December Memories, Old and New

You know it seems like December comes along and all of a sudden there is a flurry of special things to do and places to go and spectacular Christmasy things to see and then, all of a sudden Christmas is upon us. It is a special time of year that goes by so incredibly fast. I say this because we are in the middle of this precious time. Don’t forget to enjoy it and spend time with loved ones and take a deep breath and just have fun.

Last Thursday we celebrated my nephew Tyler’s 21st Birthday. He wanted to go to his favorite Mexican restaurant in town so that is where we went. It was a terrible rainy foggy night. I made the cake and it was a disaster. Tyler requested a chocolaty pudding type cake. I had a recipe but I hadn’t made one in years. I don’t know what happened but we had to spoon it onto the plates. It was terrible. My sweet husband insisted on eating a big plate full and assured me that is the kind of cake he wanted for his next Birthday. I think I better stick to what I am familiar with. Tyler got the traditional whipped cream in the face while we sang Happy Birthday. We had so much fun.

The night of the party made me remember the night Tyler was born. He actually is my great nephew, his mom Michelle is my niece. The night he was born it was rainy and foggy. Michelle and her mom went to the hospital as soon as she went into labor and I followed about an hour or so later. It was a Friday night. Tyler was born early the next morning. My sister, Michelle’s mom, and I were there to be the delivery coaches. Michelle had told me that I could cut the umbilical cord so I was beyond excited. Just before Tyler made his appearance I took one look at his head and I felt my knees giving out and down on the floor I went. The nurses said it was probably because I had been standing with my knees locked for so long or emotions or just me being me. I recovered in time to cut the umbilical cord. Tyler likes to tell people that he had popped out in time to ask if I was ok. He had a flattened nose and a cone head. I crocheted that little blue cap he is wearing. Such memories. I think the holidays makes us remember and reflect more than ever.

All grown up now. He sent me this picture last week when he went fishing.

Saturday morning I made a blueberry cobbler. I love to make these for breakfast and have it to eat on all week. I went into Athens to Hobby Lobby and bought the yarn I needed for the temperature blanket. I thought I would have enough of this orange color that I am using for fall but because of all the warm days I ran out and couldn’t continue until I bought this one color. Unfortunately the nearest Hobby Lobby or yarn store where they sell it is about 30-40 minutes away. I also had to return some boots I had bought a couple of weeks ago. I will show you those on Friday Favorites.

Every year around Christmas time I buy a box of these Russell Stover chocolates. I love them. It is a treat that I will only buy once a year and I will savor them.

On Saturday afternoon I added a few more decorations to the inside of the house. Several months ago when we were cleaning out some of the closets in my mother in law’s house I came across a ceramic Christmas tree in a large shopping bag. I decided to bring it home. It was very yellowed with dust. It has a base with a long bulb and then the ceramic tree fits over it. There are holes in the tree that small glass ornaments fit into. I couldn’t believe how nice it looked after I scrubbed it up and put the ornaments back on. My husband said he remembered getting that tree when he was about five years old. He said he and his mom and brother drove to someone’s house and bought it. After a few years his mom stopped putting it out. He was so excited to see it again. He had no idea what had happened to it. It’s about 2 feet tall and I put it on the entry table beside the front door. We love it. More bittersweet memories.

You can see how white the snow is now. You should have seen it when I first started cleaning it. It is pretty in the daytime but look how magical it looks at night with all the different colors of lights.

Kitty Kitty and Gus were so excited about the new decorations in the house. They ran and sniffed and pretended to be scared of some of them. Crazy kitties. It looks like Gus is saying “mom what the heck is this thing?”

I put this snowman throw on the back of the couch and Kitty Kitty jumped up on it and went right to sleep. This is where she has spent almost every day since I put it on the couch.

On Sunday I took it easy and watched some Christmas movies. Join me here on Thursday where I will share my top 10 Christmas movies of all time. I’ll be you’ve seen some of them already.

Last night we had our work Christmas party in Knoxville. It was a lot of fun but about an hour drive for most of us and the traffic was a nightmare. I didn’t get home until almost 11:00 PM and that is late for me. Early bedtime for me tonight.

So that is what has been going on over here how about you? Are you ready for Christmas? Have some fun, share some memories and make some new memories.

Always remember

Love your day your way