Last Friday before...

Christmas!  I can't believe it's the 20th.  Where has this month gone??

I had the grandkids decorate the kids tree last night - it was so much fun watching them discover the different ornaments.  They were standing on the arm of the couch to get them on the back side and I had to kabosh that one...  sigh.  But it was fun.  I sent my daughter (their mother0 over to supervise, and she was on her phone - so I was giving her grief about supposing to be watching them.  She said she couldn't watch them...it drove her crazy how they were putting things on, lol.  That's the reason I have a kids tree...  I don't worry how it looks!!

Can't believe it's Friday...although yesterday was Friday all day.  It was terrible...I had to keep reminding myself, no - it's Thursday...no - it's Thursday, lol.

Hopefully you have all sorts of fun things planned for the coming weeks - Christmas Day.  We are spending it with family, so it will be good.

There's just a couple of things to look at for today in case you aren't feeling like the norm...

Games Day -  play a game with your family! This was started in 1975 in England, so it's been going for a while.  Do you have a favorite board game or card game in your family?  We sure do.  We'll be playing a lot over the next two weeks...  :)


National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day - I tried finding out where this started...and it's kind of vague.  I thought it was connected with National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, but it's not.  Apparently 'ugly' sweaters were started in the 50's as kind of a commercialism to Christmas.  They weren't ugly...they were rather nice and tasteful.  They kind of waned a little, and then came back in full force after Bridget Jones Diary...apparently. 

Not sure why these are considered ugly, kind of silly - yes.  Whatever. I have no idea...and you can't always believe what you see on the internet, so there you go.  Personally I don't have an ugly sweater.  I love sweaters, but I'm usually tooooo hot when I wear them, so I don't buy them.  And...being a - um - large person, they aren't easy to come by and they aren't cheap.  So...  do you have an ugly sweater??  

on a side note... I see on one of my sources that today is National Fried Shrimp day, and on most others it's tomorrow - so since I won't be emailing anyone tomorrow, I want to make sure all of you know that important fact, as I don't like to pass up fried shrimp.  Or pretty much shrimp anything... lol

Well - hope you have a wonderful Christmas Season.  I'm hoping that we'll get caught up with all the things we want to do, and relax a little.  We'll be spending most of the break putting my daughters floor down and getting her moved back home - which is exciting and a little sad at the same time.  I hope they'll come visit often!!

so - want to end with some favorite movie clips.  First is While You Were Sleeping. 


I also love Last Holiday and how she discovers there's a whole nother world out there... (some of us will never see it! lol)


And last...you probably don't think of Lethal Weapon when you think of Christmas movies, and I agree it's not heavily associated, but it is.  (Kind of like Die Hard...but ya know - these aren't exactly kid friendly)  We watch both of them with filters, lol.  sigh.  Love the last scene of the first one....


And so - to leave on a little more religious note...  the best one of all.


Merry Christmas!

One week to go...

And I'm not ready.  It hit me last night, and I almost panicked.  I mean...I've been kind of floating along on the sea of our crazy life and realized that I haven't done a lot of shopping.  And it's too late to really to it online...so that means I'm going to have to brave the stores..  UGH.  Not looking forward to that at all...  I usually do everything I can to avoid shopping this time of year... and I have grocery shopping to do as well...  sigh.

Well, there hasn't really been much to comment on celebrating day wise this week, yesterday was anything covered in chocolate day.  I promptly went home and dipped one of the gingerbread cookies we made on Sunday into some melted chocolate.  Wasn't as good as shortbread, but still worth eating.  :)   Today has only two things...

A Christmas Carol Day - I'm not sure what that's about, but since it's one of my favorite Christmas mvies, I figured it was worth mentioning.  I know it was published on the 19th almost 200 years ago, but they don't say anything about it on the 19th, so I guess they promote it today.  If you haven't read the book, only watched the movie - you're missing out.  The book is a good read, and it's a short one.  Take a day of Christmas and read it, you'll see the true story that is mostly put in the movies.  I had no idea it was meant as a social commentary and a call to repentance on child labor!!  Interesting.  My favorite version is the one with George C. Scott.  I think he plays a definitive Scrooge.  The new one called the Man Who Invented Christmas with Christopher Plummer, is pretty close.  




Which one is your favorite?  I didn't like the one with Jim Carrey...ugh.  And the one with Patrick Stewart didn't really feel right either...

Maple Syrup Day - Real maple syrup, as in the stuff from trees, is what we're talking about here.  I have discovered that it's great on oatmeal! and it's a great sweetener instead of sugar.
I used to think it was too runny and didn't like it as well as my homemade, but I like it better now.  (However, we've discovered butter syrup, and make that more than use the maple stuff, lol)

So, hopefully you're doing better than I am, and are ready for the holiday, come what may.  :)  Since I'm trying to be positive today, I'll say that it's all good - it's not about the presents anyway - it's about our savior Jesus Christ and His birth, and I'm always ready for that!!
Have a wonderful day!  I'll leave you with some Christmas spirit.

Getting closer...

Hi everyone!  It's Thursday...and less than two weeks till Christmas - are you panicking yet??  lol.  I'm feeling a little numb

Gingerbread House Day -So apparently gingerbread was first brought to Europe by an Armenian monk named Gregory of Nicopolis.  This spread the stuff throughout history and created what everyone loves to do this time of year, lol.  We've never been a big fan of gingerbread houses because I already have tons of decorations and there's no place to put it.  Never mind that my kids would have eaten all the decorations off before Christmas came!  I do love me a good gingerbread cookie though...  and that brings to mind one of my dear friends that passed away a couple years ago (miss you Sonjia!!) used to give us gingerbread cookies at Christmas time.  I might have to make some in her honor....  forget the house bit, lol.  But hey - it's a fun thing to do with little kids.  You could always do the graham cracker version...

National Cocoa Day - one of my favorite days, people.  I love me anything to do chocolate, right?  And hot cocoa is sooo good. Have you made it in a crock pot yet??  Sooo good!

Poinsettia Day - I think I've shared the story of the whole Poinsettia thing before, and I don't feel like elaborating today, so if you're curious you can go here...

Hope you have an awesome day!!

Only 17 days left!!

Where has the time gone already??  This is one of those years that drive me crazy - December is so busy and all of a sudden you realize Christmas is here and you aren't ready.  I mean, my house isn't even decorated yet!  I do have my trees up...but they have nothing on them.  Should I do minimalist this year and just skip the fru fru?  lol   Not sure I'll handle that.  We made candy last night but we still haven't figured out what to send to our daughter for Christmas (It's got to fit in the postal box, lol).  Or our son... any suggestions on a single 20 something in a small studio apartment?

 

Anyway - couldn't find anything in the world of internet wizards that was worth celebrating (in my view).  So I discovered a new comedian that I hadn't heard of before...and a duo that isn't always clean, but a teacher recommended this skit and I knew most of you would appreciate it.  🙂  Just because there are definitely careers that SHOULD be this important.  🙂   Like Firemen, Policemen, EMTs, etc. ... 

I also found a recipe for a Christmas breakfast wreath that looks awesome...  When I lived at home, we had a traditional breakfast that included a bread wreath our neighbors baked and gave to us every year.  I've always wanted to replicate that for our breakfast, but I've been intimidated by anything I've found, and never have quite found the right thing.  I've tried cinnamon rolls - which are good, but never turn out quite the same each time for me - and anyway, it's just never been the same.  Now I've found this little recipe, and I'm going to try it out.  I'll let you know how it goes...  🙂

https://www.savoringitaly.com/holiday-breakfast-wreath-twelveloaves/

Holiday Breakfast Wreath - #twelveloaves - Savoring Italy This bread is a recipe I found on the kitchn. I love that site! I used my dough recipe that I use in many sweet bread recipes. The technique for this wreath is the same one used in this Estonian Kringle.I also used a similar technique for my Mexican Hot Chocolate Bread.I changed the filling around a little.I used cherries (the kitchn uses cranberries in theirs). www.savoringitaly.com

So - hopefully you've been having a great week so far.

Anyway - hope you have an awesome day.

It's Monday! and 23 days before the BIG day!

That's right, only 23 days left till Christmas.  I can't believe it, can you??  November seemed to fly past!  Of course I was sick for a big chunk of it...sigh.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and didn't have to travel in the crazy snow.  My hubby actually used his big snow blower, which was fun to see.  He said he needed to play more video games...it has a joy stick for turning the shoot and two handed controls, lol.  It did a good job though!!

This week should be good - no more storms for a bit, so you can enjoy all the fun things to do this time of year!!  There's a cool activity thing at the Davis Legacy Center tomorrow and Wednesday that should be fun, apparently an interactive trip to Bethlehem...  I was sad we didn't make it to the lights on Friday, but we would have froze our little keisters anyway.

So, a couple of fun things for today if you're looking for ideas...

Cider Monday - Cider!!  I love cider.  Especially warmed up with spices... It's our favorite thing on a cold night, (when the hot cocoa just doesn't work or you've run out, lol)  When I have a cold, cider is what I want.  Don't you love the smell of it warming up??

 
Cyber Monday - Of course everyone knows about cyber Monday...  I think the whole thing has totally gotten out of hand.  Most businesses have the whole online thing going for the day before Thanksgiving. ugh - but oh well, such is life in a commercialistic society, right?  lol.  Anyway - if you are looking for special items, good luck!!
 
Special Education Day -  And - since that's the department I work in, this is a special day.  I don't know if you know how much the SPED department does for students, or if you've had a special ed student, but many teachers put their all into the job.


National Fritters Day - If you like fried goodies, then you'll like fritters.  Bowman's does a great one, and so does Kent's.  Personally, it's a little too much for me...

But anyway - have a great day!!