Holiday Treats

 While I have not done any holiday baking yet, I have had some treats.  Let me make a list so that I remember later:

--I've been enjoying the holiday lights.  Each morning, with each block of my walk, there's at least one house that has lights on.  Delightful!

--We also had a holiday light tour of a different neighborhood on a golf cart--fun!

--Last night, we were spontaneous.  I came home from work and said, "I'd really like to go over to the beach to the Hollywood Brewery and have a burger and a beer."  And that's just what we did.  I get off work at 3 on Fridays, so we got there before the crowd arrived.  We enjoyed our food and drink and the view of the ocean.

--Early this morning, I made this Facebook post: "Kitchen alchemy: craving a Starbucks peppermint mocha but not wanting to drive to the closest store that's a few miles away. I have milk, peppermint extract, coffee, sugar, and cocoa. I have tried this experiment before, and I know the dangers of peppermint extract. This time, the smallest amount, added to the milk first. It's a different take on peppermint mocha, less sweet and cloying, with more dark chocolate depth. Yum."

--One of the biggest treats of the week:  I've been writing some poems.  Hurrah!

--Let me also record a poem idea, in case I don't get a chance to write it next week.  Here is the title or the first line:  On the feast day of Santa Lucia, I pay the credit card bill.

--It has also been a week of good sketching.  Here's my favorite of the week: