Holiday highlights, the finale

Spouse & I remarked to each other that this was probably 1 of the best holiday seasons we can remember.  We never felt stressed, and everything just seemed to fall into place.

We got our tree up, our interior decorating done, and our exterior lighting all done before our tree trimming party.  (That has not always been the case.)  Our tree trimming party was fun, as always.  We attended the town Christmas parade which wasn't rained out as it has been in some recent years.  While our holiday shopping got off to a slow start, all ordered items arrived on time so I could wrap them without feeling rushed.  I got to attend the town's Christmas home tour for the 1st time ever.  I spent the good part of a day baking cakes, brownies, and breakfast casseroles to take with us.  We enjoyed our annual pizza and hippie roll luncheon with our dear friends Kerry, Hugh, Kelly, Carl, Lisa, Alex, Kim, and Danny.  We had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant followed by cookies at the home of our old buddies Ron & James, along with Mike & Clark.  We had a lovely visit/lunch with my cousin Nez and her husband Steve.  We saw most of the family on Christmas eve and/or Christmas day.  Once we returned home we debriefed with our friends Steven & Thad over dinner.  We went to a lovely post-Christmas party at Marty & John's home. We did a lot, saw a lot, and ate a lot; pretty much the perfect holiday season!

Here are a few photos of some of our special/unusual tree ornaments:

Purchased in Palm Springs Oct 2018

1 of 2 clear snowflakes purchased at the Dollar store several years ago, and a Paris ornament from 2003

Large, silver snowflake from Joey & Glenn

Lenox sleigh from my friend Dawn

Eiffel Tower purchased in Paris Dec 2003

Translucent chicken from our friend Megan 15+ years ago, Lenox bear from Dawn, and clear rainbow swirl ball from Calvin

Another clear rainbow swirl ball from Calvin, and Chihuahua from Dawn

Blue glass ball with white swirl from Calvin

 Here are some of our interior holiday decorations:

Although not visible in this photo, the snow-covered trees have glitter on them and were found inside our very 1st home together in 1996.  I adore them and suspect they're pretty old.

The reindeer were from my cousin Nez, the snowman was from our friend Clara.  The old school ceramic tree is actually not old; we bought it at the QVC clearance store about 5 years ago.

Red truck pillows purchased about 3 years ago

Red truck floor mat purchased this fall

Red truck wall hanging purchased 2 years ago

Without any knowledge of our red truck decor Spouse's sister gave us this red truck cookie jar which coordinates perfectly

 And last but not least...

Marvin & Walter in their Christmas bow ties on Daddy's lap on Christmas day

I hope all of you had a great holiday season.

Holiday highlights part 2

On my the 24th Spouse & I made our annual trek about an hour west to my cousin's house.  Inez (Nez) and I are less than a year apart in age and have always been close.  She and her husband Steve live in a 200+ year old stone house which is the perfect Christmas house.  They always decorate it so nicely for Christmas and its just so incredibly cozy to sit with them in their kitchen/keeping room with a fire going in the giant stone fireplace.  Nez made shrimp chowder and Steve grilled steaks for lunch, which were delicious.  I brought an experimental cake for dessert but unfortunately the experiment was a flop, which gave us all a laugh.  We talked and laughed and just really enjoyed spending time together.  Unfortunately I neglected to take any photos of this visit, which is probably evidence of how present and in-the-moment I was.  This annual visit is another highlight of the Christmas season for me.

When we returned to Spouse's sister's house abound 4:30, Spouse's brother Paul and 1 of his daughters Evelyn were already there.  We had a nice visit with them while Spouse's sister and her husband and adult kids were at church.  Once they returned home Spouse's other brother Louis and his wife Karen arrived and we had a casual Christmas eve meal.  12/24 is also Spouse's mother's birthday, and although she's no longer with us, we still thought of her on her birthday in a happy way.  She was a unique, delightful woman who inspired lots and lots of funny stories and remembrances. I only took a couple photos that night.  Here's one of our brother-in-law Eric with Marvin & Walter in their Christmas bow ties, courtesy of the lady who trims their nails:

After a long, active day Walter was tuckered out so he snuggled up on my shoulder for a nap.

Spouse's sister displayed all her nutcrackers on the mantel this year.

Christmas eve

Each year on Christmas eve I post this same video because I love Karen Carpenter and because the lyrics of this song seem especially appropriate for Christmas eve.  

So in keeping with my own little blog tradition, I wish you Merry Christmas, Darlings!

Greeting cards have all been sent, the Christmas rush is through
But I still have one wish to make, a special one for you.

 

Merry Christmas Darling.  We're apart that's true.
But I can dream and in my dreams, I'm Christmasing with you.

Holidays are joyful, there's always something new.
But ev'ryday's a holiday, when I'm near to you.

 

The lights on my tree, I wish you could see, I wish it ev'ry day.
Logs on the fire, fill me with desire to see you and to say.

 

That I wish you Merry Christmas, Happy New Year too.
I've just one wish on this Christmas eve, I wish I were with you.

 

The lights on my tree, I wish you could see, I wish it ev'ry day.
Logs on the fire, fill me with desire to see you and to say.

 

That I wish you Merry Christmas, Happy New Year too.
I've just one wish on this Christmas eve, I wish I were with you.

I wish I were with you

Christmas recap

Since Thurs is my regular day off, I planned nothing else but wrapping and baking.  I mean, we were leaving the next day so I really couldn't put it off anymore.

This was 1 of the few gifts I actually wrapped with paper and ribbon. I think its beautiful but it was really time-consuming.

Most of the gifts this year where wrapped in tissue paper and went into reusable shopping bags.  Without really planning it, we ended up with this shopping bag concept which worked well and saved a lot of time.

I made 4 pans of magic cookie bars.  The 2 in the foreground are the original recipe with coconut flakes on top.  The other 2 were variations; 1 with crushed candy canes and the other with peanut butter chips.

I made them in these aluminum pans with lids so they would stack easily for transport to VA.  We had them both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and they were a big hit!  I made so many that I wound up bringing some home, which is definitely NOT a bad thing.  I also made 2 pans of breakfast casserole (not pictured) to take with us too.

On Fri our former neighbors dropped off a gift and card while I we were at work.  They have 2 young boys whom we love and who were so sweet to our dogs.  The envelope of the card touched me!

Their card was added to our growing collection which I staple to wide ribbons hung from the top of the molding with push pins.  I love displaying cards this way and incorporating them into our holiday decorations.

Spouse & I both came home from work early (unexpectedly) so we decided to have a very early dinner out, then packed our bags, loaded the car, and hit the road.  We arrived at Spouse's sister's house at 9:30.

Sat we hung out with Spouse's sister and her family all day.  But that evening I drove back to DE to perform in the last holiday LEGENDS show, then drove back to VA afterward.

Sun Spouse & I drove out to my cousin Nez & Steve's house.  

They live in a 250 year old stone house that's really cool.  Its been our tradition to spend some time together on Christmas eve.  We had lunch and a lovely visit together.

When we returned to Spouse's sister's house they were leaving for Christmas Eve mass, so we helped set up while they were gone.  Shortly after they returned, the rest of the family began showing up.

Our niece Anna's daughter Gabby with her dad Randy

My handsome husband

Our nephews Tommy and Eric

To be honest I was a more than a little concerned with how Christmas Eve would turn out.  As long as I've been a part of this family (20+ years) we have always celebrated Spouse's mom's birthday on Christmas Eve.  With her passing last April, this was our 1st Christmas Eve without her and I hoped it wouldn't be a sad time.  But her 4 living children were all there, with their spouses and their children, and everyone ate and drank and visited just like before.  I really think Spouse's mom would have been supremely happy about this.

Christmas day was very relaxed and fun.  The boys & I enjoyed coffee in the quiet before the rest of the family was up.

We had breakfast casserole and then opened our gifts.

It was a nice day spent hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

Our brother-in-law and 2 nephews chilling

That afternoon I picked up my aunt Mary and brought her over to join us.  

Mary with Marvin

We exchanged gifts and then had dinner.  Spouse's sister made rigatoni, gnocchi, sausage and meatballs, eggplant parmesan, chicken parmesan, and salad.  Aunt Mary brought sweet potato shuffle (a family favorite) and a hummingbird cake (my favorite).  It was a peaceful, wonderful Christmas day.

On Tues Spouse's sister and her husband joined Spouse & me as we met up with our dear friends Kerry & Hugh, Kelly, Lisa, Carl, Kim & Danny, Pat, and Alex for our annual hippie roll and pizza luncheon.

The infamous hippie rolls

Alex and Kerry

Spouse's sister, Kim, Pat, Danny, Spouse's brother-in-law

Me and Lisa

We returned to Spouse's sister's house, packed up our stuff, loaded the dogs into the car, and headed home.  It was a wonderful holiday!

Christmas Eve

While I don't typically post on weekends, I'm making an exception today because it is my tradition to share this song/video on Christmas eve.  I love the lyrics which are especially appropriate on Christmas eve, and of course the amazing voice of Karen Carpenter has a slightly haunting undertone in this song as she describes being away from someone you love on Christmas eve.

Merry Christmas, Darlings.

Christmas recap, part 3

On Sat, Christmas eve, Spouse & I drove out to "the country" to visit my cousin Inez and her husband Steve.  They live in a 200+ year old stone house that is the quintessential cozy Christmas spot to spend an afternoon.  The wood stove kept the kitchen/sitting room warm and cozy, and a pot of water and cinnamon sticks on top of it gave the entire house a yummy, spicy scent.  Nez is a candle girl so there are always candles burning there, regardless of the season.  Two of Nez's adult kids stopped in during our visit so it was nice to see them as well.  We had lunch and continued talking until Spouse suggested we'd better think about heading back.  I couldn't believe 4 hours passed so quickly!  We had such a wonderful visit that it didn't even dawn on me to take any pictures.

When we got back to Spouse's sister's house they were at Christmas eve church service so we had a little time to feed and walk the dogs and enjoy a few minutes of quiet.  A little while later the family returned from church, Spouse's brother and sister-in-law arrived, Spouse's other brother and 2 of his adult kids arrived, and the birthday party began!  

Yes, Spouse's mom's birthday is also Christmas eve so we have a birthday party with a birthday cake to make sure she doesn't get cheated out of a proper birthday celebration.

Spouse and our nephew "baby David" icing the birthday cake while Spouse's brother supervises

Spouse's sister at the kitchen sink, our nephew Tommy at the table, and our niece April.

The dessert table was overflowing

Our niece Anna's daughter Gabby in her new recliner.

On Christmas morning I put on a pot of Dunkin Donuts White Chocolate Peppermint flavored coffee and Spouse's sister put the breakfast casseroles into the oven.  Once everyone was awake it was time to open presents!

"Baby David", Spouse, and "Baby Eric"

Since they were little boys we've referred to our nephews as "Baby David" and "Baby Eric".  Both are in college now and well over 6' tall, but they understand that regardless of their age and height, they will always be babies to us.

"Baby Eric, Gabby (an actual baby), and her mother Anna

Gabby eating a cracker in her recliner in front of the Christmas tree

Around mid afternoon I picked up my aunt Mary and brought her back to the house to exchange gifts and join us for Christmas dinner.  Poor Marvin & Walter were off of their sleep schedule and were nearly delirious from tiredness.  Eventually they each climbed onto a still lap and tried to catch a few winks.

Marvin on a pillow on Spouse's lap

Walter on my lap

They were very good boys and really tried hard to adapt to all the people, noise, smells, and other stimulation.  Typically they would sleep at Spouse's mom's house while we spent time at Spouse's sister's house, but since Spouse's mom sold her house this was their 1st Christmas being with everyone.  They got lots of head scratches, belly rubs, treats and verbal praise.

Mon morning after a leisurely breakfast of coffee and left-over breakfast casserole, we packed up and headed back to DE.  The boys slept silently the entire ride home, and then both curled up on our laps and napped while we relaxed and watched TV.

It was a wonderful, wonderful Christmas!  No arguments, fights or family drama this year.  Just lots of love, laughter, food, family, and joy.  Jeez... we almost sound like a 'normal' family.

Merry Christmas, Darlings

While I typically do not post on the weekends, its Christmas eve and I want to share with you my all-time favorite Christmas song, the lyrics of which insinuate its Christmas eve.

So tonight I wish you Merry Christmas, Darlings.  I hope your holiday, however you choose to celebrate it, is filled with happiness, joy, peace, and love.

Christmas plans

Spouse & l packed up the car with gifts, food, and our dogs and left last night to spend the holidays in northern VA.  Since Spouse's mom sold her house earlier this year, we're staying at Spouse's sister's house nearby.

Today we will have our annual pizza and hippie roll luncheon with Kerry & Hugh, Kelly, Lisa, and Spouse's mom.  While this is a super fun time, we will miss George who passed away in Sept.  Tonight we have plans to meet up with our dear friends Justine & Liz, whom we haven't seen in several years.  They actually lived with us for a year and a 1/2 when Spouse & I 1st moved in together.  We're having dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant Cantina Mexicana (aka: Taco House) so we'll also get to see the owners who've been our friends for 20 years, Juan & Gloria.  It will be a wonderful evening!

Sat (Christmas eve) Spouse & I will drive out to "the country" to visit and have lunch with my cousin Nez and her family, then back to Spouse's sister's house for his mom's 87th birthday party.  Sun (Christmas day) my aunt Mary will join us and we'll spend the day relaxing, eating, opening gifts, and enjoying some quality family time.  Christmas dinner will be something Italian; details to follow.  Mon we'll pack up and head back to DE.  I return to work on Tues but Spouse is off the entire week.

Wishing you all safe travels and much joy in your celebrations!

Weekend recap

My work schedule happened to end up with me being off Sat & Sun, which is nice since that matches Spouse's work schedule.  

We started the day by meeting Steven & Thad for breakfast, then returned home to start undecorating the Christmas tree.  This is a pretty long endeavor since our tree typically has about 300 ornaments, and putting them all back in their respective boxes is challenging.  Spouse kindly sat in the living room and talked with me while I did it.  After getting the ornaments in their boxes we took a break and went to the theatre to see "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in 3D.

While neither of us are huge Star Wars fans, this just seemed like the epic kind of film one should see in 3D on the big screen with Dolby surround sound.  We both liked it, but felt it was very, very much like its predecessors in the 'special effects' realm.  But it was a fun diversion.  Afterward we met up with Steven & Thad again, this time for an easy/inexpensive dinner, then returned home to finish with the tree.  I removed the long string of silver beads and the lights, then Spouse began removing the branches so I could pack them nice and tight into the plastic storage tub.  Bye, bye Christmas.  I'm always sad to see it go.

The next morning we awoke to text messages from Steven & Thad asking if we wanted to go to Philly that day.  Late Sat night I saw photos on facebook of furniture that will be available for sale at the mid-century modern store and sent this one to Thad:

I knew he'd been interested in a mid-century triangular table, and sure enough this caught his eye.  They also suggested we could go to Ikea since Spouse & I are looking for an ottoman or bench, so we agreed to go.  Not only was Thad able to get the table, but he also brought 2 unwanted end tables with him which he sold to the dealer.  He bought the 2 tables (with makers marks) in need of refinishing for $20 at a thrift store and sold them to the dealer for $150!  I found a piece of furniture that would look absolutely fabulous in our Hollywood Regency bedroom:

I referred to it as Flintstones Regency, but it was super expensive and we really don't need it.  I thought it was super cool though.

The trip to Ikea was fun but we didn't find an ottoman or bench.  But we did eat dinner at the famous South Street Diner before leaving the city.  It was an unexpected but fun day.

Holiday highlights

All things considered we had a great Christmas.  In some ways it was the best Christmas because it felt the most relaxed due to our early online shopping, early tree trimming, and wrapping done a week in advance.  It was kind of a weird Christmas because of the weather.  While it rarely snows here on Christmas, its usually in the 30s or 40s.  This year Christmas eve and Christmas day it was in the 70s!!  Unfortunately it also rained so we couldn't really enjoy being outside during the warmer than usual temps.

Since "a picture is worth a thousand words" I'll recap my holiday mostly with pictures.

Wed morning we packed up the dogs and gifts and headed to Spouse's mom's house in Northern VA.  It rained the entire way.  We visited with her; Spouse's sister Mary came over for a while, and then we met up with our dear friends for our annual Christmas gathering.

George, Spouse's mom, Spouse

Hugh, Kelly, Kerry modeling their new hats

Carl and Lisa, modeling her new hat with the gloves still attached!

Me and Carl

Our wacky group photo

We had our traditional menu of pizza and hippie rolls, of course.  We had such a good time that the 2 hours just seemed to fly by!

Thurs morning after we had a light breakfast with Spouse's mom and then drove west about an hour to visit my cousin, Inez.  She and her husband Steve live in a 230 year old stone house that's just as cozy as can be.  Typically we love to visit them on Christmas eve and sit by the fire with Christmas music in the background and talk.  This year there was no fire since it was 70+ degrees, but we still enjoyed lunch with them and 2 of their kids who stopped in.  I can't believe I didn't take any pictures.

That evening Spouse & I met up with much of his family at his sister's house to celebrate his mom's 86th birthday.  Then menu consisted of roasted pulled pork with rolls, artichoke dip, queso dip, homemade crab egg rolls, carrots and hummus, barbecued meatballs, and assorted cookies, pies, and brownies.  Oh, and a birthday cake.

The birthday cake (made my our sister-in-law Karen) has "16" instead of "86" because Spouse's mom is a little vain.

Spouse's mom, Gabriella, Randy, Anna

Nephew Eric's clothing illustrates the weirdly warm weather

The dessert table.  The peanut blossom cookies are my favorite!

Nephew David taking a break from all the excitement

Christmas morning I made a breakfast casserole.  It was very easy and tasty.  Combine frozen hash browns and pre-cooked sausage links (cut into pieces) in a greased baking dish.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Whip 10 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk together and season with salt and pepper, then pour over the hash brown mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

breakfast casserole

Around noon Spouse's sister Mary and nephews David & Eric came over for a short visit and to pick up some items.  Then I picked up my aunt Mary and brought her back to Spouse's mom's house where we exchanged gifts with her and visited until it was time for Christmas dinner.  Then we all met up at Spouse's sister Mary's house.  The menu consisted of stuffed shells, chicken parmigiana, rigatoni with meatballs and sausage, salad, baked chicken, brussel sprouts, green beans, and sweet potato shuffle.

Selfie in front of sister Mary's Christmas tree

Nephews David and Eric with Spouse

Aunt Mary being silly and me

Sister Mary with granddaughter Gabriella

David, Gabriella and Eric on the floor experimenting with the new selfie stick

Aunt Mary's famous hummingbird cake - my all time favorite cake

Sat morning after breakfast casserole leftovers Spouse & I packed up our stuff and headed home to DE.  We had dinner at Steven & Thad's house (Christmas day leftovers) and then I went to the Blue Moon for the final Christmas Legends performance.

Sun we had breakfast and took Big Ella out for some exercise.  It was almost 70 degrees again so we went for an extra long drive with all 4 windows down.  It was a great way to finish up a long holiday weekend.