And the pretty much sums up the weekend, folks!

We went to see the Sound of Music on Saturday at the Paper Mill Playhouse. That stanza of the song “My Favorite Things” keeps running through my mind ..

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes …

That and “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”

The performance was wonderful, the staging so well done! What lucky raffle winners we were!

And, speaking of snowflakes on my nose and eyelashes, I guess our expected snow amount has dwindled to “a coating to an inch” which is not ideal but certainly better than no snow at all. We shall see. Of course, places like Oklahoma are due to have a blizzard. Can you please tell me why it’s cold enough to snow in Oklahoma but not in New Jersey? Weather mystifies me. It truly does.

Yesterday found us up bright and early doing our Christmas grocery shopping. We needed to go to Franklin Lakes (stomping grounds of the Real Housewives of New Jersey) to the Market Basket to get our duck breasts and a few good cheeses. We had breakfast at the Oakland Diner, better known to its patrons as just the O.D. (I know Bigsis, I know!)

After groceries it was off to neighbor Kim’s annual Christmas open house across the street for a few hours of holiday cheer and chatter.

We hadn’t been home for very long when Rick yelled “SANTA, Lynne, get your camera!!” I had already changed into my around-the-house-sweats and slippers but I grabbed the camera and headed out the door. I didn’t have time to change lenses and had my biggest zoom lens on because the last time I used the camera I was aiming it at a woodpecker at the feeder. It worked out okay though. It was a little challenging since our normally empty street was lined with cars at the open house.

A slipped a twenty dollar bill in Santa’s helper’s hands and got a candy cane thumbs up from Santa!

I love living here. I just wish the expected snow counts were reversed and we were getting the blizzard and Oklahoma would get the coating-to-an-inch.