About half done, I think. There were highlights.

Santa’s booth:
Watching from a floor above Santa’s village, we could see the kids all dressed in holiday finery, from the girl in a winter white gown and hat to the little boys in holiday sweaters and the pair of sisters in matching pink and black dresses. The younger of the two boys was too frightened to smile despite the pleas of all involved. His brother gave him a comforting hair mussing when they finally got to come down. The older of the sister duo gave Santa her brightest smile, and posed prettily while her little sister (2, I would guess, from the fuss) adamantly refused to cooperate. Dad tried to persuade her to sit in his own lap to one side of Santa, but she screeched her distress at the nearness of that scary man in the red suit. Dad gave up. Santa’s photographer should hire an elf to take shots of these other moments, so the families can include them in the card as well.

The struggle-to-make-sense-of it moment:
At Cost Plus, a woman paused to read out aloud her personal Feng Shui characteristics from a book. “I am a pig,” she said, “and my element is water.” Or some such. The crowds swirled around her, and she was unaware we were listening.

The bargain:
Tower Records is in its last throes, I still had $30 left on a gift card. It goes a long way when books are discounted 60%.

At the new Nob Hill on Grant in Mountain View, I stopped to admire the pies. A woman in a bright Christmas sweatshirt (I got some of those today too, but not at Nob Hill) turned to me and said, “I’m going to get in trouble.” Then she pointed out that these particular pies were sugar-free, and confided that she only ate the fillings, not the crusts. I told her she was a paragon of virtue since the crusts are the fatty part.

So now the bedroom is heaped with gifts not yet wrapped. The tree is decorated, but the loose needles have to be vacuumed before the tree skirt goes down. It’s a perfect tree, except for the two tops, but this way, we can have an angel and the little bear that clings to the branch for dear life that is the boys’ favorite. Which we can’t find.

Last night while the kids were trimming the tree, I learned how to make hot fudge sauce.