Today is my favorite sister’s birthday! I dropped off Susie Squirrel, because it’s her turn to stay with Kathy for the next six months – until my birthday. Kathy had to work today so I didn’t get to see her, but hopefully she enjoyed her day and will be happy to have Susie back in residence. Happy birthday, sweet sister!

So after work and lunch I started putting holiday decorations away. Today is supposed to be the best day weather-wise so I took care of all the outside decorations first. I put the reindeer in the shed (I always hate to put them away!), gathered up all the other outside decorations, and changed the Christmas lights to blue/white for winter. I did leave snoopy up until the weekend. He gets put away last anyway.

I took the lights and garlands down and the windows look dark and bare. It’s hard to get used to the house as things are tucked away. But once it’s all cleaned up I’ll welcome the relative plain-ness of it all. More to do tomorrow.

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TOMORROW December 30th is:

National Bicarbonate of Soda Day; Falling Needles Family Fest Day (???); Bacon Day.

I’ll go with the bacon! Then I’ll get back to tucking Christmas 2023 away! God bless…

Today was my niece Sarah’s birthday – Happy birthday Sarah! Hope you had a wonderful day – celebrate you!

Kelly, Matt and the boys got here about 10:30am. We just hung around the house – then ordered pizza for lunch. Matt ran to Walmart for a few things, and Peyton went down to the car wash to clean up his truck – he drove separately, OF COURSE!!! The boys set up their video stations in the spare room while Kelly made more tassel caps. She’s sold a number of them already – custom made.

I fussed around a bit and got the kitchen ready for supper, and organized the day a little bit. Of course, when everyone got there at 4pm I totally forgot to take pictures. I did get a few of Cameron while we were waiting on Nate, Jen and Chris – but then I was busy and all thoughts of the camera flew right out of mind!

We did gifts and snacks when Nate got there. Everyone seemed pleased with their gifts, and the kids were way too generous to me. I got a new HUGE outdoor trash can with wheels and a lid, and Sherree (Jen’s mom) had an M&M jar custom made for me. What a sweet gesture and I love it. I also got other things and they were all perfect. I loved all the gifts equally, but I really desperately needed a new trash can (the old one was falling apart) and the candy jar was very unexpected! Thanks to everyone!!

Matt spent a bit of time searching for viruses on my computer and did get them all cleaned out. Everything is running as it should now. I’m very happy about that!

No backed-up drains, the laundry room stayed clean and dry, and the day went very well. It was a great day spent with family and I felt extra blessed and thankful It was a fun day!

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TOMORROW December 29th:

National Pepper Pot Day; Tick Tock Day; No Interruptions Day.

Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday! Celebrating my best friend and life support system! Guaranteed I’ll have bunches of interruptions! Always happens. I’ll eat some M&M’s and be fine. God bless…

I climbed out of bed this morning ready to accomplish a long list. Yesterday was a bit of a trial – So I put it all behind me and started the day fresh. Since the drains are fixed and cleaned out (for now – long story), I was able to do a load of laundry, all my dishes, get a shower and eat breakfast. The horses were out in the field. As I watched, the one on the right took off, and the one on the left threw himself on the ground and rolled around on his back. Then he jumped up and galloped off. It was neat to watch!!!

My first tasks (well, after all that!) was to make deviled eggs and Oreo Ice Cream for tomorrow. I was just finishing up and my friend Bear called me – he’s off this week and Connie is working so I think he was bored! We worked at Smail’s together for years, and I am his #1 fan (he’s the actor), and we have known each other for over 40 years. So we talked for over an hour!

By then it was lunch time and I had a piece of ham and a cookie. I spent the rest of the day cleaning. But I did get a txt from Chrissy and Hope and they needed a ride to Autmn’s. She got a vacuum and a rug scrubber for Christmas from her mom, and she’s determined to get the house organized and deep cleaned. So I took them down, and got my baby hugs. We interrupted his bottle so he wasn’t happy for very long.

Chrissy took some pictures of the clouds for me since I was driving. On the way home there were clouds floating on the ground. I wanted to stop and photo them all — but I came home and finished cleaning.

I saw a really funny post on facebook and it reminded me of Chase – he’s my Goldfish fanatic! He might go for this!

I still have ironing to do and a few cards to write out and then supper. Everything else is ready for tomorrow; I will make the sloppy joe’s in the morning. Oh! I wore a pair of the earrings that Alea made! Cool!

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TOMORROW December 28th is:

National Short Film Day; National Card Playing Day; National Chocolate Candy Day; Pledge of Allegiance Day; Holy Innocents Day.

Tomorrow is Burke Christmas Day. I’m excited to have everyone here. Noah even switched his day off so he’ll be here all day, which is fun. God bless…

Today has been a long, busy day – with more to come over the next few days.

So I am not doing a post this evening! After I clean tomorrow I will catch up! God bless….

Tomorrow December 27th is National Fruitcake Day. Oh Joy! God bless…

When Diane’s SONG OF THE DAY came across this morning, I listened to it, got up and went to the bathroom, re-heated my rice bag, and crawled back in bed and read for an hour! Didn’t have to hurry for anything! My Christmas present to myself.

After a shower and breakfast, I mixed up brownies – special request for dessert at Nate’s tonight. I washed up the dishes and they were messy with chocolate, and when I went downstairs to throw the kitchen towels in the laundry basket — the drain had backed up again! And it was still overflowing. It wasn’t going down at all. I was so upset. It took an hour before it soaked down the drain to a normal level. I cleaned everything up but was nervous about running water.

I did finally get brave enough to flush the downstairs toilet – and thankfully it didn’t back up. I can’t WAIT for the plumber to get back here tomorrow. But I suddenly remembered that Ron had left me a small Peanuts gift bag to open today, so I did that. It was a lovely little angel ornament and a candle. I really love the candle. So that cheered me up at least. It’s been a very weird and difficult holiday – as I mentioned yesterday!

But I watched an old black & white version of Christmas in Connecticut before heading down to Nate’s. Jen made a wonderful supper – so much food! I couldn’t even taste everything that she had! The kids chipped in (but Chrissy came up with the idea and did the ordering) to get me a blanket. It has the five grand-kids’ names and their birth-month flower on it. It was a teary moment!

We took a lot of photos – so here are pictures of Christmas Day at Nathan and Jen’s!!

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TOMORROW December 26th is:

National Whiners Day; National Thank You Note Day; National Candy Cane Day; Boxing Day.

Tomorrow is a full moon – the Christmas Moon. Maybe it will be like A TIMELESS CHRISTMAS (It’s a book and a movie) and travel forward in time 100 years! For me, tomorrow is back to work and hopefully plumber day! God bless…

It felt strange to take my time this morning – being there was no Sunday School! But I did get to see Grace and Max all dressed up. I know the other kids were there but I didn’t catch up with them.

Todd’s message this morning was the Wonder of Christmas. Taking notes was a bit tricky, because the bulletin was printed on black paper with white printing and holly. I wrote things down but am having trouble seeing what I wrote. But the bulletin is cool looking!

The WONDER is in what Jesus did for us. We have made ‘wonder’ a common word. Why did he come as a baby? That was Act One. The best is yet to come. Our Father goes to great length to see that we get Home. Live in the WONDER of what is yet to come!

So after lunch I decided to finally tackle the fudge. Since the bread did NOT turn out like anticipated, I was nervous about even trying. It took several hours of mixing, stirring, boiling, cooling and pouring, but the fudge DID come out! Hardened up nicely. I will take a little bit of it over to Kathy’s. This is Mom’s recipe and we grew up watching and helping and eating the yummy fudge! I have it in the pink bowl that she always put it in and sat it on the table. It’s very sweet so a little bite goes a long way!

Our special evening Christmas Eve service was so nice. Todd had the kids up on stage and gave them all a cookie, then showed a short nativity video told by kids. It was very cute. He had an adult message after that, then the candles were lit. We made a circle around the room and they turned off all the lights and sang Silent Night. It’s so much nicer than just sitting in our seats.

I am going to Kathy’s at 8pm so I’m going to close this out so I am ready to head over shortly. Happy Christmas Eve – Jump in bed and cover you head cause Santa Clause comes tonight!

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TOMORROW December 25th is:

National Pumpkin Pie Day; Christmas Day; A’phabet Day or No ‘L’ Day! (cute)

Have a wonderful, blessed Christmas Day – and celebrate the reason for the season. God bless us, every one!

Two more sleeps til Christmas! I’m ok with that. I don’t have a busy day tomorrow (morning and evening church) but Monday I have a few things to do.

But let’s start with yesterday. It was a tough day to get through. It actually started Thursday evening with a few conversations that took a turn that I didn’t expect. Wasn’t sure how to sort that all out. But I got into my day Friday by doing a load of laundry – and let it wash while I prepped the ham and got it baking in the oven. When I came down to change the load to the dryer I realized that the laundry room drain had backed up – basically flooded the room – and left a mess behind. Everything was soaked and filthy and smelly.

It took most of the morning to get that cleaned up, but the tough thing was I couldn’t wash all the rags and towels I used to do that. I knew I would have Autmn and Cam all day so I had to put that task aside until today (which I handled – more later!).

While I was waiting for Autmn to call I had some work papers to print out. The printer was being stubborn and kept shutting off and jamming. It took me over half an hour to print 3 pages. I had a few other things to do that didn’t go on track, but sort of expected that because once my focus was broken everything seemed to go awry.

I picked up Autmn, Cameron and Autmn’s youngest sister Josie and they spent the day. Cameron was good and was happy to see his Grammy. We did spend some quality time together, but Josie likes playing with him, too, so I had to share. Imagine that! But having my family here helped things, anyway.

Ron was in town and called to see if Autmn and Cameron would be here, and decided to pop over and see them. So we had a busy day shuffling food and people and TV shows. It was a pretty nice afternoon and evening. I was certainly ready for a good night’s sleep.

This morning I mixed up bread and it’s now rising in loaf pans. I was planning on going to the laundromat but I had several offers of washers to do the dirty towels. I didn’t want to put that mess in someone’s washer — but Nate has the rescue and has alot worse to wash than I had. So he offered and I accepted. I took my two loads down there and he said they would just do it and drop it off later.

I stopped at Shop and Save to get the dough for ham rolls, and found their Christmas/winter things on sale. I got a few little things that were just pennies. Nice. Then about 5pm Nate returned my towels, rags, and sheets, dry and folded! I could be spoiled!

So I cut up the ham from yesterday and made ham and cheese rolls, then I tried again with the chocolate drizzled popcorn. It turned out better but I am going to get white chocolate – it was really good that way. It’s now 7pm and I’m hoping that’s all I need to do for the day. Today was easier but I was on my feet all day, which I generally am not. I’ll watch a Hallmark movie, write in my journal, read devotions, and that will be it. I sampled the popcorn and the ham rolls so I won’t need supper.

When I was at Nate’s I noticed that Jen’s cat plaque was sticky from the package tape. I brought it home and worked on it and got it all cleaned up like new! It was the least I could do for clean laundry.

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TOMORROW December 24th is:

National Eggnog Day; Christmas Eve.

No eggnog for me! And I am going to Kathy’s after church for a late supper. My job is to take the shrimp ring! Already purchased and tucked in the freezer – I will defrost it after church… Have a blessed celebration! God bless..

Again, no post today. I had a full day. Mostly challenges but all is well at the end of the day. It’s 11:15pm and time for bed. I’ll catch up tomorrow!

TOMORROW December 23rd is:

National Roots Day; Festivus Day; National Pfeffernusse Day (It’s a cookie!)

Enjoy – only a few more sleeps until Christmas! God bless…

It’s 5:20 and it’s dark. BUT starting tomorrow the days get a little longer every day! Summer’s coming!

I started the day with an appointment in Jeannette with my cousin Paul. There were a few other things to do down there. The guys all got together and gave me the loveliest card! It’s one I’ll keep… Also a gift card and as usual Ken gave me a bag of Brookside dark chocolate covered pomegranates! Yum! It’s a splurge I don’t indulge in on my own!

There were a few things in Greensburg, as well, plus I hung around and talked to Ken for a few minutes. then I zipped over to pick up Shannon and get her to Norwin Square for her shot. It was a little longer than she expected but went well. On the way home I stopped at WOW outlet – all their Christmas merchandise is on sale at least 50% off. I spent $1.06!

On the way home I snapped a photo of the courthouse and a church with a red door. The wreaths made it look so festive!

It was after 3pm when I got home so I grabbed a bowl of soup and organized things. 3/4 of the lights on my Williamsburg tree were out so I un-strung them and put new ones on. It was so much harder when it was fully decorated and it doesn’t look as even as it was originally but it is much better lit than burnt out!

Tomorrow I believe Autmn and Cameron are coming up and I’m cooking my little piece of ham. And hopefully making fudge. We’ll see what the day brings!

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TOMORROW December 22nd is:

National Date Nut bread Day; Forefathers’ Day.

Counting down to Christmas! Hope you’re done shopping. Have a great weekend. God bless.

I took my time doing chores today — cleaning, laundry, small clean-ups. I had a bowl of Stuffed Pepper Soup for lunch. I hate to say that that’s the most of what I did today.

BUT – I was doing laundry and my drains started acting up again. The floor drain was surging a bit but thankfully didn’t come near to the top, or overflow. The downstairs toilet was bubbling and gurgling worse than before the plumber came out to clean the drains. I paid a good amount of money to have those drains handled and am certainly distressed that it is acting up. I called the company (I have a 60 day guarantee) and they scheduled me for next Tuesday. I can only hope that it doesn’t get worse or over-flow before then. Thankfully our family Christmas is the 28th!

I txt Autmn and told her to send me a picture of Cameron just to cheer me up! So even though you get overload on the Cameron pics here is another one!

Tomorrow I have a full schedule but Friday Autmn and Cameron are spending the day. I’ll just hang in there until then!

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TOMORROW December 21st is:

National Maine Day; National Flashlight day; National French Fried Shrimp Day; Anne & Samantha Day (Day of Summer & Winter Solstice); Yule – Day of Winter Solstice; Winter Solstice; Phileas Fogg Win A Wager Day; National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day.

Lots to celebrate – but most of it centers around Winter Solstice — shortest daylight day of the year. Plan something fun to do in the dark – maybe eat shrimp in Maine? With a flashlight? God bless…