Another Year Over

our signature cranberry cosmo

The holiday season blew by and we are rolling into the middle of January already. We had a great Christmas with the kids and their families gathering here. Our daughter was again able to work remotely, so she was here for a few weeks. It's nice to have the extra time one on one with her.

Our son, daughter-in-law and their daughter were able to spend five days with us before heading on to see family on the other side. As our granddaughter is mobile now, we had baby-proofing to do before they arrived. I was very concerned about the Christmas tree, but she really only batted a couple of low-lying ornaments. As I had made sure all the low ones were non-breakable with cloth hangers, that was no big deal. I just didn't want her to pull the tree down on top of herself. I also didn't want to be the grandma that constantly said NO. 

We took them to the Stowe Botanical Garden to see the lights. My only choice with their schedule was December 23rd, which happened to be the last night of the light show. We lucked out in that it was in the low 50s, so we did not get cold. The lights were better than last year, and everyone enjoyed it.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

The day after Christmas we sent the big kids off to a movie. That gave grandma and grandpa some nice alone time with their only grandchild. She was very happy with us, and it was fun to take her for a walk in our neighborhood to show her off.

New Year's Eve our community had a party here. We didn't attend last year due to Covid, but we decided to go this year. They had a huge tent since we don't have a building large enough to house a big party, complete with a red carpet for us to walk down. Our picture is washed out due to the lighting, unfortunately. There was a second tent for the food, and there was also an eight piece band. It was a really nice way to ring in the new year. We are looking forward to seeing what 2024 will bring us.

It's the Holiday Season

Christmas festivities have begun around here. We had the two holiday walks here in the neighborhood the first week of December. Different parts of the community hosted on two separate nights, and you walk from area to area to eat, drink and be entertained by the Singing Elves of Imagery. It's a great way to meet new neighbors and kick off the season.

one of the Elves hopped into our photo

Last Sunday we went to the Singing Christmas Tree performance, which was held at a local community college. One of my pickleball friends is in the chorale group, so seven of us from our pickleball group went to see the show. There were multiple singing groups (including a children's choir) and dancers performing. It was wonderful!

The Singing Christmas Tree

Thursday our Imagery ladies pickleball group held a fun round robin event, where we dressed in festive attire. Following our play we had a luncheon. About 36 women showed up for food and games. The Imagery Elves even came and sang for us.

Pickleball Party

Today we pick up our daughter at the airport. She will be with us for several weeks as she can work remotely. Then Friday our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter will join us for a few days. To say we are looking forward to this Christmas is a gross understatement.

Wishing all who celebrate a very Merry Christmas, and all the blessings a New Year can bring!

Christmas 2020 - One for the Record Books

Oh Christmas Tree

With Covid-19 running rampant around the country, Christmas 2020 - like Rudolph - will certainly go down in history. And not in a good way. In a normal year, we would have gathered with friends for parties and with family members to celebrate Christ's birth. This year has been anything but normal. We are still grieving our family members who died in 2020, so it was especially difficult not to be able to get together with even our immediate family this year. 

In the blessing category, our daughter has been staying with us since the middle of November as she has been working remotely since February anyway. But for the first time in his 35 years on this earth our son was not with us to open presents. He and his wife traveled to Indiana to be with her family, and we just didn't feel like it was safe for them to then come directly from there to our house. We are hoping that once they quarantine following their trip they will be able to come here for a weekend so we can exchange gifts. It is really hard not to be with them right now, but I have always said it's not about the date but that we are able to be together as a family. So it will happen when it can happen. 

We did not step foot in any stores, instead doing all of our shopping online. I know this was very bad for the small businesses, but it just is not safe inside the stores. There are still too many people who don't believe that they should have to wear a mask. I've also seen where they are continuing to go out in public even knowing that they are sick. It's ridiculous, so we are doing whatever we can to protect ourselves. Our own little community has had 13 Covid cases that I know of, and one death from the virus. It is scary!

We did some baking, including our first try at my mother-in-law's homemade cinnamon rolls. She sort of passed the recipe on to our daughter. I say sort of because, like those of many women of her generation, recipes were not written down. So the measurements of key ingredients are left to interpretation. We thought our rolls turned out well, but agreed that we would add more cinnamon in the future. Lorraine must have been smiling from heaven as all three of her kids made the rolls from their respective states this year in her honor.

cinnamon rolls

As we opened our presents this Christmas, while enjoying our signature Cranberry Cosmopolitan drink, we reflected on those who were missing from our gathering. But we also appreciated the fact that even the three of us were able to be together. I don't think we are alone in looking forward to bidding 2020 adieu. Cheers!

Cranberry Cosmopolitan

Some Semblance of Normalcy

tree in glass

Semblance is a great word for 2020. It is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as "the outward appearance or apparent form of something, especially when the reality is different." Christmas 2020 has some semblance of normalcy, doesn't it? You see the decorations, hear the Christmas Carols, shop for gifts and wrap presents, but you know that fundamentally something isn't quite right. Like the photo above, some things seem upside down.

For us the inability to celebrate with family and friends due to Covid-19 is compounded by huge holes in our basic family structure. Losing both of Jim's parents earlier this year and my sister in September makes it incredibly hard to get into the Christmas spirit. While we have so much to be thankful for, it's hard not to be bitter that three of the most important people in our lives are gone.

We will dig deep to remember that our loved ones are now with Jesus, and that He is the reason for the season. And we will pray for and remember those who are no longer here with us.