Thursday, November 15, 2007

Fruitcake season will soon be upon us!

I've shifted Mysterious Traveler over to an updated version of its Blogger template. That means it was automatically converted into the new basic template, and then I pored over the old template's HTML to cut and paste the code for all the little widgets and features (what you see in the right-hand sidebar) into the handy new Blogger add-on modules. They will now be much easier to update and manage.

A few elements have fallen by the wayside as a result of this transition. For instance, the blog can still be searched at Technorati, but there is no longer an internal search box in the sidebar. I'll attend to that if anyone feels the need for it. Meanwhile, please let me know if you spot any oddities.

Carrying on in the housekeeping mode, I spent this evening doing the calendar and gift list for the 2007 holidays. There are always a few surprises:

• The women on my list are easier to shop for than the men.
• Hanukkah is way early this year -- it starts Dec. 4. Time to lay in a supply of candles.

As I look over previous years' calendars and gift lists, I try to focus on one or two things for this year's festivities.

I can't believe I used to tackle everything -- a tree, homemade gifts, a holiday letter, cards, out-of-state gift mailing, outside lighting, Aunt Arv's rum balls, decorated cookies, my dad's traditional made-from-scratch eggnog, holiday party outfits, the local Solstice celebration, a family Christmas dinner, a huge Hanukkah party, and a Boxing Day party.

No wonder the official seasonal food is a fruitcake -- and, yes, I used to make a huge batch of those, too. (The weekly soaking in whisky was the upside of it.)

It's official: This year it's decorated cookies and a December 23 cookies-and-cider open house, 3 to 5 p.m. You're all invited!

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