Christmas has kicked my fanny—like it always does. I know. I let it. And I am not alone, I'm sure. I don't seem to have any wit and I never have any wisdom so this is going to be an interactive blog. Answer these questions, (or even just one). Someone will win a prize.
At the end of the day, I'll give you my answers.
1. Are you sad and let down that it's over or are you eager to get back to normal?
2. How much longer will your decorations stay up?
3. Which of your gifts was the biggest surprise?
4. What was the best thing you ate?
5. Was there a gift that you expected to get that didn't materialize?
6. Do you regret anything?
7. Did you forget anything?
8. Was there something you meant to do but just could not get around to?
9. What was your family squabble about? There had to be one.
1, Eager to get back to normal. I'm already packing things up, throwing leftovers away, etc.
ReplyDelete2. Will probably come down by Wednesday at the latest.
3. Two gift cards: to the movies, and to TJ Maxx. Do these people know me, or what??
4. Divinity candy
5. Nope.
6. Nope.
7. Yes, a big bowl of dessert that got put in the refrigerator in the garage, and I forgot about it. Meant to eat it. It got too runny. Sigh.
8. Haul the big fiberoptic angel out of storage. It takes two men to move this thing.
9. No family squabbles. Huh. I need to check in with my relatives; one or more might be sick.
1. I'm actually sad that it's over. I'm usually eager to get back to normal; however, this year seemed special because it was a "White Christmas."
ReplyDelete2. The tree always stays up until after New Year's Day. I go to a lot of work putting my huge collection of Hallmark ornaments on it, so I like to enjoy it for at least a month!
3. $25 gift card to Fossil. That was clear out of the blue.
4. My uncle's homemade peanut brittle.
5. No
6. I always regret something. It's my specialty. :)
7. No
8. I meant to send Christmas cards this year. I say this every year and I never do send them. It seems to me that Christmas cards are fading away anyway, so maybe the pressure's tapering off for me!
9. No arguments this year, due to my relentless subliminal willing after every word spoken.
1. Are you sad and let down that it's over or are you eager to get back to normal? Normal? What's normal? I've had to create a "new normal" since the divorce. So that meant this Christmas had good and bad aspects. Let's just call it a learning experience and I'm ready to learn something new.
ReplyDelete2. How much longer will your decorations stay up? Probably until New Year's.
3. Which of your gifts was the biggest surprise? The photo of me and my sister in front of the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas. It was taken on a 1959 vacation and my uncle took the old photo, enlarged it and cleaned it up and sent me (and I suppose my sister too) a framed copy. It's a great memory of my childhood. Of course, I still haven't received the gifts from my kids, so there might be a bigger surprise there.
4. What was the best thing you ate? The pork schnitzel dinner at a restaurant in Lilburn, GA the weekend before Christmas when my girlfriends and I took our little adventure trip.
5. Was there a gift that you expected to get that didn't materialize? Not sure yet.
6. Do you regret anything? I've learned all too well that regretting is a waste of time.
7. Did you forget anything? Probably, but if I did, I forget what. ::grin::
8. Was there something you meant to do but just could not get around to? Bake cookies. But my mom sent me a tin of homemade fruitcake cookies (these are AWESOME) so I had homemade cookies after all.
9. What was your family squabble about? There had to be one. None so far.
1. Eager, willing and ready to get back to normal! Christmas is great but I've had enough.
ReplyDelete2. Till New Year's Day.
3. A trip to the BCS Championship in Glendale! AUsome!
4. The best thing I ate was the Waldorf Salad my son made. It is my favorite which he knows. Wonder what he's up to?
5. Didn't expect a gift.
6. I regret not being more in the Holiday Spirit. With no little ones around it's hard to get excited about things like Santa and all the gifts.
7. I forgot to bake the sweet potato pie. No loss since we had so many other desserts.
8. I don't think I forgot anything.
9. No family squabble. Perfectly peaceful.
Christmas always arrives on a swift roller coaster of highs and lows. Feeling a little out of sorts is normal after going mock 1 for months.
ReplyDelete1. I'm spent. Ready to get things back to normal since normal hasn't been in my itinerary since my mother moved in. But we love having her with us.
2. Decorations help see us into the New Year.
3. A substantial gift card to Barnes & Noble!
4. The smoked turkey and glazed ham. The desserts... Well, you guessed it... just about everything!
5. No disappointments!
6. I regret not having my older son and his family with us during the holidays.
7. Well... normally I do forget where I've stashed something, but this year I did one even better. I sent the wrong purse to my dil and gave my youngest daughter the wrong purse. When #2 found out, she was livid. You see, she'd sent the wallets to match the wrong purses. Now I have to send the right purse to my dil and hope she'll send the wrong purse back to #4. Geez!
8. I meant to bake gingerbread cookies! My heart sank when our niece went scouring through the cookies boxes on Christmas Eve. Hubby and I looked at each other and told her, "They aren't there." She was disappointed and that bothered me as I knew it would. I tried to tell myself that this year, I could give myself permission not to get everything done. ~sigh~
9. No squabbles, thank goodness. Unless you count #3 and his attitude on Christmas Eve. He did apologize the next morning though which made everything much more pleasurable as we opened our gifts.
1. I'm okay that it's over, but not ready to go back to normal life.
ReplyDelete2. We leave our decorations up until Epiphany.
3. Either the Kindle my husband got me or the castle spinning wheel my in-laws got me.
4. Nothing sticks out here - we didn't focus on food much. The turkey at my brother-in-law's last night was pretty good.
5. No, but I try to go into the holidays with no expectations!
6. No. I think my family all did pretty well, considering it was our first Christmas without my mom.
7. I still don't have a gift for Joe's sister & her husband in Atlanta. I didn't forget, but still have no idea what to get them. Luckily, my in-laws don't head back to Atlanta until tomorrow, so I have the rest of the day to find something. I hope I didn't forget anything else!
8. Didn't read Lala The Night Before Christmas this year, but it was her Christmas program, so I'm sure she was sick of it!
9. I can't think of any family squabbles. What can I say, I'm married to a saint! But don't tell him I said that.
1. I am enjoying have a few more days off to get some things done but I am mostly looking foward to getting back to normal.
ReplyDelete2. I keep them up until New Year's which is good since I didn't get them up until the 23rd.
3. I am not a big fan of surprises but this year Oldest Friend surprised me with a great paining of the Clover Grill in the French Quarter! It looks fantastic in my house!
4. Shrimp at Pantster's on Christmas day was excellent!
5.No gifts that didn't materialize this year.
6. No regrets about this holiday.
7. I forgot to give Oldest Friend her gift. I had it there but it was so crazy that I some how didn't give it to her AND then I left some of my best gifts at Pantsters! I was a little nutty by Christmas night.
8. Not that I can think of.
9. Amazingly enough we didn't have any family squabbles this year. I think that just means that everyone took their medicine and did what I told them to!
1. Are you sad and let down that it's over or are you eager to get back to normal?--I'm sad it's over. I love the anticipation...I wish I could savor it more. I am not eager to get back to normal, but I must.
ReplyDelete2. How much longer will your decorations stay up?--Now this varies, they have stayed up til Valentines before (ok, that has been awhile). We try to wait until New Years...and then we begin to pack it away for a whole new year.
3. Which of your gifts was the biggest surprise?
My Nook! :-)
4. What was the best thing you ate? Beef stew. It was fabulous! (Oh, and these Oreo Truffles..what was I thinking making them? So good and bad for you)
5. Was there a gift that you expected to get that didn't materialize? None.
6. Do you regret anything? Not pushing myself to write as much as I needed to--and an very irritating trip to UAB.
7. Did you forget anything? Christmas Cards. Oh well. Could be worse.
8. Was there something you meant to do but just could not get around to? No...shockingly enough. Unless you count the Christmas cards!
9. What was your family squabble about? There had to be one. None. Then again we did not have family over-hence no squabble.
1. Kinda both. I am tired, but having college boys home is such a blessing! Christmas lasts until they go back to school!
ReplyDelete2. Decorations usually stay up til New Year's Day. This year, our church is having a bonfire to start off Epiphany, so that could be an interesting way to start the new year and clean up the old.
3. Biggest surprise: a note in each of our Christmas stockings from one son telling his brother, his mom, and his dad, how much he appreciates what we do for him and how much he loves us!!
4. The best thing I ate was the gingerbread cookies I made!
5. No gift was expected that I didn't get.
6. Hm, I probably regret not sending out Christmas cards. They are always last on the list of things to do. I just can't seem to get it together for a photo and/or letter like everyone else.
7. I don't think I forgot anything. Oh, I did forget to put the 'minis' in my boys' Christmas stockings, but they were glad to get them later!
8. Didn't get around to the Christmas cards. And I better get out there and take a picture of our house with snow! I did took one at night, but need to get it during daylight. Now, that would make a nice Christmas photo next year, wouldn't it?
9. We managed to avoid a major family squabble, but I think that is from years of experience. It usually is about how to get everyone together to celebrate Christmas. So glad to avoid drama on that front, thank goodness!
Today's winner is aly_cat. Email me at jhovey@pclnet.net, so I can sent your prize.
ReplyDeleteNow here are my answers.
1. Are you sad and let down that it's over or are you eager to get back to normal?
Oh, so eager. I love winter and I am ready to settle in and enjoy.
2. How much longer will your decorations stay up?
I'd like them down now but I probably won't get everything put away until next week. The Guy is off and I don't want to send the entire week doing it. I have already put away a few things.
3. Which of your gifts was the biggest surprise?
A beautiful cashmere and silk sweater from The Guy. He is great. Also, Godson's Mom gave me three pairs of cashmere socks. She has ruined me for all other socks.
4. What was the best thing you ate?
The candied orange peel that Ms. Classy made. She makes the best in the world and I hoard it and ration it out to myself.
5. Was there a gift that you expected to get that didn't materialize?
I thought I'd get an electric juicer but, believe me, the sweater was better.
6. Do you regret anything?
Yes. I wanted to take some goodies to some of the lovely people I shop with and my church staff but I was sick with the respiratory crud and I just couldn't.
7. Did you forget anything?
I forgot to make the vegetable tray Christmas night. Luckily we love raw veggies and they won't go bad.
8. Was there something you meant to do but just could not get around to?
For the first time ever, I did not send Christmas cards. I can't regret it because I just could not. (See number 6, but I hope it doesn't happen again. I love sending cards.
9. What was your family squabble about? There had to be one.
Oddly, enough, there wasn't one.
Michelle, can I come eat some of your gingerbread cookies?
ReplyDeleteJean, cashmere is so luxurious. Enjoy your gifts!
Kathy, I would love to share gingerbread cookies with you!
ReplyDeleteI ate this entire batch myself - the raisins on them allowed me to fool myself into telling myself they were healthy enough for breakfast food. Next time, I am going to flavor the frosting with lemon! The recipe is from a cookbook that Pantster gave me: The Cookie Companion by King Arthur's Flour!
Pantster, what a way to get more orange peel! :)
ReplyDelete