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.

Whirlwind weekend

I had a whirlwind weekend for sure!

In anticipation of everything happening this past weekend, I took Sat off work.  Sat morning Spouse & I met Steven for breakfast, then went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for the food we'll serve at our tree trimming party.  Once we'd put away the food, I finished decorating the inside of the house.  I'd started the decorating last weekend but finished it on Sat. 

As Spouse began making the party food, I went on a Christmas home tour.  There were 9 local homes on the tour, including a couple homes I'd toured when they were for sale.  The tour was very well attended and several of the homes were quite lovely, all decked out in their Christmas regalia.

After the tour I helped Spouse clean up the kitchen a bit, and then we met Steven for dinner.  (Thad was out of town.)  After dinner I performed as Elton John in the Blue Moon's holiday Legends show.

Whew!

Sun morning we met Steven & Thad for breakfast, then returned home where Spouse began warming the food he'd made the day before and I began setting the tables and getting the platters, bowls, and serving pieces out. Shortly before our friends began to arrive we plated the food and put the drinks out on the beverage table.  

Thanks to Spouse's cooking the day before and my planning an organization, we got everything set up with a little time to spare (let's take a selfie!) and with no yelling.  I consider this a definite "win".

Our friends arrived and we had drinks and conversation for a little while, then had dinner.  Spouse made meatballs in Italian gravy (tomato sauce), Italian sausage with peppers and onions, rolls, and a roasted vegetable pasta salad.

Then we migrated to the living room and began trimming the Christmas tree.  

Occasionally folks paused from the decorating to enjoy some sweets (brownies, chocolate chip cookies, anis pizzelles, and chocolate covered pretzels).

The tree went from this:

to this:

Yes, the tree isn't straight, and neither are we.  :-)

Everyone kept joking that we surely HAD to be nearing the end of the ornaments as the tree became colorful, but I assured them there were plenty MORE ornaments to fill in.  "I like just a little bit of green to show through" I told them.

I really love this tradition of having friends help decorate the tree.  Its a fun way to get together during the holiday season and it makes the tree look different every year.

Tree trimming party

So yesterday we had our annual tree trimming party.  It went very well, but it certainly was NOT without challenges.

Our plan was to bake the 3 pans of lasagna, a cake, and a large tray of brownies on Sat morning, so it could all be cleaned up and Sun could be spent reheating the lasagna and setting up the food and drinks.  But Sat morning the oven was taking an unusually long time to heat up.  In fact, after more than an hour it still hadn't come to temperature.  After a quick Google search, it appeared that 1 of the 2 elements wasn't working.

I tried calling someone to fix it, but we live in an area where repair people rarely work on weekends, so we had to come up with some alternatives.  We ended up baking everything in our 18 quart Nesco roaster (counter top oven).

Then I discovered water on the bottom of the base cabinet underneath our kitchen sinks.  I felt the drain pipes and disposal but they were dry.  I guessed it might be the supply line but it was too far into the cabinet and I'd have to unload everything to get to it, so I told Spouse "Let's get through this party and call a plumber on Monday".

Then on Sun as we were setting up the food and drinks Spouse was transferring the frozen punch ring from its plastic bucket into our beverage dispenser (with a nozzle).  When the punch ring dropped into the dispenser, the glass stand broke into several pieces!  After cleaning up the broken glass, we pulled out a vintage punch bowl and transferred the punch ring to it.

It would almost be funny if it weren't so stressful.  But fortunately we came up with work-arounds and the tree trimming party went very smoothly.  The food was delicious and everyone had a great time.

Here are some photo highlights:

The white Nesco Roaster is on top of the stove, underneath the microwave.

Quinn enjoyed petting Marvin almost as much as Marvin enjoyed being petted.

Quinn told Walter "No, no, no".

Spouse's homemade lasagna was a big hit with our friends.  We used warming trays to keep them warm.

I made a Christmas tree shaped cake dusted with coconut and decorated with edible ornaments.

I made brownies with white chocolate chips.

I loved Michael's Christmas sweatshirt with Santa in a vintage Cadillac convertible!

The finished tree looks beautiful, thanks to the help of our friends.

Christmas decorating

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Yesterday was my scheduled day off (since I work most Saturdays) and Spouse decided to use a day of 'use-it-or-lose-it' leave so we could decorate for Christmas.

I started by putting on some Christmas music then unpacked the Christmas tree.  We've been using an artificial one for the last 12 or so years.  It has a 'realistic' look to it and I like that we can put it up whenever we want, without regard to whether its raining or cold, and not have to worry that it will dry out from under-watering, and will be able to withstand the weight of all kinds of ornaments.  Yeah, we don't have that Christmas tree smell, but the convenience is worth it to me.  And we can get that Christmas tree smell from fresh cut greenery on the mantel or a 'live' wreath.  It only took about an hour to assemble the light the 6' tree.

Then we moved onto the outside lights.  We ran several strings of green and red lights along the front porch, and switched out the regular exterior light bulbs with green and red light bulbs.  Next we put multi-colored lights on the rose bushes, and set up the red and green light projector to display on the garage wall.

With the outside done, I began unpacking the inside decorations and placing them around the living room, powder room, and foyer.  In a day's time we went from no holiday decor to fully decorated inside and out.  I was tired by the afternoon and ready to sit down.

But all the effort was worth it, as the house is now ready for our tree trimming party this Sun.  Spouse is making dinner and I'm baking desserts, after which our friends will help us hang the ornaments until the tree is shimmering.  I like a Christmas tree with so many ornaments that you can barely see the green.  Photos to follow.

Wintery weekend

In the wee hours of the morning on Sat it began snowing.  It was very cold (in the teens) and it was very windy.  I got up for work at 7:30 to find several inches of accumulation, the wind howling, and the snow still coming down strong.  I checked my email on my phone to find that my company's offices were closed due to inclement weather.

So I went back to bed.

We got up a while later and I tried to take Marvin & Walter outside for their morning pee and poop.  They don't like wind even when its warm outside, so you can imagine their reaction to the wind, the extreme cold, and the blowing snow.  I was able to get them to pee but then they ran back to the front door.

Spouse & I had planned to undecorate the Christmas tree on Sun (my regular day off) but since we were snowed in with not much to do, we did it on Sat.  We even got the tree taken apart and everything stored back in its place in the garage.  This process always makes me a little melancholy but at least we had the fireplace going to make us cozy and the 'blizzard' blowing outside to give us something beautiful to look at.  The snow finally stopped sometime after dark.

After breakfast on Sun I donned my rarely worn snow boots (which were purchased for $11.95 and resemble Napoleon Dynamite's boots), hat, and gloves and began clearing the snow off the cars and shoveling the walkways.  The snow was light and easy to move, but there was ice underneath it on the street.

Later that night we ventured out to meet Steven & Thad at a local diner for dinner.

The crazy thing is that the forecast is for 70 degrees on Thurs!!!

Christmas joy

One of my blog friends Calvin reads and comments pretty often, and I typically respond to his blog comments via private email.  While we haven't met in person yet, I consider him a friend.

Recently Calvin saw my Christmas tree trimming post and asked if he could send me some ornaments for our tree.  I was surprised but delighted that anyone who hasn't met me would want to give me a gift!

A few days later these 2 lovely glass Christmas balls were delivered and immediately hung on our tree:

I love them!  And like the other ornaments that were gifts remind me of those friends, I will think of Calvin every year when I unwrap these and add them to our tree.  What a lovely way to spread Christmas joy!

Birthday

Today is my birthday.  I'm not going to say which birthday, so if you really, REALLY want to know, you'll have to email me.

I'm in NYC today.  My local Realtor's association charters a bus to NYC every year on the 1st Wed in Dec.  The bus leaves at 6:30am and returns at 10pm, so you've got an entire day to do whatever you want in the Big Apple.  I've haven't done this trip before but decided to go ahead and do it since it was my birthday.  

Some of my Realtor and mortgage friends and I have tickets to the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.  If you've never seen this show, you should add it to your bucket list.  I saw it 20+ years ago and was amazed by the sheer mechanics of all the set changes, stage changes, costume changes, animals, etc.  "Spectacular" is definitely not an over-statement.

I'm not sure what else I'll do but in NYC there's definitely no shortage of interesting things to see and places to go.  Even regular buildings and stores will be dressed for Christmas and will be even more beautiful than usual.  Maybe I'll wander through Central Park, see the Christmas tree and ice skaters at Rockafeller Center, and for sure I'll have some good food.  

More details to follow.

Busy weekend

Wow, what a full weekend!

It actually started on Fri evening, as I left work early and met up with 2 friends to sing Christmas carols (in costume) at a charity event.  I love Christmas music so it was fun, and I saw lots of friends.

Rick, Magnolia Applebottom, and me in our caroling costumes

Then I met up with Spouse & Steven for a late dinner.

Sat I worked until 3:30, then ran home to change clothes and get Big Ella lined up for the Christmas parade.

While this parade is always popular, this was probably the best-attended I can imagine.  I've never seen so many people crowded into our fair little hamlet.  No doubt the moderately cool temperature and the absence of rain were contributing factors.  I saw lots of friends and even several clients as I inched down the main street.  After the parade, Spouse, Steven & I had a quick dinner and then I headed to perform in the holiday Legends Show as Elton John.  I got home about 11:45pm and after talking to Spouse, we decided to begin making some of the food that night for our party the following day, so we didn't get to bed until shortly after 1am.

Sun morning we met Steven for breakfast, picked up a cake, and then returned home to prepare for our annual Christmas tree trimming party.  Spouse picked the menu this year:

• Greek-style beef sliders with hummus and tzatziki
• Pork sliders with hot mango chutney
• Curried chicken salad sliders with cranberries, apple, and pecans
• Homemade potato salad
• Homemade bowtie pasta salad
• Peppermint bark dip with cookies
• Coconut layer cake

The holiday table, before the 2 salads were added

We made everything ourselves except the cake and it all turned out great.  We had 16 friends who joined us for food and hanging the ornaments on the tree.  Since it was only in the 40s out we were able to have a fire in the fireplace which, along with the Christmas music, added some nice ambience to the evening.  We had a great time and the tree looks gorgeous!

When the last guests left Spouse & I packed up the left-overs, emptied the trash and collapsed on the sofa with the dogs.  They did really well with the house full of people and activity!  Even Walter who usually teases people with his cuteness but doesn't let them touch him, allowed some people to pet him last evening... a Christmas miracle!  The boys were exhausted and both were asleep within minutes of settling in on our laps.  We watched the season finale of 'WestWorld' and went to bed.

Thanksgiving weekend recap

Overall it was a very nice holiday weekend.

Spouse & I took the dogs with us Thurs morning and drove to Spouse's sister's house, arriving just before noon.  Both of our nephews were home from college so we were happy to spend some time with them.  Shortly thereafter the boys went to pick up their grandmother and I went to pick up my aunt Mary.  Eventually our niece showed up with her daughter and boyfriend so we could eat.  We had a beautiful and delicious turkey, dressing, sweet potato shuffle, corn casserole, macaroni & cheese, peas, corn, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, biscuits, and roasted brussel sprouts & butternut squash.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie, brownies, apple cake, hummingbird cake (my all-time favorite) and assorted chocolates.  Everything was tasty and we all ate too much.  We had lots of fun talking, laughing, and catching up on everyone's lives.

Spouse's sister and her granddaughter Gabby

Me and my aunt Mary, making silly faces

Spouse's mom with her great granddaughter

Our brother-in-law Eric (armed and dangerous) and our nephew Eric

Our nephew David fighting off a food coma

Our niece's boyfriend Randy

We stayed overnight there and had a leisurely breakfast while talking about Christmas plans.  We left at 12:30 and arrived back home about 3:00.  Spouse took a nap while I watched a little TV, then we met up with Steven & Thad for dinner.

Sat I went to work until 1:00, then headed to the memorial service for our friend Karen.  (This is the 3rd memorial service I've attended within the last 3 months.)  I met Karen in VA at the church we used to attend.  She & Marty joined just as we were about to move away.  I later discovered that they moved to the same town here in DE and that we were neighbors.  The service took place on the beach, which sounds lovely on paper.  In reality though, it was very windy and about 50 degrees so everyone was freezing by the time it ended 30 minutes later.  Then there was a nice reception at a local venue.  It was really nice to see so many friends from the church come to the memorial service, and I enjoyed chatting with many I hadn't see in several years.  Among those friends who'd come from the church were our good friends Ron & James.  We'd arranged in advance to have dinner with them after the service and for them to stay overnight at our home.  This gave us a great opportunity to visit and catch up with them.

Sun morning the 4 of us had breakfast and Ron & James headed back to VA.  Spouse & I relaxed for a little while, then got the Christmas tree assembled, lit, and strung with the silver beads.  

The ornaments will be added next Sun during our tree trimming party.  I also put up the wreaths on the exterior doors.  

Throughout this coming week after work we'll continue with the interior decorations.  Hopefully we'll have it done before the weekend since we'll need time on Sat & Sun to make the food we'll be serving at the tree trimming party.  We ended the evening by having an easy dinner out with Steven & Thad and then watching 2 episodes of WestWorld.  Anyone else watching that show?  I love it!

Promised pics

In a couple of my earlier posts I promised pics from the tree trimming party and my birthday.

The tree trimming party was a lot of fun!  About 15 friends came and had a little something to eat and drink and then helped us hang all the ornaments.  Spouse made (warm) artichoke dip, (warm) buffalo chicken dip, both served with crackers and carrots and celery.  Spouse also made mac 'n cheese and a crockpot of saucy meatballs, served with rolls.  I made milk chocolate chip brownies and white chocolate chip brownies, and we also served several types of cookies we bought.  And there was a decorated birthday cake as if we didn't have enough sweets.

2015 Christmas tree

Yes, I know the topper is crooked.  About 1/2 of those in attendance tried to straighten the topper but it always seemed to lean to the left, to the right, to the front, or to the back.  Imagine all the sophomoric jokes told about how even our Christmas tree wasn't straight!

While in Montreal in Oct we stopped in a Christmas store and bought a Chihuahua ornament for the tree.  I was excited to see it once it was placed on the tree by 1 of our friends.

Purchased in Montreal

A couple friends asked if I was going to rearrange the ornaments to my taste after everyone left.  Absolutely not!!  The whole idea of a tree trimming party is that the tree looks different every year because friends place the ornaments on it and I leave them alone.  Its a fun tradition for us.

Mon was my actual birthday but Spouse had his personal trainer appointment and my team at work had its Christmas cocktail party and secret Santa gift exchange, so Spouse & I planned to go out to dinner for my birthday on Tues.  I picked dinner at the award winning Blue Moon restaurant, which is adjacent to the bar/nightclub where I perform.  I had an AMAZING beef short rib with white cheddar grits and grilled veggies.  SOOO delicious.  Spouse had a wonderful butternut squash soup and rock fish.  Because it was my birthday we were treated to a complimentary wedge of Moon Pie.

Infamous (Blue) Moon Pie

Chocolate, coffee, caramel... INCREDIBLE!  This hunk of pie was so big that Spouse & I shared it and still couldn't finish the entire thing.  If you ever have the opportunity for a nice dinner in Rehoboth Beach, dine at Blue Moon.  Reservations recommended.  We had a lovely night out, just the 2 of us.