Merry Christmas! This is the first white Christmas in central Texas since 1926. Its wonderful. We opened presents with Jon's family through Skype, which was fun. We were at his house, but our Christmas stuff was at my house. The roads were pretty icy, so we decided to walk. Its only a mile, and it was so much fun to be out in the snow. When we got to my house, my dad had the cinnamon rolls ready. Some of my neighbors had a snowball fight, and I'm so jealous that I can't throw.

This is my present from Jon. He wraps stuff in brown paper, which is wonderfully fun. He got creative this time and tied it up with copper wire. Inside I found a two-person four-season backpacking tent. I can't wait to go use it. He unwrapped his giant package to find a large tile wet saw. It may not sound that romantic to you, but he's in the middle of a bathroom remodel, and also has a kitchen and laundry room to tackle.

We went to dinner at a friend's house, and came home with full bellies and lots of leftovers. A nice Christmas.

Its Christmas Eve! And the weather outside is frightful. It started raining last night, and turned into snow today. The wind is about 30 mph, with stronger gusts. Jon and I made a lovely little Christmas Eve dinner. We ordered a smoked turkey from a barbecue restaurant, and made green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. We're now making smore's in front of a very nice fire. I managed to get the last bag of marshmallows at the grocery store.

Today was a gorgeous day. It was around 75 degrees, sunny with no wind. I didn't want to spend the whole day indoors, so I came outside to be productive. I spray painted my rain barrel to match my house today. It looks glorious. And I'm sure this ring on the grass will go away soon.

Jon decided to stay with me this Christmas instead of going back to New York. How sweet. So we are having fun. We went to see Avatar today in IMAX 3D. We went to a 2:00 show on a Tuesday afternoon, but the theater was packed. The line was down the hall, around the corner, and down the hall again. We took Dramamine, and I was a little naseous before it kicked in. The movie was really good though.

I went to the gym today and rode the recumbant bike, and as I was leaving, I ran into Joy. She told me they were going to open the pool again next year! Yay! Its the only olympic size pool in town, and part of the city's budget plan for next year was to close all of the public pools. I like swimming. I'm not that good, or fast, but its fun. Its also a great core workout.

Its a beautiful winter day, so Jon and I decided to take the opportunity to trim his shrubs. I helped, even though I only have one arm. I trimmed the fig tree and hollies, while Jon planted a new bush and trimmed the Texas sage and the other shrub that I don't know the name of. We also cut down the oak tree that was growing inches from his foundation. It was a lovely tree, 11 years old according to the rings, but its location was just terrible. We cut it into firewood, so it will be used for something.

This is a parsnip. I've never eaten a parsnip before, so Jon and I decided to try some. I think they are very tasty, sweeter than carrots. They are also in season right now. I want to learn to eat seasonally and locally when I can. Right now, citrus, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, peppers, and greens are in season in Texas. I should also go to the farmers market, but I always forget.