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Just opened one of my Christmas presents to myself — a box of Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries (milk chocolate, not that dark bitter stuff) — and I can’t believe what I see. My box of chocolates has two layers of candy (as usual), but there are ONLY 5 (five) candies underneath that cellophane cover. The bottom layer is the same thing — five chocolate covered cherries. Now, as Larry the Cable Guy might say . . . “That ain’t right.”

Everything is being down-sized, but when “they” start messing with our chocolates, it’s time to start some kind of riot — or at least a demonstration!

True, I only paid $.97 for that box of goodies at Wal-Mart, but that’s what I always paid for them about this time of year. I rather enjoy the cheaper versions of this type of candy more than the expensive Godiva ones at the mall. But . . . is there much difference NOW in price? Gee, that works out to something like . . . 10 cents a bite (one candy = one bite).

Actually, the cost per bite is much higher if you remove the candies that are broken and have leaked all the good cherry juice — so, you end up with a crunchy cherry bite. That’s not REAL bad news — at least it wasn’t that bad when you had closer to 16 candies in the box. So, they’ve cut the product portion by half and left the cost the same. What’s wrong with this picture? Was this done on purpose, do you suppose? Or maybe now that so many items we consume come from overseas, perhaps the packers in China misunderstood. I don’t pretend to know the Chinese words for 16 and 10 — but surely they can’t be that confusing. Yeah, I bet it was done on purpose by some profit-mongering, chocolate hater, monopolistic capitalist some place.

Just checked my Queen Anne box. I need to apologize to the Chinese — this fine product is manufactured by World’s Finest Chocolate, Inc. at 4801 South Lawndale in Chicago, Illinois. Next to that information is this statement: “REAL CHERRIES — may contain pits or pit fragments.” Yep, it’s a USA product all right. I need to stop complaining here and go online to let queenannecandy.com know my feelings. If you have found this problem with your chocolates — please contact them, too. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF WE UNITE!

But first . . . another bite . . . yummmmmmmm!

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Yup . . . we are still livin’ rite har in Texas . . . BUT we can pretend, can’t we? After all, Hawaiians are spending their time in December on the beach and in shorts. Whoa, that doesn’t put me in the Christmas spirit . . . . I love having some cold winter weather to put me in “the” mood. (Note the key word in the previous sentence is “some.”)

But none of that is relevant because the “Hawaii Christmas” I’m talking about is happening next summer. Our family is planning a trip to Hawaii, and that is our Christmas gift to the “kids” (and may be their gift for the next 2-3 years!). We’ve decided that we’ll spend their inheritance WITH them — and so far they’re not complaining.

Our Christmas party this past weekend, therefore, was not the traditional type. No turkey and dressing or ham or lamb or crown roast. Nope, we had kabobs on the grill — Hawaiian chicken with pineapple. Our side dishes weren’t particularly Hawaiian, except for the fruit plate and the pudding for dessert (made from coconut milk). But our table decorations

and music put us in the hula mood! Even the sunshiny afternoon helped us forget we were in central Texas in December and let us pretend there might be a beach beyond them thar hills. If 2008 goes by as fast as 2007 has, we WILL BE on that Hawaiian beach in just a few days. (Reminds me of a remark by my friend, Ann, the other day — our days fly by as we get older, just like the paper on the toilet roll goes really fast at the end.)

Now, that’s no way to end a happy blog-day — so, let’s just change the subject to this wish for all of you: Merry Christmas and many blessings to you and yours!

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Last night was our annual tree-decorating evening with the grandkids. So, we picked the g-kids up after school and brought them to our house for a few hours of “child labor.” Terry already had the tree in place with its lights, and that seems to be the task everyone dreads.

Each year we give them a new Hallmark ornament to put on our tree — and I almost forgot. Luckily, there were still some good ones to choose from yesterday afternoon. Although I can’t quite see the Christmas spirit in Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Carribean) or some of the other choices, I picked that one for Keegan. He was thrilled. Brielle got a pony (ornament, that is) and McKenna loves Tinkerbell — so, we “done good.” I found Santa riding a scooter that lights up, makes sound, and Santa waves his hand — just had to have that for Terry. Then, I added to my collection of Mary’s Angels (#20), and picked out a Christmas scene for each of the “boys” and their wives — spent my SS check at Hallmark. But wait . . . they gave me a “free” George Strait Christmas CD as a bonus.

The g-kids helped us carry about 6 more boxes of decorations from the shed before going to eat at Mr. Gatti’s. Got home about 6:30 and started decorating the tree, mantle, and a small fiber-optic tree. Anyway, we almost made their bedtime of 8:30 (9:15)– we all signed a pact not to tell Mom and Dad about our late night. Everything looks very festive, and we all love it! Now, we just need SOME PRESENTS under the tree!

Now, it’s morning and I’m the FIRST one to say that “I am NOT a morning person” — ask my grandkids! I burned the first two Eggo’s (in the toaster) for Keegan, got the girls’ cinnamon toast a little bit too hard (in the oven toaster), and poured 4 glasses of milk (for 3 g’kids). Oh well . . . again, that’s why God doesn’t let old folks have babies (besides, we’d lay one down and forget where we had put him.) Now, where are my glasses . . . .