It’s a cold gray day here in Texas, and I needed something cheery, so I put on last year’s Christmas mix cd that I made, an entire cd of women singing Christmas songs, and forwarded to this lovely non-soprano, belty version of O Holy Night. I was singing along, rocking the proverbial rafters, waiting for my tea kettle to commence whistling, when a flash of color outside caught my eye.

I turned toward it, and was caught, breathless, watching a pair of cardinals feeding from the tray of wild bird food we keep on the picnic table (with a smaller table positioned over it as a concession to weather. The female was eating, the male, in his crimson glory, was perched on the top table, guarding her and waiting his turn.

I watched at the window, and he turned as if he could see through the glass and mesh and see me. For a heart-beat it seemed as if we communicated, and then the female left, and he moved down to the food, sampled a few seeds, looked toward me once more, nodded his little bird head, and disappeared.

Only after that did I think, “Damn, I should have grabbed the camera.”

Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?
When I was a very little girl, I was completely in loved with the nausea-inducing fun that is the Tilt-a-Whirl. Later, I fell in love with the vintage wooden roller coaster at the Santa Cruz boardwalk. I still love them both, in a nostalgic sort of way.

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?
It depends. I’m only a situational extrovert, so I tend to avoid huge gatherings as much as possible. When I do have to go, I tend to observe for a while, and then be extremely selective about who I talk to. When I’m very nervous, I clam up. On the other hand, if I’m watching someone mistreat someone else, I’ll generally speak up.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?
With the right people, I enjoy it immensely – a strong 9 or weak 10 – with the wrong crowd, the sorts of people who take such conversations personally, about a 2.

Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?
No. And no. The one time I did, I had a very bad reaction.

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?
I have DVD’s or Bravo or whatever movie seems vaguely interesting playing all the time while I write, but I’m not really watching anything as much as using it for background noise. Television I pay attention to is maybe – MAYBE – an hour a night. But at least half the time I let stuff pile up on the DVR or TiVo and watch a mini marathon when I really need to escape.

There’s nothing better on a cold evening than a basic black turtleneck, but when you’re five feet tall, a mock turtle is a better choice. In a world where clothing – and especially women’s clothing in non-traditional sizes – can be either horribly expensive or difficult to find (at least basic pieces) it’s good that there are companies like Clothing4All, where the prices are reasonable, the sizes are realistic, and the quality is excellent.

I ordered my black mock turtleneck just before Thanksgiving, and it arrived fairly quickly. I had the option of having it monogrammed, or having my name embroidered on it, but with the exception of graphic t-shirts, I don’t really like clothing with writing on it, so I chose to skip that option. Since I’m busty and round, I ordered a men’s extra large, and really, just a large would have been fine, since this one fits me like a dress.

It’s so soft that I really didn’t need the tank top under it when I tried it on, and the neck is loose enough not to feel choke-y, but snappy enough to retain it’s shape.

The ordering process was simple – a few clicks to select the color and style and I was on my way, and I received an email notification when the garment had shipped. The price was reasonable, too – under $20.

I’ve been buying a lot of clothing lately, because I’ve lost 32 pounds (and still have more to go), and I suspect I’ll be shopping at Clothing4All again.

You should definitely check them out.