Christmas season has really started up. Early this year, maybe, at least by our usual schedule. We already have the tree up and decorated, and other decorations up in the living room (mostly figurines of snowmen and Christmas trees). Last Tuesday the kids and I all had a fun time on the church scavenger hunt: starting from the church, we drove all over town looking for things on the list, taking pictures of them, and texting them back in to Bob. We started out just finding particular sets of big decorations in town (there is this one house on Market St that is all lit up, for example, or the front of the DePuy building), then driving around finding a manger scene, the words 'Merry Christmas' in lights, a tree lit only in blue, that sort of thing. All 3 of the kids and I had a pretty good system going on after a bit: I drove, Alex and Missy had a flashlight and the list in the back and kept track of what we'd found and what to look for next, everyone kept their eyes peeled for whatever we needed, and Natalie would jump out, get the photo, and text it in. We also had to go around the lights in Central Park finding particular things, and the one thing that prevented us taking first place was not finding the "hungry wise man," which was one of the traveling magi who, if you take the picture from the right angle, appears to be pointing straight at the McDonald's. We drove around furiously for 90 solid minutes (our time limit), then got back in time to get one last thing on the list which was a selfie with someone named Bob. After everything was tallied, we had come in third place. Great time was had by all.....the painting on the accent walls is just about done. The one in the dining room is done, anyway, and just the living room walls to go. Beth and I have moved all her cordial glasses out of the curio cabinet so we could move it, and everything is pulled away. I should be able to finish it up within a couple days.....Today Beth and the girls and I drove a long way out of the way to get a Chicago dog (actually only to Syracuse (Indiana))...