I’ve called my eye doctor at ophthalmic Consults of Boston whom I see in Yarmouth here on the Cape. I have called her twice now about the continuing itching and sometimes pain but she hasn’t responded. I feel that place is a factory, but there are few choices on the Cape.  She just so far ignores my calls.

Shaman continues to guard the tree, he loves it and claims it. He allows his girlfriend Willow under it sometimes, where she likes to sleep part of every night when she leaves my bed for an hour or so. They had two mouse hunts this week, both successful (as judged by the corpses they leave us).

The weather was mild and then it rained an inch and a half and then turned quite cold. I’m glad it was mild when the rain fell, or we’d have found ourselves with a foot and a half of snow and would be stuck here, unable to get out and impossible for anyone else to get in.  As it was, it sunk into the ground, helping to raise the water table after our fall drought and fire danger.

I have been wrapping presents, both for W0ody and friends. I’m responsible for ordering gifts, sending them back if they aren’t what I ordered and often wrapping them. (Woody enjoys the holidays but really doesn’t get ‘wrapping’.) I’ve wrapped almost everything had has come so far, but I’m waiting on a number of gifts still somewhere floating around in the UPS/FedEx/USPS ether. Macy’s sent two of a sweater I ordered and I’m having trouble getting them to take the duplicate back. I have no use for two of the same sweaters and none of my friends are my size. I don’t have a typical American figure. I’m top heavy and smaller on the bottom.

We have both been enjoying the tree. Probably the tallest we’ve ever had, it’s perfectly symmetrical and now packed with ornaments. I enjoy looking at it when the room lights are off and I can see each ornament clearly. I love the multi-colored strings of lights of which there are many.

It was a slightly disappointing football week, as everybody I was rooting for lost. I hope that doesn’t happen to the Lions, but we have no way of seeing that game although it’s definitely the game of the week.  I like the Bills and rooted for them when they lost to the Rams, who seem to be very hot right now. I don’t dislike the Rams, as they took Blake Corum who was such a star on the Michigan team. But I wanted the Bills to win; however,r I won’t root for them against the Lions. We wasted an hour trying to figure out if there’s any way we could watch

 the Lions/Bills game, but every possibility way was ridiculously expensive. This, I think, is what the NFL has been building up to for years…the ability to charge exorbitant prices to watch popular, late-season games that used to be free.

I always misplace some gifts, but now I’ve found all that came here except one, that I actually wrapped before misplacing it. I have to find it. I found Woody’s biggest present that came early – found it Friday under the desk. It’s wrapped. I’m still waiting for at least four gifts to arrive.

I like to give presents to close friends, especially and put effort into thinking what to get each individual.  I don’t expect much but the thought from most people, but from people who are close, I admit to feeling insulted when they just grab something out of noblesse. I realize then I am just not as important to them as I thought I was and therefore I should not place the same importance on them. I don’t dismiss them, of course. I just don’t take the relationship quite as seriously as before.