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Merry Christmas Eve to all.
We arrived in Hot Springs last night safe and mostly sound. The home is absolutely beautiful - it is a vacation rental home and is so well decorated and appointed I don't believe I'll ever stay in a hotel again. A three bedroom, sleeps all 7 of us (could sleep 8 if .. well.. ) with a living room, separate fully stocked library parlor, kitchen, breakfast nook, full dining room, 2 baths, patio table, grill, fire pit and wonderful fenced in backyard so Mush can potty off her leash. So much more - fully stocked kitchen with a bunn coffee maker and starbucks!
It's incredible. Not only was there a welcome note to me, there was one to Mushy telling her to enjoy the squirrels in the yard, etc., plus a small bag of treats and a basket of pet supplies (rug, potty bags, leashes, bowls, squeaky toys, etc) Again, never had that anywhere. I'm sold.
Food yesterday? Very busy in the morning and gave into a McD cheeseburger (but got the small one .. haha.. yeah, every little bit helps) around 2pm :::yet a large fries::: Hey, I drank a sprite zero (coffee was giving me acid indigestion) so that helps, right? Plenty of water on the way; some tuna and crackers late afternoon.
Dinner - had gumbo over ... get this.. 'cheese grits'! Never had that before and OMG... dangerous. Sooo good. I repeatedly allowed the other six at the table to take spoonfuls to taste so not that much left for me. A beer. Well, half a beer. Just not a beer drinker these days. An ounce of pistachio gelato to calm the ruckus the gumbo had created in my stomach. An apple and a few crackers with cheese late evening (didn't get to bed until 2am so my entire body and hunger cycle was off).
Up this morning my usual time. Mushy is curled up beside me on one of the loveseats. We're listening to the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas carols as I compose this while occasionally lifting my gaze to enjoy the Christmas decorations - did I mention they decorated the home inside and out for the holiday? I passed it twice last night thinking 'surely that beautiful lit up home can't be 'our' rental'.
Haven't decided anything specific today other than walking the shops; maybe a 'duck tour' and go see the museum of gambling.
Although the 'trip' was 'my' gift to all, I brought several small items for them to play a gift exchange. I nearly tossed that nintendo ds into the mix as I won it last year at a fundraiser and it's still in the box. But then I worried it'd make all the other gifts pale and create hard feelings. Don't need to create that.
Friday we (Blondie & I -- although she doesn't know it yet as she's still asleep) have appointments for 'the works' - mineral bath, scrub, sauna, massage, etc., at the Arlington Hotel Spa. We stayed there when we visited in the summer but didn't have time for spas. We also got to tour the 'Al Capone Suite' last night as it was vacant. That was so intriguing.
Well, I think I'll get going here. Wishing you all a very wonderful day, safe travels, great feasts and good tidings. I'm not sure what tidings are but let's hope they're good.
Bells
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