Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 580

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share your answers. See you there! 

1. What's the best $5 gift to give someone? 

2. What's your favorite way to relax/unwind during the busy holiday season? 

3. How do you feel about gingerbread? Love it or no thanks? Are gingerbread houses a part of your holiday tradition? If you said yes, how does that look? Do you like ginger flavor in other kinds of dishes? 

4. December 5th is National Blue Jeans Day...will you be celebrating? Do you have a favorite brand? A favorite pair? Do you have a hard time parting with a favorite pair of jeans? Blue jeans-joggers-leggings-yoga pants...which one do you wear most often? 

5. As we head into this holiday season what's your biggest priority or goal for the end of the year? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Square One

I didn't mean to take a three week hiatus here but that's what happened and I'm not mad about it. Course we can't move forward without looking back so let's talk December. 

Christmas came. It always does thankfully. This year's holiday looked a lot different than the one I'd been imagining in my head all year long, but we are nothing if not resilient here so we adjust and adapt and carry on. The weather was fabulous so hubs and I started the day with coffee on the porch. Eventually he made us yummy bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches and we opened gifts, took the pup for a nice long walk, then got the house ready for company coming later in the day. 

We were so glad to have friends also on their own this year, and together we did the traditional ham dinner with all the trimmings served on the Christmas china kind of meal. A really nice afternoon and evening spent with some of the nicest people we know. 

We missed in person time with the cutest little men on the planet, but we did FaceTime and loved hearing about all their favorite moments of the day. Little ones are extra precious this time of year, don't you think? 

We did manage an early somewhat traditional Christmas celebration with Daughter2 and her hubs a few days prior to Christmas and that was loads of fun. They arrived the Sunday before Christmas and left for the in-laws on Thursday morning. 

We declared Wednesday our Christmas with them, and woke up to stockings, breakfast casserole, gifts, and a prime rib meal which the men loved planning for, talking about, cooking and eating. Emphasis on the talking about-ha! Men and their bbq! 

We took them into tiny town one night to see the lights, played darts at the local beer station, played mini golf in a light rain, and just enjoyed being together. 

Backing up to the week before their arrival when we spent a really fun Saturday night with a big gang of friends and strangers-now-friends at a Santa pub crawl in town. We all agreed we have not laughed that much in a long time and it felt great! 

So many Santas, but 'Santa Baby' was my favorite costume.

What else? Oh yeah...construction. Can't forget that. I mean we've only had this project on the books since May so of course the install is going to happen the week before Christmas. Still not done but well on it's way. The wood that's been in our garage for the past three months is now on the wall, waiting on the painter (mid-January), the electrician (sometime), the Murphy bed install (happening this week!) and just a few other small loose ends to tie up before we call it a day. We are loving the look of what's been done and think we might actually wrap this thing up before too long. 

'Too long' being a relative term, ahem. 

Neighbors invited hubs and I for an oyster roast one night about a week before Christmas and it was so much fun. And because there were so many oysters they invited us back two nights later for a repeat and we were happy to oblige. Another neighbor provided the oysters, fresh from their trek to the coast, and we had them raw, steamed, and Rockefeller style. 

Hubs and I had a night on the town in the nearby big city one evening, with dinner and a holiday show courtesy of the local symphony. It was fabulous and I'd definitely like to make this a regular thing going forward. 

My sister lives about an hour from us and since her birthday is the day after Christmas we made plans to celebrate both occasions at my niece's new home on the 26th. We had too many wonderful hors d'oeuvres and loved spending time with family. 

What else? Hubs gave me a new computer for Christmas (whoohoo!) so he and I trekked to the mall last Thursday to do some sort of transfer blah blah blah at the Apple Store. If anyone is wondering what everyone is doing, I can tell you...they're at the mall. Have mercy it was a zoo! I haven't been in a mall since before Covid and I guess I thought that wasn't a thing anymore (the mall, not Covid-ugh!) but it is most definitely a thing. 

We hung out at home on New Year's Eve which is our favorite place to be at year's end. It was absurdly warm and we grilled scallops and were asleep before the clock chimed 12, which is pretty much how our end of year always goes. I'm more about a champagne toast on Day 1 anyway. 

How many times can I mention the weather? My daffodils think it's time to pop up and it is definitely not time.

On the bright side, since the new year rolled in with 70-something degree temps and crazy humidity we made the little brown dog's day and let him swim. Nothing makes him happier than dock diving and we aim to please. 

Our neighbors joined us for dinner New Year's Day and we played some pool after dining on the traditional 'lucky meal' like all good citizens should. Pork tenderloin, cornbread, collard greens, and black eyed peas. I hope everyone reading here also did their part-ha! 

And I guess that catches us all the way up. 

Wait....did I tell you I'm going to be a Nana again?!?!? This is what happens when you neglect your blog. I'm going to be a Nana again!! Here's sweet daughter2, the momma-to-be, with the nightgown I gave her this year. Hedgehogs of course, because it's not Christmas in my house without a hedgehog wrapped up somewhere.

Never have the words happy new year been more appropriate. 

Happy new year!! 

Somewhat Current Events

I have a to-do list as long as my arm, but how 'bout let's blog instead? I want this space to catch up with my  real life space so I'm going to throw down some random words and pictures today in hopes of making that happen. 

Last Friday some 'NJ friends' vacationing in a neighboring state detoured to the lake and spent the night at our house. The Mrs. worked with hubs back in the day and we had not seen her in person since she came to visit us in England many moons ago. How many moons you ask? Well daughter1 celebrated her 16th birthday during that visit so very many. 

Let me not go down the England rabbit hole today, or the one where daughters turn sixteen and then get married, move away, and have babies either. Let's stick to the here and now and the absolute most picture perfect December weather in the history of weather. 

Our friends got to the lake just in time for us to boat over to lunch because that's what you do on a clear blue 77-degree December day. 

And because it was still spectacular after lunch we motored around a bit, showed them the nearby waterfall, and some of our favorite little coves before heading home. 

We then ventured into town (by car of course) for happy hour at a favorite local wine bar. We shared a charcuterie tray and talked and caught up and then went over to tiny town's little main street to see the Christmas lights.

We live in a sleepy little burg with not a lot going on other than the great outdoors, but let me just state for the record, the Christmas lights in this town are something else. They're set to music and it's fun to see people of all ages out enjoying holiday cheer. 

This year there were several fire tables set up in the street with a booth nearby selling s'more kits. We did not partake because we were headed to an Italian restaurant for a late supper, but maybe next time.  

Our friends caught the beauty of the early morning sunrise before heading home Saturday morning. Let's pause because I feel like we should. 

Photos do not do the winter skies here justice. 

Saturday evening was our neighborhood Christmas party which was a nice way to ring in the holiday season. I bought a pair of super sparkly pants for the occasion and it's impossible not to have fun when you're wearing sparkly pants. We had fun. 

Speaking of dressing for the holidays...this handsome boy had a haircut over the weekend and came back to us wearing a Christmas bow tie. 

He knows he's cute. 

In other completely unrelated-to-the-holidays-but-still exciting-to-us news, our carpenter came by on Monday and taped the stairwell wall where wood will be installed. 

Never mind that the wood's been at the house for a month, progress is progress and whoohoo for progress! They're supposed to start on my office wall on Monday, the electrician comes to wire for stair lighting on Tuesday, and then the rest of the pieces should magically fall into place to finally get this project done. I will update you with all the pieces once we're really and truly underway. 

In completely holiday-related news ours will be unexpectedly quiet. I know I want to write about how that looks or maybe I don't. 

Maybe today I'd rather just soak in the beauty of a lake that looks like glass and the beauty of a Christmas tree shining there.

Let's Just Call This One November

We've been trekking across and around East Tennessee for the past ten days so I'm going to lump all the fun into a single post before December rolls in and Thanksgiving is so last week. I know technically Thanksgiving really was last week but I enjoyed living and not writing about it in real time.   

Anyway, Thanksgiving

Wait, let's back the sleigh up to the weekend before Thanksgiving, which is when we loaded up the car and the dog and the everything and made our way to hubs brother's house in Vol country. Nobody is happier to road trip to visit my brother-in-law and sister-in-law than the little brown dog. My sister-in-law is one of his favorites and she does not spoil him at all. 

There's nothing quite like a game live and in person in Neyland Stadium and that's where we were (along with 100,000 of our closest friends) the Saturday before Thanksgiving. 

The Vols had an away game Veterans Day weekend so they were doing a number of things at this game to honor those who've served. Lee Greenwood was at the game with his son and they sang God Bless The USA while the big flag was unfurled on the field which was such a treat. Winning is fun too.

On Monday morning we drove another three (or is it four?) hours to Daughter1's house. She's an hour behind us which isn't much, but somehow it still messes with your head. 

We settled in and spent four days having all the fun with the sweetest little men we  know. That fun included building giant houses made of waffles...

 Reading stacks and stacks and stacks of books -

Playing lots of Go Fish and no less than seventeen games of Candyland which, if you know you know, ahem-  

There were also  lots  of snuggles-giggles-wiggles-and sloppy kisses given which will need to hold me over til the next time we're together. 

I helped in the kitchen and delivered my grandmother's china to her great-granddaughter (daughter1) and loved Facetiming my mom to show her the table set with her momma's well loved crystal and flowery plates. So so special. 

We left Daughter1's house the day after our feast and drove another three hours over to Daughter2's house so we could see the new digs. So so cute. We had a wonderful time visiting with her in-laws and it was nice to have a second Thanksgiving of sorts with them and also my mother-in-law.

Because my sons-in-law both have jobs that sometimes require them to be 'on call' (aka no travel) we were not able to have everyone in the same place, although we were in the same state. Daughter2 and her hubs moved into their home three days before Thanksgiving but she rallied and invited her in-laws and also hubs mom to spend the holiday with them in their brand new home. 

That they moved into three days before. 

My girls are awesome. 

Raise your hand if you've had a few too many carbs in the last ten days. 

Raise your hand if you're not sorry-ha! 

We left Daughter2's house Sunday morning to take my mother-in-law back home and spend one more night with hubs brother and sister-in-law. We were all pretty pooped so we chilled on the couch, napped, and caught up on everyone's holiday eatings and doings. 

While my girls are geographically the closest they've been to one another in many many years, and to us too, we will not have either of the 'big' holidays this year with both girls in the same house. This is the thing I long for most when holidays roll around, the thing I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for, and the thing I was expecting this year. 

I wait a little longer. 

I make a list of all I'm grateful for, which includes happily married grown up girls who've made loving homes for their growing families...

...for grandchildren who fill our hearts to overflowing-

 

...for the beauty of a late November sky-

A reminder of how deep and wide and high God's love is for His people.

Hodgepodging In Abundance

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. A gratitude theme felt appropriate today...thanks for playing along! If you've answered the questions add your link at the end of my post then go say hey to your neighbor. Everybody's welcome here on Wednesdays (and everyday) so why not take a break from all that turkey prep and join us? Here we go-

  

1. Tradition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at 2 PM, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?

I used to hold tradition tightly in my iron clad fist, but you know life and all that. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and if I had my way my family would all be gathered round my dining room table each and every year. So how often does that actually happen? Rarely. Very very rarely. And I adjust and feel grateful for my many blessings, but I miss my girls in the kitchen on that day most of all. 

Cooking together opens the door to the very best conversations. 

I've spent very few Christmases in my own home, a factor of living far from family most of my adult life so I've learned to enjoy Christmas wherever we're celebrating. We spent two Christmases in England, and seven Thanksgivings and we absolutely cherish those memories. We spent our first Thanksgiving in the UK on the Eurostar to Paris eating a fish dinner which Daughter1 claimed was not very Thanksgiving-y, but then Paris so yeah. It's one of our favorite travel memories too because we were total novices and blundered a bit. We learned. 

The year before we moved to England we spent Thanksgiving in St. Thomas and had a delicious turkey dinner at the Marriott where we were staying. If I've got my girls I'm good to go. Not sure how it would feel waking up somewhere tropical on Christmas morning, but as I said a few paragraphs ago I'm an adjuster so I'd probably adjust. 

2. Help...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?

I'm a do-it-yourselfer and will admit that's not always a good thing. I've said it here before, but my mom and all my siblings will tell you my mantra even as a young child was, 'I can do it myself'.  I'm not talking about home repairs, or plumbing, or car maintenance...when it comes to that type of thing I'm all about asking for help. I'm talking about everyday life kind of stuff, and in my defense it's not always a bad thing either. 

3. Abundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?

This is a tough one, because last week's Hodgepodge inspired me to rearrange my pantry and clean out that annoying overly full cabinet, so I got rid of a few things that fell into the category of 'too much'. Is abundance too much or just plenty? I found two unopened bags of Resees so let's go with that. 

4. Name...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?

The smallest?

The biggest? 

"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)

5. Key...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?

This may sound simplistic but... be grateful. We always have a choice as to how we see things and I think gratitude is a choice. Sometimes life is hard and we have to dig a little deeper to make that choice, but there is always something to be thankful for. 


6. State your own random thought here.

Are you cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year? We're having dinner with my sister and I'm making the desserts. Of course it's plural-ha! My niece requested a coconut cream pie and I've never made a coconut cream pie but I'm going to give it a try. I'm also baking an apple pie and making my mom's Thanksgiving Day fruit salad because that's the law. It's simple-sliced purple grapes, oranges, and apples with a can of crushed pineapple poured over all. So refreshing after a meal where you don't mean to eat too much but you always eat too much. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

In Sync With The Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then go say howdy to your neighbor there. Thanks for playing along each week!

1.  In a rut, in a jam, in the groove, out of sync, off balance, out of touch...which saying best fits some area of your life currently (or recently)? Explain.

Well I think we all know I was physically off balance back in August of this year, so that fits. My ribs took a good three months to heal completely and I hope I never experience that sort of injury again. 

More than off balance though I feel out of sync. We were away for a large chunk of October and then hit the ground running upon our return. Still trying to catch my breath, and seem to be always a step or two behind where I need to be. 

2. What is it about somebody else's style of work (coworker/employee/shared volunteer project/household chore) that makes you crazy? Why?

habitual lateness, laziness, being unprepared on a regular basis

3. What's a tradition that always makes you feel at home?

I think partly why I love Thanksgiving is because at the core it's celebrated in a very similar way all across America. Family and/or friends gathering, shared cooking, turkey and dressing, pie, parades and naps...this is Thanksgiving. Yes I know that's not 100% across the board true, but in general we celebrate this day counting our blessings and eating a little more than we should. 

I've eaten Thanksgiving in a country not my own and the smell of turkey roasting and the sound of my girls chatter in the kitchen as friends from various parts of the globe gathered round all said home to me.

'Forever on Thanksgiving Day

The heart will find the pathway home.'

~Wilbur D. Nesbit

4. A favorite song with a girl's name in the title or lyrics? Any reason why this is a particular favorite?

Just one??? There are so many I love... Georgia (Boz Scaggs), Aimee (Pure Prairie League), Amanda (Boston) Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac), Aubrey (Bread), Annie's Song (John Denver), Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)...

I'm going with this one though because I've always loved the name. ahem. This song was written about a big Irish Setter (cue the waterworks).  

Shannon by Henry Gross-



5. Share a favorite quote, verse, or saying relating to gratitude or thanksgiving.

'Come thou fount of ev'ry blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace

Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise...'

~Come Thou Fount by Robert Robertson

6. Insert your own random thought here.

So much to love about this time of year-

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 328

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!

1.  In a rut, in a jam, in the groove, out of synch, off balance, out of touch...which saying best fits some area of your life currently (or recently)? Explain.

2. What is it about somebody else's style of work (coworker/employee/shared volunteer project/household chore) that makes you crazy? Why?

3. What's a tradition that always makes you feel at home?

4. A favorite song with a girl's name in the title or lyrics? Any reason why this is a particular favorite?

5. Share a favorite quote, verse, or saying relating to gratitude or thanksgiving.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Hey 19

So how are your to-do's looking on this 19th day of December? Mine are mostly done, or at least I think they're done, Christmas wise anyway. House wise is a whole 'nother story.

Who moves in the middle of November? Ka-razy!

Every day I do a little wrapping, a little baking, and a little rearranging of our household goods. Still trying to decide on where to place a few miscellaneous tables, lamps, and assorted keepsakes. Still need to buy a few things and still need to hang more pictures, but Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was this house. I figure if it took fourteen months to get here I can give myself two or three to organize.

Painters come tomorrow and I will be so happy to say goodbye to all the blue tape. For those not in the know, when you move into a brand new house you slap a piece of blue tape everywhere there's a ding-scuff-oops-mark of any kind and then the painter knows right where to go with his brush. Let's just say hubs has a super keen eye and there is mucho blue tape round here.

Somebody will also be here tomorrow to replace my laundry room counter top because they originally cut the counter out of the material meant for my garage counter and put my laundry room material in the garage. Bother.

Note to self-clear off laundry counter. Also-do laundry.

Somebody is also supposed to come jiggle something or other in the icemaker downstairs so it doesn't sound like a jackhammer running. We've never had a stand alone ice maker before, but I'm pretty sure that's not how they're supposed to sound.

And somebody is supposed to come replace a thing-y in our indoor fireplace and that's all I know about that. Except not to turn it on until they've been here. That's important.

While all the nonsense is happening on the home front I'll be getting a hair cut. I could not have timed the appointment any better if I'd tried. Hubs will be here managing things and I will be catching up with my stylist while she works her magic on my hair.

This girl gets here tomorrow too-

Okay so she's really more this girl now-

But in my mind she's always that girl.

Last night hubs and I watched The Sound of Music. It was playing on TV and kind of made my heart ache for little girls in the house.

Little girls who grab clothes from the dress up box and act out the 'So-long, farewell' routine with their parents as audience.

Little girls who giggle and snuggle and burrow their way into one another's hearts as only sisters can.

Little girls who haven't spent a Christmas apart in twenty six years, but who will adult like the bosses they are from either side of the country come December 25th.

Miles apart, but close in heart we'll ponder that long ago silent night. We'll welcome the day that love came down...

...and give thanks for the ties that bind.

So It's The Hodgepodge

Happy New Year! The Hodgepodge is back and I'm glad you are too. If you've answered this week's questions add your link and join the party. Please visit the blogger who links before you since that's the neighborly thing to do. Here we go-

1.  Are you ready for new? Is 2016 likely to be very different than 2015? Do you want it to be?

Am I ready for new? I think so. If by new you mean new house-ha! Every year tends to stand on it's own, so certainly 2016 will be different in some form or fashion from 2015. Of course there are constants in life too, but has there ever been a year that's looked precisely like the one before? We're moving into our lake house this year, so a new chapter. 

2.  January 6th is National Technology Day. Currently, what is your single biggest struggle or frustration when it comes to technology?

Currently? The Internet in the apartment is somewhat intermittent. Most days I log onto the computer and get a message saying I'm not connected. Grrr... I have to refresh it a few times and eventually it connects. The wireless printer has to be shut down and rebooted every time I want to print because of this irregularity, and hubs can't get our Apple TV to work for the same reason. The struggle is real, but a very first world problem.  

3.  It's that time again...time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, or general uselessness) in 2016.  You can read more about the decision making process here, but this year's top vote getters are-

So (at the start of every single sentence), conversation (as in hotly debated topics where we're invited to 'join the conversation'), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, break the Internet, walk it back, presser, manspreading (common in larger cities where some men take up the entire bus or train seat by sitting wide), vape, giving me life (refers to anything that may excite a person or make them laugh), and physicality

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?

So, they want to banish so? I know I overuse that one in both my speech and my writing, but I suspect it's more annoying in speech. 

None of the words listed bother me too much. Maybe if I were in the business world I'd find them more annoying because they're more prevalent and  problematic there. If I have to choose I'll go with 'break the Internet'. Most things that 'break the Internet' are Kardashian related or just plain ridunkulous.  

What word would I add to the list? Like-'She was like all mad because we couldn't like go shopping.'  

4.  Share one of your current health related goals.

Go to bed earlier.

5.  Let's talk fifty shades of gray. As in the color. Gray is currently a popular color in home decor, pain, wardrobes, wedding party attire, and more. Are you a fan? Do you have the color in some variation in your home or wardrobe? Gray hair, the old gray mare, gray matter, gray area...which gray idiom can you most relate to right now?

I like the greige tones as opposed to a gray gray. I think the color is too sterile and cold and needs the beige to warm it up. I will likely have a bit of greige somewhere in my new home. As for the idioms, I'm going with gray hair.  Nothing a visit to my favorite stylist can't fix. 

6.  Certain foods are considered 'lucky' if eaten on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.  Cooked greens to bring economic fortune, black-eyed peas or lentils also symbolize money, pork which symbolizes progress, fish for good luck, and if you're in Spain 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight.  Did you eat any lucky foods on the first day of the year? Is that a tradition in your home? Of the foods listed, which most appeals to you?

My mother might correct me, but I don't remember eating particular foods on New Year's Day. It wasn't until I married my Tennessee boy I learned I was supposed to be eating black eyed peas at the start of every new year. Initially I wasn't a fan, but they've grown on me and I enjoy them now. I also love cooked greens and we had both over the Christmas holidays. I say that counts. 

7.  What's the single biggest time waster in your life and what, if anything, will  you do about it this year?

I think I might save this question for a blog post all it's own. One of my favorite things about the Hodgepodge has been the writing that springs from a question or someone's comment. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

True confessions...my Christmas tree is still up. Today might be the day. Might.

Christmas

My daughter just wrote a Christmas recap on her blog and when I read it I realized I'd already forgotten some of the happenings. I figured I'd better put mine in writing too, before 2016 rolls around. 

That's the thing about blogging. Either you write about something as it happens or immediately after, or you have to wait years and write about it in hindsight. A Christmas recap two weeks from now would feel odd.

I didn't take many pictures this year. The apartment is not conducive to stellar photography. It's 'cozy' with just the hubs and I here, and then add another three adults plus two dogs into the mix (we were dog sitting my sister's pooch plus Daughter2 brought her pup over) and there's not a whole lot of room for photo staging. 

Which is why you see my ginormous bottle of 409 in this picture-

Perhaps you didn't notice because you were distracted by how precious my girlies look when they're together.

Picking up where I left off in Monday's post...we made the trip from Alabama back to SC Sunday afternoon and dropped the newlyweds off at my daughter's in-laws home. Hubs and I planned to just drop and go, but then my son-in-law's momma said something about shrimp and grits, and hubs has a rule about never turning down a plate of shrimp and grits, so we had to go inside and sample.

The 'kids' stayed at the in-laws the first three nights they were in town, then transitioned their belongings here and slept in our spare room the rest of the week. We only live about ten minutes from one another, which helped a lot with all the back and forth that needed back and forthing.

On Monday we all met up at our lake property to show the West Coasters the lot and dock and semi-constructed home. Very semi, but there's concrete and a lower level garage and that's something. We returned them to the in-laws after lunch and then hubs and I spent the evening wrapping gifts and tweaking the decorating here.

As an aside, this is my Christmas card wall. It makes me so happy I might just leave it up until we move into the house next summer.  Everything in the apartment is rented, including the 'art' which is essentially a piece of decorative iron.  I used my Christmas clothespins to attach the cards and it definitely added something to the original work.

Tuesday morning my son-in-law had plans with his dad, hubs was busy with an all day course, and the girls and I settled in for a full day of baking. It was bliss. Honestly when I opened the door to my daughter standing there and her sister standing beside me, I wanted to cry. I'd bought them cute mugs from Anthropologie with the sweetest, tiniest little gingerbread toppers that fit on the rim.

We all got back together Tuesday evening for dinner at a local steak house, one of my son-in-law's favorites, and that was a lot of fun.

Wednesday was filled with a bit more baking and then an afternoon showing of Star Wars.  I loved it. I'm not one of those crazy Star Wars people, but I do love the original films and this one hearkened back to that.

My daughter's in-laws included us in their Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals, both of which were wonderful.  We ate early afternoon on Christmas Eve which was perfect because we had plans to attend a 5:30 church service. Plenty dark for candlelight at 6:30 PM! My Daughter2 sang with the band which made it feel extra special for me.

The girls (and I) opened our traditional Christmas Eve pj's and Christmas morning looked much like Christmas morning has always looked. Except for the 70 degree temps. What in the world? I was spoiled per usual by my hubs who always says, 'We're not buying each other anything this year, right?' but then buys anyway.

We had another delicious meal at the in-laws, then came back here and later played a really fun board game called Ticket to Ride that involves train trips, geography, and strategy.

Saturday was ridiculously fabulous in terms of the weather, and we decided to get out and work off some of those cookie calories we'd all accumulated. My son-in-law went early morning hunting with his dad, so it was just the four of us for a good chunk of the day. We headed over to the university campus for a walk around the lake-

A little jumping...

...and of course a selfie.

Saturday evening we all trekked downtown for dinner, adding one friend/groomsman to the party.  Hubs and I went home after dinner and left the 'kids' playing darts, enjoying a gorgeous Southern summer evening at the end of December.

Sunday faces looked like this.

What can I say?

It went too fast, as we knew it would, but I like to think we made the most of the minutes and the hours and the days we were given. The precious gift of time we shared celebrating family, friendship, and the birth of God's only Son.