The Bard said it best in his play "Twelfth Night"
"If music be the food of love, play on"
Let's skew his meaning a bit and see just where the love of food and the love of music takes us.
Instead of a weekly menu plan, I thought I would make a list of possibilities for the entire month of January.
We need to do some huge eating from the freezer next month. It is overstuffed with inventory just waiting to be consumed. I looked through it yesterday to see what is available. I can make all the meals listed below from things already in the freezer, filling in with some produce, dairy, eggs, and bread. (I am positive I can do the same thing with a February and March list too)
I seriously doubt I will make all of these meals, and really just count this as a guide or suggestion. But sometimes a list of ideas keeps me focused, veering off with subtle changes here and there. Or I might go off the rails entirely (hope not), but at least I have an idea of what is available for some dinners.
I have included only the ham, brisket, and pork butt for leftover meals. I am trying to learn to cook for the two of us with just, enough left for lunches. Sometimes it works, but sometimes, well . . . those times will find some reformatted dish that is not found on this list.
*Any where bookmarked appears is just to let me know I bookmarked an online recipe, kept in a folder called "try soon". Do I get extra points for folder naming originality?
As most of you know, the entire year I have been counting down the weeks before Christmas until the end of November when I switched to counting down the days.
I sat down in the quiet of Christmas night after everyone had gone home and TheHub had gone to bed, reflecting on the day and the year leading up to the day
Here is my take away of things I learned both through successes and failures. This is meant as a reflection and lesson to myself, but if any of you find something you can use, feel free to.
There is no order to this, just random things as I thought of them.
1. Plan, but don't be so rigid in the planning that I can't be spontaneous. (Mostly successful)
2. Carve out time to be with friends and family. Remember entertaining can be as simple as taking friends on a tacky Christmas lights tour, or inviting someone over for a soup and cornbread dinner. It is also wonderful to have something like the cousins lunch which I went all out for.
(50/50 I did spend time with friends and family but should have done more entertaining.)
3. Do not be upset if the decorating vision does not pair with reality. (Personal example here: I ordered 2 wine barrel staves with partially drilled 1 1/2 inch holes to hold votives. I planned on putting them in the middle of both windows in the dining room. I grossly underestimated the length of the staves, or grossly overestimated the width of my windows and found it was not going to work. So much for my vision! Instead I put one on the coffee table in the den, and the other on the mantle. Not what I planned, but it turned out I really like the way it looked anyway. As for the windows, they were decorated with a big bow between them and candles in the sash of each window. I was not crazy about it but it worked fine.)
(I am giving me a success on this because other than wondering how I was so far off with my estimation, I just found something that worked without getting upset or bummed out)
4. If I use the "flame" fake candles, only buy the usb rechargeable ones. I have gone through AAA batteries like crazy this year. In all fairness I have them all over the living room, dining room, kitchen and den. Don't get me wrong I do burn real candles daily, but these are all in places where using real would be a fire hazard or hard to manage.
(50/50 on this. All old fake candles are battery operated, all new ones are USB rechargeable)
5. Start deep cleaning in October and do it by zones leaving the areas that get the most traffic for the last to be deep cleaned.
(mostly successful)
6. Instead of buying Christmas throw pillows, buy themed pillow covers. Amazon has tons of them in all sizes and they are not expensive.
(Did this with 2 pillows, but will do it to all the den pillows next year)
7. Use enough food from the freezer in October and November to have room for frozen cookie dough, or other Christmas prep foods.
(Failure)
8. Make several kinds of soup available for meals during December. That way a quick meal is always available, so there is no reason to say no to any spur of the moment event or invitation.
(Giving me a so/so rating on this. I had some made but not enough varieties)
9. Make a Christmas notebook and become a Christmas spy. Give everyone on my list a blank page or two in the notebook. (I am old school and still want to write things down instead of keeping a digital notebook.) Anytime I hear someone in my gift group mention something they want or need, post it next to their name in the notebook. When I buy or make something write it on their page. I have 4 columns I check off by each gift when each task is done: Bought/Wrapped/Bowed/Tagged I can flip through my notebook and know what each gift is and what its status is. That makes it so much easier for me.
Also keep up with the Christmas cards sent. Change or add to the list as needed.
(Success, kind of ,but I need to be a better spy)
10. Have 1 dedicated gift space, drawer, closet, whatever works for you to store all presents before getting ready to wrap them.
(Failure. I had to go on a gift hunt. I buy gifts year round and had stashed things all over the house. Bad move!)
11. Have one day each month January- November dedicated to holiday prep. For me that means making decorations for Christmas, for others it might mean making gift items.
(Close to successful but not totally)
12. After the holiday pack everything away with all similar items together. (Not what I have done in the past) and put everything away neatly. Before packing or storing things make "keep it or coast it" decisions. There is no point in packing and storing anything that will never be used again. This year I am creating an undecided bin with things I am not sure about. Next year I will decide one way or another and anything that does not make the cut will be offered on my local buy nothing facebook site.
(Failure! Paid dearly for my failures of years past. Remember the room of horrors?)
13. I personally have a lot of silver. It needs to be polished in late November and used. Even store bought spritz cookies look festive on a little silver tray.
They served no purpose sitting in the cabinet, because when I got ready to use them, they were badly tarnished. Not only did I not have time to polish them at the last minute, I was also completely out of Wright's silver cream.
(Complete failure)
14. Volunteer during the season. Goodness knows there are so many folks who need a little extra help or care.
(50/50 on this. I did volunteer 3 times at IP and helped package and deliver food bags for kids in our school system who need a little extra. There are other things I could have /should have done)
15. Be generous with time, talents, and finances
(Success with finances, semi successful with time, other than volunteering at IP not sure about sharing my talents)
16. Get Christmas cards addressed early, then wait before mailing to add greetings to the card
(Success)
17. Listen to Christmas music often. Listen every time doing any Christmas prep.
(Success)
18. Make freezable Christmas foods by early-mid December
(Failure. I had no freezer space)
19. Inventory all Christmas wrapping supplies. If I need anything buy it cheaply at the after Christmas sales
(Success except for stocking up on tape)
20. Browse after Christmas grocery sales for anything I might use next year I buy things like baking chocolate, nuts, hard cheese*, shredded coconut and what nots at the after Christmas grocery sales. I cryovac them using the food saver and they are fine a year later. *Wrapped hard cheese goes in the freezer. (50/50 I did some last year but maybe not quite enough)
21. Reach out and call friends I think about often yet rarely speak with. A five minute conversation relays their importance in my life. Even if the time for intense friendship has passed, they were still there for a some part of my life's path.
( Semi successful. I made an effort to renew, regular contact, at least by phone, with one of my former neighbors. When she lived near, we were very close friends, but over time had only holiday and birthday contact. I called her on her birthday last January and we maintained pretty a regular phone relationship. Last May I called her and she told me she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I continued to call her randomly until she was no longer able to communicate. After her death I talked with her son who thanked me for staying in touch with her and said every time I called, she would tell him all about the conversations. I missed talking with her this Christmas. Sadly successful with her, but there are other important people I did not make the same effort with)
22. Declutter surroundings and declutter life. I have a much larger house than 2 people need and it is filled with things I love, need or use regularly, and things that are just things. "Just things" need to go. They occupy real estate in the house, occupy time maintaining them, and occupy space in my mind that does not need taken up with minutiae. During the holidays I do not need to find storage for things I am not crazy about or use regularly, to make a place for holiday items I truly love to display.
(Failure)
23. Give myself grace for not being "as good as". Like most humans I fall way short of perfection and no one is as critical of me as I am of myself, especially during the holidays.
(Failure. I keep a mental list of all my flaws, what I should have done and didn't, or what I did/said I should not have, and have been known to mentally beat myself up.)
24. Take photos of Christmas decorations. That way I can have it as a reference for next year repeat whatever I really liked and change anything I think needs improvement.
(Never even thought to do it before this year)
25. Buy a new bloomin' tree for the living room. The one in there is old as Methuselah, it's shedding like crazy and I had "set up" injuries from the wires in the bare spots poking my arms and hands.
(I can't rate this a success or failure until I actually find a new tree)
26. Do not be afraid to change things up. Each Christmas does not have to be a carbon copy of the year before. For example, this year I changed our brunch meal from the ridiculous amounts of food I have made in the past to a more reasonable amount and a much simpler menu. It was still delicious.
(Success!)
27. Everything does not have to be homemade. I can find delicious desserts all over town, and believe it or not the 3.99 pumpkin roll from Aldi was as good or better than I could have made.
(Success)
28. Set the table for brunch the night before (I usually do this but did not this year and it cost me prep time in the morning)
(Lesson learned)
28. Go to bed on Christmas Eve at a reasonable time. I stayed up until 3:45 the got up at 7:30. I was tired all day and it was self inflicted.
(Another lesson learned)
29. Keep a Christmas planning journal and fill it as I go with decorating ideas, recipes, things I want to see and do during the holidays, entertaining ideas, etc.
Last thing: Understand that nothing is perfect, but the object of a successful Christmas is time spent with friends and family, lots of laughs, and for me times of worship. Everything else is gravy!
p.s. DIL2 gave me this wonderful publication Daphne's Diary. Yikes! I already started reading it and plans for next Christmas are in the book! I noticed while reading it, I can subscribe to future issues. I think I am going to NEED to do just that.
We went to the earliest Christmas Eve service our church offered. It was at 11 a.m. and was surprisingly full. There were many young families with small children there, older families with their visiting children and grandchildren, and folks like us who just wanted to start the day thinking of the true meaning of the holiday.
I was glad one of our church assistants was working. I was assigned her name for December's staff appreciation basket, so I was able to get it to her before Christmas Day.
Once the service was over and the basket delivered, TheHub and I went out to eat lunch. The pickings other than fast food were pretty slim since many of the local restaurants were closed. We were lucky one of our favorite meat and three joints was serving until 3. We managed to have a mostly healthy veggie meal there.
After we ate we headed to Aldi, not for groceries, but for their 2026 planning calendar. This will be the 4th year I have used one, but last year I turned TheHub on to it. They put them out for sale Dec 24 and we made a plan to be there early to get one for each of us. Mission accomplished. I have already started filling mine out at least for the dates I already have planned.
And of course we did pick up a few groceries while there. They had a pretty decent sale on mandarin oranges and avocados, and some chocolate pralines jumped into the cart too. I also made the decision while we were there to grab a package of their brioche rolls. I decided they would be just as good as biscuits for our Christmas brunch and just needed to heat and serve would knock some time off my morning prep.
Once home we watched Christmas as Usual. It was a cute movie about clashing Christmas cultures. The lesson I learned is that there is no right nor wrong way to do Christmas.
As I am writing this it is now officially Christmas day. I need to stick the turkey breast in the crockpot and hit the sack. I am sleepy but excited about the day.
Wishing every single one of you a very Merry Christmas!
TheHub and I had a couple of errands to run. Well, I am not positive I call going to a gourmet chocolate shop an errand. It is more like a pleasure than a chore. And yes we grossly overspent, but after all it was a chocolate shop where everything is overpriced. Sometimes you have to just suck it up and pay for deliciousness.
After we left there we stopped by a little restaurant in Homewood, a burb next to ours. We had broccoli soup while we watched the panic shoppers trying to get last minute shopping done. I like being out during the final rush as long as I don't have to buy anything. (Buying chocolate does not count since it was a self indulgence for us rather than a gift).
We ran home after attempting to do a quick errand for Son1, hung out at the house for a bit then picked up My Beloved Sister to go look at Christmas lights. We rode around for a couple of hours then landed at The Purple Onion for a burger and their famous mint tea. I think she enjoyed it!
We dropped her back at her house, put on soft clothes (AKA pajamas) and watched a little tv. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve which will end my year long countdown. Thanks to all who have come along for the ride!
P.S.The high temp tomorrow is projected to be in the mid 70's. So much for a winter wonderland here!
No sleigh rides are gonna be happening either. Oh well! I'm just glad I kept a couple of pairs of shorts out when I changed the closet over to my winter duds.
And though I love this hymn, it is not seasonally appropriate this year either.
This is a combo post because I did not publish the 4 days before Christmas post Sunday. I just got a little busy and didn’t get around to it
4 days before Christmas we woke early and headed to church for the early communion service followed by our traditional worship, then Sunday School. This 4th Sunday of Advent was the lighting of the Love candle, also known as the Angel candle.
After we came home and ate a quick sandwich for lunch I went shopping for a couple of last minute presents for TheHub. Thankfully he was not home when I returned, and I got them wrapped and stashed under the tree. Hooray, he is completely done now.
After that I had to do a little laundry then some straightening the house, before making a fast meal for dinner.
Even though the day was much warmer, the house was cold. It required putting on pajamas and bundling up with a blanket while we watched "The Nativity Story". It is a very beautiful retelling of the original Christmas story. If you have never seen it, it can be rented for .99 via Amazon Prime. It is well worth the buck.
3 days before Christmas, we woke early, packed all of the gifts we were giving to Son3 and DIL3 then headed toward Nashville. We stopped just north of town and met Son2 and DIL2 who went with us. They parked their car in Lowes parking lot and hopped into our car for the ride.
We met Son3 and DIL3 at a deli in East Nashville, but there was not enough room for us to eat there. Instead we ordered to go and ate at their house. We enjoyed the meal and sat and talked for a while until it was time to head home. I hate they will not be with us Christmas day, but they bought their first house in August and want to wake up and have Christmas there. I understand completely but they will be missed.
It was great seeing them but we needed to leave in time for Son2 and DIL2 to get home in time to feed their 4 very large dogs. The object when leaving there is to be on the south side on Nashville by 4 to beat all the 5 o'clock traffic, which is horrendous. We made it!
TheHub and I got home by about 7, warmed up a quick meal and had another night of soup and cheese toast. We planned on watching "Christmas as Usual" but changed our minds, since we were both a little sleepy. (Though I confess, I dozed off on the ride home, so only one of us had the right to be tired)
I put on the pj's and wrapped in a blanket before watching a little tv. When I noticed my head was drooping I gave up and headed to the bedroom.
I opened the Ipad and planned on continuing this post but I have a busy day planned for tomorrow and need to get some sleep. Instead I will read y'alls blogs, at least until I can no longer hold my eyes open.
All wrapping was done, I still need to go find a couple of small gifts for TheHub, but the gift I was waiting on forever finally arrived and is wrapped, bowed and dressed with a sprig of holly (artificial) or mistletoe (equally fake stuff)
I had planned on going out Saturday afternoon to shop but just did not want to. I figured it would be easier to go Sunday since I would already be dressed. The translation for that statement is simply I did not want to put on makeup two days in a row.
Laundry was done, dinner prep was minimal, and other than talking with my cousin (rehashing the lunch I had for them all) and of course My Beloved Sister, I had no contact with the outside world.
Christmas is just around the corner and I am actually ready for it! I may or may not bake cookies (none of us need them), and the same can be said for candies. I just want to enjoy the next few days to the maximum with no to very little stress, enjoying the blessings of the season.
Meanwhile TheHub and I watched Home Alone 2, and I watched Scrooged. TheHub wanted to see Home Alone 2 (I agreed even though I don't care for it), but I watch Scrooged every year, and was not about to miss it this year.
I especially like Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present. There is something heart warming about seeing a diminutive fairy in a pink dress with gossamer wings and a mean right hook! I have no idea whoever thought to create a masochistic ghost, but it really was brilliant.
This was a recovery day of sorts. I had been busy all week and stayed up Thursday night until about 3 Wednesday morning. I was tired all day, and other than showering, getting ready to go shopping ( I did not go), having a phone conversation.with both my sister and Sluggy, and wrapping a couple of late arriving gifts I did not do Jack Squat.
I fought napping all day but I really wanted to take one Instead I sat on the couch bundled up in covers because I felt cold all day.
I forced myself to stay awake until the Alabama-Oklahoma game came on. I was more than surprised Bama won, because they were totally outplayed the first half of the game.
We had our cousins lunch and it was wonderful to see everyone. The food was good but the company was even better! They came at 11 and left a little after 4. We had a great time remembering all the holidays we were together when we were kids, and of course general catching up with each other's families. I feel so lucky to have my extended family, all who have known me at my best and my worst, and love me anyway.
In a perfect world we would see each other more often, but then it might not feel as special.
And tonight TheHub and I will eat lots of leftovers and watch a Christmas movie.
Amazon delivered the last packages I was waiting on from them, however I have one present for TheHub that is still AWOL. I ordered it quite a while ago and I have received updates that it had left England, but there has been radio silence since the 13th. I hope it comes before Christmas since it was TheHub's main gift from me, and I really don't want to get out this late in the season to hunt for something else.
Speaking of last minute shopping.This might be appropriate for any of you in a Christmas panic.
I woke early and begam cooking for the cousins lunch on Thursday. while I was cooking I watched/listened to this video. It is not Christmas unless I hear this little girl "sing"
After a couple of hours in the kitchen it was time to get ready to go to my favorite place on earth. I do not go to Independence Place on Wednesdays very often because I have a conflict with my weekly schedule. However, this Wednesday was free and I was so happy to see some of the participants who can only go on Wednesdays.
The chocolate chip dip they made seemed to go over well. It was a unanimous thumbs up kind of day. I always like days when the entire group wants seconds. Actually, some of them wanted a third helping but that is not something I would ever do with a sweet treat.
I got home and started getting the dining room dressed and ready for tomorrow. I have a very simple centerpiece and am using clear glass plates for this meal. I started to use my Christmas plates, but they have a juvenile print on them (probably because I have had them since the kids were little), and I wanted this to be an adult looking meal.
My beloved sister and I decided we wanted the meal to be made of little bites rather than a regular meal so this is the menu:
Cranberry, pecan spread with crackers
Cheese straws
Broccoli salad
Asparagus bundles
Fruit kabobs
Mini toasted ham and swiss sandwiches with poppyseed spread
Bourbon meatballs
Corn muffins
Pecan pie tarts
Bite size cheese cakes
Alabama mud cake slices
Almond kringle
Snowball candy
Peppermint bark
Coffee, tea or water
I have a little bit more to get ready tonight, then have to wake up hitting it in the morning.
We were at my SIL's house for breakfast, left Gainesville and headed home. We had a quick lunch with my cousin and his wife in Atlanta, then made it to our house where the fiber internet repairman was waiting. Our internet had crapped out Sunday, and after calling and walking through all the steps via the phone with no success, they agreed to send the repairman at their earliest, which was Tuesday afternoon.
We had heard all these glowing stories about how wonderful fiber was, but we had nothing but issues with ours, losing the connection and kicking us off the computer several times a day. It was not a huge issue with me, but TheHub is still working from home and everytime he would get kicked off he would have to log in again, and reload everything he was working on.
Thanks to the very friendly repairman, who figured out it was installed incorrectly, fixed it, and left us his personal phone number if we have anymore issues.
And because he did a great job I was able to stream Kevin Costner's The First Christmas using Hulu. I really did enjoy watching it, then watched Love Actually which is one of my yearly must sees.
Now it is to bed, because I have a kind of crazy chaotic day tomorrow.
And this video is one I post every year, because I not only live in the south, but I live in Alabama.
We headed out of town to spend the day and night with TheHub’s sister. After a frigid night, we had a cold start to the day. Our overnight temp was in the high teens, and it was supposed to be 40 at its highest today, then plummet again tonight.
The plants I want to overwinter are in the house, but I can set them back on the deck Wednesday. By then it is supposed to be springlike weather. Crazy! So far it looks like kids who get bikes for Christmas can be riding them Christmas morning without jackets or sweaters.
I remember one year I got roller skates for Christmas. It was so warm My Beloved Sister and I skated early that morning in shorts and tee shirts. Conversly there were occasional Christmas mornings when we froze. It’s all part of the joys of living in the south. you just never know! So there will be no winter wonderland this year ( or any year) here.
We made it to my SIL’s house, and visited a bit before heading out to meet her 2 sons one of their sons and the other”s daughter for dinner It was great seeing all of them since it has been quite a while.
It’s really nice to be around family. I wish we could have seen their wives and other kids, but they are active kids with busy lives. Maybe next visit!
We woke to a very cold, gray day and were at the church by 7:50 for the early communion worship. The 8:30 service was the 3rd Sunday of Advent Words and Carols. It began withthe lighting of the Joy candle, also known as the Shepherd candle.
This year selected elementary age children read tthe nativity story from the Gospel of Luke with carols and anthems in between some of the verses. In addition to the entire congregation singing, there were several anthems preformed by the choir. There was also a small ensemble of strings, woodwinds, brass, adrums and small percussion instruments, along with the pipe organ and pianos. It was magnificent.
I am having my female cousins over for lunch on Thursday, but will be out of town a couple of days and have plans for Wednesday, so I got started getting the dining room ready for them to be here. Most of the actual food prep will wait until Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, but the mini cheesecakes could be made this far in advance.
We had an at home kind of day. We had no where to go and nothing pressing us. I did a little Christmas cooking ( cookies and candies), finished wrapping some straggling presents, did several loads of laundry, and enjoyed the stillness of the day.
I love this song
Though they were nothing I slept in, I put on flannel pj pants and a long sleeve tee this morning and wore them all day. It was also a no makeup, hair pulled back kind of day. After having somewhere to go every day last week, not having to be "fixed" was a gift!
Soup for supper and a little gussying up a few decorations ended the evening before watching Arizona kill Alabama in basketball.
I thought I would just post a few other Christmas songs I like it seems like a Christmas thing to do before an upcoming week filled with planned activity.
TheHub, My Beloved Sister and I drove to Cullman, a city about an hour away to enjoy their annual Christkindlmarkt. The place turns into a small replica Bavarian village with strolling entertainment, shops, amusements including "bobsledding", ice rink, ferris wheel, double decker carousel, and both authentic German food, and not so German food. I am pretty sure a brat taco is not authentic.
It was a very good day for exploring with a couple of purchased Christmas gifts thrown in. I heard one lady who summed up the experience as we were buying a gift for H, "let me look in the shop to see what I don't need so I can buy it anyway". Though it is called a free event, there is nothing free about it!
After we had seen everything there, we took a little side trip to the Dutch Oven Bakery. Again, there is nothing free about stopping there but we now have cheesecakes in the freezer, a cake on the counter, chocolate dipped nuts, maple dipped nuts, sourdough bread, cinnamon bread, and cheese straws. Yep, we stocked up for the holidays and beyond.
We had an uneventful ride back home, dropped MBS at her house, then called DIL2 to wish her a Happy Birthday and see if they had plans for the night. They didn't and met us at a Thai place in Trussville. It is a small place that was booming. It's funny how delicious foods brings in the crowds, isn't it?
We left them and headed home. A Christmas movie might or might not happen
Though Silent Night is the best known German Christmas Carol, I thought I would use this one which is my favorite.
My Beloved Sister and I drove to IP for their annual Christmas Pizza party. As you all know it is my favorite place to be, and neither of us wanted to miss it.
I have to admit, as joyful as the participants are on a regular day pales in comparison to how much sheer joy there was today. After the pizza lunch, there was a volunteer who led Christmas songs. At first she was just wandering through the tables, having the participants sing a couple of bars of a song in to a mic. Before it was over they had all gathered in the front of the room to sing a couple of songs. Even "A", who is profoundly deaf and mute was with them "singing" and dancing with everything he had in him. There was a time of two when I felt myself tearing up with extremely happy tears.
After MBS and I were back at my house, we talked for a few minutes, before she went to her house. Once alone I began the process of rearranging the lights on the porch Christmas trees. These are nothing but maybe 4 1/2 foot trees with white lights and a bow on top, that flank either side of the front door. I really do like them but they were in need of a boatload of little help. So I helped them become happy little trees instead of the sad sack looking ones that they were. (TheHub had taken them out of the basement, plugged them in without fluffing them or checking to see if the bows looked wonky, they did!)
After tearing up my hands removing the lights, restringing them, and putting pretty new bows, the trees look so much better. Worth it? Probably only to me, but it is part of my personal Merry Christmas.
After a quick meal of chicken, spinach and new potatoes, we watched a little TV, then headed to bed.We planned what we hope will be a fun day Friday.
We woke and met at our church early, to pack Christmas food bags to be delivered to our community schools. The counselors at each school do a wonderful job identifying those families who need a little extra help and our church works with them year round, but always had special bags for a holiday meals. This time they were given ham and all the sides for a complete Christmas dinner, including a cake mix and frosting for dessert.
I think what I like most is once the bags are delivered to the schools, they are kept in a holding spot, unseen from the front of the school for the families to come and pick up with total privacy.
After we came home from delivering them, I started making bows. I have 2 lit trees on either side of the front door and the bows that were on them were a little sad looking. Since I had a box of ribbon (found during the room of horrors excavation) I figured they could use a little touch up, and I truly like using what I have on hand.
I also finally found my colored lights for the den tree. I never found them in the room of horrors because I did not put them with the other Christmas decorations last year. Instead they were in the very back of the coat closet. Why you might ask. I have absolutely no idea why, but it was an incredibly stupid idea, which I will not repeat.
I had some more touches I wanted to do on the decoration front and then I needed to start some serious deep cleaning. Being typical to my "I hate housework" personality, I opted for goodie making instead. It is something I needed to do also, but it could have waited a little longer, at least until the main level was cleaned. Oh well!
TheHub ran to Chicken Salad Chick and brought a dinner plate for each of us. It is not my favorite place, but their holiday cranberry jalapeno chicken salad is right up my alley! Not cooking is even better.
After we ate we watched a Christmas movie, then headed to bed.
I did a little decorating in the powder room, wrapped some more presents, and began filling a Christmas basket for a friend.
As soon as it was good and dark we met up with some friends to go on a tacky Christmas light tour, then went out to eat. It was a lot of fun and a good way spend a holiday night.
This one of my favorite days of any month. My Beloved Sister and I went to my favorite place to cook, share goodies and laughs. If you have been reading me you will know that my heart belongs to the participants of Independence Place.
You can't beat Julie Andrews' version of this song!
Today I was able to go in and tell them we were going to be eating Christmas trash, which is really just a very simple candy made with broken pretzels, smashed peanut, mini marshmallows and caramel bit covered in melted white almond bark. After mixing it all up it was dropped by teaspoons and sprinkled (lots of over sprinkling, but that was OK) with red, or green (or sometimes a combination of the two). After about 4 minutes in the freezer to harden they were ready to eat. It was a thumbs up kind of day, because they all wanted seconds or thirds.
Being there always makes me happy, but add the excitement of Christmas and this time was perfect.
After I returned home I had a few chores to do, then it was time to start thinking about cooking. But TheHub said soup sounded good, and just heating something up rather than cooking sounded great to me. Now, I need to make a new big pot of soup and another big pot of chili.
After we ate, TheHub finished up a bit of work and I printed a couple of things I needed to add to a few of our Christmas cards, then we settled in to watch Christmas movies.
And because My Favorite Things is not really a Christmas Song, how about one from a beloved Alabama crooner.
We woke, went to the early morning communion service, early morning traditional service, followed by Sunday school. It is the 2nd Sunday of Advent which meant it was time for the lighting of the peace candle. I love this time of year and all of the traditional hymns celebrating the season, so I thought 2 songs are best for the day. One is not a Christmas song but it does represent the Advent candle lighting, and the other is one of my favorite Christmas hymns.
I did no decorating or Christmas baking but I did take an accidental nap. We were watching the Alabama basketball game and I dozed for about an hour, It felt good until I woke and realized I had been sound asleep in a weird sitting position. Things were kind of stiff and creaky when I stood up..
Dinner was a hamburger patty smothered in cooked onions, saffron rice, and green beans. I had almost forgotten how to cook, since it has been a while since I made an actual meal.
When I was getting the ground chuck out of the freezer, I noticed some sweet bread TheHub bought at the November Merry Market. I stuck it in the freezer because he overbought goodies that day. We just have to agree I reacted to it's siren song and I suppose you might say we indulged in some Christmasy bread, but I have no idea what kind (other than delicious) it really was.
After we ate, we both got in our respective TV spots, covered up with blankets and watched 2 Christmas movies. TheHub was the one who slept through parts of both. movies this time.
I finished addressing a few rogue Christmas cards and that was about it for Christmas doings for today. It was a ballgame day (Bama not only lost but they were murdered, metaphorically) Oh well, I watched the carnage anyway.
I am really and truly not crazy about this song, but it seemed appropriate for the day.
I woke at my regular time this morning, had coffee, read a few blogs then began to get ready for the day. Oh gee, after I was dressed and all made up, I looked at my nails. Wow, I had really let them go, but had time for a quick manicure (repair maybe is a better term) before heading out for the first event of the day.
My Beloved Sister came by and picked me up to go to our book club Christmas party, a luncheon at C's house. It is the perfect place to have a party because walking into her beautiful home is visually stunning, like Christmas on steroids. There is not a surface in her home which has not been touched by something holiday related, including 5 full sized decorated trees (that I saw downstairs, but I am betting she has a tree in the primary suite as well).
And when I say decorated I mean beautiful trees filled with lights and ornaments. It is the most impressive decorating I have ever seen in a home, and is truly Christmas magazine worthy. I bow to her greatness!
In addition to the exquisite decorating, we had a delicious lunch, good conversation, and a lot of laughter.
I have known these women forever, and I cannot think of a better group to grow older with.
After the party was over, MBS brought me home so I could begin to get ready for round 2 of parties.
This one was at a local restaurant, The Bright Star. They have really good food and a private dining room large enough to accommodate the group.
We met early for cocktails and conversations before dinner. It was much fun and we shut the restaurant down. I think the staff was happy to see us go, but even happier for the addition to their bottom lines
I would like to say I got more done toward Christmas, but this was just a day to enjoy friends.
I slept late this morning and had a hard time kick starting myself. I guess I needed something fast paced to get me moving.
I went back into the living room in the daylight and decided the tree had some bare spots, and noticed the same with the foyer tree. I spent a couple of hours critically placing additional ornaments on both trees and I think I am satisfied with how they look now.*
Every year I decorate the chandelier in the dining room. I got it done, but feel like it still needs a little more. I decided to leave it as is and check it out tomorrow to see what I think then. Sometimes I get "decoration blind" and if I wait a bit I can see what need to be rearranged, subtracted from, or added to.
The den tree is still a work in progress, mainly because I was just not feeling it. As the night went on I obviously still was just not feeling it because I did nothing else to it.
Instead I got all of the wrapped gifts and decided it was time to zhuzh them up to be ready to go under the tree. I have mentioned before I wrap them and write the name of the giftee on the bottom of the package in sharpie. Later (like tonight) I bow, tag and add a little extra doo dad to the present. Again no one cares except for me, but I like them to be really festive.
I had plenty of time to cook, but TheHub and I agreed it felt like a soup night, so we had a smoked sausage soup.
* Bummer, now some of the lights on the living room tree are blinking instead of staying on continually. No way I am going to take all the ornaments off just to fix that.
I think TheHub and I are both still tired from taking the red eye home because we slept later than normal, and I had very little time to get ready fro my Wednesday class. Luckily it will be the last one until after the new year. The day was at least sunny and a tad warmer than it has been, so that is a big plus.
I headed home, did a little banking business, had lunch and put on really soft clothes to finish all the decorating I need want to do. I know perfectly well Christmas will happen whether things are bright and shiny, but it make me happy to have it done. So essentially, I am decorating just to please myself.
After a quick lunch the work began.
The living room tree and foyer tree are done, but the den tree still needs some work. The front porch trees are out and shining. I still need to rework their bows, but that is easy. I am still undecided about putting a lighted swag over the doorway, but will decide tomorrow.
My beloved sister and I fine tuned our menu for the cousins luncheon, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone.
TheHub grabbed dinner for us since I was still trimming the trees. We ordered one meal to share plus an egg roll each from New China and still have enough leftover for lunch.
And now I am about ready to hit the sack, only to finish a few more things tomorrow. Thankfully I don't have to be anywhere at all.
We are in the countdown now, and every single day is critical. Tuesday we finalized a few social events, including a luncheon My Beloved Sister and I are hosting for our female cousins who live in town, a night out to see wacky Christmas lights with our neighbors, and responding to a couple of parties we will be attending.
The den and living room trees are up, but are not completely decorated. To put the trees up requires moving furniture, lamps and all related doo dads. To make way for the den tree, one of the sofa end tables has to move. This year We moved it into the dining room and now I have to make it look intentional rather than just a place holder. This side table also houses a lot of our games, which meant I was going to have to find another place for them until a had a eureka moment.
The table has a top with a drawer that still holds decks of cards and small games, but the larger games (none of these are board games) live on the shelf underneath the drawer. Instead of rehoming them for the season, I wrapped them and now it looks like I have a few gifts stored there.* Nothing like hiding in plain sight, and now I don't have to remember where I put them.
Another hide in plain sight also happened in the den. By the side table a large basket holds books, some very large and some regular hardback size. It weighs a ton, is hard to move, and I wanted to keep it as close to where it normally lives as possible.
I put all the large books flat on the bottom of the basket and placed the standard size books on top of them (flat also). Then I covered the books with Christmas fabric hiding them, and placed smaller wrapped gifts on top of them. Now it looks like a basket filled with presents, which sits just to the right of the tree.
The living room requires a little movement for the tree to fit in the room, but it is nothing like the den, thanks goodness. The dining room is the recipient of the fig tree, which means the armchair in the dining room has to move. I have not decided where it will be placed, but right now it is just tucked away until I get the tree finished. Some decisions can wait.
I have high hopes for tomorrow!
*I never throw anything out and had 2 rolls of really cheap Christmas paper I have had for years. It did not upset me at all to use it to wrap the games. The only thing really upsetting about it, is that there is still very much left on both rolls!
This past week I had plans to do little for and about Christmas concentrating on family time. After a red eye flight, we got home Monday morning at about 9:45. Now Christmas starts with a flourish (well after I finish the laundry). So much to do today, I need to quit typing this and get running!
I did a little bit of Christmas decorating on Monday and then we left for Portland.
Once there TheHub and I ran to Dollar Tree to grab a few gift bags I forgot to pack, to hold the gifts I did remember to pack. I did buy some cool tissue paper to stuff in the tops of the gift bags.
And other than riding around looking at some lights and delivering the wrapped gifts I could fit in my suitcase, that was it for anything Christmas. Instead we enjoyed Thanksgiving week with the Portland crew. While there, I did keep my listening ears open and managed to pick up a few hints for possible gift giving
And since it is officially December 1, I am aiming to post a Christmas tune every day
