Snow

First real snowfall of the winter last night--so pretty when it falls sideways in front of the streetlamps. Inches on my car this morning, but didn't take long to dig through. Almost fell on my ass in the work parking lot because they hadn't yet put down salt.

I was thumbing through Martha Stewart's Living yesterday in the doctor's waiting room. Even the ads in that magazine make me feel like a failure, not to mention the suggestions for holiday cheer. Hey, did you know you could melt your own wax candles and even shape them into reindeers with tiny silver beads strewn on them and little reins made out of leather? You can also bake a fourteen layer cake filled with chocolate mousse, fresh cranberries, and mint and topped with holly constructed out of tiny slivers of petrified grass. Or make your own Christmas cards--you only need cardstock, a laser printer, a family, a dog, calligraphy materials, and a studio in which to take the photos. Oh, yeah, and a digital camera. The only suggestion she had that I could maybe do is to wrap some presents in old-fashioned napkins, but you're supposed to pin them in place and that seems like a disaster waiting to happen plus where do I find the napkins circa 1950? I could also probably manage to make name plate placards out of toothpicks stuck in fresh limes, but I can't imagine an occassion where I would need to do so. The other suggestion I could reasonably duplicate is to transform holiday cookie cutters into ornaments by inserting festive paper and pictures inside them and adding a red or green ribbon to hang it. But we don't have a tree. I supposed I could hang them from doorknobs but that seems sad. I resent anyone who has the time on his/her hands to make any of the recipes. And am envious of it too, because I can't see myself having the patience or focus to do any of these things.