A Few of My Favorite Things

One little corner of our house

Several people have remarked that they are not feeling in the Christmas spirit this year. I can relate as Christmas cards and shopping have been low on my priority list, but I refuse to allow this to be a bah humbug season. There are so many little things that make this a wonderful season so I am sharing a few of my favorite things from the past few weeks.

Tree and decorations - Seeing these as I walk in the door causes an uplift in my emotions. My family has a tradition of one new ornament every year so our tree is filled with loving ornaments, each representative of interests and events. Also, the gals and I have exchanged ornaments the past few years so they have a place as well. The candles on the mantle and strewn through the house are from my childhood and the nativity set (not shown) is my mom's. 

Sidewalk is cleared then I gave up

Treats - Sarai, who bakes goodies every year, sent me a box of treats, which were quite yummy. This was followed by several bags of baked goodies during the gift exchange at Sarai's holiday party. I know this may shock several of you, but I brought a homemade dessert to the holiday party this year. So far, I have made two cherry delights (one for the work holiday party and another for Sarai's party), which is what my mom makes for Christmas dessert. And I made my mom's cheese ball which was a Christmas Eve tradition when I was a child.

Snow - I love watching it snow or playing with Bartle, who disappears in the white mess. Though I've not enjoyed shoveling more than a foot of it the past few weeks nor the slick roads which led to me sliding through a stop sign, jumping the sidewalk and missing the lamp post by inches, yet I still want a white Christmas.

Our long distance toast

Friends - Mich and Crystal toasted my news (I promise to share later) this week and posted a pic on fb since 800 miles separate us from celebrating together. 

Peggy made me cry the other week when she responded to my message following her recent surgery. She remarked on how wonderful it was to have friends she loved who cared. 

Delia who made me laugh when she asked if I had re-gifted because great minds led to us giving each other identical chocolates. 

Bartle looking quite pathetic

Kay who delivered Sarai's treat box along with the department's treats with the claim that the germ-a-phobe had her own box so other's didn't breath on it. Laugh it up! I'm not the only germ-a-phobe.

Becky who spent her birthday with me, watching short men run around with long swords, or the latest Hobbit movie. She is one of the few who will suffer with me trying to recall the innumerable characters and their relations to people from the other movies. Her memory recall of the various details from books and movies is truly impressive. FYI ... I'm finally caught up with Once Upon A Time.

Queen of our house

My babies - Bartle had oral surgery this week and was overly pathetic and clingy while Cleo was her typical self, taking the time to approach him and then hissing as if offended. Though James is home for the holiday break, Bartle insists on clinging to me. He spent Friday afternoon at my feet under the dining table, even when James took a nap in the bedroom, which is Bartle's safety place. He sat at my feet while I got ready to go out both Friday and Saturday as well. He really wants his mommy and daddy won't do. I spent all-day Sunday lounging around in my new amazing fleece pajamas ($10 at Wal-Mart featuring woolly lambs), snuggling with Bartle and Cleo while working on the computer. I'm sure it was me and not the pajamas that was the draw.