Finish the year up Friday

[bittersweet]

Eek!! It's all done, but I'm running a bit late! Time to get DS loading the car and slice that turkey! TTFN...don't have too much fun without me!

[blessedw2]

made me giggle d b is sweet. Have a great evening.

[lucylee]

Nice Christmas... and even nicer sleeping in VERY late (even for me) today.
Then a bunch of errands --
[/] cleaners... which was waste of time, b/c they are closed. Need to get dh's jeans (which he hates) hemmed. Will drop off Monday.
[x] bank
[x] post office
[x] hardware store... for new toilet seat b/c dh broke ours last night... shaking my head...
[x] CVS
[x] home to help dh install toilet seat
[x] back to hardware store, b/c no matter what dh & I did, it seemed the pieces of the puzzle didn't fit together -- hinges didn't allow lid to stand up, an important factor to dh, as you might imagine -- hardware store boy, who as I remember was the smartest boy in his high school class, worked with it a minute, and then it was the lightbulb flashed over his head and he said, "Wait a minute! THIS is how it goes..."
[x] back home, toilet seat works perfectly

DH already has his clothes hanging & ready to pack for Monday. * shaking my head again *

Our Christmas was fine, although a little nerve-wracking for me, and I think my impatience and irritation w/dmom kinda rubbed off on her, and I feel bad about that, b/c I know she was in horrible pain yesterday. She had a Lidocaine patch on her back, had taken pain meds, and was doing something else to try to alleviate her back pain.

Arrived @ dmom's at a few minutes after 10:00, and I don't think she had made ANY start at all towards breakfast, except dbro's gf had made the fruit salad the night before. Maybe dmom had bacon in the oven. She was trying to do bacon & ham in the oven, as she had seen others do, but it was not a huge success. I mean, we ate all the bacon, but it was not as evenly cooked as we had hoped. I'm thinking this could be b/c at one time, she had three racks in the oven -- bacon, ham, biscuits.
She & I did sausage (on the stove) and scrambled eggs, and she forgot cinnamon rolls until we were ready to sit down at the table -- at almost 11:30! -- so I told her to just forget about it altogther, they were mainly for me, and I certainly didn't need them.
At 12:30, we said we HAD TO get busy opening our presents, b/c extended family would be arriving at 1:00.
While we all sit down to open presents, dmom goes to her bedroom and starts, at this point on Christmas Day, to divide all our money into envelopes and sign cards for each of us.
* shaking my head almost to the point of Linda Blair/Exorcist range *
Good grief. This could have been done a MONTH ago, I'm thinking...
We all opened our presents from each other while we waited on her.
Next year, I am going to HAVE TO do better about helping her Get Her Act Together, and I made a card to that effect and put it with my Christmas Countdown cards. Dec. 1, help her w/shopping; Dec. 10, help her w/house prep; Dec. 20, help her w/breakfast prep. However, the main problem this year was having breakfast and lunch in the same house, and we have vowed NEVER again for that to happen. Ddil says next year we can have Christmas afternoon in their new home.

However, after all this, she presented dgs w/his little battery-powered Corvette, and THAT was a HUGE hit. Thank goodness. He was able to go out and drive it around some, and he LOVED it. So glad for that. A little bit bittersweet, b/c y'all can imagine how much we felt my ddad's absence at that point... he would have sooo loved seeing dgs in that little red Corvette.

Well... extended family DID begin arriving before dmom had opened all of her presents, and the table was still covered w/breakfast, but I've told y'all about my wonderful family... daunts and cousins jumped right in there helping me, dbro, & dgf get that all cleaned up, and we had everything pretty much on schedule.
We were a little short of people... two dcousins have sick children, so out of our 30 folks, five were missing and dgs turned out to be the only one under 17, I guess. But all was well... no drama w/daunt & duncle... dgs FINALLY settled down to take a nap w/ddil... and he wasn't TOO upset w/the idea of leaving, since he was being promised a trip to his other Pawpaw and Grandma's house.
There was a little bickering and tension w/ddil & ds, but we talked to them again (on the phone) just as they left town to head North, and they sounded fine. DH said ddil apologized to him, saying she knew she had been kinda (not-w)itchy.

Sooo good to come home and take a nap, and then I even had time to journal a little and I'm beginning to get myself in the right frame of mind to start 2015. I'll be missing the "get started" week next week, but I'm planning ahead already.

[FelineFriend]

I got my s2s, dressed again, got eyebrows on, which makes me always feel better and more "dressed"! I found some baby yarn, for DGD's dresses/jumpers, did a LOT of lifting of bins, to get to the yarn, and emptied the DW. It felt good to get that done. Now DH won't need to do it. He started it this a.m., but went to make our coffees, so he ran to town, and didn't finish it.

Awhile back, DH bought me this little fat tablet, which measures about 3" long x 2.5" wide x 2" thick. It's the best little chubby tablet, fits on the end table, in my purse, and it's great to write ideas in or to do items, to get done. It's nice to take in the car, while DH is driving, to write in, to add reminders to, in the Dr. offices or anywhere. You wouldn't think something so small would be well worth it. It's remarkably helpful!

We're going to split a catfish fillet for dinner, with mashed potatoes, veggies, etc.. YUMMY!

Need to do some emails this evening. Need to catch up with DH's cousin, who's in a terrible snow storm, in CO, which was on TV for her specific city! Also, need to email Dsis again, to see how she likes her new (given by her DH) Galaxy 4 Tablet. She had a hard time getting used to the keyboard, but was thrilled it fits into her purse! Need to find out how an ill elderly relative's doing, too.

DH uses a lot of aluminum foil when he bakes meats, fish, or vegetables, so he has easy clean-up to do, when dinner's done. All he does it throw out the foil and the pan's clean!

I threw away my bananas, because I'm the only one who eats banana bread in our house. Whenever Dson comes, I bake it up, for him to eat/take home. I love to bake, but not for only 1 person.

I feel so much better since my s2s, before dinnertime. I put away 1 LOL, washed 1 more, need to dry it after dinner, and put it away, too.

I slept in late, and DH was slow to get "going" today, too. I believe when all 13 of us are together, a lot of conversations and activity are going on, and the long drive tends to tire us out. It was so lovely though!!! We really enjoyed our day and Dson/Ddil's new home, too.

I tidied up the house, put some patterns into a file, got out some clipboards for patterns, and information. I found a fat file folder full of info to read through. I was sure glad I found it. It's full of wonderful articles, which I've printed out over the past several years, on just about everything, too!

Have a great evening, Everybody! Waving to you ALL! Take care! TTFN!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Boxing Day party and after party are done.

Both went very well.

I had a great Christmas surprise when my minister friend called at 3 to say he had wanted to come but wasn't going to be able to make it because of pastoral care issues. He had just got home. I told him to come when he could because we were having dinner with CM and CF (they were with him at Thanksgiving too) so he showed up at 5:20. Still had a few other church friends here at that point so he saw people he hadn't seen in a while.

We had a great time. Lots of laughter. Lots of interesting conversation. The tortiere was a success. My minister friend and I had a short walk with the dog so I got some fresh air. He stayed until almost 10 and we just sat and chatted after the others had left. Dh worked on cleanup and got well over half done before I finished up.

The past few days have been chalk full of busy but there's been a lot of happiness in there. So much that I started crying while cleaning up in the kitchen - it is as if the emotions were leaking out.

Off to bed now. If I rush, I make it by 11:15.

Poor dh is really sick. I feel bad he did so much of the cleanup. Ds arrived around 8:30 and so helped a little and visited with his dad while I chatted with my friend.