My wife is a saint! I am sure that God is smiling brightly down on her even now. She is certainly the closest thing to heaven that I know. This season she has gone the extra mile in caring for others in need. While she performs her daily ministry, I am left to clean up after her graces (cats), try to make Christmas sort of happen and then cook too. Such is my lot in life. Woe is me. This week, Dan plans to drive home and beat winter storm Elliot here, before it arrives in the Lou. Snow is predicted, but we will see what happens on that account. David, Maren, and Puck are already safely ensconced in Geneva for Hanukkah. Britt will be flying into town some time before New Year’s Eve. Joanie will join us on Christmas day for supper. I have a really killer sweet potato recipe that I will be serving, and I want to do something special with cranberries too, TBD cranberries + pomegranate + pistachios. We will do a turkey breast for protein. Anne will do her regular Christmas salad, except that I think we will probably substitute some of our neighbor’s gift of Harry & David pears for the dish’s usual apples. Joanie is on the hook for dessert, which she has ably handled in the past. Add some crudité for hors d’oeuvres and I think that we will have a meal. Anne just added one more thing to my holiday shopping list, Trader Joe’s croissants, for Christmas breakfast. Unfortunately, this means that I will have to try to park in the Target parking lot, which is for me at this time of year, a no-go zone—TJ was no problem, but the grocery store was a zoo!