Yes, ladies (and gents), I'm alive, I haven't felt very bloggy.

All is well in our household. The new sewer and water lines are doing what they should; in and out! My garden is quietly compacting during this season of rains and now snow. I'll be busy digging and turning the earth in a few months and adding nutrients to the soil in preparation for the new season. 

The holidays have been well-peopled and yet quiet. Almost everyone was at my in-laws home gathering, minus two college students and a someone working. Not having our family party in the cabin has changed how we interact and the younger set spent a lot of time in small groups or gaming on their phones. 

Here are the patriarchs and matriarchs of the households

The "game room" was the garage stuffed with usual garage items, 4 folding tables and enough chairs to fit us all. 


We still had a good time and were well-fed!

I'm busy planning our next trip, trying to knock off the last few states of the 8 left to claim all 50 plus Puerto Rico. We polished off Rhode Island a few weeks ago in a quick trip to Quonset, RI to visit the Seabee museum (not to be confused with the US Navy museum in California). For those not in the know, the Seabees started as the Construction Force in the US Navy; DH's dad was one. This museum was created in the town that first manufactured the Quonset hut!



We also drove to Newport to gawk at the mansions but I had no interest in touring insides to see out the 1% lived.

Christmas will be quiet. The eve will be with the grands and their parents for dinner after church. There's only one Santa believer left.  Christmas day will find only DD2 and Chewy at my house. My British SIL flew to the UK to visit his family solo as DD2 just started a new job and couldn't get leave. Currently I have Chewy visiting so she can work without worry. The traveler will be home Friday so I anticipate cooking another holiday meal for his benefit as well.

We have official reservations for New Years Eve! Every year we go to dinner with DH's siblings then spend the rest of the evening playing cards or falling asleep in front of the TV. Last year our dinner plans were blown up when the menu in our usual Italian place was altered to be fancy; no pasta and meatballs or pizza for my very picky spouse. We opted for the local bar and ended up staying for hours, just getting home to catch the ball drop. They had good entertainment and we ran into friends.  We enjoyed ourselves so much we are going back. A cozy place, good food and friends. It's a pretty nice way to end the old and begin the new!

May you all find peace, joy, and comfort in this season of celebrations.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year!



 

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 23, 2024 at 6:13 AM

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours from a silent reader. I enjoy learning of your travels. I was in the BadLands and surrounding areas this year as well. Amazing area, as you said. Funny to think we could have been there the same time. Enjoy the rest of this year and stay safe and healthy in the new year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousDecember 23, 2024 at 6:16 AM

      Also, my great uncle was a SeaBees - in Philippines and then spent time building the Alaska Highway. Wonder if they were together at one time. Ever hear of a Walter Neitsch from Texas?

      Delete
  2. OneKidsMomDecember 23, 2024 at 6:32 AM

    I had no idea the SeaBee museum was in RI! My grandfather was a SeaBee during the second world war, where his group were building airstrips on islands in the South Pacific, including Tinian! My mother had known about the Tinian location due to a letter that got out on a mail boat/plane before the censors arrived. Communications sure have changed since then.

    Enjoying your family photos... gee, some of those faces are very familiar!

    Enjoy every holiday you celebrate or not this season. Every year they evolve, don't they?

    ReplyDelete
  3. BarbDecember 23, 2024 at 7:28 AM

    Wishing you and your family a blessed, wonderful Christmas and New Year. Wonderful photos of the family. Beautiful!

    HUGS
    Barb
    1cd

    ReplyDelete
  4. OverworkedjanetDecember 27, 2024 at 5:25 AM

    Thanks to you all for your comments.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ValJanuary 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM

    Late to the party to wish you Happy Holidays & all that jazz - love the photos as always! The end of 2024 has been a whirlwind for me; here's to a better/calmer/more stable 2025...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 I know, I know. I'm getting slow at posting trip info. As a matter of fact, I haven't printed my photo books from my 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 trips. I've a photo book from every trip taken since 2002. Sometimes twice a year if we made smaller trips. My priorities have changed, I guess.  Well, now...our first stops. Americana in Bedford PA. once made the list as the world's biggest coffee pot. The handle is on the other side. My SIL and BIL as models. We traveled to Jeffersonville, Indiana in search of other oddities.  The Colgate Clock is one of the largest clocks in the world. It works. We visited  Schimpff's Confectionery,  since 1891,  one of the oldest, continuously operated, family-owned candy businesses in the United States. It was exactly as advertised. Best chocolate I've ever had! The Big Four Bridge is a local favorite as a walkway to Louisville Kentucky. We enjoyed it at night after a nice dinner on the river in Jeffersonville. My favorite in Indi...
Read more
 How am I, you may wonder. Pretty good! I am still following the diet prescribed by the MDs and dietician and only adding a thing or two back in weekly. I have discovered a lot of other things about my food and myself. I don't need all the ........(insert something here). Just because the label states the whole can of tuna is one serving, doesn't mean I have to eat the whole can; 1/3 does nicely.  The slice of farmhouse bread, toasted, is just fine cut in half instead of using two slices.  Pickles taste the same even when the peels are removed. I am living without a lot of cheese, my previous staple. Living without second helpings as well.  Eventually I will be able to exchange all this 'white food' for higher fiber veggies and grains. The result is I've lost 11 pounds since the end of January. I don't feel deprived.  Huh.
Read more
 Dear Diary, Missed you! I've not been of a mind to post anything. I purchased several of the books OKM was reading as we have similar tastes. I dove into the Fast. Feast. Repeat. book and read it from cover to cover. It was a better read for me than Bright Line Eating, I feel both authors put too much personality in them. I'm a more scientific approach, give me the facts, girl. To me Thompson comes on a bit haughty, Stephens' writing puts me in a 6th grade classroom. Sigh. I've gotten over myself. Just when I hit my 2 week attempt at IF, I spent multiple weeks in the throes of diverticulitis with a few days R&R in the hospital. I called them my spa days. Didn't have to care for DH and didn't care that I couldn't. The only thing missing was a mud pack and a massage. Their kitchen choices were not up to my standards even on a clear liquid diet. My martini was missing. Morphine is nice. I've never been cursed with this before, I've considered my di...
Read more