Gifting - Tis the season

So far so good on this year's attempt to gift what the recipients will really enjoy without overwhelming them with stuff or slavishly following their list LOL.

The deer ornament I sent our 2 year old granddaughter looked a lot like this one but was standing up and had antlers. I hear it was a big hit, got hung on the tree immediately and is pointed at when she passes by LOL. Little gifts for a little girl is my theme for her this year and I am spacing them out and avoiding Christmas day totally. Next up is a fleece type top with a sparkly "little pony"  on the front and sparkle tights. Legos, llamas, "Little Ponies", singing and tubas are her current passions.

It is her Mom's birthday today and I did go for buying from her list for this occasion. A gift card to a clothing shop as I am not there to have the fun of shopping with her. A joint gift for her and our son is going in the mail soon with an open me now tag.

Our local son and DIL have asked to scale back to stocking type gifts/consumables so I am filling a Christmas gift bag with those types of things and having fun shopping for them. I haven't figured out what to do for this son's January 3rd birthday though. How can it be that he will be 48?

Are you having fun with gift planning, making and/or purchasing this year? Hope you are!

Oops, it's time to think about the big holidays already!

Last weekend we had lunch with our son and DIL who innocently asked, "What are thinking about for Thanksgiving this year? We are happy to have Christmas at our house."

A bit speechless my first thought was - wait, it is that time again already? You see for about 15 years of the 20 we lived in Atlanta we spent those holidays alone unless we or our family traveled across the country. We developed very low key responses to them. A slightly nicer than normal dinner cooked at home for Thanksgiving. Christmas was dinner out on Christmas Eve followed by a drive around to enjoy the lights. A few decorations on the mantle - maybe. We sent gifts of course but mostly just went on with daily life.

Last year was our first back in the neighborhood of lots of family. A long weekend in Berkeley for the granddaughter's birthday party, back home to pick up the pre-cooked turkey, etc. from Whole Foods and cook the side dishes for a nice dozen or so family members for Thanksgiving. Christmas Eve and Day at our son and DIL's. Then I completely forgot about all of it LOL.

So here is the plan this year. Halloween is just a card to our granddaughter as we live in a 55+ community so no trick-or-treating. A long weekend in Berkeley for her 2nd birthday party and then hurry home for Thanksgiving prep. I'm sure it will be lovely!

Feeling full of memories and making new ones

I think Thanksgiving can easily be one the more emotional holidays. All that family togetherness - or not. Today though I am thinking of my childhood Thanksgivings in the finished basement of my grandparents' house in Champaign, IL where I grew up.

They had a quite large dining room table down there in the main room and it was always full as my Grandma came from a large family. My Mom was always so happy to be with everyone. This was her step-family but she didn't remember her mother who died when she was quite little so this was Mom's family and she loved her "Mom" fiercely.I was Grandpa's girl and loved to hang out with him while he carved the turkey which was placed on a cutting board on top of the washing machine in a back room LOL. Good memories.

Then there are the Thanksgivings when I was alone or with friends. Others when it was just Hubby and I or our kids came to our house. Trips to New Hampshire to have Thanksgiving with my parents, brother, SIL and nephews also are part of my good memories. I have other good memories of Thanksgiving's at my in-laws house. They enfolded my older son and I into their family with great love and Thanksgiving at their house was quite an occasion.

Today my 90 year old FIL will be at our house for Thanksgiving and I am thankful that we are living close again and can do that for him. We also will host my older son and his sweetie (who are coming early to help with the cooking and prep!), my BIL, my husband's great-aunt and distant cousin. 8 is enough as we can still squeeze in around our dining table. No giant table in the basement for us.

We will try to make lovely new memories today and hold those we love close.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones whether or not you are able to be with them on this day.

Thanksgiving is almost here!

I'm really glad that most of our prep this year was in the planning. So far we have bought drinks, an apple pie, ice cream and appetizer makings. I've made the cranberry sauce and we picked up the fully cooked turkey and accompanying gravy. My son and his sweetie are bringing 2 side dishes and extra chairs. A cousin is bringing another side dish. It is amazing how everyone wants their carbs though when I would really like a giant salad as a side dish! Portion control it will be.

I still need to make the pumpkin pie, prepare the appetizers, put the turkey in to reheat, set the table, roast the potatoes and put on my comfy dinner outfit.

Are you preparing Thanksgiving and, if so, for how many? We are going to be 8 which feels manageable with the help a few people are giving.

We have had many Thanksgivings far from loved ones. Sometimes we shared them with friends and other times it was just the 2 of us so this will be lovely.

However you are spending tomorrow I wish you a lovely day.

Entering the holiday and birthday season

I am actually looking forward to the upcoming holidays and all the birthdays we will celebrate as we go through the season.

We will kick it all off with birthday parties the weekend before Thanksgiving for our soon to be 1 year old granddaughter and soon to be 65 Hubby. Heading north to also help celebrate will be our older son and DIL. We will take our dogs too and are all 4 staying in an Air B&B together as we are too many for the younger family's house.

Then home to a small family Thanksgiving at our house - currently the count is 7 for dinner.

Onward to our younger DIL's early December birthday which will be celebrated long distance.

Then Christmas at the local son's home, a potential visit after Christmas by the Berkeley son and family and then all attending the Rose Bowl Parade down the street from the local son's house followed by the his birthday.

Sounds doable and good to me!

Do you have plans yet?

Downsizing & Moving Update - #3

We are back from a fun and stressful vacation in California. The fun parts are shown in these photos - Derby Day at Santa Anita racetrack with our older son and DIL and bocce ball in Jack London Square in Oakland with the younger ones. Always fun and joyful to be with them.

We had some nice visits with my FIL and a great tour of Camarillo, CA by a cousin who is renting in Leisure Village there. We shocked ourselves by considering doing the same.

The stressful part is the difficulty of deciding where to try to live and the new knowledge of how competitive the rental market is in both ends of the state. Our cousin was one of 14 applicants for the unit he is renting and got it because he doesn't have a dog and everyone else did - we do have a dog!

I am looking at our house with fresh eyes after being gone for 11 days and I know we really need to update the bathroom. A discussion for tonight.

A Thanksgiving week staycation

Do you ever vacation in  your home town? We did this Thanksgiving week as we had one son and DIL visiting and decided to make it a vacation for all of us.

We lucked out on the weather as there was no rain and it was warmer each day as the week went on so we were able to be outside a lot. I am so happy to have had my husband home all week too which bodes well for retirement LOL.

I did not take these photos but this is what it was like for us.

Monday - Piedmont Park walk, lunch at the revolving Sundial restaurant, and a visit to the Carter Presidential Museum

 

Tuesday - Walk to nearby restaurant for lunch and then to the Carlos Museum on the Emory University campus to see the Indigenous People artifacts on display. Truly awesome artistry in functional clothing as well as useful and ceremonial objects. Walk home again.

Wednesday - An urban hike on the eastside Atlanta Beltline with stops at Ponce City Market to see the transformation of the old Sears distribution center into a retail and living space. On to Krog Street Market for lunch and then a hike back. The Ponce City Market is a converted Sears distribution center building that is now a high end food court and shopping with apartments on the other floors. Krog Street Market is a converted 1920's warehouse with food stalls and other businesses. Jigsaw puzzle started.

 

Thursday - Cooking for Thanksgiving with breaks to call family, take a walk with even the dog participating and a short driving tour of some interesting neighborhoods. Delicious feast. More jigsaw puzzle.

Friday - Made a visit to the Centers for Disease Control museum and it was so nice to see how enthusiastic my husband is about sharing the history and work of his employer. Then to dinner theatre at The Shakespeare Tavern to see The Tempest. Wow that is one busy, energetic, many character play! There was much dialogue, singing, dancing, and a sprite doing gymnastics hanging in the air like Cirque de Solei performers. More jigsaw puzzle.

Saturday - Brunch out followed by a drive through downtown Atlanta and then the drop off at the airport. Our house is much too quiet now!

Hope you all had a wonderful week too.

Empty nest holiday traditions

As a mixed religious heritage couple, when our children were young we celebrated everything - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Easter, Passover and birthdays with lots of family, food and activities. Then we moved far away from family with just one teen who is long grown up and flown from the nest. So we have adapted our celebrations to make us happy and not feel sad that we are going through the motions of celebrations past without the joy of extended family. By the way it is a choice not to travel across country for Thanksgiving and Christmas as we certainly could spend it with family.

That being said, here's our scaled down, perfect for us now holiday season. We go to any holiday parties that are available, send a few cards, drive around to see the outdoor holiday decorations and go out to dinner on Christmas eve.  We are thinking that we will go to a movie on Christmas Day. Some years we go to a Christmas concert before the day. No decorations, exchange gifts with our kids and my FIL but not each other, and that is it.

It is perfect for us right now. Last night we did our "Let's go see the lights" drive as the weather was great. We oohed and ahed, made up award categories (More is more, best light show, best minimal decorations, best effort, highest in the trees, etc.) and had a good laugh over that while enjoying the beauty of lights in the dark.

I'm sure when we move back close to family our traditions will all change again and that will be great too.

Hope you are enjoying your holidays in a way that is perfect for you in your life right now!

Reverse Advent Days 1-6

It is a very good time of year to give things away and I am doing Reverse Advent as suggested by The Frugal Queen and giving away one item each day of advent.

So far:

December 1st: book donated to Friends of the Library
December 2nd - 5th: women's knit top, cookbook, apron, and fabric remnants to pet rescue thrift store
December 6th: cash donation to community food bank

How are you celebrating Advent?

Reverse Advent

What a lovely idea suggested by The Frugal Queen - give away one item each day of advent. How grateful will that make you feel?

I am starting today with a book to the Friends of the Library for the sale in February. You know how I love the library and am involved in fundraising so it is a perfect match.

Want to join us?

A wonderful poem for Valentine's Day

I happened upon this poem over at A Girl Called Jack - a wonderful blog that is about food security and eating on a very small budget. The poem is not her usual posting but I love it and hadn't seen it before.

From ‘Rapture’ by Carol Ann Duffy.

Not a red rose or a satin heart.
I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,
if you like.

Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

- Carol Ann Duffy.

I am such a lucky woman

Not because I received presents for Christmas but because my loved ones know and love me and gave me presents that show that is true. They also considered that I don't want to fill my life with unused stuff so the choices were things I will definitely use and that was very thoughtful!

So here they are - they all tell a bit about me.

First there is the rosemary bush that Hubby got me. I love to use fresh rosemary in cooking and the bush we had has become spindly and minimal. Makes a good Christmas tree substitute too.

 

Then there is this pile! I had mentioned on Facebook that I have always wanted to learn how to weld (a friend runs workshops of various kinds and was thinking of a welding one) so I got this funny coffee mug from DS1 which says "Welding - Live the Dream!". Oddly he said he didn't have to special order it - who knew welding was so popular. DIL1 picked out the fabulous fabric to make summer skirts and the book of customized skirt ideas to go with it.

They also sent the lovely handmade soap that the Poodle Princess was quite taken with as its complex smells were very interesting to her. Her nose was also quite busy exploring the history and story of each gift before we unwrapped it.

DS2 and DIL2 sent me books from The List: A Year of Reading the World - another Facebook mention. One from each of 4 continents (excluding N. America & Antarctica). I love the interesting titles and that the one they picked from Africa is by a Kenyan author as my nephew and his family live in Kenya.

My Mom always gives us magazine subscriptions that we really enjoy and this year she added a mug about the history of art. Definitely a conversation piece.

I almost forgot this gift of a Trader Joe's dark chocolate sampler as it had already migrated to the pantry after I started taste testing LOL.

We don't exchange gifts with the larger family as we all agree that visits and chats are better!

I was happy that our gifts got to everyone on time. One package had a wrong zip code (I transposed some numbers unfortunately) and I could watch its journey online while it circled the wrong part of California for a week before someone read the full address and sent it to the right place finally arriving late on Christmas Eve. We had lovely chats with our sons and DILs on Christmas Day and look forward to seeing them in January and February on our trips to S California first and N California later.

While Hubby used his gifted movie pass to see The Wolf of Wall Street, I gave the Poodle a Christmas walk and made us a small holiday dinner of roasted turkey breast with gravy, butternut squash, cranberry sauce and rolls from our favorite bakery. We then drove around looking at Christmas decorations as we had not yet done that.

All in all a lovely day all the way around with new memories. Today Hubby is back at work and I am working through a list of to-do items.

I hope your day was lovely with your own special way of celebrating or just enjoying the mid-week break!

Christmas caroling then and now

First we found this in our mailbox

and then on the appointed date, 14 little Girl Scouts showed up on our doorstep with 2 violins and sweet young voices. They sang us a song and then, as I brought out some cookies bought for the occasion, they offered as an encore a funny rendition of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. When it was all over all that was left was one cookie and some new memories. Well, we might have each had a cookie too.

As is often the case with happy events, we enjoyed anticipating their arrival. We talked about my Christmas caroling experiences as a teenager in Illinois where it was almost always snowy and bitter cold at Christmas time. My Hubby remembered going caroling once in S. California where he lived as a teenager and where it definitely not snowy or bitter cold. Last night was a mild and clear evening here in Atlanta fortunately.

Here is the cute version of Rudolph that they sang with gusto.

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
(reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose
(like a light bulb)
And if you ever saw it
(saw it)
You would even say it glows
(like a flash light)
All of the other reindeer
(reindeer)
Used to laugh and call him names
(like Pinochio)
They never let poor Rudolph
(Rudolph)
Play in any reindeer games
(like Monopoly)

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
(Ho Ho Ho)
Rudolph with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?
Then all the reindeer loved him
(loved him)
And they shouted out with glee
(yippee)
"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
(reindeer)
You'll go down in history!"
(like George Washington)

Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving too

After my little bout of sadness on Wednesday I rallied and we enjoyed our day yesterday. A relaxing morning while Hubby raked leaves and walked the dog - yeah Hubby. Went to see the newly out movie "Nebraska" in the early afternoon and as Hubby commented you could either let it make you feel sad or see the humor in the story. He chose humor and so did I. Excellent acting and cinematography.

Then out to dinner at a nearby restaurant which was literally packed with people. We had reservations but some seats opened up at the bar where the same food was served for $19 less per person. I had a cocktail called Pilgrim's Progress because I thought the name was great. We prefer to sit there anyway at this restaurant and have done so on Christmas Eve for the last few years. Good food and no cleanup. We brought home enough for another meal with a few additions of sides.

Today Hubby has to work as he has lots to do and is the acting manager for 2 of the levels above him. He'll have a quiet day and I personally will be glad when his big project actually kicks off in mid-January and he can simply manage it rather than "herding cats" to get it ready to go. I think he'll be relieved too.

I'm going to take a long walk with the dog as the weather is warming up to where I don't mind being out. A bit of yard pick up post windy day, online Christmas shopping, chores, picking a new craft project, and reading.

How is your weekend shaping up?

Our fun, and soggy, 4th of July

Yesterday it was either overcast or raining buckets here so we had an indoors sort of day. We spent the afternoon enjoying the unexpectedly delightful movie "Frances Ha" - I highly recommend it. Then we came  home for a bit and a glass of beer or wine before going out to dinner right as it rained buckets. Fortunately it was warm so when I had to submerge my foot to cross the street it only left me with a wet tennis shoe and we went merrily on. There were no tables outdoors on the balcony of the restaurant where we planned to eat our favorite salmon sandwiches so we headed next do and had a lovely meal of tapas.

Nothing exciting but we enjoyed ourselves. Only the sound of fireworks in the distance at one of the few celebrations that wasn't postponed due to the weather. Fortunately the dog ignores fireworks just like she does thunder so we had a relaxing late evening.

Happy Easter and celebrating a quiet weekend

With grown children and no grandchildren we don't have an opportunity to do Easter baskets or egg hunts but I love this picture of a real bunny with eggs. Hope you all are enjoying the weekend.

It finally warmed up here although we are getting rain on and off. Yesterday the dog got a morning walk and in the afternoon we went to the mall and bought a suit for Hubby to wear to our son's wedding at the beginning of May. The mall was packed - why this Saturday? Who knows.

Younger son called and we had a nice long chat and really caught up. His fiancee is off on her Bachlorette weekend and his Bachelor weekend is this next one. They both are spending time with friends exploring restaurants and activities in different locations. Sounds like lovely vacations to me.

Hubby then put a primer coat on the new TV stand for upstairs. We washed a very stinky dog and laughed again because she love baths so much that she jumps in the tub on her own. The hair dryer is a favorite too. I did some cleaning and fixed dinner featuring leftover turkey burgers, a mix of spinach, corn and grape tomatoes, and pink grapefruit. Exciting day huh?

Today he plans to get two coats of pain on the TV stand and then in a week we can set things up so I can have an exercise area where there is actually room to move! I plan to work on a painting, take a long walk perhaps without the dog and start taking up a new pair of ankle pants. I have to take in the waist on most pants these days as I haven't lost enough in my hips to go down a size there. Love these quiet weekends when even the traffic is almost non-existent.

Merry Christmas!

I saw this fun photo on a new to me blog by Djan Stewart and I think I may do this next year at our house! That led me to look for other unusual Christmas tree ideas. We didn't "do" a tree this year but I'm definately going to do something fun like one of these next year!  Have a wonder Christmas however you are celebrating it.

Early on a rainy Christmas Eve morning

My neighbors have lovely lights on their patio railing and I have been enjoying them each morning when I go out to get the newspaper. We drove around last night to see the outdoor light displays in our neighborhood as is a long standing tradition for us and there were so many lovely ones. I didn't take any photos then so I wanted to share this early morning view with you. I like the way the rain makes the lights a bit blurry. Couldn't have been my not holding the camera steady could it? LOL

Tonight we will go to a neighborhood restaurant for a lovely Christmas Eve dinner for just the two of us. The third year of this tradition as we continue to make new holiday traditions for our empty nest with family far away. We are really looking forward to it.

Enjoy your Christmas Eve!

Our Christmas is simple - but not nearly as much fun as it used to be

Time to get on with the Christmas shopping! We have it pretty easy compared to the number of gifts some people give. A Harry & David order for my Father-in-Law. A flower order for my Mom. Our grown sons and their sweeties send us wish lists - and this year I managed to create my own Amazon wish list for them. We have things delivered by Santa's helpers, so no wrapping either.

So that just leaves deciding on a budget, picking out what to give and also finding gifts for the two who have birthdays around the holidays. We'll also send out a few cards, find some holiday music to listen to, drive around and admire the holiday lights, go to the neighborhood holiday party, I'll go to my book club party, and the two of us will go out for a special dinner Christmas Eve. Not nearly as much fun as when the kids were little, but it is simple.

Do you make your holidays simple or go all out?