The Story of Christmas 2015

 The story of Christmas 2015 started out like this...

With a happy pose by the fireplace. 

Little did we know that a dark cloud was on the way...

 Emergency room 3 days later at 11pm. 

Our stay lasted until approximately 4am.

Flu. The big bad flu.

 So it was Merry time and we were in the house. 

GHW in the bed, down for the count. 

Poor guy. We missed Christmas. 

And for a person who works at a church, you have to be really sick to miss Christmas. 

 GHW was down for approximately 6 days and after that..

We experienced a few outings by car in the neighborhood.

AND....

Found our favorite house in the neighborhood, with the exception of ours, naturally. 

 

 Then something else really awful happened. 

Somebody tried to poison our neighborhood Brown Dog. 

Other dogs ate the poison instead. Just awful. 

The neighbors are out in full force trying to find the perp. 

 Rest easy. Handsome survived the whole thing with minimal disruption.

Food on time. Pets on time. Head scrathes, snacks, all on time. 

A few days later, GHW decided he was well enough for us to make the trek to Kansas. 

The little neighborhood car trips determined he wouldn't get car sick or something of that nature. 

So we loaded up in the big ol' car and went west. 

I hadn't been home for a little over a year so time it was to go. 

 Driving through Arkansas is really something.

I think the state gets a bad wrap but it really is lovely.

Very beautiful while passing through. 

 And oh yes.  Handsome came too. 

Cat in the car.

 Santa (and the powers that be) brought us cheap(er) gas for the trip. 

Always an added bonus. 

And at last, after the 9+ hour drive, we are at home. 

The home team. 

Patrick, Dad, Mom

Our usual trip that begins on Boxing Day, turned into a trip that was more of a New Year's trip. 

This year started out with a bit of an edge, hopefully good things to come. 

2014 brought many good things of note...

1. the second, third, and fourth semesters of doctoral work

2. another successful year at WKNO

3. a graduate assistant-ship at U of M

4. lots of music making at #dwh2 from my 40+ little students

5. progress on updating #dwh2

6. we actually closed on #dwh2 - lease purchase complete

7. july in New York City (LOVED THAT)

8. a trip to O Canada for Andy and Julie's wedding

9. trip to Destin, FL to our very favorite spot

10. GHW as an adjunct at Memphis Theological Seminary and U of M

11. new friends/old friends

Lots more, the list should never have an end.

Here's to 2015. Hopefully the best yet.

Thanksgiving Table 2013

It is safe to say that Thanksgiving 2013 as come and gone - we are past Christmas at this point.
#sheesh. This post was saved in my drafts and I never (either/and/or) 1. never finished it 2. remembered that it was there 3. forgot what I was going to say 4. All of thee above.

4 is the likely answer in this scenario. The table was fun. The family was here.  Tasty food was consumed. All good things to be thankful for in 2013. 

Christmas Holiday 2013

Handsome made his annual trip to Kansas. 

He is reporting excellent conditions. 

I always worry he won't want to come back home with us.

 

 

 

It's nice to have a little time for R&R and to celebrate the holiday season.

Happy and Merry to all! 

Here comes 2014.

The month of December

Earlier this week I posted about the decorations in my house for the Christmas holiday (that are still up by the way). Just as I had the same problem putting them up, I'm now having difficulty scheduling a time to take them back down.  So my white Christmas tree is now going to be a winter tree and probably a Valentine's tree to follow.

So...back to the month of December. Here is a photo review of some of the things that went down.

//I got this new piece of art off Etsy: CoCo Draws//

//I worked at WKNO many days, including over my highly coveted teacher holiday//

//A lovely package from JewelMint arrived at my doorstep.//

//December means recital season for my many music students, 

Handsome thought he needed to give a little recital himself//

//Speaking of recitals, I sang the Vivaldi Gloria with a Methodist Church here in Memphis.//

//I hadn't done any solo work like this for a year or so, so this was fun.//

//In mid December I turned in my 2nd Masters document.

I was awfully glad to check that puppy off the ol' list.//

//HANDSOME did his regular begging act for most of the month.//

//Christmas break rolled around and it was time to actually decorate the house.

This included the bar cart, which is now fashionably adorned with multi 

colored tooth picks in an appropriate Moose holder curtosy of my Dad.//

//I managed to paint my nails, something I hadn't done for a while.//

//New Year's Eve came, which allowed for some adjustments to holiday decor, 

though not a total take down, after all Christmas wasn't officially over.//

//We spent NYE with new friends and old friends in Midtown Memphis.//

//2013 arrived with a good food and laughter//

//Resolution, anyone?//

//Always nice to start off with a fresh coat (of nail polish at least) for the new year.//

And just like that, January is here.

Christmas Decorations

The Christmas season blew by so fast this year that I hardly remember it actually happened.  I put Christmas decorations up in time for a Christmas party at our house on December 21st. Naturally, that is way later than I've ever done so.  But none the less, it was on my mind as the holiday season started back in November this year.

The merriment of the season begins.

I started putting Christmas decorations up in early November and quickly realized that my white Christmas tree was sporting a rather shady shade of white.  With this in mind I decided that I needed to spray paint a few coats to revitalize my precious white tree. So out the door I went with my white tree to the back yard with my cans of white spray paint.  I did this on a rather busy Sunday morning so it actually got to sit outside for many hours.  This helped with the smell.  Something I didn't take into account before I started spraying.  Fortunately, the smell was mostly gone by the time I took it back inside.  Also...it rained.  For which I thought my tree was ruined.  Again...safe. 

While I was in the backyard spray painting my Christmas tree naturally somebody sent me a text to see what I was doing.  My answer..."Oh ya know, just out back spray painting my Christmas tree."

Meanwhile...back inside

I gathered some new velvet throw pillows for the sun room sofa to add to the holiday cheer. The other pillows I have been using are bright yellow linen and I decided to change the fabrication for the winter season.  The thing is I like these new pillows so much that they may just get to stay on the couch year around.

About a week later, the tree found some decorations and we were ready to celebrate the holiday season.  Since my husband works for the church it doesn't seem like the holiday season did when I was growing up.  It just seems like work now.  Isn't that sad? SO many joyous components of the season though I must say.

Around the house...

I will admit that I do still have some of my decorations still up.  My tree has turned into a Valentine's Day tree, which I can convince myself of for now. But in a few more weeks I will have to put it away. Until then, I have some new light to shed on the house for the new year.