A Cold Day in December

Or Ramblings about the Weather and Other Things

When we went to bed last night, it was windy, with a warm, steady rain. But this morning, we woke up to our first snow of the year (except for "conversational snow," as the weatherman calls it - meaning flurries.) A big surprise for almost everyone. Although the temperatures have risen and the snow has melted, it's still cold and windy. At least, I think so. And in my world, that's the opinion that matters. However, I will be very happy next spring with temperatures in the 30s and 40s after a typically very cold January and February. It's all relative.

I didn't finish this post, which I started two days ago, and now it's old news. There is nothing interesting in the forecast for the next few days except cold days and colder nights. Not sure what the weather around Christmas will be, but luckily, we will be traveling locally and won't have to worry about getting stuck in an airport waiting for a storm to clear up. Been there, done that, and will be happy to never do it again. Good luck to all of you who will be traveling. May all of your travels be uneventful and safe.

I guess that's enough about the weather. How's that saying go, "If it weren't for the weather, most of us wouldn't know what to talk about." :) But wait! Another weather-related comment. Despite the freezing nights and days, our camellia is blooming with beautiful pink blossoms. I'm not sure how that works, as all of the other plants are either dead or in winter dormancy right now, but the blooms are a bright spot on the grey and brown landscape. 

The pink blossoms are holding their own quite well with the holiday lights that abound. We tried a different arrangement for our outdoor lights this year so that we could use some of the half-lit strands we have. LED bulbs may burn forever, but if they are on cheap wire that breaks, that long-life doesn't do you any good, she says a little annoyed with the whole thing.

Otherwise, Christmas prep is going well. Most gifts are bought. A few are wrapped. And the ones we're making are well on their way. The tree is up, and all the indoor decorating that is going to get done is done. Still up is baking, but I'll get around to that soon. Maybe. 

This year's tree.

Tomorrow, we visit my father-in-law and help him with some of his Christmas preparations. He still likes to have everyone gather at his house for Christmas and stays out of the way, as his kids make it happen. Gathering there is a long tradition in Ward's family that we are lucky to continue.

I think I'll go bake some brownies now. Not to give away at Christmas, but I'm feeling the need to have something sweet for Ward and me for a bedtime snack.

Until next time...

Christmas Cards

 One of the first things I do for the holiday season is write our Christmas letter and mail it out.  With an early mailing, our cards or letters do not usually cross in the mail with others, and it sometimes starts a conversation with the other person. I like that. Every year after Christmas, I plan to follow up with more correspondence from the cards and letters we get. However, I usually end up doing only one or two before my lofty goals fall by the wayside. :)

I seem to be one of a dying breed. The newsy holiday letters we receive are fewer and fewer these days, as are the cards.  I'll have to admit that I have slowly changed, too. I used to write two or three personal paragraphs to go with the general letter, but that doesn't happen very much anymore. Depending on how tired I am, I may handwrite a paragraph or just a line or two, or possibly just "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."

Since so much is shared throughout the year on social media, I think people don't feel the need to send a special greeting for Christmas - one that you can actually hold in your hand. (I know you can hold a phone in your hand, but it's not the same. At least not to me.)

A few years ago, I was having a conversation with a friend about the proliferation of communication through social media, and she relayed this story. She told her 20-something daughters that they needed to send a card to Aunt Mary. They protested and said they couldn't because she didn't have a Facebook account. It never occurred to them that they could buy a card, put it in the mail with a stamp, and have the post office deliver it. A different generation with different experiences.

When I was getting tired of working on the mailings, I suggested that we could send a few of the family letters by email this year to people we see frequently. But Ward wanted to keep traditional paper copies for everyone. So I did. (Ward was busy working on gifts while I worked on this.) I generally just send the letter, but sometimes a card goes with it. This is usually to an older person that I know would really appreciate it. We used to send a card with every letter, so I guess I have been cutting back in this area, too.

As I look back over the letters we've sent over the years, I am happy we have them. When the kids were little, they wrote part, and it's fun to go back and see what they had to say when they were 8 or 10. So maybe these yearly Christmas letters are as much for me as for anyone else. And that's a good reason to keep doing them.

Do you send cards or letters during the holiday season? Do you get many? Has the number changed over the years?

Until next time...

Note: Apparently, I've covered this topic before. :)

https://liveandlearn-tossandturn.blogspot.com/2015/12/communication.html

Thanksgiving - How It Went

I was too busy to take any pictures until afterward.
This was the only thing left before I remembered.

Some of you have asked how the big Thanksgiving dinner for 30 people (and two babies) went. In a word, WELL. We had a good plan for both before and during that minimized the hitches.

Here are some of the details. These are probably more than you want to know. It's more of a brain dump for my benefit.

Parking: We reserved a space up front for my FIL and told others where to park to minimize the effect on neighbors. We also contacted the neighbors to let them know that several cars would be at our house. Luckily, they were all going somewhere else for the day.

Coats: We cleared out two closets for them and stocked them with ample hangers. This kept the guest room bed free for diaper changing, etc. 

Tables and Chairs: Among banquet tables and table tops fashioned by Ward, we had four tables that comfortably sat 30 people. We had two upstairs and two in the basement. Miss Landers loaned us enough white tablecloths for them all, and Aunt Martha helped by lending us things to help decorate them. We borrowed chairs from 4 different people to get enough for everyone. We had planned where a few extra people would go if they showed up, but we didn't need to use the plan.

Name Tags: Since this was a diverse group of people, several of whom had never met, I printed up nametags ahead of time. In the beginning, I was able to introduce everyone and explain the relationships, but as time went on, I was too busy for that.

Food and Drink Staging: We put all the drinks on our porch. Luckily, the temps were in the 50s, so some people stayed outside on the porch or explored the yard for a while. Afterward, we made coffee. However, we forgot to offer the tea we had prepared for. I don't think anyone missed it. 

Ward fashioned a tabletop for the washer and dryer, where we put all the desserts. The food was served buffet-style from the kitchen counters. I had wrapped silverware ahead of time that was on the tables. We left the kitchen table clear for a drop spot, which was handy. We had tags available for people to label their dishes since the crowd had some dietary restrictions.

Food: Ward smoked two turkeys the day before and sliced and picked the meat. We reheated them in the oven the next day. This resulted in some tasty turkeys, but I underestimated the amount of time it took to reheat them. Dinner was about 1/2 hour later than intended, but that wasn't a problem. However, the minimal appetizers that we put out were almost gone. I had made 15 lbs of make-ahead mashed potatoes that I put in two crock pots. The rest of the guests brought dishes. If anyone asked (and almost everyone did), I suggested what they could bring to round out the meal. It was a typical Thanksgiving with plenty of food.

The craziest part of the day was trying to get everything hot when it was time to eat. Luckily, we have two ovens that we had going with reheating stuffing, baking rolls, etc. Aunt Martha was a big help as she ran the oven in the basement while I ran the one upstairs. We also had two warming trays from Aunt Martha. And luckily, we have two fridges to keep things cold that needed to be. I think most of the food was served at the desired temperature.

People continued to mingle over dessert, and a few set up in the living room with guitars and mandolins to play some music.

Overall, I say it went well. We had many comments about the good time people had and what a good party it was. We didn't think of it as a party, but I guess it was. :) 

The next day, I was tired but had to go to work. Ward started the clean-up, and we finished yesterday (Monday). 

Would I do it again? Maybe, but it was a lot of work. However, as usually happens, it forced us to clean up some things we had been putting off - especially since people were all over the house. We couldn't just shut off most of the rooms or the garage. So now the house is in order, and we're enjoying the clean-up we did beforehand. 

Now, onto Christmas preparations.

Until next time...

Procrastination

The Thanksgiving cactus is blooming right on schedule.
 (If you look carefully, you can teeth marks on the leaves from the cats.)

The morning is shrouded in fog, but yesterday's blustery, rainy day has passed. Tomorrow promises to be clear and in the 40s. A good travel day for all who are coming here for Thanksgiving. And a good day to put the drinks outside.

The current count for Thanksgiving dinner is 30, and it's time to kick it into gear. So what am I doing? Talking with you all. I can procrastinate with the best of them. :)

But we're reasonably under control. We have figured out enough tables and chairs for everyone, and this was no small feat. We've done some cleaning and hope to do more today, but we shall see. This may be an area where good enough is good enough. Silverware is wrapped, and nametags are ready. Quiet rooms are ready for the two newborns and their parents, who might need some time away from the crowd. Emails have been sent about parking. And last night, I made 15 pounds of make-ahead mashed potatoes. 

Today, Ward is smoking two turkeys, which will be reheated in the oven tomorrow. He did a test run a few weeks ago, and this method worked well. Tomorrow, we will bake the ham. And we need to get ice, figure out hot water for tea, decorate the tables, figure out staging for all of the food, how we will reheat the dishes people are bringing, etc. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what all needs to be done today. Thank goodness we made a list a couple of weeks ago. 

So before I'm off to be distracted by something else, I am wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving, whether you spend it by yourself watching the parades or with others and a big meal. And it may sound cliche, but when I count my blessings they will include you. I am genuinely thankful for the friends I have made here in blog land. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Until next time...

Again?!

It's happened again. Our credit card has been compromised. It seems like we have to get a new one every six months or so. And what a pain entering our new number into all the places it has been saved. Which, by the way, is probably not how the number was stolen. Most likely, it is a clerk we handed it to who had a reader in their pocket or some other discreet place. But who knows? Theives are often some of the smartest people around and work hard on outsmarting the system. We're waiting for the new one to be mailed. At least, that's going to cut down on our spending for the week or so that it takes for it to arrive. :)

But before our credit card number was stolen, we bought new furniture with it. We got two sofas and a loveseat. This is the most furniture we have ever bought at one time, and we approached the shopping in a whole different way. Instead of agonizing over whether we were choosing the right one, we chose what seemed reasonable. We went to the clearance room of a couple of decent furniture stores and chose what was in stock and marked down. No gnashing teeth over picking the "right" fabric. Good enough was good enough.

The new sofa

However, this was a very difficult exercise for us, especially me. But I kept thinking about what a friend told me years ago. She doesn't worry too much about whether she is getting the very best quality or style when she buys a sofa or other furniture because, in 10 years or so, she will be tired of it and want something new. And if she had spent a lot of money on it, she wouldn't feel like she was able to do that. But even with that philosophy, I know us. We will probably have these new sofas for decades to come. At least, that's our history.

The main sofa we sat on was 30+ years old. The fabric was worn through, and the springs were popping up. They had been for years. We got a cover for it and put a piece of plywood under the cushions to help. Then, it just felt like we were sitting on a board. Ward finally said enough is enough. We had been waiting until we didn't have cats anymore, but we are fortunate to have some very long-lived ones. However, Annie is old enough that she is not able to do most of the furniture-destroying things cats do, so we decided to take the plunge.

And the sofa shuffle went something like this. The very old sofa in the family room is gone. The sofa that was in the living room was moved to the family room. It's in good shape except for the sides that the cats shred. A good cover has taken care of that. The sofa and loveseat that were in the basement were Theo's are now in his new place. Those have been replaced with a new sofa and loveseat. Which, BTW, are the same as the living room sofa. We have the option of switching things around if we want. 

New furniture that's not beat up or uncomfortable is a wonderful luxury to have, and we are enjoying the newness of it all.

There. I'm sure that's more than you wanted to know about our furniture when I could have just said, "We got a new sofa." And "Our credit card was compromised."

But unfortunately for you, you had to read to the end to get the shortened version. :)

Until next time...