Reindeer surgery

Goodness gracious, y'all, the Christmas decorating has been going on for weeks now! I was not-so-patiently waiting on a second set of champagne gold picks to deliver so I could finish the tree. Then there was the front porch to wrangle. After a lot of back and forth, I decided it just didn't look complete even though it's not a large space. So I ordered one of those fancy garland tension rods that practically requires an engineering degree to assemble and install. Next was the purchase of three garland swags, because I wanted a few different types of greenery to make it look realistic. And let's not forget the lights plus several different ribbon options to make layered bows. Now I recall why I've never bothered with a front porch garland in the past!

The last item to check off my Christmas decorating list was the fireplace mantel. Way back in October I ordered pretty velvet stockings in jewel tones with our names. But after leaving them hanging up for over a week, I decided it just wasn't the look I wanted. Maybe another year, or in a different space; and so they went into storage. Thankfully, I ran across these fuzzy, cream-colored stockings below, and they had the six I needed. So I snatched them up at 60% off, and then ordered custom name tags from an Etsy shop to hang on them. 

All that left was the mantel top. I was already armed with cedar and Norfolk pine garlands. A couple weeks ago I picked up some interesting looking champagne colored balls that appear as if they're covered in ice. Gotta have different textures, right. I also bought some fern-shaped picks that were flocked to give a snowy look. But what about a larger focal piece for either side of the oryx mount above the mantel? 

My sister-in-law sent me the pic above of some Christmas deer she saw in Michael's. Thinking it might be just the magic needed for that space, I ordered two of them since our local store was sold out. Unfortunately, one of the deer was poorly wrapped and arrived with both of its rear feet broken. I hauled it back to the store for a refund and placed another online order for a new one. The replacement deer arrived with a big dent in the side of the box, which had me worried. And sure enough, one of the antlers had snapped off in transit. Which was so disappointing because I wanted that mantel done yesterday. Since it was a clean break, I decided to whip out my Gorilla Glue and reattach the antler. After it cured overnight, I got the mantel completed with the help of my neighbor friend since she was already planning to come over to assist me with putting icicle lights on the boathouse. We ended up having to recruit her husband to come help us with the icicle lights, which was such a blessing since I couldn't have done it on my own. 

At this point, if it hasn't been put out or hung up somewhere, then it didn't make the cut for Christmas 2025. Put a fork in me, y'all, because I'm done with thinking about and wrestling with holiday decorations. The halls have been decked with as much time and money as I'm willing to invest in creating seasonal ambiance for family and friends. Plus the 120ish folks from the women's club roaming through my house as part of our holiday fundraiser. Stay tuned for some pics of my house now that it is FINALLY ready for the women's club Christmas showcase tour debut in a few days.

Santa's little helper

Every year, the benevolence foundation in our community hosts a big fundraiser and then uses the proceeds to lend a hand to those who are unable to care for themselves - children, individuals with disabilities, and the elderly. This plays out in a variety of ways. 

For Christmas, the foundation taps volunteers for shopping in order to provide gifts for parents to present to their children. I was asked to help this year since I've gotten involved in the women's club, and was assigned seven-year-old Oliviah. With no grandchildren to spoil yet, I had a fun time rounding up clothes and toys for her. I got it all wrapped so I could deliver my bag of gifts to the coordinator in advance of them being dropped off with the mother. Oh what fun, y'all.

Then a week later, I picked a 7 and 8-year-old girl from our church's angel tree. I once again enjoyed the opportunity to play Santa Claus for the younger set. So I made a trip into town to do some more shopping, including the purchase of a couple extra rolls of wrapping paper, to get these little ladies all set with gifts for Christmas. After wrangling rolls of decorative paper, ribbon and tape to wrap 40 boxes, I THOUGHT I had finished my seasonal volunteer projects. 

Lo and behold, I got a call to ask if I'd be able to donate new tennis shoes for two local kiddos in need. So I toodled into town once again to a sporting goods store to buy some sweet kicks I think they'll like. I got their shoe boxes looking festive as you can see below. All that leaves is for me to drop them off with my friend spearheading the shoe drive through our women's Bible study group. And that, folks, wraps up my Christmas philanthropy. I praise God for His reminder that it's always better to give than receive this holiday season when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope you're all finding ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus this Christmas in your community, to bless others as God has blessed you!

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  Acts 20:35 (NIV)

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.  Hebrews 13:16 (ESV)

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.  Proverbs 19:17 (ESV)

Dog gone cold lately

After months of sweating my you-know-what off, it seems that winter weather has finally arrived in Texas. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure our temps may well creep back up into that gray area where we, in theory, could wear shorts even though the calendar says it's December. And yet I really hope we stay on the cooler side as we creep closer to Christmas.

With colder temps kicking in, I decided to put fleece jackets on the dogs. Finn got red, while Pepper sported pink. They looked so stinkin' cute. And honestly didn't seem to mind. The material is pretty stretchy, so I didn't have to make them do any crazy contortions to get the fleece on or off. 

Bible study presentation

I recently had the opportunity to present a lesson on Sapphira from Acts 5 to my Monday Bible study ladies group. We've been working our way through "Bad Girls of the Bible" this fall, and I've really enjoyed it. This book has been a great reminder that we've all got some bad girl in us. We may not be bad to the bone like Jezebel. But we have all weathered either bad for a season or bad for a moment times in our lives. Times when we've drifted from the Lord and gone our own way instead of walking with Him.

Fortunately, I had almost two months to prepare my 45 minute presentation. And so I felt more excited than nervous when I miked-up and got rolling with it. I continue to be amazed at what our Almighty God shows me when I slow down and really dig into His word. Honestly, I attribute this to participating in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for years now. When you progress through the Bible line-by-line, you uncover layers of truth that are always applicable to your particular circumstances since scripture equips us to know God and understand His ways. 

God's word is eternal, and His truths are evident throughout the pages of the Bible. If you're looking for an easily understood and relatable translation, I highly recommend the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. You can find lots of NIV options on Amazon. And if you'd like to really prepare for the wonder of Christmas this year, I encourage you to commit to reading one chapter of Luke per day in December since there are 24 chapters that will get you to Christmas Eve. I've done this for several years, and I love revisiting the story of Jesus' life from Dec 1-24. 

For the word of God is alive and active.  Hebrews 4:12

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.  Isaiah 40:8

Thanksgiving in the hill country

The dogs and I made the trek back to our hill country house for Thanksgiving week. We were greeted by gaggles of the usual deer, and this fellow below was ambling along the perimeter fence on our five acres. While I was back at our old stomping ground, I had to get some "maintenance" work done. You know, things like an eye exam and a trip to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. Plus I finally needed to pack up some of the winter clothes and shoes in my hill country closet. So I'll be hauling back a trunk full of that stuff to the lake house.

The holiday lighting company we've used for the past seven years doesn't provide service at the lake house since we're just a bit too far from the DFW metroplex where they do work. Therefore, I asked a few of my lake neighbors who they recommend and settled on a new company to make the exterior treetops glisten. I'm happy to report that our house and trees are all bedecked in my preferred red and white candy cane scheme for the holiday season. And I especially love how the lights on the tree down near the retaining wall are even more impressive since they reflect off the water.

As you can see above, I'm now left with three boxes full of the lights used on our hill country trees and fencing that were delivered by the old lighting company recently. I'm trying to farm them out to a friend who has daughters with new homes that would like to do some exterior lighting this Christmas. I love that I'm enabling others to deck their halls (and trees), too!

We spent Thanksgiving day at my husband's brother and his wife's beautiful home over in San Marcos. She's a talented hostess, and the feast she prepares is always amazing. Honestly, she could give Martha Stewart a run for her money with the holiday decor and food presentation. It's always a treat to get an invitation for any holidays she hosts for the family.

I hope this Thanksgiving finds all of you happily enjoying the holiday with those who mean the most to you. I pray you are able to gather and celebrate all of the many blessings the Lord has bestowed on you in the past year. Praise God that He is faithful, even when I am not, that His love and mercy shine down on me and guide my path for His glory. That's what I'm most grateful for in this season of thankfulness.

Happy one year anniversary!

We're creeping up on the CPA daughter's one year wedding anniversary. I recently decided to have her wedding dress and veil cleaned and then preserved. It has been living in the closet of an upstairs bedroom at our hill country house since last year's ceremony. With us slowly purging and then moving the contents of our hill country house to the lake, or storage, it was past time to get this taken care of so she'd have it as a keepsake for any daughters they might have. 

I've also got their wedding cake's top layer stored in my guest house freezer. Curious about where the tradition of saving the top tier started, I looked it up. Per my internet search, it originated in Great Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries where couples would save the fruitcake tier to be eaten at the christening of their first child, believed to occur within the first year of marriage. Today the tradition has evolved to a celebration for the couple's first anniversary, with the saved cake enjoyed by the couple as a way to commemorate their wedding day. Our daughter chose the rich flavors of espresso, chocolate and ganache for that top tier, so hopefully when it thaws the cake will have retained its original flavor. Because seriously, what's better than some wedding cake from one of the best Austin bakeries?!

Santa Claus is lake bound

It's mid-November, so you know what that means, right? It's time for me to start decking the halls for Christmas. And I've enjoyed a lot of decorating in the past week even though it's a more time consuming task at the lake house since it's our first holiday here. Fortunately, unpacking boxes to reveal all of my holiday treasures always puts a smile on my face. 

Thus far the only real thorn in my side has been the tree. I swear I spent a solid 5-6 hours working on my brand new nine foot slim spruce and it STILL looked as if it was only about half done. But thankfully, 45 royal blue velvet sphere picks later and it's looking a bit closer to finished. I'm HO-HO-HOping the glitter pine tree picks I ordered will be the finishing touch that closes out the tree saga I've got going. 

If you're an oldie like me, you'll understand my reference to Norm from the "Cheers" sitcom that ran through the 80s. The folks at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Home Goods and At Home should be calling out my name and rolling out the red carpet since I've frequented their stores more times than I care to recall in the past week. And I'd swear the gold glitter strewn across so much of the holiday decor available is mocking me because every time I try wiping up some of the shiny little tidbits, I turn around and find more. It's like that stuff multiplies before your eyes. 'Tis the season, y'all!

Job beginnings & endings

The law student had her composite pics made recently for law school graduation in the spring. Of the five, this was my favorite. Those are my granny Doris' dimples right there. It's hard to believe she's one semester away from wrapping up this last chapter of her education. At the end of her internship this summer, she took the MPRE and passed it. This is a professional responsibility/ethics exam required for everyone who wants to be licensed to practice law in Texas. After graduation, that just leaves her to clear the hurdle of the Texas bar exam in late July. Then she'll start her "big girl" job with a Dallas law firm in September. 

At the opposite end of the work spectrum is my husband. It was recently announced that he'll be retiring on January 1. He had been thinking about retiring before 60, and decided this spring to pull the ripcord by the time the calendar rolled over to January once again. After 27 years with the same company, where he had an amazing career climbing the corporate ladder, he'll be happily handing over the reins to his successor and will ride off into the sunset to enjoy his golden years. I couldn't be more proud OR happy for him. God blessed my husband with some amazing co-workers who became mentors and good friends along the way. The Lord's financial blessings via the husband's job allowed us to educate our girls through advanced degrees, as well as help some family and friends get their kids through college. It also helped fund a few weddings, too. So we are immensely grateful for God's provision through that season of life. Now it's time to turn the page and see what the Good Lord has in store for us next.

Skipping right over Thanksgiving

Since my sister-in-law is once again hosting Thanksgiving at her lovely home in the hill country, I decided there was no reason to pretend I wasn't chomping at the bit to usher in Christmas. Therefore, today I took pictures of all my current fall decorations here in the lake house so I can begin taking it all down. Tomorrow I'll start bubble wrapping and packing up my many pumpkins, turkeys and squirrels, oh my, so it can be stored in the attic until next Labor Day.

A couple weeks ago, I started unpacking and sorting the Christmas bins my husband hauled to the lake house. The man swore up and down he brought it all, but I knew better. I had purged all of my Christmas decor over the summer, but soon realized what I had in the lake house garage was nowhere near all of it. Sure enough, the husband left almost twenty bins of Christmas decorations back at the hill country house. So this weekend he's loading up the trailer and bringing the rest of my precious Christmas bins to me at the lake so I can start working on bringing Santa Claus to town. 

I know it's going to take longer than usual to decorate the lake house. One reason it will take longer is because it's my first time to decorate this house for Christmas. So after the sorting, there will be a lot of contemplation to plot the best placement and arrangement for all of my stuff. It takes a lot of brainpower and organization to figure out the perfect spots to showcase the many Santas I've collected over the past 30+ years. Then there's the tree, which is always time consuming. I recently purchased a lovely nine foot spruce from Balsam Hill to use this year, and so that will definitely take longer than usual to perfect. And finally, I know I'll be just generally more particular about the overall look and feel of my holiday design because our lake place will be featured in the women's club Christmas tour of homes next month. And I'm so excited about that, y'all. Decking the halls is always such a happy undertaking for me, watching our space come alive with the scenes of the season!

When cardinals appear

I've recently returned to the lake after a trip back to the hill country house. While there, the husband and I made a visit to one of our favorite local Tex Mex restaurants for lunch. Shortly after we were seated, I couldn't help but notice a cardinal at the window because it was in my direct line of sight. It continued to come up to the window and peer in the entire time we were there. It even landed on the door handle to the patio area. 

Cardinals always remind me of my sweet mother. She had a fondness for them because their presence reminded her of her own dear mother. I know it's not biblical, but I love the saying that cardinals appear when angels are near. My mother and granny are in heaven now, and I certainly don't think they are angels. Or birds. Yet every time I spy cardinals, a peace washes over me because they bring to mind these special ladies whose memory I hold tight in my heart, and miss so very much. I praise God that I'll see them again one day after I've entered the presence of the King of Kings.

(Jesus said) Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.  John 5:24 (NIV) 

Women's club winery tour

As a lifelong introvert, I've never been much of a joiner. And yet I've felt so welcomed in our lake house community that it's been easy to get involved. Initially unsure about how things would play out here in our gated, golf course location, we've been pleased to discover everyone is down-to-earth and friendly. Though we've run across some younger folks with kids, they're definitely in the minority here. I honestly don't mind the older crowd because that's where I'm headed as I creep closer to 60.

The women's club's first meeting last month was a fashion show and lunch. I sat at a table with the ladies from our street, and had a lovely time. The club house has an excellent kitchen staff that always presents tasty meals. This month, the women's club planned tours and lunch at a couple wineries in a nearby town. 

Best part about the day was that they hired a coach so all of us could ride together, and thus we had a designated driver. Not much of a drinker, I've gotta admit that first winery did some generous pours and I was feeling pretty happy before lunch time. By the fifth wine, I was requesting just a splash, please! Fortified with some food on my stomach for the second winery, we wrapped up a fun day of tastings. Ten wine samples in, y'all, and I found a couple bottles of whites and reds to purchase.

I love the pic of the house above, our second stop. Built in the 1880s, it's an historic home from the nearby town that was moved to be the centerpiece accommodation for the vineyard.

My little grandchorkie's visit

Our furry grand baby Chorkie went back home to his parents recently, our older daughter and her husband, when they returned from their trip to Europe. I never mind keeping him because he likes his Nan (that's me). He really isn't any trouble other than having to work around his burning desire to hike that short leg and mark things in my house.

As you can see in the pics, he kinda resembles a muppet, with the fuzzy fur, pricked ears and snaggletooth expression. It makes him look approachable and pettable. But if Chorkie doesn't know you, he'll immediately bark his head off and act as if he might take a chunk out of you. Unfortunately, his instinct has always been fight rather than flee. Little man syndrome, no doubt, since he's half chihuahua and yorkie. 

Our Finn always tries to engage Chorkie in play. A couple of times each visit, Chorkie will cave and race around with Finn for a while. But Finn mostly gets a lot of bluffing growls when he moves into Chorkie's space, encouraging the little beast to act like a dog instead of a grouchy old man. 

As luck would have it, my niece drove up from Georgetown for her long weekend to hang out for a day. And so I was able to save the daughter and me a trip halfway to Austin to hand off the Chorkie. Since he's kennel trained, the snarky little muppet was fine riding with the niece to get back to his parents. Now I've started thinking about Christmas, when we'll have the girls here for several days. I'll need to figure out how to Chorkie-proof things like the tree and my life-sized Santa so they don't get tinkled on.

Grocery store entertainment

Every time I visit our overpriced "fancy" grocery store for fresh produce and baked goods, I run across some of the most entertaining beer names. Last month I spied Funnel Cake Ale. Last week Oklahoma Suks Beer caught my attention. It's a shame I'm not a beer drinker, because I find these really intriguing.

Feeling less summery, thankfully

I've enjoyed some time on the back porch lately thanks to more moderate temps, where I spy cool things like the sailboat folks out for a spin. The BER months truly are the most wonderful time of the year. This morning when I took the dogs for a walk in the hood, I passed several folks in long sleeve shirts. Obviously they aren't still doing the menopausal hot flashes like me. I don't imagine I'll personally be needing long sleeves or a light jacket for a while. Here in Texas, we don't usually need to switch the AC over to heat until December most years. And I don't imagine this one will be any different.

One of Finn's favorite things to do in the evenings when I'm perched on the sofa with my laptop is to camp out next to me. On occasion he'll assume the back pose, with his front paws in the air. This always cracks me up. He's such a sweet and funny little guy. The dogs are great little companions and truly seem to love lake life as much as I do. Our neighbor's oak trees have been dropping copious amounts of acorns, so the increased squirrel activity has kept the doggies entertained.

A doggy posse of three

With our older daughter and her husband taking a belated honeymoon trip to Europe for ten days, I volunteered to keep their furry child, Chorkie. He wouldn't do well with boarding because he's quite snarky, so I don't mind. Mostly. Chorkie gets along with our Finn and Pepper, plus it helps that he's kennel trained. 

The one thing I would absolutely change about Chorkie is his propensity to hike his leg and mark things. I don't mind that he pees on my back porch posts because it's easy enough to hose them off. What I DO mind is that he's also peeing on things inside my house. So far the leg hike count includes my fall greenery arrangement, decorated pumpkins, sofa and foot rest. If it resides on the floor, it's fair game for him to sprinkle it with tinkle. The silver lining is that he's a shorter guy and mostly hoses the ground instead of the thing he sidles up to in order to cock his leg.

I had decided not to do any preemptive spraying with the magic no mark stuff. However, it seems I'm learning my lesson the hard way - on my knees with a bleach rag wiping up urine - that the Chorkie will never outgrow this nasty habit since he turned six in August. In Chorkie's little doggy mind, everything is his and must bear his urine scent. 

After a recent Bible study at our new church home, I went to pick up lunch with a couple neighborhood friends. All three of the doggos were oh-so-happy to gobble up the bits of buttered bread I tore off and tossed to them from my lobster roll. Afterwards, little man Finn piled up with me on the sofa while I checked my social media feed. I've seen this look on his face many times before (see pic below), and it never fails to make me giggle. Oh sure, he's annoyingly adept at slaying lizards and geckos that I have to dispose of. But he's just so endearingly sweet, too. 

Long lost cousins

My mother was an only child. She spent her entire adult life longing for a sibling. My father was the youngest of seven. He spent most of his adult life having very little contact with his large, extended family. Which is a shame as far as I'm concerned.

Before my parents divorced when I was in third grade, we got to spend time with some of my father's family. But after they divorced, we only saw them a handful of times. My dad could be difficult, and I think he just never felt that close to his brothers and sisters. Maybe some of that was because he was the baby of the family. His parents were well into their 40s when he was born, and I can only imagine how challenging it must have been with a change-of-life baby born at the start of World War II. 

I was happy to discover over the summer that my cousin Connie lives conveniently close to our lake house. Her dad and mine were brothers. She and I have already met for lunch a couple times, and it has been so nice to reconnect with her. Because she's almost fifteen years older than me, she has kept in touch with some of our other cousins. And so earlier this month I hosted a few of them at our lake house for the day.  

After polling Connie and my sister, we landed on BBQ with all the fixin's for lunch. Connie provided several desserts, while I ordered these darling cupcakes below from a local baker I've been wanting to try. I'm happy to report they were as tasty as they were cute. After lunch, I took the kiddos and some of the adults for a tour of the lake in our pontoon, which they enjoyed. Because seriously... doesn't everybody like a boat ride?!

Connie brought several pics to share with the cousins. Both of my dad's parents died before I was born. If I had ever seen a picture of them, I was too young to remember. And thus it was a revelation to see a few images of my paternal grandmother, Ira Lee. Born in 1896, she missed my birth by three years. I was blessed with my wonderful maternal grandmother, Doris. And yet I can't help but wonder how much more my childhood might have been enriched by a relationship with Ira, too.