END OF 2012 RANDOM THOUGHTS

While doing my very best dental hygiene work today (since I have had to work a whole twelve hours this week, I was in my element), I let my mind wander just a bit.  Things I gave thought to today and while I write this post in no random order:

I am glad I don't really keep milk in the house except when my daughter is home--the cost may double in the coming year to as much as $8/gallon.

The highway sign says 20 miles=74 minutes for Ray's commute tonight.  I am depressed for him.  Yesterday his office closed at two pm due to inclement weather (we had torrential rain/sleet/snow).  He arrived home 2.5 hours later.  My office was closed for the day, so my commute of ten minutes didn't occur.  It only took him 170 minutes to get home (40 mile drive) tonight.

My boss told me he was thinking about me this morning!  He saw THE BEST COMMERCIAL for Panama and saw the modern city in all its glory.

I am committing myself to only making three different kinds of cookies next Christmas (chocolate chip, peanut butter balls and No Bake).  No bark, no tres leches cake, no magic cookie bars--three kinds.  Perhaps I will make one hundred of each of those kinds or just a dozen, but I am keeping it to the three favorite and old standby's.  I suppose I will still decorate some whether they are sugar here or butter there (at my sister's house). That would mean four kinds, so I am on the fence about this one.

I really enjoyed the movie "Les Miserables" even though the whole script was sung to me.  I could hear it and understand it.  It was long, but I only wanted to know what time it was because I was wondering if it was getting close to telling me the ending (I didn't know too much about the plot).

I need to start using my new scanner to put pictures on my computer, save to my external hard drive and have them with me in Panama until I get my photo albums there.  Maybe I will do this rather than posting random thoughts on this blog.

I ate way too much Christmas Day, but I don't care.  It was all so good!

We have plans to go to Washington DC on Saturday night.  Our goal is to eat dinner at the historic Ben's Chili Bowl restaurant, walk around the zoo and view the "Zoolights", and see the National Christmas tree.  It is supposed to snow in the morning and perhaps turn to rain or stay all snow until mid-afternoon.  I don't like when my plans go awry.  If there is snow, it will be pretty though.

I was in Turks and Caicos almost one year ago.  Blue water, white sand.  We weren't even thinking about Panama and didn't even know it was a reality eleven months ago!  And another Panama vacation (in March) is right around the corner.

I will leave the Christmas decorations up for a few more days.  Or longer.  Not really motivated to take it all down yet.  And the outside lights can stay up until it gets warmer--not anytime soon according to the meteorologist (and they have been right for the past two days).

Are they working on the fiscal cliff?  Not really.  House members are still on vacation!  Everyone should be ashamed of themselves.

Ray could have driven from Panama City to the middle of the country in the time it took him to drive home tonight.

This post has nothing really to do with Panama except that I think about it daily still. Knowing Ray has such a horrible commute along with working sixty plus hour weeks has our retiring early making that much more sense. And yes after all of this randomization, I have decided I will add sugar or butter cookies to my Christmas baking, because my daughter loves decorating them as much as I really do (even after the eleventh and twelfth and thirteenth one).  Really.  So make that four kinds of cookies to make at Christmas time in 2013.  And putting together a  not pre-assembled gingerbread house, too!