Sweet Christmas

Christmas is a time of hosting parties, spontaneous visits from friends, universal social gaiety, spending time with loved ones, sharing stories about previous Christmases, giving gifts, singing Christmas carols, etc.  We all act a little nicer, we smile a little easier, we cheer a little more, and we tend to be the people that we always hoped we would be.

Christmas can be a bitter sweet time of year.  We enjoy seeing the excitement of children in their anticipation of opening presents.  We see them sparkle in their innocence and wonder at the holidays.  But as we get older, it gets harder.  We grieve over our loved ones that have passed away.  We’re torn by which home to spend Christmas day at for those with divided families.  We feel lonely and lost if we don’t have any family to celebrate with.  I have always been blessed with being able to spend Christmas with family.  This year was almost no different... except Courtney, who came down with Covid on the 22nd, was unable to join us until the 27th and I also had to miss one day because of digestive issues.

Sunday 12/24 - I was up much earlier than usual for the third morning in a row.  I was sweating Christmas, well actually fretting over all that I still needed to get done.  After computerizing for a little bit, I started on wrapping gifts, before the sun even came up.  Stevie was no help.

Joe left at 8:30 to go pick Britney up in Nashville and I finished all the wrapping. 







Then I started in on my mad Tasmanian house cleaning mode. 

Maggie and Babe decided to just keep out of the way. 







Joe got back with Britney at 12:30 and we had a late lunch. 

Britney just chill-axed on the couch much of the afternoon, enjoying coffee and the fire.  I sat at the puzzle table chatting with her and finished my advent calendar jigsaw. 

I had Britney take a picture of me with the finished project to send to Courtney.

Joe, Britney and I squeezed into the truck and headed to the ranch to do chores.  It went quickly with their help, and we were home before 4pm.

I took a 15 minute nap before starting dinner. 
I made spaghetti, tossed salad, and garlic bread.  Patty came over and joined us. She and Britney started in on a new puzzle while I was finishing up dinner preparations.  After dinner we had cookies for dessert and then Patty took Britney and I on a Christmas light drive, through our neighboring area of Fairfield Glade.

Britney and I hit the hay early and Joe continued with his football watching.
 

Monday 12/25 - Christmas morning I actually didn't wake until I had gotten almost eight hours of sleep.  And I loved the sweet wish from Shirley "Happy Merry Birthmas" she sent in an e-mail.

I told Maggie that Tango was coming and she went and waited by the door in anticipation. 




Britney and I started a different jigsaw puzzle because we decided the one I had picked the night before was going to be too difficult, so not much fun. 
After I got the kitchen/dinning area swept and mopped, I built Ava a little cardboard cave. 


As soon as Dan, Vale, Ava, and Tango arrived, Ava was quick to start exploring her cave, and Britney was right there playing in it with her. 









It was close to lunch time, so we started in on eating, and kind of continued with that the rest of the day.

It was definitely a sweet Christmas with the cookies and candy Vale and Patty made and brought, and that we added to what I had bought.

It rained ALL DAY LONG which made the Christmas lights more enjoyable, along with the fire and Christmas music.  We did our stockings and unwrapped gifts, which had been kept to a minimum, so was short and sweet.  It was nice that it wasn't a long, drawn out process. 











The second puzzle I had picked out ended up being quite difficult, so Britney kind of bailed out, leaving me to work it on my own much of the afternoon while Ava napped and Vale and Britney read and snoozed.

I told Maggie that Patty and Karen were coming, so again she waited at the front door, keeping watch. 









Patty and Joe fixed dinner (giving me my birthday off) which was wonderful.  Patty had brought deviled eggs and party potatoes.



Joe grilled steaks, chicken, and hamburger, while Patty cooked the scalloped potatoes and her party potatoes.  Karen brought corn casserole and yeast bread.  And we all stuffed ourselves.






I didn't take any photos at dinner but got this one of Tango checking out the table for food while we let dinner digest and sipped on chocolate wine and Baileys Irish Whiskey.  For dessert, I managed to eat a piece of chocolate lava cake.  I went to bed after 10pm but had troubles getting to sleep because I was way too full and was suffering acid reflex.


Tuesday 12/26 - Here's another photo of me from the day before, working on Ava's cave.  Notice that Monita was supervising. 

Tango woke us at 1am, needing to relieve himself, so Joe got up and took him out.  I was still feeling so bloated I couldn't get back to sleep.  So I computerized for a few hours.  Once back in bed I had chills, was shaking, and felt horrible.  I managed to kind of sleep until 5:00.  At this point I woke with major intestinal pain and felt nauseous.  While walking the dogs, I actually threw up some.  UGH 

I took my temperature and it was 101.5, so now I was worried I was contagious.  I was too sick to finish packing and ride to Kentucky so went back to bed.  Everyone else packed up and left, dropping the dogs off at Patty's house.

I slept till noon and felt quite a bit better when I got up, except now the house was empty, dead quiet and depressing.  I felt really sad.  I did work on the jigsaw puzzle some, but it was going so slow. 

 

Patty reported that Maggie liked her new bed, but that "There had been every type of dog/cat/bed configuration imaginable!"  Here are some of the photos she sent.  

Silly dogs and cats. 






It was a gloomy day and fit my disposition to a tee. 

I got this much work done on the puzzle, took another nap, and tried at various times; yogurt, brand flakes and milk, and a banana, with varying success.  Saltines and ginger-ale worked best. 




Britney reported that they had made it to Louisville.  And I was sent a few different photos during the afternoon and evening.


I was feeling quite a bit better, but suffering from FOMS, so started making plans to drive to Louisville in the morning.




I neatened up some things in the house, packed my overnight bag and did some blogging. 

  
Happy hour above, followed by the poker game.  Our family was having a good time but Courtney and I were missing out on it.  😭

Wednesday 12/27 - Nicole and Ava at the hotel. 

I woke feeling a little better but was still having abdominal issues.  I just needed to be really careful with what I ate.

I was on the road at 6:42.  There was patchy spots of fog but the trip went quickly until I got into Nashville morning traffic.  I got to Courtney's at 8:45.  She still had a bad cough and tested positive for Covid, but had been talked into coming because we didn't think she was contagious anymore. 





Courtney and I were on the road by 9am, (both masked) for the three hour drive, plus loosing an hour with the change in time zones. 
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, family was enjoying the day.  Ava had fun swimming with her parents.
 

Several enjoyed a walk along the corporate campus drive, which made a big (maybe ½ mile loop) around the hotel and several other buildings. 

We arrived right on time at 1pm ET.  The hotel was under renovation, but the lobby was still decorated beautifully, and was where many of us spent most of our time. 







After greeting most everybody and getting my stuff to the room, we were soon preparing to head for a late lunch.  Can you see Joe in the lobby waving at me? 

We all met at Brick House Tavern and Tap.  One car load was lagging behind but most of the group arrived and started in on drinks.  Chris and Ben in this photo. 









This is the whole group except for Courtney.  She did not want to eat with the group because it would require taking off her mask.  So she stayed back to keep an eye on Ava (who was napping).  This enabled both Dan and Vale to go with us. 

It was a long, slow, relaxing time of fellowship around the table, giving us a chance to reminisce about Christmases of old. 

We all left the restaurant, feeling quite full, in more ways than one (physically, emotionally & spiritually). 





Several of us went for a walk to aid in digestion and prepare for the next round of consumption.  Michael and Joseph meeting Carol's dogs (who she kept crated in her car, unless she was walking them). 





As happy hour (basically free drinks from 5-6:30) started, we all began congregating in 'our' area of the lobby.  Many of us sat around the table with all the cookies and candy, which we also started consuming. 





Notice the bins, bags, and tins (not yet opened) of sweet Christmas delights... and the table of gifts in the background. 






It basically contains the 17 gift bags from Cathy to each of us, and some presents to Ava. 






We all dug into our gift bags and I don't think any photos were taken because we were all busy going through our 'loot.' 

Ava was a little slow to get into the process of unwrapping her gifts, but once she got going, she did a nice job of ripping into them. 

A very fun gift she got, was the snowballs.  And several of us proceeded to have a big snowball fight. 

It came with these furry balls, that didn't hurt to get hit by, nor did they damage any furnishings.

And there were also two shields that you could use to deflect the balls.  






We had balls flying all over our end of the lobby.  Ava had a great time hunting the stay balls down and throwing them.  And some of us 'big kids' enjoyed firing away at each other. 








Nothing was broken, no one was hurt, and we found all the balls when we had had enough fun and exercise with that gift.  It can't get any better than that. 








Notice one stray ball on the shelf by Travis.

And below, a photo of the girls, except we were missing Patti, who took the photo.

I just love my family.  I was still feeling bad that Courtney felt so rotten and that I had kind of pressured her into coming.  I do think seeing family did her some good, but she ended up driving back home, wanting to get a good night of sleep in her own bed.  








As happy hour, gift getting, and sweet snacking ended... the games then began.  I stayed up for the first "Just One" and had Patty as a partner.  It was a lot of fun.  Man do some of the individuals in our family think differently than I.  

I went up to bed at nearly 10:30, but heard later that the gaming continued late into the night. 

I love that all of our children (the nieces and nephews) get along so well and have a great time together.

Thursday 12/28 - Carol and I were the first two up, with Britney soon to follow and then Patti.  Carol took this photo later in the morning, of the corner we all congregated at.  Below is also a morning shot, but was from Wednesday before I got there.  It looked to be a more leisurely morning, I'm sure because there was no worry about the noon check-out time. 

These next three photos are one's Cathy shared.  Not sure when they were taken. 


It looks like probably on Wednesday, the day Courtney and I missed. 


















This last one was definitely during happy hour.

I watched many people come and go during the free breakfast buffet from 6:30 to 9:30. 











The pile of cookies needed to be shrunk down, so I was sure to get all the containers back out on the table so all would consume. 

Ava was enjoying her selection of a chocolate chip cookie. 











Ava's mama (Valencia) is so good about just letting Ava be and do what she wants, regardless of the mess it might make.  I think I sometimes stifled my children in order to prevent a mess from occurring.

After getting packed up and ready to go, I hung out down in the lobby until our 12 o’clock check out.  Ava had a good time running around down in the lobby and Carol brought Finn in to meet some of our clan. 

What can be sweeter than a boy and his dog? 

A little girl and her puppy.




Once trying to pawn off more of the sugary sweets to whoever wanted them, we packed up and checked out. 

I was in the truck with Joe.  Britney was in the SUV with Daniel, Vale and Ava.   We were both heading towards Courtney’s, were Britney and I would stay the night. 










After I got dropped off, Joe continued on to Fairfield Glade, as did Daniel once he dropped off Britney at Courtney's and Vale and Ava at their house.  Dan had to go back to pick up Tango at Patty's.  She sent this photo of both dogs watching the mailman.  LOL. 








Courtney had a fire going and the TV on so I just settled in there.  Once Britney arrived, we each had some leftovers for dinner.  Courtney and I watched the Barbie movie together, which I thought was kind of cute and had a neat message.  It was early to bed for Britney and I hit the hay after the movie.

Friday 12/29 - I chatted with Britney while I had tea and breakfast and we worked on an easier 300 piece Christams stamp jigsaw puzzle.  I left for home at 6:30, and made it there by 8:20.  Traffic was flying and I made great time except for missing my turn onto I-24, even after studying the map before leaving Courtney’s.  It cost  me a minute to make a U-turn and get on the 'on' ramp. 
There had been a little bit of snow flurries for about five minutes when I hit the Plateau, but it wasn't sticking.

I started tea brewing and unloaded stuff from my car.  Then I sat here, enjoying my second cup of tea for the morning, and catching up on my computer routine.  Vale sent several photos of Ava playing dress up with the fairy tale princess costumes she had gotten. 

I washed a load of laundry, but never got it folded.  I also made it to the gym, but only did the elliptical for an hour with the 10 pound vest on.  I continued neatening up in the living room, kitchen, dinning, and guest bedrooms by putting things away that had been out for guests or for Christmas. 

Rose showed up before feeding time, so I went out to feed her and the deer. 

Then she followed Maggie and I during the after dinner walk so I fed her again.  She was more interested in affection than she was the food.  Joe was at poker in the evening and I went to bed early.

Saturday 12/30 - We got a dusting of snow overnight and it was quite a bit colder outside.  I watched Rose hunting in the backyard and was so glad to have her around again.  She got fed breakfast but was not as interested in food as she had been the night before. 








More blogging (with all the holiday photos) was completed.  I did another load of laundry, with Christmas shirts and towels and guest linens; and it included the folding of both loads.  The table leaf was removed, chairs put away, and dining decorations reduced. 

Mid-afternoon I had a much more productive workout at the gym, getting through almost all the arm and leg weights.  I often-times split my weights into two separate workouts.  While lifting, it was rather tough at times, and I debated quitting early, but I knew the gym would be closed Sunday and Monday, so it was important I get this workout in.  My abdomen has still felt quite bloated, and I’ve continued to belch quite a bit, (especially during abdominal work) so I’m not sure what’s going on in the lower vector of my body. 

Patty sent this photo while doing chores.  Notice Wanda, who was going to the pond to get a drink, even after Patty had filled her water dish.  Staying up for three hours after dark, I felt ready for bed (as usual), but it was only 7:30.  So that's when I went.  But I was able to stay awake for several pages of my mystery novel.

Sunday 12/31/23 - I guess it is 'Waltz Day.' 
And we won't see this sequence for another 100 years. 
I was delighted to see sunshine finally, which helped chase away the Christmas blues and winter gloom. 

I spent the morning taking care of loose ends from Christmas.  I had gifts to sort through and stow away, thank you notes to write, and I wanted to get more decorations down as I slowly took care of that big task.  

I believe this is a Belted Kingfisher sitting in a tree at the edge of the pond that I spotted outside the big picture window.  I took this photo with my phone, through the lens of my binoculars.









The second photo I did my zooming in on the first one.

I got all packed up to spend the night (with Maggie, Patty and possibly a few others), at the ranch.  Then I went with Patty and Karen to see Carl's farm. 



Carl is a poker friend of Joe's and is in partnership with Pam, a horse woman who is helping him set it up as a low key boarding business. 








Carl has three young calves (for grass fed beef) and they have six horses and a donkey at the moment.  This is Zoey, a very old, arthritic horse that was enjoying the warm sun.

Pam said some days she is ready to put Zoey down, but then the old mare hops up and seems to be enjoying life, eating, and getting along fairly well.  I do not look forward to being at this point with Amiga and having to make that decision. 







We got back about 3:00.  I gathered up everything and headed to the ranch to do chores and stay the night for the New Year.  I wanted to be able to monitor horses if fireworks got out of hand, like they had with Jean last year.