all clear now to Christmas...

It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Black Friday is over (didn't participate)... and the weekend is here clear and sunny. Time to start baking those Christmas cookies to mail out. I always feel that now it's clear sailing till Christmas day. Of course it means shopping, cooking, and cleaning/decorating the house and the tree for the big day. I'm OK with that.

We had Thanksgiving at our oldest son's house this year. This was a first that we didn't have it here at home. But it was great... since we just had everyone over here for grandson's 16th birthday dinner the week before, it worked out well to have it elsewhere. Food was delicious. Company was great. As usual we had way too much food, but hey, it means we could all divy it up and not have to cook for a few days! Another great.

Friday was also youngest grand daughter 's 2 year old birthday. She had a party with an *Elmo* theme (she loves Elmo) with friends and family. DH couldn't attend as he has developed a coughy sneezy miserable cold this week. It started Wednesday and we thought it might just be allergies as he didn't feel too bad on Thursday, but by Friday morning, he had almost completely lost his voice. So he stayed home from the birthday party Friday and drank hot tea, gargled, used nasal sprays, and slept. He seems a bit better today.











This morning we went to pick up our tree. Here it is... un-decorated, but here!

xmas tree 2014

It's about 8-9 feet... not as tall as some we've had, but as you can see it almost reaches the ceiling in that corner. DH and I have *downsized* a bit since the kids are not always around to help us get it up... and we're (let's see how to put this... ) not as *strong* as we used to be (didn't say *young* but you get the picture). We tried a few years ago to go to an artificial tree (some really do look real), but ended up sending  it back... just really missed the smell of Christmas... and the cats love the real trees. 

Molly made it to another Christmas! She's 21 and counting... and she is really doing well. She moves a little slower and sleeps a little more - but don't we all?  

Molly and sneaky snake

We watched an old  movie last night... not old, old.... but we'd seen it before. I think it was called "Parental Guidance" with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler. It's about grandparents going to take care of their grandkids for a week... and the grandparents are totally tech-handicapped (I'd say computer illiterate, but now it takes more than just computers - no Facebook, pokes, Twittering, hash tags, etc.) Truth be told, if you're going to have any kind of relationship with the younger generation, you have to know a little about it all - to have some common ground. But  IMO the movie shows how both generations add to the mix and neither have the monopoly on healthy relationships. 

It's Sunday morning now. DH had a bad night of coughing. He moved himself to the den where he could try to sleep upright in his chair.  I woke up with a head-ache, but it's better now that I'm up and had some breakfast (and snuck in a little coffee - which I'm not supposed to be drinking anymore because of the acid). Anyway, the morning has progressed and I've started baking Christmas cookies today...

Have a wonderful weekend!

(Question:  Does this font seem too small?  It's called *normal*, but large seems to jump to really big... and it feels like I'm yelling when I use it.  Could just be me... being my *introverted* self. I read John's post (Reflections) on Introverts and if I ever wondered, that convinced me.)