorrow, so Joe is making me watch the first one on DVD tonight. So he doesn't have to explain to me as much in the theater. Gotta start the movie now.
Finally we took time to make leg lamp cookies on Wednesday evening. And finally I got to use my new RED hand mixer from my birthday. It was doubly entertaining because Joe's cousin and his wife sat and watched Joe make his cookies. No explanation. Just funny.
Then, last night was our frosting party. Joe was better with covering more cookies, and I made them neater. Joe was in charge of his leg lamp cookies, of course.
Lots of snowflakes.
Joe's masterpieces.
Finally, I printed our holiday season greeting cards today... all 115 of them. Once again I was quite happy smelling the fresh inks, though I felt a little like a printing machine with a stack of paper too slow to disappear. 
I must say it was quite an efficient operation. The hardest part really was to come up with the design idea. I'm not used to the full-time job taking up lots of my time and mind. 
Little by little, we are getting ready for the Holidays....
Friday, my day off, was a cold day. At 11 the temperature was barely 10 degrees F. You know it's cold when the sun is out and the temps stay below the freezing point all day. Brrrrr.
Upon Joe's request, I made sukiyaki for dinner. A perfect meal for a cold night.
I'm actually impressed that Joe can do raw eggs. I think he's qualified to have REAL sukiyaki next time we visit Japan. We just can't get the marbled and real thin cuts of beef around here.
Our usual potted pine tree has been decorated for the holiday season... for a couple of weeks now. This year I only put up the antique glass bulbs to stay simple and classic. 
We have lots to do before Christmas. I'm just getting started on our greeting card design. I'll help Joe make his leg lamp cookies, too. All the holiday shopping left to do... all the fun.
