Christmas Eve and All's Well

Yesterday Jed came over, we went "out"--ate too much for lunch, then went to see "True Grit," which was a true riot. Old Jeff Bridges outdid himself as a super-drunk Rooster Cogburn, and the other actors also accentuated the comical. "Mr. LaBeef" looked reverently westward when announcing that he was a Texas Ranger. The movie was accented throughout by someone behind us who had a markedly melodious laugh.

For a long time, the original "True Grit" was one of my favorite movies. The thing is, I don't remember its being something to laugh at. There were moments poignantly gratifying in a humorous way, but you didn't necessarily laugh out loud: As when Tom Cheney said, "Now I've been shot by a child." And when Rooster said, "By God, she reminds me of me." And when he took the reins in his teeth and a gun in each hand, and rode towards the 4 gunmen, muttering, "Fill your hands, you--" John Wayne's Rooster was someone a girl could trust, with a lot fewer drunken antics. Anyway, TGII was a very good movie in its way.

Yesterday evening, Jed took my list of last-minute items and went to the store, and brought back Chic-Fil-A sandwiches and stuff.

I'm going to start cooking at noon and probably won't stop until sometime tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking for everyone to start arriving about one o'clock, and we'll probably devour the turkey, thawed or not, around two.