So Much Goodness

It's 11:08 P.M. on the Sunday before Christmas, I'm cuddled up with the kitty and the Poodle (who, by the way is sporting red plaid Christmas pj's with Rudolph on the butt) and watching Christmas movies by the glow of the tree lights and the computer screen. It's been a good weekend. Life is good. I am content. And blessed. And so very, very thankful.

Friday I picked up one of my clients in the morning. After a quick stop at my employer's offices (I picked up the paperwork for a new client) we went shopping for the gifts we would need for my Bible study group's Christmas party on Saturday. My teacher was nice enough to invite my client when she met her at the Christmas Tea at church. We found her gift right away at Sam's Club. It took me a bit longer and a stop at Walmart to find everything I wanted.

Shopping done, we picked up lunch and came back to the house. We ate while watching Christmas Vacation. Then I showed her how to make pretzel snaps with a Hershey kiss and an M&M on top and then we made her favorite peanut butter blossoms. We packed it all up for her to take home to share with her co-workers at the soup kitchen.

Saturday morning the kitten was on my "naughty" list (He climbed up on our headboard at 12:30 A.M. and threw up. A lot. Then he jumped down on the bed and did it again. Ewww.) but he still woke me up when Tim got up for work. I couldn't fall asleep again so I stayed up and finished reading book 28 in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

I picked up my client and we were at the party by 10 A.M. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch of French toast casserole, scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, fresh fruit, and so many kinds of baked goods. After we ate the men blessed the women by doing all the clean up and dishes. What a wonderful gift! 

The fun got started then as we women did our annual gift exchange. We all bring a wrapped gift, then draw numbers to determine the order in which to pick from the pile. Each person, on their turn, has the option of choosing a gift from the pile or "stealing" a gift that was already chosen. We didn't do any stealing this year for some reason so it was a really short lived game. We open the gifts one at a time so everyone can see and ooh and aah. Finally, nearly everyone brings some small gift for everyone there. This year everyone went waaaay overboard and just blessed the socks off everyone....and it was so sweet that everyone included my client and she was just so tickled to go home with a huge bag full of gifts (she has no local family and her parents have both passed away).

Later on Saturday I went out to finish my Christmas shopping. I went to Barnes & Noble and...the mall. Pure insanity! I don't think I've seen the mall that crowded in at least 15 years. Most of the time it is a dead zone with the exceptions of the hub stores and the casino. Anyway, mission accomplished! Tim and I went to a little local restaurant for dinner. 

On Sunday I was up early again as Tim had to do some work at a hotel he built a couple of years ago and it could only be done on a weekend. It just worked out to be this one, which kind of stunk since Sunday was his birthday. 

Megan, the kiddos and my mom came here around 11:00 and we had four generations making cookies. Good times and happy memories, I hope.

Tim got home in time to have himself a birthday nap and then enjoy his birthday dinner of grilled steaks, shrimp, and cheesy mashed potatoes. Colton and Leah came back after that and we watched The Santa Claus 2 so Mommy and Daddy could do some gift wrapping.

So, that was the weekend. It was so full of good stuff that I almost feel guilty for feeling so blessed. I hope you had a good weekend, too, and that you're enjoying this special season of love, hope, and joy. 

Tell me something good about your weekend!

 

Currently...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas as the decorations are finally all up, the shopping is in full swing, the wrapping has begun, and the obligatory Christmas movie is on the TV...it's not a Hallmark, though, but a very odd one called Christmas Time about two brothers who've been estranged for years (one brother thinks he's a time traveler...like I said, odd).

The weather

Anyway, the sun is shining and the temperature is in the mid 40's. Not particularly Christmassy, but nice, and the coolest day we'll see until the weekend.

Listening to

Still the 24/7 Christmas music radio station.

Watching

Already told you. Oops.

Loving

The way I feel this Christmas. It feels like everything has shifted back into clear focus, that priorities are in order, and it's all about Jesus. I mean, it always has been, but I've often stressed over things that just don't matter. This year...I'm relaxed and focused on what Christmas is all about. As for the rest, whatever gets done or happens will be fine.

Celebrating

Today is Colton's birthday. My little Boogie Man is 5 years old. How can that be? He has brought so much joy and love to our lives and I am so thankful for him.

Thinking

About our dear blogging friend, Linda, and the heartbreak she and her husband are experiencing due to the loss of their beloved son, Liam, over the weekend. My heart aches for them and I ask you to keep them in your thoughts and prayers if you would.

Feeling

Grateful and blessed.

Grateful

Beyond measure for my family (even the ones that don't speak to us) and friends, my church, my pets (especially now that the kitty is settling down some) and this good life the Lord has blessed me with.

No quote today.

Just a wish that you love and enjoy every moment of your life and the people who fill it. Take the time to pay attention to and appreciate the things that really matter. Don't sweat the small stuff or the stuff that won't even matter tomorrow.

Currently...

The sun is shining and at 65 degrees it feels more like September than the 8th of November. I don't think I ever remember us cutting the grass in November before, but here we are. It's supposed to be nice for a few days this week. Indian Summer?

I'm listening to... Jasper purr in my ear (he likes to sleep on my shoulder) and from somewhere in the neighborhood I can hear the buzz of a mower. 

I'm reading... No Ordinary Christmas: A Mistletoe, Maine Novel by Belle Calhoune. Local boy-turned-Hollywood-star, Dante West, is coming home to make his next movie in Mistletoe and everyone in town is excited...except the town's librarian, Lucy Marshall. When Dante took off for Hollywood without warning or even a goodbye, he broke Lucy's heart. Dante is eager to help boost his hometown's economy and to finally start making amends to the people he hurt when he left. Can the magic of Christmas help him do that with Lucy?

I'm watching... Hallmark Christmas movies, of course! And also a lot of the other shows streaming on frndly TV. Tim's enjoying the old cop and cowboy shows and I've been watching Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy, We Bought the Farm, and Mountain Mama's.

I'm celebrating... a negative result on my Covid test!

I'm worrying about... our daughter and her husband and, of course, the grandchildren. It seemed Megan and Cody were on the mend, but today they seem worse again. A neighbor who seems to have had it in the same way they do said her doctor told her to expect it to take up to 6 weeks to recover. I am praying Cody is able to return to work next week. They really can't afford for him to be off as long as he has been, let alone longer. 

I worry about Colton and Leah, too. When the kids seemed to be on the upswing, I sent the little ones home because Colt was pretty congested and doing a lot of coughing. Now that I've had a negative test, I don't want to risk getting sick. I will if Megan and Cody absolutely can't manage, but so far they are doing okay. 

I had fun... watching Colton and Leah play in the leaves yesterday. Tim was cleaning up the leaves in Mom's yard. They must have seen him and came out to play (we stayed socially distanced, but oh, was it hard). Tim used the leaf blower to pile the leaves up for them and they had a ball!

I'm enjoying... Jasper. Now that Daisy has quit barking at him non-stop and the kids haven't been chasing him, he's coming into his own and making himself at home. That usually means he's either harassing Daisy, crawling up something he's not supposed to be crawling up with his claws, or cuddled up on or beside me. A cat tree was delivered today. I'm hoping that draws his attention away from the furniture and curtains. Little stinker! I'd be mad at him, but he's so darn cute. His stripes are starting to come out more, too.

I'm cooking... lots of easy comfort foods. With everyone sick or busy and stressed it's been the way to go. Soups, casseroles, pierogies, etc.

Making me laugh... 

You can have your coffee and be buried in the can!

True of most men with most sicknesses.

Now that's the truth.

Yep. I would be Baby in Dirty Dancing walking into the party and saying "I carried a watermelon" when introduced to the hot guy.

True, but I'm more interested in a world where there are no snakes because they eat themselves. That is my kind of place! Snakes...ewww!

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday Tim (he was actually not working!) and I along with Megan's family went to this awesome place I found on Facebook. It offers seasonal settings for photo shoots for a fee. You take your own photos or you can bring a photographer. Considering the kids are notoriously bad about posing for pictures and Tim and Cody are less than thrilled about having their picture taken...I think we did okay. (You can click on any of them to see them full size.)

 

And here are the kids trick or treating.

Peeking Into the Cupboards

I'm just sitting here relaxing and watching a little television this afternoon, so it seemed like a good time to keep a promise to Pam about sharing the results of the big upheaval and reorganizing of my china cupboard and corner cupboard. 

Come on in!

First up is a view of the corner cupboard. It was a Christmas gift from Tim a few years back. I had seen it in an antiques shop in Holidaysburg, PA and fallen instantly in love. It is massive at 7 ft. tall. It's a good thing it comes apart in the middle.

On the top, the flag from my late father-in-law's casket is displayed in the case my stepdad made for Tim. Also of note up there, a carved wooden pelican that I bought for my dad in Tampa, when Tim and I went there for our first wedding anniversary.

That's Daisy keeping guard. She likes to sit there because she can see the front and the back of the house.

Inside, the top shelf holds some crystal pieces, a few commemorative plates, and the fancy coffee pot that goes with my china. It has never been used.

The two middle shelves display place settings of my china and my paternal grandmother's china, along with smaller serving pieces like gravy boats and butter dishes.

This close up shows my pattern on the right. It is Haviland china. Mom and Dad gave it to us as a wedding gift. It was a premium to be earned at the grocery store back in the 80s. You'd save up so many stamps and then could buy a piece for a discounted price. I don't know how they did it, maybe they got help from others, but we received service for 12 and every single type of dish and every serving piece offered. Even with the discounts it was well over $300. We used to host all the family holidays and used it all the time. Now the holidays are mostly at our daughter's and nobody worries about china any more.

My grandmother's china, on the left, is a pre-war Noritake pattern that is discontinued. I only have bits and pieces of it...8 plates, 3 cups, 5 saucers...that sort of thing. There is a newer pattern that is similar, but not quite the same. Once in a great while I find a piece of the newer one at an auction or estate sale and pick it up if the price isn't too much. Mom and I looked into those companies that promise to replace pieces of old china and if they even have Grandma's pattern, it is very expensive. I'm not willing to put that much into something I don't use. 

The bottom shelf has become the bar. We don't actually drink that much, but we do have a lot of bottles. Go figure. This beautiful sherry decanter and glasses on the silver tray came to me in an odd way. When I was a kid and my dad worked for the Mellon family, they bought us Christmas gifts each year. One year I got all kinds of clothes, but they were the wrong size. Mom took them back, but they were from a children's clothing store and they did not have my size. Since Mom hadn't made the purchase, they wouldn't give her a cash refund, only store credit...which was also good at the sister store, a home decorating shop. Mom bought the decanter and tray as well as two beautiful floral lamps, which I also still have.

Those are some of Tim's awards for work in the background.

The bottom of the cupboard holds all the stacks of other dishes and the large serving pieces. The clear bowl and candle sticks were given to my maternal grandparents when they got married.

Here you can see why I had to get that heavy stuff out of the china cupboard. The cupboard belonged to my great-grandmother, my grandmother had it, and now I have it. It is close to 100 years old. It was never an expensive piece of furniture. I'd imagine it was all my great-grandmother could afford during the depression after her husband died and she had three teenagers to raise. After all these years and much love and use, it has seen better days and is pretty fragile. If it weren't for the sentimental attachment, I would probably get rid of it. I live in fear of it collapsing one day.

Just barely peeping over the top is a ceramic piggy my aunt painted for me when I was first married (there used to be a chicken, too, but she met an untimely end). The wooden thing is a hand-carved lunchbox from Haiti...and if you know anything about Haiti, you know that you do not put food in anything made there. The "drunk" leaning on the lightpost is a German whistler that my dad brought back from Berlin for his mother. If it was working, the lamp would light and he would whistle a tune and move his head. Maybe one day I will find a clockmaker to work on him.

The bottom of the cupboard now holds the box with the good silverware, tablecloths and runners, placemats, kitchen towels, embroidered linens, and a few vintage Santas.

I confess, I didn't even touch the drawer. It holds the biggest assortment of odds and ends...birthday candles, cake decorations, battery candles, replacement Christmas bulbs, etc.

Lots and lots of treasures in the top of the cupboard!

Right next to the walking Jimmy Carter peanut I got when my Civil Air Patrol unit visited Washington, D.C. in 1979, is my maternal grandfather's folding rule and on top of that is the spear head my maternal grandmother found in the backyard after a big rain storm. She took it to an expert once and they told her it was 5000 years old.

This sweet little celluloid horse was the only Christmas gift my Nana, my maternal grandmother, received one year in the 1920s. She was one of 9 children and times were tough on the farm. One of her older brothers worked at a shoe store in town and he spent his own money to buy it for her. It was broken, with one leg glued when she got it. I have babied and treasured it since she gave it to me when I was just a girl. I was so mad at myself a few months ago when it fell out of the cupboard and got a small hole in the hip on the side you can't see. That let me know how brittle it has become. The milk bottle was found at an estate sale and has the name of Tim's great-uncle's dairy on it.

These silly little statues were popular in the 70s and this one was a gift from my Nana. 

My bridal bouquet, our unity candle, and our cake topper. Also there are my wrist corsage and mother's rose and Tim's boutonniere from Megan's wedding, and one of the bells people rang at our son's wedding to get the bride and groom to kiss.

My maternal grandmother's parents, Harvey Emanuel Free and Effa Jannette Free.

The wooden candlestick Tim made in high school wood shop. To the left of it is a stack of wooden bowls and wooden apples. The bottom bowl is an old butter bowl. The others are a salad set Tim brought back from Haiti. Again, good only for display purposes.

Still proudly keeping watch over the whole kit and caboodle after a good 50 years or so, is this green-eyed beauty. He is a postcard sent to my maternal grandmother when she was a little girl. At one time he "meowed" when you shook him, but he's lost his voice. Other than that he is still perfect and will remain tucked into the glass of the cupboard door as long as I'm around to have a say.

There are other "treasures" in the cupboard, but maybe we can visit those on another day.