Pre-Christmas Decisions

The maid is coming this morning so Fiorella is whipping around the house trying to clean everything up and, at the same time, proceed with her Christmas decorating and production of VOTER REGISTRAR badges. Hmm.... maybe she can also drag la donella into helping her fit the rest of the branches into the thirty-year-old Japanese Christmas tree.
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This will be Fiorella's last Christmas in the house, and she's a a little tired, so this year, she'll probably hire her yard man to dress the driveway with ropes of tinsel. Husband's death has left Fio with more holiday preps than she can handle on her own.
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One thing Fiorella is sure of is that there will be no paper plates or napkins at the family dinner. This one last time, your girl prefers to stick with the traditional Haviland china, Sir Christopher silverware, and cloth napkins. Come the New Year, of course, she might decide to sell it all--her bank account could do with a little extra cash.
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And, throughout it all, Fio has been dashing into the kitchen to manufacture more buttons and badges, then out to the woodpile in the driveway to pick up firewood for the cold weather predicted for the end of the week. HOW THE HECK IS SHE NOT LOSING WEIGHT?
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Nothing like waking in the middle of the night to ponder what is going on in one's life, and Fiorella's is like a country-western song. Several songs, in fact, and you can bet she's jotting down notes.