Almost Christmas! Yay! In anticipation of it, I bought weird alcoholic beverages: a Russian vodka I'd never seen before that I bought strictly for the angular shape of its bottle and a lovely silver depiction of the Kremlin on its label; and a bottle of Nassau Royale -- from the Bahamas. I have no idea why I bought that, some deeply buried, subconscious island-y reason, I'm sure. I'd never even heard of it; it's a liqueur. (It's smells very promising though, I must say!)

After mom was settled in the rehab yesterday, I suddenly -- as if by magic!-- found myself in the liquor store on my way home. I must have wandered the place for half an hour, looking at the many, many new beverages they sell these days. So different from the old days. I saw a few of the things I used to buy regularly when I lived (and celebrated Christmas) in New York -- Remy Martin, in particular. And Jim Beam -- my ex-husband, Wayne, and I used to have lots of friends in for Christmas every year, and one of his closest friends drank Jim Beam, so we always had it on hand and he would always stay late, sitting around the dining room table with us, laughing & reminiscing over the Jim Beam, the espressos, the chocolate-pecan pie...

And Stephen (Stevarino!) and his one glass of spiked eggnog every year.

And Pamela and I and all that champagne and Beaujolais Nouveau.

And, going back even further to the 80s, Stephany and her vodka or white wine or Campari, and me and my bourbon.

Many, many happy memories of Christmases in New York -- no, not all of them booze-centered. I am so homesick for those early days and that town, but onward.

I start my private French lessons on Friday!! Yay! I am very excited. When I spoke to the tutor over the phone yesterday, she spoke almost entirely in French. I understood everything she said. (And she was not saying things like "I have a blue pencil," thank you very much!) My problem, of course, is not feeling confident about replying in French so I always reply in English, hence the private lessons. Mostly I want to be able to talk about books and film making, and have intensely passionate philosophical discussions...Okay, well, that third thing could take awhile. We'll see.

Meanwhile, must get this day on the road, folks! Have a wonderful Sunday wherever you are!! Thanks for visiting!