I had been getting sick every time I drove somewhere; my eyes, especially, felt like they were exploding....I knew something was wrong with the exhaust system, and today I had it fixed.  They replaced the whole thing, let's see, is it a muffler? on back; everything is currently shiny and bright under there, yet, it seems I just had this done maybe five years ago.  I suppose with all the salt on the roads, the bumpy roads, the hot gases, and all that, that you have to have the system replaced quite often.  But I am sick from driving today and am mostly in bed, recovering.  Just think, that exhaust goes out into our world (we could be driving hydrogen-powered vehicles, with pure water the only emission). 

Back at the ranch, the many mousetraps we have set around the house have done their work.  I think the death toll is 15, at least, and the house is now a quiet, human-residential area.  And all this in the past two weeks, when the weather really turned cold and all the mice said, "Time to get indoors now."

I have gotten two out of three christmas trees up and I love them, I am especially in love with the lights.  All my trees are little, artificial, stand on table tops, and have mini-decorations.  I have an artificial wreath for the door and some candle surrounds, all artificial.  I am intent now on wrapping presents (at least the ones I have gotten so far).  I'm almost done shopping......  I have begun to bake for christmas now, and with the temps plummeting, having the oven going will help keep the house warm.  My dogs love the cold winter weather.