A Wee Christmas Wrap-Up

Now that Christmas is over, I’ve been trying to shift my focus to the new year and yay, 2015 and all that. But before I can fully commit to some reflection and intention and planning, I really need to GET THESE DECORATIONS OUT OF HERE. Normally I wait until after New Year’s to take down everything, but not this time. In fact, when Sister and Barry were getting ready to head back to Nashville this morning, I was walking around with a giant trash bag and throwing away wrapping paper and Christmas cookies and Christmas card envelopes that I’d saved in case I needed addresses when I sent out Christmas cards (fun fact: I never got around to sending out Christmas cards this year). My plan was to continue with the takedown after church, but it was the middle of the afternoon by the time I got home, and at that point it seemed like the only appropriate thing to do was to take a nap.

But tomorrow? I am putting that Christmas tree ON NOTICE.

I feel like the last week has just flown by, and that may be because it’s been a whirlwind of family and cooking and general merriment. On Christmas Eve I made the hamburger and potato casserole that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago, and then I made our little Mexican feast on Christmas Day. I liked having Mexican food because it was so easy to fix, but I don’t know if I’ll do it again or not. Plus, my parents aren’t Mexican food super fans like the rest of us are, so I kept wondering if they missed having sweet potatoes or a good green salad or something at least a little bit traditional. So next year I may go back to steaks or prime rib or some such identifiable meat. I will certainly keep you posted.

But there was one new thing this Christmas that I think will be a lasting favorite: sitting down after supper during Advent and reading devotions from Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. It was a really sweet time for us as a family, even on the nights when David had to leave the table and sit on the couch with Hazel so that she’d stop barking her head off when we lit the tealights on the Advent wreath.

Apparently those tealights were terribly menacing.

Anyway, I know this is all REAL boring, but honestly I’m so excited about watching TV and not cooking that I’m having a hard time concentrating on writing a blog post. And on top of that, tonight on Oprah’s Where Are They Now? there’s a feature about the first cast of The Real World, and if my initial experience with watching that cast (back when I was living in Starkville in the early 90s) is any indication, I will need to watch the update at least 46 times before I go to sleep tonight. That is roughly the same number of times that I watched TRW episode where Julie and Heather went roller skating.

So. I’ll be back in the next couple of days with thoughts and observations and lo, maybe even a story or three, but for now I think I’m gonna hunker down in front of the TV and see what in the world Heather B. has been up to for the last twenty years.

I hope y’all had a wonderful Christmas and got to spend lots of time with the people you love most!

Love,
Me

p.s. Though she still has her issues with the menacing tealights (and with wrapping paper, based on her Christmas morning reaction), Hazel has LOVED having company these last few days. She was so sad when Sister and Barry left this morning, and then she promptly decided that she was exhausted. Save a couple of walks, she has been asleep on the guest room bed for the better part of nine hours.

Bless her.