This was a moderately busy month... nothing like some of our Decembers in the past! As usual for this month, I had my annual check-ups and had the usual diagnoses... high cholesterol, supplement my Vitamin D and Calcium, and get more exercise. I got referral appointments with a orthopedic surgeon for my wrist (he says it's is an inflamed ligament sheath and arthritis and we agreed to start with minimal treatment to manage pain) and I also have an appointment with a dietician to discuss weight loss that will be in January.
DH had some Barbershop singing engagements and a concert. He eventually got over his cough that had lingered most of November an into December, but other than that, we have had no illnesses!
We had the kids over on most of the Sundays for dinner or brunch or something...
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| Mixing up aebelskiver |
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| Cooking the aebelskiver - this one is always my cooking assistant. |
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EATING the aebelskiver with blueberry sauce!
This was the second Sunday of Advent. |
And in the middle of the month (the weekend of my birthday) our DS the Younger came out to visit bringing his girlfriend and her daughter. It was our Family Holiday weekend and it worked out perfectly. The day before was bad weather and they day they left they were running ahead of another storm, but they claim that their drives were clear and easy. We had a very nice time, eating all the holiday foods and having birthdays one evening and Christmas the next!
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| Prep for Holiday dinner. |
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| Snow, the day before.... Dec 8. |
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| Downtown on my Birthday and we saw the decorated Deer, this one had a harp! |
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| Gifts from gardening S-i-L |
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| MY birthday gift... a game (?) |
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Our sons smoked a turkey for the Holiday dinner.
It was delicious! |
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| Everyone watches The Carving! |
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| Dinner, at last! |
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| Plenty of food! |
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| After-dinner napping... it was actually bed-time.... |
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I made cranberry granita for Cosmopolitans.
Delicious! |
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| No, young man. This is a Grandma drink! |
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| Annual Family Photo. |
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| And the usual high-jinks! |
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SMILE, dammit!
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After such a fun weekend, the rest of the month seemed a bit low, but still a good time.
Shortly after the Family weekend the weather turned nasty again. Another good snowstorm, and then the week beofre Christmas was below 0 COLD! I was so glad that I had my pantry stocked and I did not need to go out for anything! I stayed in as much as I could, but it seems like every day I had to get out, even if it was just to run to the school to pick up Grandson. I got a few more decorations up to help the house look festive, but we decided not to get a tree this year. They are horribly expensive and the putting up and taking down has really been a trial the past couple of years. So we made do with pretend trees scattered around and our favorite ornaments hung on drapery rods and light fixtures. And lights and candles.... Very little fuss to put away.
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Looking out my bedroom window, you can't even see where the street is,
much less the car trying to travel up towards me! |
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| a few more decorations around the Nativity... |
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| ..and in the dining room window and on the chandalier. |
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Elvis had to share the sofa with me,
and Archie was under my afghan. |
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| And he has his sweater on... |
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OK, it was -11 with a wind chill of -44.
But a dog has to go out to poop.
Even though I went out with him and made him walk around... he still didn't poop.
I didn't blame him. |
I did not plan to do any sewing projects at the last minute, but early on I did get a little dress made for Baby Girl (she hasn't worn it yet) and her mama asked if I could make a new cover for her pillow.
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Quickly sewing a pillow cover with some nice flannel from my stash.
My helper did not stop talking or picking up each item he could reach.
Glad it only took me about 30 minutes! |
I did go ahead and knit a pair of socks for DS -he asked for socks and underwear so that's what he got, (but I bought the underwear) and I finished those 4 days before Christmas! So that left me time to unknit BG's birthday socks and lengthen them.... which only took one evening.
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| Random photo of kids cutting out gingerbread cookies... |
We had the kids family and DiL's sister's and her family (her DH and youngest daughter) to our house on Christmas Eve for a snack and soup supper, and then DiL had all of us over to their house for Christmas Day. Children make holidays so much more fun, and there was plenty of excitement and play. The food was delicious, too.
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In the interest of getting a photo, I had them all sit in a row to open our gifts.
This is the only evidence that baby Girl tried on a sock.... |
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| The boys, on the other hand, were happy to show off their socks! |
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| And DS not only tried his on, but wore them all day. |
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Laying out Christmas Dinner! Beef Burgundy, roasted carrots, mashed potatoes, tossed salad.
Dessert was spiced apple sheet cake, cinnamon rolls, and candies and cookies. |
And the fun continues after the holiday. Eldest grandson is with us for his vacation days that Mom and Dad work, and The Littles were jealous, so one day I got them from daycare early to have playtime at Grandma's and to stay for supper.
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| bottle tossing with Grandpa |
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| Making pizzas for dinner. |
And then the scare... Elvis was having a bad time one day (weak and wobbly and he threw up) so I ran him to the Vet. They took blood and found that his liver is seriously out of whack and sent him home with some meds to ease his nausea (he only threw up once) and another to boost his appetite. The meds made him very droopy and sleepy but he only missed one meal so I discontinued after two days. After a couple of days he is better, but at 12+ years, we know his days are numbered....
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| I feel too bad to jump on the sofa, so I'll just rest my head here.... |
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He would eat and drink if I took his bowls to him on his pillow.
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He's seems to be back to normal now. I wonder if the chew treat I gave him had something that was not good in it? We won't give him another to find out....
It is Dec. 31 now and I am thinking about putting in my seed order this afternoon. And I might make a pie... The kids have other plans and we are fine with that. They have been here this week for pizza night and we will have them again next Wed. for DS the Elder's birthday dinner. Tonight we will stay home and have steaks for dinner with a nice red wine and go to bed at our usual time - unless we can agree on a movie to watch. But either way, I seriously doubt we will ring in the New Year. We will let the party animals do that for us. HAPPY NEW YEAR! And a warm welcome to 2023!
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