Goodbye 2023

This morning officially heralded the end of the holiday season for me, when our younger daughter packed up her car and headed back to Dallas via her older sister's house in Austin. I'm always sad to say goodbye to the girls after a visit, whether it's long or short. I might even miss the chorkie dog a little bit, too. After lunch with my sister, I came home to take down our gate decor, unplug the candy cane wrapped trees in our yard and replace the Santa front door wreaths with two cute winter snowmen.

We've been enjoying some gorgeous weather this week, cool temps and sunny skies. I keep telling myself I'm going to get my dusty car washed and added it to my to-do list, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe that's because the new SUV the husband ordered for me in October was recently completed and is just waiting to be trailered to the dealership. And so now I'm not particularly motivated to keep the silver bullet sparkling anymore.

I'm wrapping up my final blog post of 2023 with a nod to Finn and Pepper, my faithful companions here in our empty nest. I look forward to getting back to my routine next week, walking Finn, doing my daily Bible study and cooking up big pots of yummy soup for the winter season. I hope everyone out there in the interwebs ends the year safe and sound. I pray the Lord blesses you with health and happiness in the coming year as He reaches out His hand to you in ways that touch your heart. May you walk in His love, mercy and peace.

Christmas 2023

The most wonderful time of the year was a wrap this morning when I opened my eyes and hopped out of bed to begin storing my Santas for the next 46 weeks. The only remnants of Christmas are our front door wreaths and gate decor. All of that will get pulled down this upcoming weekend. That just leaves the fence and tree lights to be removed by the holiday lighting folks in mid January, even though I turn them off for the season on new years day.

We had a nice gathering here at our house on Christmas Eve. Then we went over to have Christmas Day with the husband's family in San Marcos. We'll be enjoying leftovers for the next few days. We've got several bowl games to watch, though we're skipping the Alamo Bowl this year since we don't have any skin in that game. I'm planning to spend time with our younger daughter the remainder of the week before she hits the road to Austin to see her sister for a few days. Then on January 1st she'll head back to Dallas to get her apartment up and running in anticipation of the spring semester kicking off a few days later.  

Every holiday we get to spend with family and friends is special, particularly with the older generation. So many things can happen over the course of a year, both happy and sad. It's important to make time to invest in those we love and not take them for granted. Oh how I wish I could have just one more Christmas with my sweet granny and mother. I can bounce along for days without them crossing my mind. But at the holidays I think we all get nostalgic for the "old days" and what we enjoyed in our younger years, when time seemed to stretch ahead with seemingly endless potential and plenty of opportunities. I hope you got to hug your family tight this holiday season and spend some quality time with them!

Christmas Eve eve

The older I get, the greater appreciation I have for my sweet granny and mother who did such an outstanding job of preparing our favorite foods for the holidays. With mother's passing almost two years ago, we haven't enjoyed her homemade Texas trash she always whipped up to snack on throughout the month. My husband could polish off a gallon bag of that stuff at his work desk in less than a week. And I'm afraid the lost art of homemade candy died with granny in 2001. I'd give my right arm for some of her amazing divinity and pralines she always made before Christmas for us to enjoy. Alas, there's hope because I DO have their handwritten recipes and will aim to carve out time to give them a try next year.

This evening my dogs are barking after spending about seven hours doing lots of prep work for our Christmas Eve appetizer palooza tomorrow. I opted to make meatballs from scratch for the marmalade glazed meatballs we all love. I boiled fifteen eggs, a dozen of them to be deviled. I used the other three in a huge batch of potato salad I prepared to take to the in-laws on Christmas Day. Then I whipped up some candied bacon as an accent for the deviled eggs. I baked chicken for the buffalo chicken dip, and put together corn dip as well as a cheese ball. 

Our law student made brownies topped with granny's stovetop fudge icing. Then she made two batches of delicious buttercream for the vanilla almond layer cake she's putting together tomorrow. I hauled out and dusted three crockpots to hold several of our dishes. And finally, I rounded up recipes for the other items we're making tomorrow. It's a lot of work, so I'm glad I've had help from the younger daughter. We'll have leftovers coming out of our ears, but we always enjoy that.

Before I kicked off the cooking this morning, I spent time in my two devotionals I've been reading this December. I've enjoyed David Jeremiah's Season of Joy, as well as The Carols of Christmas by Alan Vermilye. In the busy and overly commercialized holiday season of our modern world, it's nice to have these reminders to slow down and recall the true meaning of Christmas, the precious gift of our Lord and Savior. How He stepped into the time and space He created to bring us the great gifts of His love and mercy. I pray that as you celebrate this holiest of nights, you lift your eyes heavenward in thanks to Immanuel, the God who is always with us.

Early family Christmas

Now that the older daughter is engaged, we've already started the splitting of holidays between us and the fiance's parents in Pennsylvania. Therefore, we celebrated Christmas with the girls and fiance last weekend since they leave for the east coast on the 22nd. 

The law student helped me wrap presents several days beforehand. On Saturday we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Peggy's on the Green in an historic inn here in town. Then we decided to stroll through the adjacent Christmas market there on the town square, checking out the stalls. The husband couldn't resist buying a rather large bag of freshly made kettle corn that he's still chomping on today.

Every year the girls put together a gingerbread creation for me. I saw a cute London bus kit that reminded me of our time living in England, and so I purchased it for them. Unbeknownst to me, it was all fondant and they decided they prefer the royal icing option they've always done in the past. It wasn't a total BUSt, though.

With the daughter and fiance headed out of town for Christmas, as well as her working on site in the Chicago office a chunk of this week, she decided to go ahead and leave Chorkie with us until the 29th. His favorite place is perched in someone's lap. You can see below where he's hanging out with the husband. Chorkie is a quirky little guy, but can be really endearing.

Finn the menace strikes again

I really hope Finn wraps up the naughty puppy stage shortly, losing his interest in picking up everything and giving it a chew. Otherwise I'm in for twelve plus years of having to watch the little devil like a hawk to keep him off the vet's operating table to remove various inedible items from his gut. He's still chowing down on bark, acorns and leaves in the back yard. Plus any bugs he finds. The new fireplace screen has kept him out of the decorative gravel. Alas, now he has moved on to throw pillows.

The living room was in need of a final santa hooked wool pillow to wrap things up, so I ordered one that arrived last Wednesday. I put it out on the sofa with no fanfare or doggy interest. Thursday morning I was in my office reading my advent devotional when I realized Finn had wandered off from his dog bed next to my desk. When I walked into the living room looking for the little beast, I spied him on the floor dismantling the stitching on my brand new pillow. I'm sure the neighbors heard me scolding Finn. Actually, the whole metroplex might have heard me losing my cool when I realized what the stinker had done. I'm pretty sure he has firmly cemented his spot on Santa's naughty list this year. Unfortunately, that coal in his stocking would probably get gobbled up, too.

In Texas it's winter foliage, not fall

Our fall foliage here in the Texas hill country typically doesn't make an appearance until we hit December, and this year was more of the same. I spied this row of blaze hued trees when I was walking Finn a couple days ago. Our trees here in the yard aren't as vibrant, but they're definitely displaying shades of fall. And floating down to the ground like snow when we get a puff of wind.

Once the husband retires, I firmly believe we'll end up with a second home in the upper south where they get four seasons instead of just our usual two here in Texas. Where it actually starts to look and feel like fall earlier in the BER months. With a cold front set to push through tomorrow that's predicting wind gusts in the 35-40 mph range, it sounds like I'll need to call out my yard guy to deal with the leaves at least one more time before Christmas. I ho-ho-hope any cold fronts arriving this month finish denuding the branches so I can keep the back porch, pool and dog yard looking presentable for holiday entertaining.

Slow down, December

I love the run up to Christmas, but I want it to go slowly so I can really savor it. Putting out my decorations. Locating sweaters in the closet for chilly mornings. Burning seasonal scented candles. Every night I peak out the windows to enjoy our candy cane trees. With a yard that's double the size of our old one, the effect of the lights isn't as widespread. Nevertheless, they still put me in a joyful holiday mood.

I ventured forth to Hobby Lobby last week to look for some simple silk holly and picks to put in my coffee table sleigh. Last year I opted for flocked and glittered lamb's ear that shed all over the place and drove me nuts. While I was looking at greenery options, I stumbled across this darling mug and couldn't resist since it reminds me of our Finn.

My front door gives you a hint of the santas you'll find inside. On the back porch, I added a small neon sign with the title of one of my favorite holiday songs to accompany the vintage blow mold St Nick. I'm so grateful that all of our outdoor decor is on timers that light up at dusk and turn off after four hours.

If you take a close look at the picture below, you'll notice a second fireplace screen we've added. That's because our toot head Finn has decided that it's fun to wrangle past the existing flexible mesh fireplace curtain to scarf up decorative fireplace gravel. I heard him loudly crunching on a piece last week and immediately went into retrieval mode. He'll be eight months old on the 19th, but he still puts everything in his mouth like a toddler. Acorns. Leaves. Bugs. And now fireplace gravel. So I purchased an inexpensive stand alone screen to deter him. Next he turned his need to gnaw to the Christmas greens bucket on the hearth. After fishing part of a pine cone out of his mouth, I went all granny on him by breaking out the fly swatter. Doris Pearl always kept a fly swatter on top of the fridge when we were growing up. That was her disciplinary method of choice most of the time, on both kids and pets. Thanks to a couple swats and some harsh words, Finn has developed a healthy respect for leaving the hearth bucket alone. For now.

My furry snuggle buddies

With cooler weather settling in, the doggos have decided that the master bed is a really great place to hang out on chilly mornings. After the husband leaves for work, they'll usually pile in the bed with me and catnap until I get up and kick off my day. 

During the week, Finn will often hang out in the office with me. When he gets bored, he comes over and demands attention as you can see below. On weekends, he likes to hang out in the recliner with my husband. I've discovered that both he and Pepper will often use a toy as a pillow when they flop out on the living room rug for a nap.  

 

Now that Finn is almost a month past his neutering, I took him for his usual walk along the creek path in town and he loved it. The squirrels are still pretty active, and the ducks always catch his attention. Plus it's obvious he's still a puppy and so other walkers invariably stop us to chat and give him some attention. 

 

Happy 23

Our younger daughter is celebrating her birthday amidst the crush of first semester law school final exams. This is her fifth year having to postpone birthday festivities until after she wraps up the end of testing. Fortunately, she was able to take a break from her studies last night to go out to dinner with some law school friends. A week from today she'll be finished and headed south to spend time in Austin with her sister. Then she, her sister and the fiance will make their way over to us in the hill country for an early Christmas before part of our tribe flies to Pennsylvania to enjoy the holiday with the fiance's family. 

The Lord has blessed our girl in myriad ways, and we thank Him for it. We pray His love and mercy continue to pour out on her as she follows this path He has her walking. Happy birthday precious bitty bear, our sweet old soul!