I’ve noticed that people tend to slow down and do a gloss-over mumble when they use these words. Actually, both pronunciations are correct for both words, according to the Merriam Webster Unabridged Collegiate Dictionary, but since half of us seem to say them one way and the other half the other way, it plays on our insecurities. More than half of us think we’re saying it wrong. Consider this little lesson my Christmas present to your self-esteem.

Gordon Williams was spotted at Lexington Gardens shopping for a poinsettia. Gordon’s wife Lina does a wonderful job of decorating the Williams’ Main Street home for the holidays, and she fills the house with poinsettias. But Lina likes white poinsettias and Gordon likes red poinsettias, so each year Gordon has to make a trip to Lexington Gardens to buy himself a red one. “I like a little color for the holidays,” he explains.

It seems we have had every kind of weather imaginable this week, including snow, sunshine, more snow, wind, rain, a little sunshine, and then a lot more rain. The only constant theme has been the cold, especially for Joyce Goldin who recently visited her son and granddaughter in the Midwest. “Coming home, I got on the plane in Lansing [Mich.] and got off in Hartford. It was nine degrees colder here than there –– and that’s just unheard of,” Joyce said. The only thing we haven’t had yet is oobleck, that Dr Seussian green stuff that fell in great gobs out of the sky onto little Bartholomew Cubbins’s head.

The Garden Club of Newtown held its annual holiday luncheon at the library this week. The club usually holds its meetings in the library’s meeting room, but on Tuesday the ladies turned the room into a dining area as members gathered for the shortest business meeting of the year and a glittering presentation of salads, sides, entrees, and desserts. Current co-president Debbie Osborne announced at one point that despite the snow and wind of December 6 (and thanks to some quick-thinking club members, who set up shop earlier and then stayed later than originally planned), the club’s annual greens sale once again cleared $2,000 this year.

Newtown artist Margaret Riebeling is putting together a collection of her artwork, which she will be featuring in an exhibition at The Burnham Library in Bridgewater next month. Be sure to get up there to see the exhibition once it opens.

Jennifer Johnston found herself locked out of Town Hall South Tuesday night when she arrived for the second meeting of the newly formed Cultural Arts Ad Hoc Study Group. A quick walk around the building to the Police Department proved successful, and the group was soon indoors out of the cold thanks to a member of the Police Department who opened the door for her.

When the Board of Selectmen reappointed Jan Andras, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal’s executive assistant, as the board’s clerk this week, Mr Rosenthal quipped, “Jan has been campaigning very hard for the job, and I’d hate to disappoint her.”

Herb, by the way, was in Nashville, Tenn., last week attending the annual National League of Cities Conference for first selectmen and mayors. A rumor made the rounds, however, that he was on vacation in Puerto Rico, and no one knows how that started. “Gee, I don’t remember that,” Mr Rosenthal said during the holiday party in the town clerk’s office Wednesday. “I hope I had fun.”

The town clerk’s party has quite a reputation for having great food. This year Bill Denlinger arrived at the party before the deviled eggs disappeared. Last year, he missed out on them.

The Knights of Columbus want to remind everyone that there is an open invitation to attend the third annual Community Christmas Dinner, which is being held on Christmas Day from noon to 2:30 pm at the St Rose Parish Hall. The free dinner is being sponsored by the Knights, St Rose, Newtown Congregational Church, and Congregation Adath Israel. Anyone who needs a ride or a meal delivered should call Frank Middleton at 426-0098.

Finally, I’d like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I’ll be back before the New Year, be sure to…

Read me again.