After Christmas

I have seen The King's Speech - it was fantastic!  I have seen Harry Potter 7 part 1 and enjoyed it.  I liked the books, so seeing the last of the movies is a form of letting go, I suppose.

I'd still like to see Unstoppable, have no intererest in True Grit and will fit in Black Swan by this weekend.  And that will pretty much wrap up my annual movie going.  For some reason, I never make it to the theaters except during the holidays. 

I've had my eyes checked, spent some of my remaining flex money and learned that most eyeglass orders are placed the last 3 days of the year. Can't wait for those prescription sunglasses to be ready.  They are most flattering, according to the salesman.

Exposure to the flu generally results in symptoms in 1 to 4 days, and I'm on day 4 and am happy to say apparently home free.  I did have the flu vaccine, but different strains can occur once the vaccine is produced, and you never now.

Otherwise, the photo below is a pretty accurate representation of what we've been doing during the very cold weather.  It's been hard on the dogs since they aren't allowed on the furniture, but they seem to be bearing up admirably.

It's 3 days until the New Year.  I've not come up with a single resolution.  But I am working on my word for the year.  I haven't settled on anything that seems right yet.  But hopefully I will figure it out soon.

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

Favorite Picture from Christmas Day

My niece received a cooking kit (apron, mini cupcake pan, apron and cupcake stand).  She and my mother made cupcakes and iced them.  This is the proud baker offering a cupcake.

While they baked and we opened presents and ate and visited, it snowed.  For the first time in 120+ years (if I recall my research correctly) we had a snow accumulation on Christmas Day. 

There was that little dusting in 1993, but who counts that? 

Not me.  Anyway, it was a wonderful feeling being snug inside with family while snow fell outside.

Below are the few shots I took.

It was only after I got home that I realized that my camera was not set the way it should have been.  At some point the dial got moved from the normal manual to one of the creative modes and I never noticed I was so distracted by the day.

I hope your day was warm and bright no matter what the weather was.

Crash!

My niece spent the night last night...dogs loved it. 

This morning we were waiting on the biscuits to bake when I went on a hunt for more votive candle holders.  So I could put out all 3 of my Christmas Tree smelling Yankee Candle votives.  When I opened the second side of  the sideboard

CRASH!

It took a bit to sort out, but only two dishes seem irreparable broken.  So before I finish sorting that out, we are going to walk dogs.  A bit of fresh air should dispel the lingering shock we both got from the crash.



New Favorite

Hard to think of an ice cream being a limited edition, isn't it?  Anyway, this joins the ranks of eggnog, dark chocolate cordial cherries and my grandmother's lime jello salad (w/pineapple, pecans and sour cream) that I look forward to each year. 

If you are near a Publix, and it's still in stock, I say you can't go wrong. 

Off to put eggnog in my coffee to see if I can make my own eggnog latte. I am celebrating being treated by the self proclaimed 'most conservative' endodontist in Atlanta.  He goes to work at 6 am and says "if the antibiotics fix things, why have a root canal?"  Odds are I will need a root canal, but it's nice to see if I might not.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

What was that?  Did you unwrap cookies? 



Did I hear you open something?

Traditions

What do any of these things have to do with traditions?  Well, I'll tell you.

My tooth was a bit tender Friday just before I went to bed.

By Saturday morning it was wildly painful and my face was hurting too.  Thank goodness for call fowarding.

When I went to pick up the antibiotics and pain reliever the dentist called in for me, I saw these.  This is a dark chocolate covered cherry that my Grandmother always bought in December each year.  It's special - there's no white sugary stuff in it, just clear cordial, the cherry and the dark chocolate.  They are getting hard to find, and I usually get my brother one too.

Not this year.  There was only one box left. 

I think I'll need the whole box to comfort myself with after my root canal.

Jingle Bells

Peachtree Center puts these out each year over the Thanksgiving holiday...this is the first year I realized the black parts are painted and not cut out of the metal. 

Twinkle

I took a short ride through the neighborhood looking at lights last night after picking up my dogs.

Sigh.  If only I had an outside outlet.

A giraffe?  For Christmas? 

An artsy take on the giraffe.  I like it!

Extreme Cold in the South

...means broken water mains.  This time it was my neighborhood.

Catching Up!

I'm running a little behind here because I'm keeping up elsewhere.  In fact, of the birthday and Christmas gifts I want to give this year, I have all the birthday and at least 1/3 of the Christmas. I know.  It's stunning, really.  I usually spring into action via Internet somewhere around mid December.

Here are some Thanksgiving snaps...I had a great time this year.  And hope to build on it next year.

Now, on to December:

I'm doing December Daily, and my friend Merry the elf sent me a word a day chain to get mindful about the season, and I'm meditating on that reverb10 thing [well, sometimes] that has swept the blogosphere, and last, and possibly least, Picture Holidays...I must say, I'm less compulsive about Picture Holidays this go around as the others have first claim on my attention. Actually, the season has first claim.  But you know what I mean.

Monday is our potluck at work. I need to run to the grocery store.

How's you're December going?