The Third Week of Christmas: Chaos Then Quiet

Saturday:  Katie was quite right.  We had enough food and only a few leftovers to deal with.  I made the Ranch Roll ups, BBQed Smoky Franks, the Marinated Sandwiches, Sausage Balls, Chips with various dips and salsa, veggies with Ranch and Hummus, and a Fruit Platter.    The kids ate like they'd never had a meal before.  Every adult had a plate that was fully loaded, too.

The pile of presents under the tree was rather amazing.  Every one of the adult children bought for each other and every child.  Of course, we'd done the same, so it was an impressive looking stash.  Only us girls all knew that many and many a bargain was in those packages.  Katie is queen of Target and Bess excels at CVS ECBs.   Gramma just loves to find sales/clearance items.  We all came well under our budget for spending and none of us will owe anyone after Christmas.   

Taking the annual photo of the children was fun.  Bess provided reindeer antler headbands.  The photos I'm not showing are hilarious.  Millie and Caleb were not cooperative.  At one point, Isaac shouted "Millie!  Get back here and sit down!" which made us all laugh.  Caleb pulled his headband down to wear like sunglasses, so he had antlers shooting out of his eyes.  At one point I had a great shot of Millie's behind instead of her face and Taylor looked like she was losing a wrestling match with Caleb.

We wanted to take the photo in front of the tree, but the sun started shining.  Experience has taught me we can't get a good photo in front of the windows if the sun is shining.  It's just a glare.

The whole party was loud and noisy.   It rained a bit here and there, so the children were inside.  The boys brought over two games they'd purchased.  Isaacs was called Ladybugs and you have praying mantis, ladybugs and aphids.  He was thrilled to win his first game.   Josh brought Scrabble.

Everyone got ready to go within a few hours.  We don't do long parties.  None of the adults can really handle all the chaos of all the children and all the adults talking at once except John who seems to just soak in it and enjoy it all.  

After everyone left it was very gratifying that the two boys chose to clear the dining table and set up their workshop.  They'd both received STEM project boxes from us and someone else.   They worked at that table from 3pm until 11pm when we made them go to bed.  They built all sorts of things and seemed very pleased indeed with their gifts.

They did stop long enough to eat supper, but rather than make them clear up the table, we adults ate in the living room and left the boys' things alone.    I think it's rather major that neither of them got on their Kindle and didn't seem to miss them either.  Hailey opted to watch a movie.  She wanted to play on her Kindle at the same time, but I explained that it was unfair to 'claim' the TV and then to stick her nose to another screen preventing anyone else from having a chance to view the TV.  She didn't get on her Kindle until much later in the evening.  

Sunday:  Our church is having just late service for the Sunday before and the Sunday after Christmas.   Even though our family was here we very much wanted to attend the larger single service, so we made breakfast for everyone and then got ready to leave before our guests were packed to leave.  I knew Bess planned to run over to say goodbye to the kiddos and we trusted JD to lock up.

After church service, we went by the grocery which was pretty well packed.  I found a beautiful roast to make for our Holiday dinner and we picked up a few sales items and two Ibotta items that were free after purchase.  This is one time of the year when I pay far less attention to what things cost and simply buy what we want.  That's our Christmas gift to ourselves.  The roast was on sale but pricey just the same.  John spied and insisted I buy, white strawberries which neither of us had ever seen before.  I told him they were Alpine strawberries, based on Brandy's blog, and though it didn't say that on the packaging they did name them Pineberries.  

They were expensive compared to red strawberries which are grown in Florida.   However, as they landed in the basket John reminded me that it was Christmas.  "And who knows if we shall ever see such again.  Better to buy it now than miss a chance."   Quite right.  John doesn't care for strawberries except when they are in jam.  But he knows that I love them.

I have to laugh, in a rueful sort of way.  We came home to find the door was partially locked only and indoors every single light was left on.  I sighed and told John it reminded me strongly of when we had teenagers at home.    

The house was pretty well wrecked after the weekend   We didn't expect anyone would clean up before leaving, but they did make or put away beds and bedding.  John and I scrambled in the fridge for leftovers for lunch and after we'd eaten, we cleaned house.  John moved every piece of furniture in the living and dining room.  I scrubbed countertops, swept the hard floors and put things away.  It took us both working steadily for three hours to get the house set to rights.

I was pressing out pizza dough when Katie called to say she was running by with milk for Caleb for the week.  Little boy came in running. He was in no mood to stand still or sit upon a lap.  He'd been cooped up in the car for four hours.  He did stop long enough to eat a 'Bapple' and crackers.  He is very fond of apples and mandarins. Grapes and tomatoes, brussels sprouts and pickles and olives...but I digress.  The boy has sophisticated tastes at this stage of his life.   

It was a short visit, and we soon had our supper before the Christmas tree.  Then we watched two episodes of Downton Abby.   John has really watched the series with me this time and asks questions about characters and situations.  I won't spoil a plot but try to answer those questions I can with a simple yes or no if to say more would reveal too much.

It was a busy day but a quiet one overall.  

Monday:  Caleb arrived full of his usual energy this morning.   John nor I were that full of vim and vigor but we neither of us had planned to do much today, so we were prepared to follow Caleb's lead.  More and more lately he's prone to play along and obviously pretending as he does.  This evening, he ran in from the kitchen to pick up two cups from the play dishes set.  John was actually speaking to me, but Caleb was between us.  "Are you cooking something?"  Caleb turned and smiled and nodded.  He ran back to the kitchen and began his play once more.

We were back to no nap again today.  I brought out a small inflatable mattress we have and put it on the living room floor.  He happily lay down on it, but it was obvious he didn't mean to go to sleep.  However, he stayed on that mattress for at least thirty or forty minutes.

Katie will be traveling with him tomorrow.  They will be gone all week long and through the holiday.  John and I find ourselves with a lot of time on our hands.   Tomorrow morning, we will have a visit with the boys and Millie.  

Tuesday:  Rainy and cold.  It's never gotten beyond 40f today.  Josh ran in this morning and said, "It's FREEZING out there."  Mind you he didn't even wear a coat, so I guess he did indeed find it very cool.  Bess came in right behind him and reminded him that she'd told him to grab a coat and didn't want to hear how cold he was, lol.

The boys asked for hot cocoa right away when they came in.  By the time they'd added milk and ice cubes I don't think it was hot, nor even barely warm, but they were happy.  I didn't have thawed whipped topping, or I'd have offered them the whipped cream and sprinkles experience.   They asked for pizza for lunch which is quick enough to make. I started dough right away.  I already had bread dough rising to make a fresh loaf of bread.

Much amused when Bess said we might miss Caleb this week and suggested I could have her kids one morning.  I declined but it made me smile. She was being quite sincere and sweet and I'm not complaining.   But no, I didn't offer to have the children.  I've such a long list of things I could be doing with Caleb gone that I want to at least attend to some of the items on the list, despite my plans to take it easy this week.

 The weather will warm over the next couple of days, and I mean to try and get the roses pruned, porches cleaned and put the shed in order once more, all jobs I cannot attend to when I have Caleb about.   John wants to go over to the house in town and get some yardwork done.   

Were it any other week, I'd try hard to get out of the house and go do the sort of shopping I like to do alone...Alone being the key.   Not grocery shopping but looking for things for the house or personal items.   However, I am not that brave a soul I'd try shopping this week at any store.  Perhaps I'll get a chance for that sort of shopping in the coming year.

There's also housework that wants to be done but I am purposely not planning too heavy a week. I want a bit of rest. 

Yesterday I sat down with my Home Notebook and cleared it out.  I'm slowly adding back in only a few sheets: a budget sheet for the New Year with increased costs notations (why do things never seem to decrease?), fresh inventory sheets for pantry and freezer, and a shopping list for the New Year of things I need to purchase or want to look for.   In the coming year, the book will fill up all over again with project lists and ideas I want to try, recipes that sound good, etc.     But I like starting out the New Year with a notebook of fresh paper.

I ended the day with a call from Virginia and Bryan as they were on their way out to supper.   We had a lovely catch-up conversation and I'm so glad I heard from them.  I'm afraid that now I'm off Facebook I don't keep up with them as I did once upon a time.  I really need to make a plan to keep in touch in the year ahead.

The weather isn't nice, but it certainly does allow the Christmas tree lights to glow.  There's almost always a plus side to everything, isn't there?

Wednesday:  I'm not feeling well.  I can't say I'm sick, but I definitely don't feel well.  I'm pushing myself gently to do a few things.  

Today it was a complete inventory of pantry, freezer, personal, medical and cleaning supplies.   The task overall took about 3 hours.  I had made out comprehensive lists of each item that we typically keep on hand so all I really had to do was go to each area and take a count of each item.  I haven't gone through the kitchen cabinets yet, but I will do that later this week.   

I worked on resolutions last night.  I'm changing up my format of years upon years' time and am focusing only on 12 things this year.  Most of these are personal and have nothing to do with house projects or finances.   The ultimate thing is this: in the year ahead, I want to be better about caring for myself both physically and emotionally.  I am very good at caring for others.  I am not good at taking care of me.   It's led me to be resentful and bitter towards others and I don't want to become that person.  I've seen the effects of those who are, and they are so unpleasant.  

It was such a cold miserable day yesterday that I changed my menu plan and pulled out Brats and Pierogi for supper.  I added in some onion and cabbage and chicken broth.  This was such a good, hearty, warming supper.  I poured the broth from the pan and drank it from a cup for added nourishment.  

Tonight, we'll be eating leftovers of the Beef Pot Pie I made last Friday.  I'll make a salad to go along with it, so no real work involved in that meal.  

Thursday:  I slept nearly 12 hours.  Not all the way through but I'd promised myself yesterday that what I needed was rest and rest I'd get.  I didn't crawl out of bed until 10am this morning, which is very late for me.   I only woke then because I had a text message come through on my phone and that always wakes me.  I have learned thanks to one of you to use the Do Not Disturb function on my phone at night and so random things popping up don't typically wake me.  That has been a huge help in getting better sleep.  However, this morning's text was well out of the time frame I have set for Do Not Disturb.

Sam was coming over to put together a bicycle for Josh's Christmas.   We have Isaac's bike in my shed at present and now Josh's too.   I am sure the boys will enjoy these.  A country childhood is a lot more fun with a bike!  I know this firsthand.

While Sam was here, I went through the house and cleaned and put things away.  I marveled that without Caleb about this takes only minutes to bring the house back to presentable.   Do I miss him?  I do.  He does add a great deal to my life, but it's also true that he creates work.  

After Sam was done, John and I went to the house in town.  The plan was that John would work on cutting the shrubs that are next to the carport.  They harbor mosquitoes and prevent the carport from drying out properly.   I picked up trash about the yard and then reset the landscape blocks that were borders.  I didn't get through with that job, but the whole front of the house looks as though it's fresh now, even with dirty landscape border blocks.  There's lots more work to be done but I haven't been able to get over to work on that house yard since September and it felt good to be able to do something on that project.

After we left there, we ran a couple of errands in the next town.  John suggested I call ahead and order lunch and I did.  That's the second place we've eaten in the county seat, and I must say it's really good food at both.  There are two more shops where one might eat.  I plan to try them, as well.  I want, in the coming year, to try and use more local businesses beyond just the dollar store.

Another easy supper tonight.  I have spaghetti meat sauce and I will make garlic toast and a salad.  My salad last night was a fruit salad I made using leftovers from our family day fruit tray.  

I've rearranged the tree ornaments, now that Caleb isn't here to remove them so they tree is looking a lot better.  It's still not the tree I'd most want, but it's better.  

Friday:  I have really slept in this week!  And what's more I seem to be taking more naps, as well.  John says it's just my body resetting itself and perhaps so.

This morning, I didn't sleep as late as yesterday, but I was still slept late.  I'd meant to make pancakes for John one morning, and I decided this morning was to be it.  Even before I had coffee, I started those pancakes.  The nicest thing I can say about making pancakes is that we always have enough left over to serve us for another morning's meal, too.

After breakfast we got busy doing various tasks.  We stripped my chair of its slipcover and took the slipcover off another one as well and tossed those into wash along with other laundry.  We did two loads today and the bulk of both went onto the clothesline.  

I decided last night, as I was fighting to go back to sleep, I'd make a Williamsburg Orange Cake, something I haven't made in years but which I recall was delicious the one time I did.  It seemed a festive sort of cake to make for a holiday meal dessert.   Well, I had no raisins.  None.   Caleb had those little packets and I found one of those which was about 2 tablespoons.  I discovered he'd eaten most of that box.  I asked Bess if she had any to loan out and she said she hadn't.   I am not about to go shop anywhere on Christmas Eve, not even locally.  

John asked why the great reluctance.  I explained that something as simple as raisins can become a quest.   You go into the dollar store, and they have none so then you must drive either to Ft. Valley or Butler and hope when you arrive there, they have some on the shelf.  If they don't, you'll find yourself quickly determining that you're only 15 minutes more from the next town so, you'll trek that way to see if you can find them there.  Next thing you know a half day has gone, you've fought customers and traffic and the desire to bake a cake with raisins in is completely dissolved.

Now it might not have played out like that, but the odds are high that it would have because you all know how it usually goes with something last minute on the day before a holiday.   I decided instead to make a carrot cake with Mama's secret frosting.

While I was grating carrots, I called Mama to see how she was doing.  She's determined that she has shingles and declined to come to dinner tomorrow.  I was sorry to hear she had shingles but told her I was none too anxious to expose myself to them.  I had shingles years ago and it knocked my immune system a hard wallop that led to my being sick for a good two years with everything that came along.  I commiserated with her and said I was sorry she'd not be here but agreed with her choice to stay home.

It took me a whole 10 minutes to grate carrots and mix up that cake.  I pondered that as I was pouring batter into pans.   It's really a small investment of time for something that tastes so good and costs far less than the 1/4 cake we might buy at the grocery for $6 when it's on sale.  

So, there we are with Christmas Eve.   We've done our usual Shabat cleaning, I have gathered my recipes for our dinner, made our holiday dessert, and we have fresh clean things about us.  The only thing I have left to do is to unload the dishwasher once the dishes are dry.  We've been visited separately by Bess and Sam.   I adjusted the tree ornaments yesterday so that we had decorations on the bottom portion of the tree.   It's made it look so much better.  John and I gifted each other as things came in the mail so no packages to open.  

It's been a lovely week, albeit nearer 'normal' than we've had in a few months.  And now the holiday is almost upon us.  

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!