Progress

With the new year coming up, I decided that it was time to clear out some clutter and cozy up the bedroom.  I had to really push myself to get going, but once I got started, I made progress! I still have a pile of papers to go through, but that should be easy enough to do. And it will feel so wonderful to wake up to a clean, peaceful room.

Jake gave me the rooster calendar for Christmas. He knows me so well.  :)

Thinking About Next Christmas

We all pretty much agreed that it was more relaxing celebrating on Christmas Day this year. As much as the holidays are great, they can be exhausting! And I have to admit, it feels good to get back into the usual routine of life. The food turned out well. We had wild rice soup and appetizers, and this year I tried to plan things so that  only a couple had to be heated up in the oven. MUCH better than last year. Here is the menu ...

• Creamy Wild Rice Soup (Maggie and Mary's)
• Veggie Pizza  (Papa Murphy's)
• Meatballs, with Grape Jelly and Chili Sauce
• BBQ Little Smokies
• Herring and Crackers
• Shrimp Cocktail
• Cheese Ball and Salami with Crackers
• Cowboy Salsa with Tortilla Chips
• Hummus and Pita Chips
• Vegan for Katie (Trader Joe's Roasted Veggie Pizza and Vegetable Pakora)
• Hot Apple Cider
• Mudpie and Black Jack Cherry Ice Cream Pies 
• Cherry Pie Jello  

(I'm thinking we might ditch the hummus and salami next year as we had a ton of food, and those were hardly touched.)

Tristin has been laying in the tree, and branches are breaking. It's sad.

But, Jake and I also made a trip to Menard's yesterday, and shopped their sales. We picked up a new tree for next year and some LED lights, all 40% off. Hopefully Tristin will settle down and not wreck this one!

Christmas Eve Morning

Ornaments are now on the tree, and Christmas friends are hanging out on the mantle and piano. It feels good! Today will be a laid back day, with only a couple errands to run and a bit more spritzing up of the house as needed. I think tonight we will go out and eat Chinese food at the restaurant where Jake will be working.

Surprisingly Peaceful

2013 has been a year of change. Now even the ways we do our holidays have changed. The tree didn't go up until a few days before Christmas, mostly because I thought Tristin might destroy it, but I think also because the kids haven't been around as much, and I was feeling a little lost inside about things. And yesterday, we made an even bigger change in deciding to celebrate on Christmas Day instead of on Christmas Eve with my family. I resisted the idea as we've ALWAYS celebrated on Christmas Eve, and I was nervous about approaching my family with the idea. It's funny how fiercely protective we can be about the way we celebrate our holidays. It really did make sense to make the change, though. Bruce and Nick couldn't promise what time they'd be home from work on Christmas Eve, and then Jake got scheduled to work. We're all getting older, too, and the thought of driving late at night on icy roads is making daytime celebrations look more and more appealing. Well, anyway, I asked the family, and people were agreeable. And when the decision was made, I felt surprisingly peaceful.

The cats are loving the tree, of course. We still need to put the ornaments on, but what's the rush?

Energy

The sun came out today, and with it came energy.  It's amazing what a little sun can do in the dead of winter in Minnesota! The roads were pretty good, too, with the exception of a car crash on the side of the road as I was heading home from work.

I had my workout at Curves, and am finally getting some things done in preparation for next week. Today I bagged up the wine I'm giving to co-workers. And the kids are now giving me Christmas gift ideas ... it's a good thing I'm not one of those people who buy things months in advance! Holiday cards are almost finished, too. I hope to get them in the mail tomorrow.

The above picture is of the one who is the reason why my Christmas tree isn't up yet. He looks innocent, but don't let looks deceive you. Maybe we'll get the tree up this weekend when there are more people around to supervise him.

It's a red beans and rice kind of night, with fried eggs on top. Every once in a while I remember our stay at the orphanage in Mexico, and I get a craving for that kind of food. Humble food is good.

I hope you all are staying warm and safe, and that the upcoming holiday season is not too stressful.

What a Weekend

Grandma Gloria went home from the hospital on Friday afternoon. It turns out that she didn't actually fracture her shoulder after all, but had a bad bruise, and by the time she got back home, she was moving that arm all around. Bruce came up with the idea of buying a baby monitor so that the staff can watch her a little closer at night, hopefully that will help cut down on her falling out of bed. We shall see.

On Saturday, we bought a mattress and box spring for Nick off Craig's List. The person we bought it from ended up being an old girlfriend of Bruce's (some 30 plus years ago). I wonder what the odds are of that happening, either way, we decided it was creepy.  Nick is moving into a house with some other people in Richfield, so we got the bed delivered Sunday morning and then moved on to the next event.

We went to an ugly sweater party with some old friends, Patty and Richard. We saw National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at the Historic Heights Theatre, which is a gorgeous theatre. And it was really fun to watch on the big screen with a bunch of other people all laughing at the same silly parts. We then went to dinner at Jax. I had the beer can chicken, which was awesome, but I thought the creamed corn was a little funky. Definitely want to go back to Jax!

The weather has been cold, and the roads not so nice, but we're keeping busy. Kind of fun to be out and about!

Thursday

I just realized that Christmas is less than two weeks away.  I have a few things done, but there's always more.  I have about half of my cards addressed, but then took a couple days off because of Grandma Gloria being in the hospital. (They kept her longer than they first thought, but it's looking like she might get to go home tomorrow.) Anyway, I found 133 (44 cent) Christmas themed stamps and since the price of postage went up to 46 cents, I went to the post office today and bought a bunch of 2 cent stamps. I felt a little funny about buying so many, but it didn't seem to faze the guy there and he said that they would ALWAYS be making more 2 cent stamps. So, now we know.

Since it was kind of a humble, quiet day, I thought I would post pictures of breakfast and lunch. Toast with peanut butter and cheese is always good as a first meal of the day, and leftover chili is pretty wonderful for lunch, too. Swedish meatballs and potatoes will be our supper tonight!  We lead exciting lives.  :)

I wonder if the rest of the cards will get addressed tonight.

Difficult Day

Grandma Gloria fell out of bed (twice) last night, and ended up with a fracture in her shoulder. It wasn't a large fracture, and doesn't need surgery. She's actually using that arm quite a bit, so I'm hopeful that she isn't having a lot of pain. They're keeping her in the hospital over night and she has a sitter with her, watching over that she doesn't fall again. The staff even found a "baby" for her, a beanie baby that she can hold on to, and cuddle. Hopefully she can go home tomorrow, but the falls seem to be happening more frequently. Dementia is hard.

I Like This!

Birthday Weekend

We met Jake at the St. Olaf Christmas Festival last night. We made it in time for the concert, but not in time for the Scandinavian Buffet, complete with lutefisk and lefse. Too bad, but we did pick up some food from Wendy's to eat on our drive there. It was bitter cold, but worth the effort to go. And so nice to spend some time with Jake.

Today was Bruce's birthday, and we went to visit Grandma Gloria. It was a bitter cold morning and we decided it was too cold to go to Perkins. We ate at Meridian Manor and then Bruce and I went shopping. We also went to dinner at the Russian restaurant. Tonight the place was a bit busier, and there was a guy singing in Russian to taped music. We had the beef stroganoff again, but sampled a different salad (think potato salad with chicken and pickles) and soup (filled with whole green and black olives and pieces of sausage). We decided we liked the Borscht and beet salad better.

No birthday cake for Bruce, but we did pick up a Twix  candy bar to eat later on.  I hope it was a good enough birthday for him!

Open Mic Night at the 318

After a long day of dealing with bad roads and arctic air, Bruce said we should go to open mic night at the 318 ... well, of course! It was bitter and blowing outside, but oh so warm and cozy in the cafe. We had some wine and food, and as you can see, I posted a picture of the beet salad. (It's possible that we're getting a little obsessed with beet salads.)  I told Bruce that I like it when he sings slower songs, so he sang The Way You Look Tonight for me. I tried to post the video of him singing it, but I guess I don't quite have the knack of blogging yet. Maybe it will show up later, you never know.

The Way Home

My drive into work this morning was beyond stressful and exhausting. Roads were icy and people were still driving aggressively. And I don't know if it's just me, but I can't stand driving when the roads are like they are today. I took my usual route into the city on Hwy. 7, and it took me over an hour to get there. It was a white knuckle kind of drive and I had to keep telling myself to settle down and not be so tense. Hah, like that did any good! I thought about it though, and decided to try Minnetonka Blvd on the way back. Much better! Since I end up only driving 25-30 mph anyway, doesn't it make sense to be on a road with a 30-35 mph speed limit? The roads were plowed pretty well and there weren't as many lights as I thought there would be. There were also plenty of drivers like me, taking their time. I have found my new way home! And my new way there!

Foggy and Lazy

The day has been foggy and lazy. I made a turkey stuffing casserole for supper using up the rest of the leftovers from Thanksgiving, and it turned out surprisingly delicious! I've been watching episodes of Law and Order SVU on Netflix and not feeling terribly motivated to do anything more productive in the evenings. And maybe that's okay. Seems to me that I remember my parents relaxing in the evenings in front of the TV, and it seems that a lot of my friends parents did, too. I wonder why these days we always feel like we have to be constantly busy. That can't be healthy in the long run, can it?

Winter's Here

Snow arrived today just as I was getting ready to drive to my new Curves. Roads were slippery in spots, but people just don't seem to get that they need to slow down, especially with the first snow of the season. There were three accidents just outside Curves alone within the time I was there working out. But besides that, I think I'm going to like this Curves. People seem friendly, the club itself is quite nice, and it's only 6.5 miles from my house. Our toaster also broke today. I googled how to fix a toaster, but lost my nerve when it came to unscrewing it. I did try to blow out the crumbs with my blow drier (they say the main reason that the handle won't stay down while it toasts is because of crumb build up), but that didn't do anything so I just put it on Bruce's workbench and bought a new red one at Target, on sale for $19. It's still getting dark earlier in the day, and that makes it hard to feel much energy. I think my plan will be to have lots of light and noise in the house, and hopefully that will help the time pass easier until Spring comes along.

Busy Weekend

The kids have gone back to college now, but we did have some fun while they were here. Yesterday, we picked up Grandma Gloria and met up with Courtney and Sherry at Perkins. Jake and I had Eggs in a Hole. (Or, is it toads in a hole?) It was wonderful to see them again and wonderful to hear Courtney laugh as she has a great laugh. Katie and I went to Lakewinds in the later afternoon to buy her some tea, and then out to dinner and a movie with Bruce. We ate at a little cafe right by my old Curves, which was a little sad, but I was then able to take a picture of it. We split a bowl of coconut curry soup along with some other yummy things, including a big piece of chocolate cake. Jake spent a good portion of his weekend hanging out with his buddy, Will, also home on break from college. Today as they were packing up to go back, I became a little obsessed with cleaning out the lazy susan cabinet, I think maybe as a way of settling myself down, knowing they were leaving soon. Both Katie and Jake were more than willing to take boxes of tea back with them, and now I only have a few bags of tea left, but this is a good thing because it will be fun to pick out more! And the house is quiet again, but Christmas break is less than a month away. Time will go fast.