Resolution 2023 check

I came. I conquered. I lapsed. I failed. Same old, same old. Let's check in.

• Paint my home space - My ceilings haven't been painted since we first moved in. My living room and my hallway need an overhaul. My bedroom could use it too, but that isn't as important as the first two. -  COMPLETED 

• Entice Tom to build my shelves to display my playing card collection - I collect playing cards. I need somewhere to display them, and Tom drew out plans for what I found on Etsy. He claims he can knock it out, "don't waste your money." Once I get the paint done, this comes next. - He got it hung several days before the end of the year -  COMPLETED  

• Travel - Can't let those Wyndham points go to waste. - COMPLETED  

• Lower my cholesterol - I did lower it. Then it went back up. But technically...COMPLETED  

• Exercise/Healthy eating habits - I don't think I can say this was a yearly completed goal.

Total - 4 completions out of 5! I think that's one of the best years yet!

Anyone else do this well? Drop me a comment and let me know!

Christmas 2023

The first family member arrived on the 17th. Mark stayed with us, worked during the day, ate 24/7, and he and I watched Jeopardy every night. He won.

His brother Ted arrived in the wee hours of the 21st after multiple delays. Whether or not to pick him up at 2:00 am or pay for his Uber was discussed for way too long, and became a thread on Redditt's Was I an Asshole. 

It was a 50/50 split.

Tom picked up Ted and got the brownie points.

Their parents, Mark's wife Emily, and Tom's brother Dick arrived on the 22nd, followed on the next day by Tom's sister Nancy and her three children. Husband Brad arrived a couple days later after testing negative for COVID. 

Christmas Eve day was our Yankee Exchange. 

And the requisite photo ops.

Then, we left them at the rental house, and Oleg and I watched our traditional Die Hard movie before assisting Santa with stockings and filling the crockpot with breakfast.

Christmas morning our family ripped into our presents.

At noon, Oleg's family arrived for brunch and stockings, and we ate, drank, and unwrapped Santa's gifts.

We ended the night with all of us back at the rental house for Christmas dinner, cards, and games. 

Favorite game: Monikers

Craziest gift: I received two massage guns. Apparently, I must complain about pain.

Most Anticipated gift: My daily hunk calendar. All my SnapChat peeps look forward to that!

Steelers gifts: A new flag, a new shirt, and a new mailbox.

Highlights: Conversations with my nieces and nephews.

And yes, there was crying. Because it isn't Christmas until someone cries. 

Merry, Merry to all! Hope everyone had a safe and memorable holiday.

Nostalgia 2023

I loved decorating for Christmas as a child, seeing my saved school projects and family possessions. The construction paper Santa glued to the coffee can with his cotton ball beard and eyebrows. A styrofoam snowman held together with toothpicks. The pinecone tree with red fuzzy balls, the white Christmas candle inside the fake greenery, and the glittery gold mini tree and angels belonging to my grandmother.

For a child who wanted the Norman Rockwell painted family, Christmas was as close to that as I would get, and with each passing year, those nostalgic decorations transported me to a time of peace in the house and goodwill between the parents. 

1969

1970

1972

We lost those family heirlooms to a flood. Not one childhood ornament survived.

Luckily, I married a man whose yearly tradition was buying a new set of ornaments. He was gracious in including me when we dated, despite my mocking of his artificial tree and insistence on a real one, especially after we married. 

1992

1993

1994

We now have a tree full of nostalgia, and even when I’m the lone decorator, I happily reminisce.

2004

2009

2010

This year, Tom and Maddy joined me in putting together our Christmas tree. As they did in the past, the two of them strung the lights.

Maddy stayed to help me hang the ornaments. I made sure to tell stories. One day these decorations and ornaments will be a link to her childhood. If they aren't taken out by a flood, or in our case a hurricane.

Let the holidays commence!

Christmas 2023 has arrived

Is it me, or is the Christmas holiday starting earlier and earlier each year? Going on the assumption that, yes, it is, my theory is that people are kinder during the December holidays, and we are desperate for that cheerfulness. 

It makes me nuts when retail puts out Thanksgiving stuff in October before we've even passed out Halloween candy and Christmas stuff before we've given thanks in November. So, imagine my dismay when the husband announced the day after Thanksgiving that we should get our tree.

Me: "Absolutely not!"

He went through the points he throws at me yearly when he wants to get a tree, and I object.

The best trees are the ones selling now.

All of the trees will be gone by next weekend.

Most places are already sold out.

I did what I do every year he wants to get an early tree, and I object. 

Me: "You are full of holiday crap."

Hmm. What was I saying about kindness? The man may have a point about starting earlier.

Still, I just cleaned and put away my Thanksgiving and birthday decorations. Can't I have a week to enjoy that?

But then, we had a blast of cool weather blow through, and knowing it would feel like the season, I dug out the Christmas boxes and sifted through them instead of going to the gym. I donated, tossed, and decorated the inside of the house very minimally, earning my steps walking to and from the garage. 

The husband could have cared less, which is why I refuse the early tree thing.

I do all the work!

I relented on December 1st. 

Madison had plans and was a bit bummed we went without her, but this man was determined. The two of us went to Lowe's and entered the outside tent, STUFFED to the gills with various varieties of trees. 

Me: "I thought you said they wouldn't have trees."

Him: "They won't by this weekend."

Maddy is usually our tree finder, Tom is the holder, and I'm the final decision-maker. Without her, we wandered. Tom looked at trees that would not fit our sized living room. I had to steer him toward the smaller trees. The ones I liked someone else held, so I helped a few families find their trees. 

Eventually, Tom returned to a tree he liked, and finding nothing to rival it, I agreed.

It took us less than thirty minutes.

Tom: "Sorry you didn't get to chop your own."

Me: "Yeah, but it wouldn't have compared to last year's experience, and this is the Florida way."

It smells divine. Tomorrow we will decorate it.