Author: Lisa -Southern Patches

Hello everyone, my name is Lisa I am a southern girl born and raised in East Tennessee. I love discovering new places and things to do. I have a lot of favorites, shopping, traveling, knitting and photography are all at the top of my list. I am married with my fur babies my only children. This blog is actually named after my beloved basset hound Patches. She passed away a few years ago but will always have a huge part of my heart. Come with me and we will explore some wonderful places and discover some really fun things. Are you ready?

Cherish Your Loved Ones

Well it is just a few days until Christmas and only one day until winter officially arrives. Winter has been flirting with us for a few weeks but is officially declaring its love for us this week. The temps here Friday morning are in the single digits. That is cold for us here in the south.

On Sunday I had our family Christmas gathering at my house. There is usually about twenty people give or take a couple. My husband hates this. Not because of the people and the preparation but because he said I go a “little” crazy during these times. I don’t think I do, but it is possible I tend to get a little nutty about the house and yard and garage and the driveway and just about everything else anyone might possibly see. I want it to all look nice. I did go a bananas last year and I was a little manic with it all. I don’t think I fully enjoyed my family because of it. I was very stressed and it took away from the precious time I had with them. This year I decided to be different. I planned a little better. I got up really early the day of our event and got a lot of things done. I did things a few days in advance…. WHAT???? Is that really me? I even took a nap before everyone arrived, shhhhhh. But it all helped me enjoy my time with my family and realize that if every single little thing didn’t get done, it’s alright.

Last year my sister Pat was with us. She passed away in April. We, of course, had no idea this was her last Christmas with us. All I can think of is that I snapped at her in a hateful way last year during our family Christmas get together. Maybe I was stressed out from having everyone in my home, maybe I was stressed out from work, maybe I was just stressed. But I can’t forget that I did snap at her about something stupid. Of course I also have to laugh because I know she gave it right back to me. That is the way we were and I know it meant nothing to either one of us. But man I would have cherished those moments had I known. I didn’t know this was my last Christmas with her. But when you think about it we should cherish all of them, every single holiday, special occasion and yes just every single day. How do we know this is our last days together. WE DON’T!!! And we’re not meant to.

My sweet sweet sister Pat. She was a one in a trillion. She loved coffee. She always had to have a cup after every meal. She was funny and kind and just the person you would want to be best friends with forever.

But we had a great time. We had many empty seats at our table and it was very noticeable. But we have to cherish the memories of our loved ones that have left us and cherish our loved ones that we see every day.

Me and hubs.
We played dirty Santa and exchanged gifts and stole gifts.
My niece Michelle and her boys, Tyler & Caleb
Me and my niece Kim
Kim’s family.
My brother Donnie and his wife Diane and their granddaughters.
My sister Sandy and her family.
My good friend Kathy, she came for dinner with our wild crew. She was my sister Pat’s best friend. When we lost Pat she lost her best friend, neighbor and confidant. It helps us be together at times like this.

So yes it is sad when our loved ones are no longer with us. But as we remember those precious loved ones, let’s love and cherish the people we have in our lives right this moment. Tell them you love them, you miss them, you hope that they are well and doing fine.

You probably noticed that the word cherish was mentioned several times in this post.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Movies

These are in no particular order but probably my favorite is A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott

  1. Love the Coopers. This movie stars  Diane Keaton and John Goodman as the mom and dad couple trying to wait until the holidays to tell their adult children they are going to split up. Alan Arkin plays the grandfather. The story is told by the most important family member, the dog. Great music and stories within the story.  
  2. Serendipity starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.  A young couple meet on Christmas Eve and share a few hours together and fall in love. She believes in destiny and says if it is meant to be they will be together some day. They don’t share names or numbers but a way to maybe meet again someday.  Fate is behind everything. No accidents. 
  3. Scrooged. This is a modern retelling of the classic, A Christmas Carol. Bill Murray stars as Frank Crass a mean, selfish, cynical television executive. Frank is of course visited by the traditional three ghosts on Christmas Eve who will attempt to show him the meaning of Christmas.  But underneath it all is a bit of a love story and I am all about that at Christmas.
  4. The Family Stone starring a cast of well known actors, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson. Everett Stone brings his girlfriend Meredith,Sarah Jessica Parker, home for Christmas where he intends to propose to her. The Stone family are quite a crazy bunch and they don’t really care for the uptight Meredith. This movie is hilarious and a little sad at the end but one of my all time favorites.
  5. The Holiday. Oh I love this movie. This movie stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. Here are two women having guy problems. They decide to get out of town, well actually out of the country and they switch homes with each other, in different countries. Of course they find new loves in each location. Throw in Jack Black who I dearly love in anything and it is just about perfect for Christmas.
  6. Elf. This movie will truly make you believe in Santa again. You will laugh and scream for Buddy the elf. He is so innocent and sweet and he loves SANTA!!!!!! And Buddy says: The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing loud for all to hear. You have to watch this!!!! Buddy is played by Will Ferrell and he does an amazing job.
  7. Christmas Vacation. O.K. you know if Chevy Chase is in a movie you are going to laugh yourself silly. Poor Clark is only trying to make a memorable Christmas for his family. His way to make this happen is to string about a million Christmas lights across his house and try to make everyone happy at the same time. Add into the mix his parents, in-laws, and Uncle Eddie and his crew and it is hysterical.
  8. A Christmas Carol. This is probably my favorite of all times. Scrooge is played by George C. Scott and I think he does an outstanding job as Ebenezer Scrooge. This movie is both creepy and endearing. The three ghosts are a little different from any of the scrooge movies I have seen. If you haven’t seen this one watch it. You will love it!!!!
  9. Home Alone. Get ready to laugh until you cry over this one. Macaulay Culkin stars as a boy, Kevin McCallister who is left behind at home when his family accidentally leaves him behind on their Christmas vacation to Paris. A couple of burglars are targeting Kevin’s home because they think it is empty. Kevin has to “burglar proof” his home and keep it safe from the burglars. A good thing he is a LOT smarter than the burglars.
  10. Love Actually. Oh wow a host of stars in this movie, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson. This movie is a feel good movie. There is a lot going on and all of it comes together at the end of the movie. My most favorite part is shown at Heathrow Airport. They show shots of people arriving to see loved ones and there is lots of kissing and hugging, my favorite things. But there is such a sweet Christmas theme and lots of romance. I love it.

So what are some of your favorite movies? I have been working my way through this list for the last couple of weeks. I still have a few to go. And you know you just can’t watch them after Christmas. It’s just now the same. Well maybe of few of them you could. I still like to watch Serendipity, The Family Stone and Love Actually all year long.

Always remember

Lover your day your way!!!!!

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