Happy New Year!

“For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice.” — T.S. Eliot

Life: It Goes On - December 29

Happy last Sunday of 2024! It's going to be a beautiful one here - almost 50 degrees and sunny so one of my goals for the day is to get in some outside time today before winter finally arrives this week.  

How was your Christmas? Ours was...not what we'd had planned. I brought a bug home that had me wanting to sleep most of last weekend (I couldn't, of course, because I'm a woman and I had to get all of the things done before Christmas), then Big Guy got it and Mini-him caught another bug that might have been Covid (he didn't test positive but lost his sense of taste so we erred on the side of caution) so they didn't come over. I packed up their gifts and a load of food and delivered it to them so we were able to FaceTime them later (along with our Alaskans) so we got to watch everyone open their gifts. Thank heavens for technology!

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Not a lot, but I did finish Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss. 

Watched: Red One, the newer Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life and the annual viewing of Elf with Miss H. Also football, because our Huskers were in a bowl game at long last. 

Read: I finished A Rosie Life in Italy and now I'm back to Karen Russell's The Antidote, which I'm hoping to finish in the next couple of days so I can start the new year with a new book. Going to try to pick something that will inspire me to get back to more reading in 2025. 

Made: Ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppermint ice cream. And I spent a chunk of Christmas Day helping Miss H meal prep for the coming week since she was working five doubles in a row when she went back to KC. 

Enjoyed: Some time with my dad on Christmas, taking him gifts and some of his favorite foods. Also, went to dinner Friday night with Mini-him, Miss C and her parents to one of my fave places. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: On working on my journals this week - closing out the 2024 edition and getting the 2025 edition ready to go. 

Thinking About: Christmas is coming down this week and tough decisions will be made. I just have too much and it's so much work. Once it was up this year, I just kept looking at it thinking of how much work it was going to be to take it all down again. 

Feeling: Frustrated - back pain has me hobbled again. Back to my PT exercises. 

Looking forward to: Another low key New Year's Eve celebration with friends and more time off of work this week. 

Question of the week: How do you usher in a new year? 

Life: It Goes On - December 22

Happy Sunday! Can you believe Christmas is this week?? I'm in good shape - gifts all bought and wrapped, stockings ready, cards mailed, food well under way. Still, I feel like I have so much to do yet.  And we haven't done one single Christmas-y thing around town all month. A local theater is showing The Muppets Christmas Carol tomorrow - maybe we'll head down to that. 

Despite the lack of reviews all month, I have been reading (ok, more like listening) to books and I'm going to get some quick mini-reviews written so that I'm all caught up that way before the end of the year. Hoping that the desire to hibernate, that always hits me in January, will get me in the mood to actually pick up books more again.

Last Week I: 

Listened To: In what has become my recent pattern, I didn't get finished listening to Hidden Valley Road before it was returned so I have several weeks to wait until I can get back to that one. In the meantime, I'm listening to Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss and really liking it. Up next is William Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury, which, despite having read a lot of Faulkner in the past and owning a copy, I have never read. 

Watched: Lots of volleyball, lots of football, some Christmas shows. 

Read: A Rosie Life In Italy: Move to Italy, Buy A Rundown Villa, What Could Go Wrong? by Rosie Melody. As you can imagine, a lot went wrong, including Covid. 

Made: I feel like we've eaten out or eaten leftovers almost every night this week. My only real "making" is in preparation for Christmas: mints, homemade ice cream, dip, soup. 

Enjoyed: The Big Guy's nephew from California was in town so Mini-him, Miss C, BG and I went in to Lincoln to see him, along with BG's siblings and their spouses, and a great-niece. Lots of fun, perhaps one too many cocktails. 

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Anyone else's tree topper
past it's prime but the
hubby won't part with it?

This Week I’m:  

Planning: On finishing up food prep for this week today and frosting cookies tomorrow. As prepared as I am this year, my to-do list is still long. Hoping to knock most of it out today so tomorrow can be all about relaxing, reading, watching a holiday movie, and listening to carols. 

I'd say stay in my pajamas all day, but, let's me honest, I did that yesterday and I'm only putting clothes on now to go pick up the last of the groceries I need. 

Thinking About: That thing I've forgotten. There's always something! At Thanksgiving, it was the ham - we were one hour from dinner time and I realized I hadn't gotten the ham into the oven yet. 

Feeling: As excited as I am to have the kids here, I'm a little blue that we hardly ever get to be all together for Christmas any more. And feeling a little nostalgic - my mom's been gone for almost four years, but it still feels so strange not to be headed to my parents' house to be with the whole family. 

Looking forward to: Miss H arrives tomorrow evening and we have her for a couple of days; Mini-him and Miss C will get to spend all day with us on Christmas Eve as her family will celebrate on Christmas Day. 

Question of the week: How are you holding up through the chaos that is this season? 

Life: It Goes On - December 15

Happy Sunday! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted! Tells you something about how the past couple of weeks have gone and where my priorities have been. The bug that the Big Guy and I had two weeks ago sapped both of us of all energy for about three weeks and I only just today feel like my voice is entirely back to normal. It's put me behind on everything...the only saving grace, as far as Christmas preparations go, is that I had a good jump start on it before this hit. Today I finally finished decorating (one day I will just do the same things I did the year before the whole process will go much faster!), got all of the presents wrapped, and am starting addressing Christmas cards tonight. I just haven't read a physical book in several weeks now. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I started listening to Christmas music, but couldn't get in the mood for it. So I switched to Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker. Wow! 

Watched: Lots of volleyball (our Huskers are headed to the Final Four and our Bluejays are playing as we speak trying to do the same). Also, Christmas shows - The Family Stone, Love Actually, Rudolph, The Grinch, and The Holiday. 

Read: A Rosie Life In Italy by Rosie Melody. 

Made: Chicken Shepherd's pie, chicken and bean soup, and chicken salad - got our money's worth out of that rotisserie chicken! 

Enjoyed: Had our now annual dinner with BG's siblings and their spouses last night. With all of us busy right at Christmas, it's a nice chance to get together when no one has to cook and we can just relax and enjoy time together. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: This week's about getting the Christmas cards in the mail, the holiday goodies to get made, and meal prepping to get done for Christmas. 

Thinking About: I'm pretty excited to have a short work the next three weeks and trying to think of everything I can do now to make the days off as relaxing as possible. 

Feeling: Remarkably prepared. But also wondering if I've entirely forgotten something. 

Looking forward to: Book club this week - we always have a party in December with a book exchange and prizes. 

Question of the week: How are your Christmas preparations going? 

Life: It Goes On - December 1

Happy Sunday from grey and dreary Omaha, where the weather matches my mood. The week I've been looking forward to for so many weeks has come and gone. I've been sick for 10 days and haven't had a good night's sleep in almost that long. I've pushed through getting everything done I needed to have done before everyone arrived and now I'm completely out of energy. 

I'd like to say I'll just take this day to curl up with a book and recover, but I can't seem to focus on books at all lately. So I'm battling the bug, the blues, and the blahs. On the plus side, the bedding and sheets will be all washed up soon and the Thanksgiving things are all down and back where they belong. I'm ready to start decorating for Christmas...as soon as I muster up some energy for that. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Lauren Weisberger's Revenge Wears Prada. Next up is Anthony Marra's A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. 

Watched: Lots of football. Lots of volleyball. Otherwise, the television has been blessedly turned off most of the week. 

Read: I haven't picked up either a physical book or e-book all week. 

The kids' table

Made: Lasagna, vegetarian lasagna, coffee cake, turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pies, peanut butter pie. And now we're over eating leftovers so we're making grilled cheese for lunch today. 

Enjoyed: Miss H arrived last Sunday night and Mini-me arrived Monday evening so the original five of us were all together Monday evening for dinner. For the next couple of days, they came and went as they hung out with friends and each other. Wednesday my sister and her husband arrived and Thursday Mini-him's future in-laws joined us as well. Thanksgiving was a little chaotic (unwell me is not the usual organized me!), but all in all the week was everything I wanted and needed. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: We spent a lot of time working on the basement ahead of company coming and I'm inspired to keep working on that...but it may be after Christmas before I have time to get back to it. 

Thinking About: Christmas. I have the family picture I needed for Christmas cards, I have plans for how I want to decorate this year, and I'm almost done shopping. 

Feeling: I think I've covered this.  

Looking forward to: I knew I was going to need something to look forward to after this past week so we're headed off to visit my aunt and uncle. 

Question of the week: How did your Thanksgiving go? Any issues with politics and family? 

Happy Fourth of July

As you gather today with friends and family to celebrate the Fourth of July, I hope you'll take some time to remember that what we're really meant to be celebrating is the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which says: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

Let us not forget that the men who wrote these words, the men who signed this document, and the men and women who fought to make it a reality, were fighting against tyranny in any form and for a government that listened to the will of the people so that those people might be allowed their inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not my usual traditional, vintage post but I saw this and decided we could probably all do with a little levity today! Hope you are all enjoying your Thanksgiving, however you are spending it.

 

Life: It Goes On - November 19

Happy Sunday before the chaos! Show of hands - who actually brings the turkey to the table to carve it? And if you do, how the heck do you keep it from making a mess of the entire table? 

Who else is hosting the family this week? We'll have 14 with us Thursday and 5 people staying for the weekend. Needless to say, this week has been busy with planning and preparing. Fortunately, everyone who's coming is arriving with some of the meal, making that part much easier for me. I know where everyone will sit for the meal...not sure where everyone will sit while they're waiting, or, more importantly, where they'll stretch out to nap afterward!

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Darling Girl by Liz Michalski, a modern spin off of Peter Pan, which I'm enjoying. 

Watched: Mini-him's cat for the week while he traveled to California for work. 

Read: The Fairy Tale Life of Dorothy Gale by Virginia Kantra, a spin off of, of course, The Wizard of Oz. This is one of those times when my reading has an unexpected commonality. 

Made: Prepping for this coming week, I've made cranberries and a pumpkin/spice breakfast cake. 

Enjoyed: Brunch with my Tier Ones and their spouses. Always so good for my heart to be with these people! 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: See above. It just occurred to me today (how it didn't occur to me sooner, I don't know) that I need to have a meal plan for the whole weekend so I'm starting that plan. 

Thinking About: The Big Guy and I did a lot of work putting our basement back together again this week. There's a lot to be done down there yet. Now that we have Miss H settled, we can get rid of the things that we no longer need to save for "some day." Now we can start thinking about what we want to do with that space, now that it's no longer a kid zone. 

Feeling: Like taking a day off this week would have been a good idea. 

Looking forward to: The chaos that will be my house from Wednesday late afternoon until sometime next Sunday. 

Question of the week: Are you a Thanksgiving traditionalist or do you like to experiment with new takes on old favorites? 

Short Story Advent Calendar

You should head over to my Instagram account, where I'm featuring the Short Story Advent calendar today! Wouldn't it have been nice if I'd had a lovely Christmas-y background in this pic - still decorated for fall since I'll be hosting 17 for Thanksgiving dinner and we might be sitting in every room in the house to eat! 

I was talking to Trish, at TLC Book Tours, a bit ago about a book that I'll be reviewing tomorrow when she asked me if I'd ever heard of the Short Story Advent Calendar. I hadn't; but, always one who thinks she needs to read more short stories, I agreed to do an Instagram feature. 

This is such a fun idea and anyone can find time to read one of these little books a day; each is only around 20 pages. The Big Guy thought he'd start reading them but I slapped his hand and reminded him that advent calendars are meant to be started on December 1. We won't tell him that I've already been doing a little reading. A girl's gotta be prepared to discuss, right?

Life: It Goes On - July 4

Happy Fourth of July! I hadn't meant for the usual Sunday post to get pushed back to Tuesday, but I've got more time today than I did on Sunday so that's how this week is going! Were you all lucky enough to get a four-day weekend? Neither of our companies had Monday off and we both opted not to take it off, which makes for a weird work week. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party and started Kimberly McCreight's Reconstructing Amelia, which I think was recommended to me by my sister-in-law. 

Watched: The College World Series, and episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Ted Lasso, and Grace and Frankie. 

Read: Caroline O'Donoghue's The Rachel Incident. I have a couple of books started in print but haven't picked up either of them this week; not sure why not. 

Made: Had Mini-him and his girlfriend to dinner on Sunday. Could have done something easy; but I haven't made a real meal in a while, so I did a full summer dinner on the patio thing. Made homemade baked beans, macaroni salad, we grilled burgers and hotdogs, and I made an angel food cake recipe, which I found on Instagram. Well, not an angel food cake recipe - I used a box for that. But a new recipe for "frosting" it, which was delicious and had no sugar, except in the Heath bars that were crumbled up on it. 

My dad sporting his 
Thomas Jefferson t-shirt
& leading the singing. 

Enjoyed: Today we took my dad back to the old neighborhood for the annual Fourth of July breakfast. He was the belle of the ball - so many people not only told him they were happy to see him, but thanked him for coming. And we got to sit with our dearest friends in that neighborhood so got to catch up with them. 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: It will depend on what the weather does. I started a project in the basement last weekend, and will get back to that if the weather is too rainy or too hot. If the weather is, as Goldilocks prefers, just right, I'm hoping to get to that table I talked about last week but haven't touched yet. 

Thinking About: Why I don't like fireworks any more. Our neighbor puts on a massive show every year and this year I didn't even want to watch it out of the window. Some of it's the noise, some of it's the overstimulation, some of it's thinking about what an incredible waste of money so much of it is. Maybe it just comes down to me turning into a grumpy old lady? 

Feeling: Last week was a tough reentry after vacation. I really actually needed this cut up work week to recover. I'm feeling much less stressed today and much more on top of things which is so important for my mental health. 

Looking forward to: Miss H arrives Thursday. She was meant to be here for the weekend. But one of her employees can't come into work Saturday morning and Miss H has to cover. Being the boss is great until...

Question of the week:

Life: It Goes On - February 19

Happy Sunday! It's sunny today and will be (for us this time of year) warm today. We got 7 inches of snow this week so as I look out the windows, everything remains snow covered. Not yet that ugly, patchy, dirty snow but a beautiful white covering over all of the grassy areas so it's pretty to look out and see. I worked from home the day it snowed and was reminded, once again, that snowy days are my most productive. I know so many of you talk of curling up in a comfy chair with a cup of tea and a good book. But me? I want to be in the kitchen, making just the kinds of food a snowy day calls for. Fortunately, working from home allowed me to both work and cook. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: In an effort to work through some of the books that have been sitting on my shelves for years, I decided to get back to requesting audiobooks that I already own in print. So this week I checked out Nine Perfect Strangers, by Liane Moriarty. I'm a big fan of Moriarty's but nearly 3 hours in, this one is really grating on my nerves and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to finish it. To be far, it may be the reader as much as the book itself. 

Watched: Some Emily In Paris, some Wednesday, some of The Crown and a fair amount of college basketball. The other night, when I finished an episode of Emily In Paris, I was surprised to find that I only had one more episode left in season 3 and pretty bummed to find out that season 4 will not be released until the end of this year. Do you watch it? I have a feeling that, when the series comes to an end, I'm going to be disappointed by an ending that seems foregone. 

Read: I'm finishing Lawn Boy today. I really, really need to pick up my reading. My loans for three Netgalley books will expire this week (and I never know if I'll be able to reload them) and I picked up three more books at the library the other day. 

Made: Steak, green bean soup, nachos, Thai chicken peanut noodles. The Big Guy, in his infinite need to buy bargains, bought five pounds of green beans the other day and the only way two people were going to get through them was to turn them into soup. It's a pretty easy recipe and now I'm thinking I need to make it again soon while I can still remember the ways I thought of to tweak it. The same goes for the Thai chicken peanut noodles; not so much that I will tweak the ingredients as that I will tweak the way I cook it. 

Enjoyed: A quiet week, including a Valentine's Day dinner in the dining room. Basic food (steak, baguette, green beans (yeah, those again), chocolates. But I set the table with a vintage tablecloth, china, crystal, and flowers and threw on my Spotify love song playlist so it was lovely. Oh yeah, and BG got me chocolate whiskey which we enjoyed with our dessert and it was marvelous!

This Week I’m:  

Planning: 40 Bags In 40 Days started Wednesday! BG is on board (at least in theory) and we are determined to reclaim our basement. Today I'll put together a plan of attack and I'm almost as excited about the planning as I am about the doing. 

Thinking About: Last night I dreamed that the house I grew up in had sold. Today I'm thinking about what still needs to be done with it to make that happen. As hard as it will be to say goodbye, it's time. 

Feeling: My sleep has been better lately, the sun has been shining, the days are longer and I'm about ready to lighten my house - I'm feeling good!

Looking forward to: Booking our tickets to Alaska this week. I'm going to try not to think about being shut in a tin can thousands of feet in the air for five hours at a time and focus instead on what fun we'll have. 

Question of the week: Every day I have a checklist of things to get done that day and most days I do a pretty good job of checking everything off. But yesterday I went down a task rabbit hole. In getting out cleaning products, I realized I had a bag of potting soil and remembered that many of my plants needed more soil so I stopped and did that, for example. Do you ever start cleaning and find yourself doing tasks you hadn't expected to do? 

Life: It Goes On - January 1

Happy New Year! How did you all celebrate the end of 2022 and the beginning of a new year? Mini-him came over and we all enjoyed a charcuterie meal (because you're allowed to do that on New Year's Eve, right?). Then the Big Guy and Mini-him and some of his friends for drinks and music. I stayed home and enjoyed the peace and quiet, started taking down Christmas, and watched the college football playoff games. BG arrived home just in time for us to pop some bubbly to celebrate the arrival of 2023 on the east coast and then finished the bottle off just as the clock chimed midnight here. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished The Surgeon's Daughter by Audrey Blake as my final book of 2022. My first audiobook of 2023 will be Nick Hornby's Funny Girl. 

Watched: Friday we joined BG's brother and sister-in-law for sandwiches and watched Glass Onion: a Knives Out Mystery. I think I'm safe in speaking for all of us when I saw that it was just as much fun as the original Knives Out movie, although far more action packed. One evening I also watched The Goldfinch, but wished I hadn't bothered. 

Read: Haven't picked up a book all week. Now to decide what book will be my first read of 2023. I have a few that I've started but never finished; but I prefer to kick off a new year with a fresh start. 

Made: We used the Christmas leftovers to create several meals last week - cheesy hash browns and potato soup turned into cheesy potato soup; navy beans and ham turned into ham and bean soup; and ham got added to fresh green beans and onions to turn a veggie dish into a main dish. This week we'll start having to think about our meals again!

Enjoyed: A short work week and another long weekend.

This Week I’m:  

Planning: On working on my 2023 planner. 

Thinking About: My word of the year for 2023. I'll be posting that later this week. 

Feeling: Happy to have Christmas down and put away so I can spend tomorrow reading and journaling. 

Looking forward to: I think we're going to get to see my brother and his wife this weekend, for at least a bit, as they travel to a wedding. 

Question of the week: Do you create resolutions for the new year or pick a word of the year? 

Life: It Goes On - December 26

Happy day after Christmas! I hope this finds you all recovering happily from a weekend of family and festivities and none the worse for the weather, although I'm certain that impacted the holidays for many of you. We are both feeling very lazy today and happy to have the day to recover, even if the holiday was much less hectic than we've become accustomed to in the past decades. This was our first year of not celebrating Christmas at my mom's and dad's house and neither of my siblings or their families came (nor, of course, did my Alaskans) so we were a small group. But we still had most of the usual goodies and meals, my dad was with us all weekend, there were plenty of presents to open, we were lucky enough to have friends join us for dinner yesterday, and we got a two-hour FaceTime call with Mini-me and Ms. S. So while it wasn't what we've come to think of as normal, it was a good weekend. 

Last Week I: 

 

I bake the cookies and make the 
frosting - they create the 
masterpieces!

Listened To: All of the Christmas music. 

Watched: Mostly Christmas shows, including White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol (Muppet version and Patrick Stewart version), The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (the OG), Elf, It's A Wonderful Life, and Love Actually. I was disappointed not to have been able to find The Family Stone available and I also missed Rudolph. Of course, there was plenty of football thrown in there, as well. 

Read: I am finally going to finish Demon Copperhead today, after getting in very little reading this past week. 

Made: Bavarian mints, puppy chow, sugar cookies, chocolate peanut butter toffee, hash brown casserole, my great-grandma's beans and ham hocks, creamed peas, homemade ice cream, homemade chocolate sauce, taco soup, potato soup, cheese ball, egg casserole. I've been busy the past week! 

Enjoyed: Watching my family open and enjoy their gifts. 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Christmas will come down this week. I'd do it today but there are other things that need to be done before I start that. I'm going to go through everything we have and get rid of the things we didn't use and things I'm just tired of putting out. After I got the house all decorated this year, I immediately began wishing I had not done so much. 

Thinking About: What my first book of 2023 and my word of the year will be for 2023. 

Feeling: Ready to get back on the healthier eating track. We've eaten so much delicious food the past couple of weeks but my stomach is saying that enough it enough. 

Looking forward to: A four-day weekend next weekend. 

Question of the week: Were you holidays impacted by the weather? 

Life: It Goes On - December 18

Happy Sunday! This is your official notice that there is only one week left until Christmas Day. Yikes! Still so much left to do and those couple of days I took off before while likely be spent on getting things ready instead of relaxing and reading, as I had hoped. And here you were probably thinking that the lack of book reviews meant that I was busy doing all of the holiday things! 

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: My dad and three of his new friends put on a Christmas concert for their other friends and family. The best part? The huge smile on my dad's face the entire time!

Watched: Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some!) at the Blue Barn Theater. So, so funny! The past couple of years we haven't done any Christmas events and it was so nice to get back to that and to laugh out loud. 

Read: Yeah, there's not much of that going on this past week. The library is wanting Demon Copperfield back but I still have 200 pages left. Maybe by next week.

Made: The Big Guy has taken over a lot of the cooking lately; he tends to get home earlier than I do this time of the year. But I did make a new chocolate cake recipe that's a definite "make again" and I'm already thinking of ways the recipe might be tweaked to add in some complementary flavors. 

Enjoyed: Book club with our annual book exchange Tuesday. Seeing my dad sing again, for the first time in decades. Dinner with old friends Friday night - so much good food (including that cake!), laughter, and fun playing a new-to-us card game. Going to the theater and dinner with friends last night. It was a good week! 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Wrapping, getting cards done and sent, getting food ready, and then enjoying time with our family. 

Thinking About: Every year about this time I try to think of what I could have done to make life less hectic this time of year. The decorating takes forever and I agonize over it; but, when it's done, I love it. The cards take time but I love keeping in touch with friends and family that way. I could cut back on gifts; but, like my mom and her mom, I love giving people gifts and watching them get opened. So, yeah, there's probably nothing that I'm giving up. 

Feeling: Remarkably chill. All of that fun and laughter this week has helped raise my spirits. 

Looking forward to: The food, the gift giving, and time with family. 

Question of the week: How do you celebrate the holidays?