Thread: DECEMBER Tracking

A Very Merry Christmas to All!

We've made it to Christmas Eve, girlfriends, and ready or not, here Santa comes

Merry Christmas to you all! Have a great day.

Love, Judy

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a wonderful day filled with love and laughter!

I started this post about 5:30 am. I was going to post some photos, then I remembered the Kodak Easy Share thingy! So, three hours later, the Album is on it's way. Donna, Heather and Berta -- I could not find your e-mail addresses. If you wish to see the photos, send me a PM and I will get an Album on its way to you!

Christmas Eve is now a wonderful memory. Everything was as perfect as I could have hoped for. For an O/C, that's saying a lot. We all enjoyed ourselves, with lots of laughter. Oh, it was fabulous! Now Bob and I have LOTS of Prime Rib for left-overs! Today will be very low key with perhaps a movie. Love it!

To all my friends here, lots of love on this, a most magical day.

Alida, the photos are magnificent! I can see you had a happy and joyful Christmas with your beautiful family!

Oh Alida, what great photos and how BEAUTIFUL you look! Great jacket And beautiful granddaughters, indeed.

Shell, that's a perfect picture of your sweet family I'm so glad they are there with you.

Donna, WHEW, so glad you got the dress, and in RED, too! Pic-chas, Girlfriend!!!!!

Judy, a joyous Christmas Adam and Christmas day.

Peg, TB, Barb, Heather, Bert (on the way to Texas), Rachel (still on a high, I bet!) have a wonderful day.....

We are waiting for Dad to finish breakfast and then will have the Furgirl's Christmas. Dad artifully wrapped his presents to the girls in brown paper bags, LOL!

Later, kids.

Alida, thanks for brightening Christmas Day with lovely photos of your lovely family. Yes, the girls are beautiful--all THREE of them.

I'm between events right now. About 8:30, I picked up my dad, and we joined family festivities, including three little kids, at the home of my sister's machetonim.* Oh my. Talk about excess! DH got a pass, but he'll be joining me at sister's house for dinner later today. Same crowd, different venue.

Meanwhile, at home, I got out my beautiful old Cissy doll, and did a little refurbishing (washing, ironing, and stitching a few rips in the doll clothes). I'll take her over to sister's house later for a dollop of nostalgia. My paternal grandmother made most of the clothes in her wardrobe, including a bridal gown made from parachute silk brought back from WWII by my dad's brother. My dad made all her little clothes hangers from regular clothes hanger wire. That's my sweet Christmas memory for today.

*machetonim is Yiddish (or Hebrew). There's no English word for the parents of your children's spouses.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Good morning after Christmas!

I was so caught up in getting my pictures up that I totally forgot to mention your picture, Shelley! Forgive me! It is GORGEOUS. The happiness you all feel at being together certainly shows through all your smiles! A Framer fer sure.

Brenda, LOL about your Dad wrapping the girls' presents in brown bags! Do they actually rip open the packages, or do they need a little help?

Barb, I talk about getting my Cissy doll out .... you actually do it!

*machetonim is Yiddish (or Hebrew). There's no English word for the parents of your children's spouses.

OK. That was my morning brain teaser. I am sitting here trying to think of that word. And you are right! Now I am wondering if that relationship has an actual word in other languages, not just Hebrew. There are words for lots of other relationships. Second cousin twice removed comes to mind. And great-Aunt.

And Donna ... you got THE DRESS! I am so happy for you! And to have the extra bonus of Micayla helping you pick out the dress! I see this dress as becoming one with a lot of special memories attached to it!

To everyone -- can't wait for your Christmas reports!

~~~~~~~~~

Today is back to work for me, but I think it will be OK. It will be QUIET. I have my duties to do, but it will be blessedly QUIET!!!!!! I am also going to sneak out a little before 10 am and run to a stationery store to pick up some cards and wrapping paper for next year. I scoped the store out already. Not my favorite cards, but they will do. I even tried checking Google for William Arthur cards, but all I get are the stores where you can special order by the 100's for an exorbitant amount of $$ ... not stores that carry the boxed cards on line.

Have a good day. I am off to check their messages (I can access their Call Notes from my home ... hooray!)

XXOO

Good morning, Earlybird Alida, and everyone. I'm off to my usual Bible study at church this morning, and then will help deliver the remaining Christmas poinsettias to hospitals and shut-ins. After that--??? I've had so many days off, I've run out of closets to clean. Maybe I'll go see Dreamgirls. Since it's a clear, not-too-cold day, perhaps I should gather up the outdoor Christmas lights while I have the chance--but I hate to do that too soon after Christmas.

My sister kindly made prime rib for us last night, so I didn't have to be too jealous of Alida's guests. I don't get any leftovers.

Looking forward to Christmas reports. Shelley, your family portrait is priceless! What a lovely dd and gds you have. Hang on tight! I know you will.

Peg, I have a lot of respect for Rick Warren. Somehow, with these hugely successful evangelical types, I always seem to be waiting for a bad shoe to drop. A delegation from my church (including me) visited Saddleback a few years ago to find out what they were doing to attract hordes of people. It's quite a church. We adopted a few simple ideas--like designated visitor parking--but there's no way to make our classic stone church into a rock concert hall. And you can't yank the rug out from under the folks who are already there for the sake of the folks you wish would come.

Merry Forever Christmas.

Hi, Peg. I came back to read and post a picture, and here you are! Thanks for sharing some of the details (plus and minus) of your holiday gathering. Life is all about letting go in one way or another--and you've had a huge year of doing just that. "Onward and sideways," as my dh is fond of saying.

I've spent the morning delivering poinsettias from the church to various retirement and nursing home residents, so I'm feeling the melancholy of observing what the end of life looks like to so many. Especially, I'm remembering how I used to hate the long trudge down the corridors of the nursing home to visit my mom. I got a brochure from one of the nicer retirement residences, where friends now live in a sunny 3BR apt. They must have a subsidy, 'cause that place costs a fortune in monthly, plus entry endowment. He's a retired pastor/missionary, so I'm guessing they got a nice deal. They deserve it.

For that kind of "rent," we could live in a very nice regular apt. for many, many years.

Here's Cissy and her trunk. The white eyelet dress is the dress she came in, with a red faille duster coat, and a red straw hat with a veil. I still have all that, a bit worse for the wear, and the elastic has given out on her red shoes. Everything in the trunk is tidied up now, and Cissy is liberated from her dark storage.

Not having children, I suppose I feel more free to embrace the child in myself. No one reminds me how old I am! If I had your sewing skills, Peg, I'd probably be making clothes for dollies.

The day after Christmas......... time to reflect, time to recharge, and time to renew commitments for the new year.

We had a nice time at the in-laws yesterday. It was a little more low key than in previous years. That might be because we were missing DS (and his wife and baby.) The food was wonderful, as were the presents. Today we are taking some time to recharge and get ready for round 2. We will leave for Dallas tomorrow morning and return on Sunday. My commitment for the new year (besides the obvious of getting rid of the 10 pounds I gained in 2006) will be to get over myself and my ideas of how things should be. I think I had great illusions of this grandparent thing fostered by many lucky firends that have story book tales of the wonders of grandkids. I don't think jealously at the time Olivia spends with her other grandparents or hurt feelings about being slighted are going to make things any better. I will do the best that I can do and that's the way it will be. We have seen so many families this year with "dysfunctions". At Christmas, it really stands out. I don't want to be one of them.

Peg, hugs to you and your family. Maybe with your help your DD will find that things don't have to be perfect to be perfect enough.

Shelley, Alida, and Barb........ your pictures are great! Thanks so much for sharing them. I am generally the photographer in this family so there are few pictures of me (that has often been by design). I did get DH to take this one Christmas Eve after I had taken several of him and DD with the dogs. The smaller lighter dog is Lexie. Boy, has she grown and changed this year. The bigger darker dog is DD's Gus. Maybe I'll have some more to post after the weekend.

Hey gals - just a quick post from me - I'm on my sister's computer (dial up - UGH!) in the woods in MA.

Shelley - I LOVED the photo! I am soooooo happy that DD and DGS are with you guys this year - what cutie pies - both of them are!

Judy, love the doggies - how nice!!! and Thanks for that lovely electronic card - you and Brenda really know how to maniulate this website to post these things.

Barb, I loved the photo of you in black and red and the doll is sweet!

Alida - THANK YOU so much for the kodak album - I will look at them this weekend when I am off this computer and at home with my own machine and broadband!

Peg, so sorry that DD3 is going through a rough patch - she may come around in future years - I guess that best that can be said is that you got to spend extra time with the children instead of in the kitchen - ah well.... blessings to you all.

Donna - was SO PSYCHED to hear you got the red dress - you so rock, girl!! You really will have to post a photo of you in that now - otherwise you know we'll give you a lot of grief!!

To you all... Terry, Bren, Berta, Heather, I send you much love. I may not see you again until later in the week - it's kinda hard to get this kind of time away from the activities...

here's the update....

soooooo....You all got my email about the Carnegie Hall magnificence... DH and I woke early on Xmas Eve morning (Sun) in NYC after only 4 hours of sleep - drove back to NJ - cleaned, baked, packed, shopped, and then had an early Xmas with DBro and family - my autistic (among MANY other problems) nephew was a wild thing and that stressed out everyone but we managed to have a really nice meal (Mom made a leg of lamb - perfect!) - we did presents then gave lots of hugs and kisses and got into the car to drive 4 hours to MA.

Got into DSis home at 11:30pm (after SUCH a day!), hung out, laughed, talked until 12:30am - then went next door (to parents' second home) and played Santa - decorating the house - putting up a little tree - and bells on the doors, candles in the windows, etc... and fell into bed EXHAUSTED at 1:30am.

Slept like the dead until 8am when we got a call from next door with the announcement that Santa had indeed arrived last night and had left volumes of cool "loot" for the two little ones. We spent the morning with them and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I continue to be amazed at my sister and BiL and their awesome parenting skills - these are two NEAT, balanced, kind little boys. After the stresses of my other nephew - it was such a calm, lovely experience!

We spent the afternoon being Xmas couch potatoes - we ALL took naps at some point! and Mom and Dad arrived from NJ in time for dinner.

Today was spent lounging for some, but for others (like me) - it was time to drop $300 at the JoAnn Fabric store near here for all of next year, including my quilting stash!! I also bought a load of post-Christmas sale items that I can use next year. I wish I had a store like this near my folks' in NJ... <<sigh>>

ok, I must run... Judy, 10 pounds? I'm up 15+ this year. Not doing anything about it until I get back to NJ (Thursday) - but if you or anyone else (Peg? I think you suggested something?) want to get on the serious low carb wagon - a new year's challenge, perhaps? PLEASE, PLEASE include me... So sick of wearing sweats.

see you all in a day or two (or three)..... R

Judy, 10 pounds? I'm up 15+ this year.

Lady Honesty just reached over and slapped me in the face. It may be 10 pounds for this year, but it's fifteen for the last 18 months. And, yes, I definitely want/need to be in on a challenge!



Honestly, girl, have you gained some weight ?............. (not me yet, but I could get there at the rate I'm going.)

Know what, Girlfriends? I think we should embrace our weight management goals, while simultaneously loving ourselves just the way we are. That gal in Judy's photo probably thinks she's Hot Stuff. And she is! I enjoyed Dreamgirls, which is more than a little about being who you are, a "weighty" challenge.

Hope everyone is in active recovery. See you tomorrow. xoxoxo