December 2020 W.I.S.H. - Finding Delight

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I am thankful to work with so many wonderful people. Yesterday I emailed the “specials” teachers (art, music, etc) and expressed my gratitude for them. I enjoy working with each of them for this reason. When they come in, I am really needing a break. And some people seem to view their job as just that. The people that come in to give them a break, like a babysitter. But for me, they bring support to my kids and collaborate with me on what areas that really need addressed. And they remind me that we are working on developing the whole child...not just learning the academics (which I already know, but sometimes get caught up in). They also bring some unique gifts such as humor and compassion (for me), which helps “light my flame” to keep going through the rest of the day. For them, I am grateful!
 




Good morning and Merry Christmas, Everyone!!

We haven't really "started" Christmas yet here. Kitty #1, of course, does not know it's a holiday and woke me up at 5:30, DH woke up around 7:00, but DS is still asleep. - Talk about a role reversal! I remember the years when he was little and would come bouncing out of his room on Christmas morning.

I hope everyone has a lovely day. :santa:
 
sjrec said:
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Quiet here before family and puppy arrive, so enjoying the peace.
All our warm rain yesterday turned into cold weather-would love to get out for a quick walk when the kids get here.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
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We had quite the storm last night...wind gusts and rain. Temperatures are in the 60's but will drop later today. I have friends without power. I feel so grateful to have power. There were moments last night that I was on the verge of losing it...not being able to go to church and knowing that I wouldn't see my family. Fortunately, my family FaceTimed us, and we got to see the kids open our gifts. The utter enthusiasm was priceless. Then we were able to watch our church service on YouTube...not the same, but seeing the inside of the church, our pastors, hear scripture, and sing carols saved me. Not losing power also helped tremendously. I think I would have really lost it if we did.

It sounds like you have a lovely day ahead of you. Enjoy.:hug:
 
Merry Christmas!

The festivities are over and the house is quiet and empty. It was great to have family here for the morning. At noon we used google duo to visit family in three different states! such fun! DH and I bought a papa murphy's gourmet vegetarian pizza yesterday and that will be dinner tonight. I feel like I've done nothing but eat sweets all day long! I should go for a walk but it's raining and it's just so cozy inside; I think I'll curl up with a book!
 
Summer2018 said:
SOCIAL SATURDAY

Report back on your holiday celebrations 🎄🥂☃🎅🌟🍬
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On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we FaceTimed family, enjoyed steak, shrimp, & champagne, exchanged gifts, and watched Christmas movies. I'm so happy that it went as well as it did.

After much consideration, we decided to cancel our July vacation at the Polynesian. It is a lot of money to spend on a modified experience. The more I read about how it is there now, and that things may not be returning to normal as quickly as we would like, I would rather not spend $8,000+ for a less than magical experience.

We are looking at two ocean-view rooms at the Margaritaville Resort in Hollywood, Florida instead. We would be saving thousands of dollars, DD would get her own room, and we would still be able to use our airline credit from our cancelled June 2020 WDW trip.

Now we just need to get my family vaccinated. DD told me that she won't travel without it, and I have to agree with her. Here's hoping that everyone that wants the vaccine will be able to get it ASAP.
 
A different year for sure. On Wednesday, DH, DS, and I went to one of those walk-through light displays. It was set up for the current situation, and fun to bring back a tradition from when DS was little! DH and I watched It’s a Wonderful Life early on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day, we watched a new (to us) movie called The Christmas Chronicles and the new Disney+ release, Soul.

Santa was very good to us as well! I got lots of books I wanted, a Mary Poppins print, and a bunch of Harry Potter and Baby Yoda stuff. DH's "I Can Beat Bobby Flay" apron was hit, and he also got slippers and several shirts he needed, a new game, and some ties and gloves for Lodge. DS knew his big presents - the latest X-box and floor liners for his car, but we managed to surprise him with a few other things as well, including new towels for his dorm and two novelty Monopoly games for his fledgling collection.

While we didn’t get together with family this year, we did keep in touch: We had texts with photos and videos from both of my cousins who have little kids, and we FaceTimed with DH's parents. (I'm very proud of myself for teaching MIL how!) I talked on the phone with my brother and with my folks, and had texts from a couple of aunts as well.

I made a spiral ham for dinner, and DS said mine was better than MIL's. ( :poop: Shhh…) I’m still working on the scalloped potatoes, though.:rotfl2:- They didn't come out quite like I wanted. I also made a version of my mom’s "shrimp stuff" for Christmas Eve snack. (I describe how to make it in this post on another thread.) We had more than our share of cookies throughout the week as well - several types dropped off by SIL and MIL, plus I made Rice Krispie Treats and bought Peppermint Milanos, but I'm trying to keep the indulgence in perspective.

All in all, it was a good Christmas. I'm not one to take down decorations right away, so we will be enjoying those for a bit longer, but DH and I did work on putting our presents away today, and on reclaiming the craft room (a.k.a. wrapping central).
 
Merry Belated Christmas!

The week got away from me and I have been on the Dis at all. I have been of all week and have next week off as well. Monday was a bit of running around as we dropped my car off to get new tires. We didn't get my car back until later in the day. I was also a lucky one that I got a mammogram also. All is good ( it was just a routine one) but man I was in a lot of pain after for a day or so. Tuesday I got all of my wrapping done and DD had an appointment with her therapist. My car has turned into my home away from home. I stay in my car for this appointment and her riding lessons. I am praying we have a bit warmer winter. I did buy a heated blanket for the car so that is helping. Wednesday was running around and dropping gifts off to everyone. I also made an apple pear ginger pie (I used my gift from DH;s grandmother. She got me a food processor). I made homemade crust. This pie took me hours to make but DH and his grandmother liked it so it was worth it. I also made macaroni salad.

Christmas Eve was a bit of a relaxed day. We did make Christmas dinner for lunch this day. We were getting a big winter storm that was starting around 1. We wanted to make sure we got food to DH's grandma. We made a beef tenderloin. It turned out really good. It was my first time making it. I used the Pioneer Women (Ree Drumond) recipe. I also made fresh green beans (Also Pioneer Women's recipe) and mashed potatoes. We also had rolls and the mac salad I made. We got the food to DH's grandmother just in time for the snow to start. We just watched movies and chilled the rest of the day. My sister decided to drive out to my house to drop of gifts but that didn't go to well. She took the back roads and by the time that she was coming (around 7:30pm) the roads were pretty bad. She slid off the road into a ditch. She was ok and only minor damage to her bumper. She needed a tow truck to get out of the ditch and right before it showed up a cop drove by. Because there was damage he had to give her a ticket. She has a really rough 2 months and something that she did not need. I did tell her to just go home. Gifts can wait.

Christmas day went really good. I managed to surprise the kids with a few things. DS got a gaming chair that reclines and has a foot rest. This is his favorite and had no clue. DD for an electric guitar. This was on her list of only 2 things. So I think she knew she would get this. I did successfully buy her a nice outfit that she likes. She is so hard to buy clothes for. She was also very excited for the tie dye kit we got her. She is such a messy artsy person. If it makes a mess and has to do with art she loves it. I got 4 Disney Pandora chars. One is Mary Poppins and the other was a Cinderella set of 3 that game together. DH and DD knows me well and knew which ones on my list I would like the most. DH got his gift last week. It was deep dish pizza from Chicago that was delivered to us. He has talked about this pizza since he was in Chicago for a week for work like 10 years ago. He had no clue and loved it. We did open gifts on video calls with DH's family and later in the day my family. Friends of ours (more like family. His parents both passed away over 16 years ago when he was in his early 20's with no other family. We took in as part of DH's family) got me the best hoodie and really warm slippers which will be awesome this winter as I work in front of 2 windows and it get pretty cold. All in all It was a great Christmas. DS even said that it was a great Christmas even though we couldn't be with family. I call that a win. We really tried to make it good for the kids.

Today has been a day of rest. I have been lazy but I am just going to enjoy some of the time I have off.
 
Christmas was good, but definitely different. We exchanged gifts with my family and opened them virtually. My mom delivered Christmas dinner. It was delicious, of course! There was definitely an emphasis on gifts that are things to do doing a pandemic (bike, golf clubs, kayak, paddleboard). Kids both got a few masks as gifts (so weird, right?). But it was nice just spending time at home. I enjoy the quiet mornings...although I’ve skipped my workouts the last 3 days and replaced them with Hallmark movies.

Last night my son had another meltdown over not being able to do things with his friends. His friends went bowling and I just don’t understand how that’s even possible when our governor supposedly shut down indoor entertainment including bowling alleys. There were a lot of emotions expressed, but in the end I think we all have a better understanding of each other’s perspectives. And moved onto to a little family ping pong. Hoping we can get through the next week of friends doing things they shouldn’t be doing and our son understanding why he can’t participate...

For today, my self care will include a shower, a little cleaning up and organizing, and probably another Hallmark movie ;)
 
The family just left so we are relaxing in front of the fire. They arrived Christmas Day and we opened gifts (grandson was speechless when we wheeled out his new bike!) had a lovely dinner and then enjoyed some games and watched the football game. Yesterday was lots of appetizers, leftover ribeye sandwiches and cookies. We FaceTimed with relatives that we usually visit this time of year and we all said next year will be better!
My self care today is to relax in front of the tv, a quick walk at halftime and snack on leftovers. Tomorrow I will tackle laundry, put the gifts away and get organized for the week ahead. I won’t take the tree down until New Year’s Day but might start slowly putting my decorations away.
It was different this year, but as long as the five of us are together, that’s ok.
 
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