Hello!

 Well. I'm finally back from one of the nicest Christmas celebrations I have had in years! I was running late all season...and, maybe that is the reason. I got everything done that needed to be done and the other things I just kind of accepted as "maybe next year" kind of things. I have let go of the fancy Christmas dinners-we actually did that a few years ago when we realized that those of us in the kitchen were missing out of a lot of fun family time and so it was that we veered to a much simpler meal. Since we have a number of vegetarians we went with both meat and veggie lasagnas (from the Publix freezer section-not homemade), my favorite broccoli/cauliflower salad (which also has pistachios, Craisins and bacon bits with a creamy sweet & sour dressing-delicious and red, white and green), and corn casserole as my contributions and then others added with a layered salad, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and lots of appetizers plus everyone's cookies for dessert.

And, this year, everyone got here pretty close to the beginning of dinner...which is hard for daughter #1 and her family because they try to fit in Christmas morning at their house and then have the farthest to come.

We visited during the apps and food and then took a few minutes to grab some pictures before heading to gifts. We have also cut back a lot on the gifts-mostly just for the "youngsters" now although I still like to give something to everyone and then they all still want to give to me-which is totally unnecessary since they do so much for me all year long but, much appreciated!

I started my celebrations on Christmas Eve with daughter #3 and her family. We went downtown for an early dinner at Harry's and Light Up Ocala before heading to church for a beautiful service full of instrumentals and songs.

We got a few posed pictures but the rest of the day was just shots taken randomly...none of them are perfect but they are reminders of a beautiful day!

We've started doing the White Elephant gift exchange and that is always good for some laughs.

 This year there were so many game ideas going around the internet so grand daughter #2 rigged up one where she wrapped MANY  gift wrapped boxes inside of each other starting from quite large down to very small-which contained a monetary gift inside. Each of us donned oven mitts in turn and tried to open as much of the outside gift as we could while the next person in turn was trying to roll doubles on some dice. Once they did, your turn was over and it was on to the next person. It was so much fun and even though some of us don't really consider ourselves all that competitive-especially against people we love-the claws came out and the noise level went up. It was so much fun-and, in the end, grandson #2 ended up winning. Of course, he was right after me so I did most of the hard work on that little box for him. Lol

Those that needed to headed home later that night and the others spent the night at my house and it was like old times. I had three out of the four oldest grand daughters and it was like old times-so much reminiscing and laughing...and, when Morgan broke out an old video of a "play" with a dance routine that they did years ago, we were all in tears from laughter!

The next day we headed over to daughter # 3's house for lunch and games before the three girls headed up to Gainesville to spend the night at my oldest grand daughter's house and my oldest daughter and I collapsed and watched movies.

Everyone is now home safe and sound...well, except for daughter #3 and her family who are in Charleston visiting with my SIL's family and my brother and SIL who are in Philly for NYE and the Mummer's Parade. I have two of my grand dogs here and we are just truly taking life easy, doing only what we want and trying to take in all of the decoration for a bit longer until they all come down for another year-and Valentine's appears.

The dogs and I are anticipating a very quiet New Year's Eve-thankfully these two aren't bothered by the sound of fireworks-where I will have my traditional NYE snacks and probably my traditional falling asleep before the ball drops. In any case, I'll be back in full force soon. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

And To All a Good Night

 The fun and games are over. Tomorrow I have to still make a few things and get the house cleaned and the gifts wrapped. I will be heading over to daughter #3's house on Christmas Eve in the afternoon. The plan is to have an early dinner on the Square before we head to church and then back to her house for dessert.

And then on Christmas, there is much to do before the gang arrives so I guess it's time to wrap up this year's tour. I think all we have left are the bedroom and bathrooms. 

So that is it for Christmas decor 2024. It's truly hard to believe that a new year is almost upon us. I want to show you one quick tweak before I go. I had to run to the grocery store this morning to pick up all of the produce for our meal and I just happened to glance at the Christmas display...and there I saw the window candlesticks. Now these aren't the ones with the timer and, although they did have the window suction cups, they were simply snapped on instead of molded into the base as the timer ones were-so, since the day is almost here and I will only have a few times needing to turn these on and off...and, since they were marked down to $2, I got them. Are they ideal? NO, but they will do until I can find the ones I want next year. They definitely give a little light to the shelves. I had to move the trees around because when I put the candles where I wanted, it looked like there were flames coming out of the top of the trees. Lol In any case, not perfect but I'm OK with them for now. Can't wait to see how it all looks when the lights in the garland click on tonight.

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday full of family and fun and I'll see you next year. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Only a Few More "Sleeps"

 Time is moving quickly and there are still a lot of things on the to-do list so, while I have a minute, I thought maybe we should head into the family room.

Things in this room are pretty much as they were last year but I did find room for the new Christmas image that I made this past summer.

And now that I've shared the family room let me share my day yesterday. What a day it was! We had our "Girls' Day'-which daughter #3 started last year-at another one of "the girl's" houses. These three have been fast friends since elementary school and we moms were friends as well. Then, as happens, as the girls grew up and got on with their lives, they stayed in touch but we moms not so much. My daughter thought it would be fun to bring the six of us back together last year and it was...so much fun that her girlfriend hosted us this year.

Her friend has a house on a huge family compound and they have 4 dogs, horses, donkeys, cattle, chickens and I'm sure some other things I may have missed. Lol We had the most wonderful lunch and then headed out to feed and pet some of the animals before heading back and having dessert out by the pool.

It never fails to amaze me that we are still learning things about each other after all of these years and that our conversations always seem to be able to pick right back up from where we last left off.

I absolutely fell head over heels in love with this horse, Bob...and, he apparently with me. Yes, I fed him a carrot but so did everyone else. For whatever reason, he followed me and nudged up to my face and just won me over totally! He is the sweetest, gentlest soul and I would still be out there with him if I could be!

I'm still reeling over what fun we had. I can't believe how many years these ladies have been a part of my life and I'm already looking forward to next year!! Lol

I still haven't wrapped the first gift or baked the first cookie but that is all about to change this afternoon. I am starting on my cookies. I am not making as many different types this year because by the time everyone else adds theirs to the mix, we could open a bake shop-and, of  course, then I am compelled to eat them all so....

We have just a bit more to tour-and probably just in the nick of time-no pun intended. Ha-ha. I'll be back. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.