"I need you out of the house," I told Richard yesterday, and so today he obliged, leaving me home to struggle with the printer and somehow force it to talk to my computer so I could print out what I needed to complete his last gift (I can tell you this, you see, because even though he reads this journal, it will give him not even a hint as to what the gift is. Bwahaha!).

Prior to me giving the computer a brain wipe and upgrading to Windows 98 we were able to successfully network this printer and there were no problems. Now I can only use it when I connect it directly to my computer, and even then I get strange errors popping up on my screen. The good thing is that if I simply hit the 'Ignore' option on those errors, things print just fine, but still it's a bit annoying to have to negotiate the tangle of cables from three computers, a printer, scanner, DSL modem, Palm Pilot rechargers, and so on just to find the one I need each time I need to print.

But anyway, the point here is that I managed - finally - to get what I needed to print and so the last of the presents are done and wrapped and ready to be opened in only a few days.

Today I also did the last of the baking. One pan of fudge - dark, rich, and full of crushed walnuts. One batch of buttery teacakes rolled in powdered sugar thick enough to leave a delicious mess all over the fingers of anyone who takes a bite. One batch of crisp cookies colored green and pressed from the metal tube of the cookie press into little trees. And most important of all, one batch of red and white twisted cookies curved at the top into little candy canes, sprinkled with sugar and crushed peppermint. It just wouldn't be Christmas without them.