Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Week 52 - A Merry Christmas

I’m way behind on my blogging, which is not a great start to 2014, but  here’s my catch up for the end of the year.
 
I finally felt up to snuff on the Monday before Christmas. I tried to meet up with Cornelia but a roof leak at her house killed that so it was a free day with nothing much on the schedule. I wanted to see Carolyn’s parent’s new house and we needed to hit the market so we headed out mid-morning. Between the house tour and the market, we stopped at The Crow’s Nest for fried belly clams. Delicious but probably not a great choice after eating so little for so many days. I felt like I’d eaten a side of beef and didn’t put another thing in my mouth until Tuesday morning.
 
I finally got some quality time with Cornelia, who came over for coffee and a chat Christmas Eve morning. We had to stay at Carolyn’s because the Christmas pudding was steaming and I had to keep an eye on the water level. That afternoon I finally was getting some time with Auntie Margaret after cancelling on Friday. I drove down to Hope Valley and had a pleasant chat with Auntie Margaret and Bette, sitting in the quiet house by the Christmas tree. Then I drove Auntie Margaret to David and Ronnie’s for Christmas Eve. I got to meet the baby, check out all the wedding pictures and catch up with everyone before I headed to Marianne and Brian’s for dinner with John. Marianne cooked a fish stew and we had our usual relaxing dinner. It’s always a pleasant interlude between all the other Christmas hubbub. I left just after 11:00 to head home to stuff stockings.
 
Christmas morning was fun. Stockings (my sisters both did great this year) then breakfast and the roasting of the meat, which is always an ordeal. Despite copious notes from last year, the fact that we forgot to take the meat out of the frig overnight meant it took hours longer to cook than we’d planned. Carolyn put out all the leftover savories from the open house to tide us over and I got some catch up time with Ed and Helene (her parents.) It was, of course, worth the wait and everything was delicious. It was hard to believe I was leaving in the morning.
 
The plan had been to hit Job Lot when they opened at 8:00 then I’d come home and pack. I’d bought a new suitcase and was flying Southwest so there was the option to pack both suitcases if I scored a ton at Job Lot. But when I woke up just after 5:00, I got busy and packed, all in the new suitcase. I only had room for a few things or I’d need to pack the 2nd suitcase. With the packing done, we had extra time so went to the good Job Lot on Elmwood Avenue. Other than gift bags, I didn’t find much so would not be taking the old suitcase home. I was at the airport at 10:00 for an 11:30 flight. I had woken up with a sore throat so bought some Zicam and sucked those all day during the normal holiday delayed flights. I should have been home by 7:00 even with a stop at the market but actually walked in just before 9:00. I was exhausted so only unpacked my carryon and went to bed happy to be home.
 
Friday was a gorgeous day so I unpacked, stripped my bed and hung the laundry outside to dry. Between unpacking and the many loads of laundry, the day was gone. But the sun was shining and I was home so it was all good. Just 5 more days at home before I had to go back to work. The weekend went by in a blur. I did some house work (must get a new cleaning lady!) in the morning then met Lori and Andrea for lunch at Chips on Saturday then went grocery shopping in Wahoo (a rarity) to stock up on produce. What little of the cold that was left after my Zicam binge on Thursday hit that afternoon so I took a Claritin D and laid low. There was some cooking and knitting and before I knew it, the weekend was over. With just 3 days of break left, I’d have to get productive.

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