Merry Monday!

[CathyS]

Gingerbread cookies are still warm from the oven. Dh is stretched out on the bed and he called out "Are you baking cookies?" Now he is up having a couple of cookies.

Turnip/rutabaga is peeled and chopped up into tiny bits and on the stove ready to boil.

[LadyMaverick]

DS15 is keeping himself busy. Always. Nonstop. We now have a big tractor in our driveway that he brought here to wash & detail. Doing a complete inside cab and exterior wash and polish. Why? Just to have something to do.

Earlier today DS15 asked for access to Peacock tv so he could watch office series. I thought he might settle in and binge watch some shows. HA! I should have known better. That lasted about 30 minutes then he was up and finding something to do.

I made cornbread and cooked some hot links in the air fryer. We have many ready-to-eat foods available but I wanted to see if cornbread could be cooked in air fryer. The answer is yes.

I only have 4 more SHE cards to do today. I've made good progress on my stack of cards by doing just a few each hour. I am not sure what I will do with the rest of the day.

[CathyS]

LadyM after you finish your cards, please go and sit down and rest. It's Christmas Day. Put your feet up!

Scalloped potatoes are in the oven and the rest of the cookies have been baked.

Dh has been sleeping for a while.

[Nancy]

crockpot country pork ribs were delish.
Then we walked.
I am reviewing my grateful journal, did an entry.
Did the dishes and got them put away.

[Twins' Mom]

It's really been quiet here. This afternoon I've worked on my DAR documents, read on the couch with the dog on my lap, and napped. We'll be going to dfriends in a little less than two hours. I need to put a very simple salad together.

I don't think the rain has stopped the entire day. Dh took the ddog for a second nap in the rain while I napped.

[LadyMaverick]

I have been resting most of my day. The fitbit shows I have only been active 36% of the time. I have been inactive 64% of the day with less than 5k steps. Each hour I do some cards then sit and relax until next TOTH.

DH and I just teamed up to get the trash gathered throughout the house and ready to take to the road in the morning.

My next card is to prepare SHE card box for this week. That shouldn't take long to do. Our calendar is very bare when compared to normal with only two medical appt this week. Sometime this week I need to decide on homeschool curriculum for next semester and get it prep and lessons planned.

[Ramblinrose]

I have had a delightful day of doing nothing but watching John Grisham movies while sitting on the couch.

We cleaned up the kitchen after every one left last night so there was nothing to do this morning. Every one had a great time and we had plenty of favorites for all to eat. I was so ahead of my schedule…the kids were due at 2…I actually was done by noon and just piddled around.

I have nothing scheduled for this week..my house is in great shape and is easy to keep it that way. Just gonna spend my time taking it easy.

[LadyMaverick]

We are going to squeeze in a quick trip to visit DS and family this week. We have two free days between medical appts so will be making that 10 hour drive then. I can't remember the last time that DS and family haven't been traveling during the holidays. It is rare for them to be home and us to have free days at the same time. When the stars align = an unexpected and nearly impossible event takes place. To say I am excited is putting it mildly.

[Harriet]

Merry Christmas, wonderful to hear all about your adventures. We are very tired here after 4 sets of visitors today, 15 people in total, one completely new friend met. Some things worked out, some didn't, mostly good.
Dove, hi to you and nice to hear about the drive around to see lights, etc.
Must sleep!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm up too late but it was a good, quiet-ish, day.

We dropped my sister off at 11.15 for her 11:45 train.

We then went to dd's and saw the gifts the kids got, gave them our gifts for them (two small ones each), then I sat with dgs one side, helping him build a lego set and dgd on the other, helping her finish decorating the gingerbread house which dgs7 and dgs2.75 had started to decorate 2 weeks ago. Dd and dsil are sick so having an hour or two where they didn't have to play with the kids was helpful.

We came home by 3, had a walk to the bank to deposit my paycheque from last night, then snacked for a bit, then had dinner of leftover roast beef from Saturday night and watched the movie Spirited. That was interspersed with phone calls to dh's sisters.

He went to bed hours ago but I wanted to finish the book I was reading (done!) and now will head to bed too late.

<Skippable discussion on my sister.>

I walked her into the station and to the first-class lounge as she is getting confused and was worried that the train wouldn't come for some reason or they would take away her seat and put her in one she didn't want. She couldn't find her ticket (which she had been fussing over before leaving the apartment, rearranging things in her purse) but, of course, that wasn't an issue. She gave the check in lady her train departure time, destination and seat number. I suggested it would help if she also gave her name. That is the sort of confusion she has all the time.

As well, she will often decide to answer a different question, a variation on the one asked and refuse to stop talking when you try and get her to answer the actual question. Yesterday, ds asked if she knew which side of the train she'd be sitting on. She answered, in great detail, refusing to stop and listen to us, as to which side of the train was best when coming from Toronto and when going back home again. Rather than answer yes, or no, to the original question. The reason ds asked his question was if she knew she was on the right hand side of the train, he would take dgs out to the street and wave at her as the train went by as it passes within 150' of their home.

She loses words and sometimes I can fill them in with context and follow what she is saying, other times I can't but if I can get her to stop talking long enough to ask for clarification, she gets lost completely so covers up by going off on another topic. And she doesn't stop talking at all, she comes into a room, starts talking, no matter what you are doing and won't stop even if you say something like, "I just have to finish this email and then I can talk."

That was what happened in the morning of the 23rd. I had to write a whole candle lighting liturgy in the style of Dr. Seuss and finished that up between the time I woke up and saw the surprise email request and when she woke up but it took 30 minutes for her to stop talking long enough for me to proof my work and send the email. Then, until we left for the church on the evening of the 24th she kept reminding me I had that 'thing to write.'

She loved being in church on Sunday, especially my service in the evening. It was quieter and less chaotic but there was someone who was coughing behind her and that made her nervous. Saturday she had her first indoor visit with dd and kids since the summer of 2019. That meant a lot to her and dgd gave her lots of hugs and they both played physically with her. She enjoys dgs2.75 who she sees at least 2x a year, as ds is good about visiting her when they drive through Toronto and her partner will drive her up to see them here at least once a year. But he favours me over all others, so he accepted the gifts from her (books) but brought them to me to read once she showed him one of them made sounds.

So it was a good but strained visit. It was important to have her here, out of her comfort zone, to get a better sense of what she can and can't manage. But it is spooky for me as it is a glimpse into my future as well.