Hello everyone and first I want to wish each of you a wonderful holiday season to come! Hope each of you have a Merry Christmas and enjoy time with loved ones, family and friends.
I'm sharing a couple of pictures below that I have shared in previous years. I think I've said before that I love snowmen and have a bunch of holiday decorations that include 'Frosty' and friends. Sadly, both my snowmen cookie jars (the one with the red hat and the one with the black hat below) didn't make it after being packed and stored and shifted and moved, etc. Both cracked and broke. I was very sad. However, I'll just have to look for new ones in upcoming days. This year, our house is not decorated at all. It's still got renovations going on and dust, etc. We decided that since we were going to have to buy a new tree anyway, we'd just wait. As I said, the dust is ongoing and unavoidable. I just keep telling myself - next year, next year!
We did have a nice Thanksgiving with family in Austin and our daughter and son-in-law will be coming to be with us on Christmas. It's been quite a while since they have seen the house and she said they were looking forward to seeing the progress. The rest of the extended family will be getting together in the Houston area where we have a nephew that is hosting. It's his first time and he needs to stay home as he is 'on call' for the weekend - he's doing a residency at a Houston hospital. Here's hoping that he doesn't get 'called in' and his wife doesn't have to manage all the duties. We're hoping, as I said, to take over again next year with the Christmas Day event.
My life here has remained quite busy, but I'm hoping that 2023 will allow more 'me' time and predictability. My reading has resumed to a certain extent and I'm also hoping for more 'normal' in that area. There are lots of good books on my shelves, on my Kindle, and to be published in upcoming days.
Hoping to resume regular blogging in January. Until then, may each of you have much 'joy', 'peace', and 'love' for this wonderful season!
What a lovely post, Kay. Merry Christmas to you and yours and a Happy New Year too.
ReplyDeleteAnd to you as well, Cath! Looking forward to 2023!
DeleteWe've been slow at getting our decorations up this season, but we don't have a good excuse like you do. I told my husband we should just not bother with putting the decorations on the tree this year--but my daughter chimed in that she doesn't agree. Hopefully we can decorate it before Christmas. Then I wonder how long it will take us to take it all down again!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you were able to be with family for Thanksgiving and I hope you have a nice Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Wendy, I say go ahead and get the tree decorated a bit. Ha! Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!
DeleteI hope you have a lovely Christmas, Kay. I'm sure you'll be very happy when all the renovations are finished! We hosted a small cocktail party here last Friday, and we've invited friends over for Christmas Eve, so it was worth our time to decorate the house this year.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I am almost completely caught up on Deborah Crombie's series! It's only taken me a couple of years. :)
Les, sounds like you guys are having some fun times. By the way, a belated b-day good wish to you! Totally missed that. Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend. And you got caught up on the Crombie series just in time for her new book to come out in February (think that's right). :-)
DeleteEnjoy your Christmas, Kay, and all the family time that goes with it. Very cold and snowy in Wisconsin but nothing we're not used to so will continue on with the festivities. Looking forward to seeing more of you in the new year!
ReplyDeleteMary @Bookfan
Thanks, Mary. Yes, you guys are used to cold and snow. If it were only snow, I would be OK, but it seems we much more often get ice. Yuck! Looking forward to 2023!
DeleteHope your renovations get wrapped up quickly! And I wish you and your family the very best this Christmas season! May it be merry and bright. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lark! It was a nice Christmas and our weather is warming up, which is also nice. :-)
DeleteFingers crossed your nephew doesn't get called in! I hope you have the very Merriest of Christmases!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katherine! I don't think the nephew did get called in. We talked to all of them for a bit and they were having a good time. And we had a nice time on Christmas Day with our kids. Hope you guys had a good day as well!
DeleteMerry Christmas and a wonderful 2023
ReplyDeleteHope your weekend was good, Gayle. I'm reading The Plot right now. Hoping to get it finished so I can send an email with my thoughts. Happy New Year!
DeleteEnjoy your time with family, Kay! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. ♥
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope you had a nice Christmas too. We did have a good time with our kids.
DeleteMerry Christmas, Kay! I didn't really decorate at all this year, which I feel bad about with the little one, but between hectic work schedules and illness, I just wasn't up to it this year. But, we did finally get a tree, so that was nice! Happy Holidays and happy new year!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you as well, Angela!
DeleteKay, I thought I had commented here days ago. Hope your Christmas was good, even under the circumstances of your renovations. And would be glad to hear from you more in January if that works out for you. Have a happy new year and lots more good reading.
ReplyDeleteTracy, wishing you a happy new year! And, yes, I'm hoping for more time to share a bit here with all of you. That's the plan anyway. LOL
DeleteOne day the dust will end. Well... the renovation dust anyway. Once that's all over with, I think that calls for some celebrating!
ReplyDeleteYes, it sounds like a song...one day the dust will end, one day....ha! Happy New Year, Cathy!
DeleteHappy New Year! Soon you will look back and say all that mess and dust was worth it! So glad you are back into reading and I hope it continues into the New Year. May it be a year filled with blessings and joy!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, Nise'! Thanks for the good wishes!
DeleteI hope your Christmas was wonderful with your family! We don't do a lot of decorating as we don't have family coming to see us but we did have very nice time. Hope all the renovations are going well!
ReplyDeleteYes, the renovations are still progressing - slowly, but moving forward. And Christmas was very nice.
DeleteYou know I feel your pain with the remodeling! It's such a long, frustrating process, but it will be worth it in the end. I'm loving all of our renovations, especially since they're DONE. Now, we're deciding what to do with the outside...
ReplyDeleteI love your snowmen decorations. How sad that some got broken in the move.
I'm glad your Christmas was nice, even amidst all the craziness of remodeling!
Yes, the remodeling will be done eventually. My husband has promised me in 2023 at some point - Ha!!! Seriously, we are loving what has been finished and the rest will get done as it should. Glad yours are finished and good luck with the outside!
DeleteIt does seem like it is taking a long time for your renovations to be completed, but I've only done some small ones, so I probably don't really know how long renovations take.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are able to find some snowmen replacements soon.
Honestly, Deb, I don't think anyone can compare remodeling/renovations from the past with how it is now. However, we're liking how it is turning out and think the final results will be what we wanted. And I'll get some new snowmen things for the holidays of 2023 I suspect.
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