Monday, January 15, 2024
Another leisurely paced morning. Coffee with Dale,
cat on our laps,
and sub-zero temp (-7) outside but cozy and warm inside.
Did a little shopping at Target.
Good to see the sun and blue skies.
Listened to more childhood Christmas music
and drank a little Irish Cream.
Took some more walks and...
...enjoyed being around Sylvester.
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Another day of not having to hustle to get to work.
Dale and I drank coffee and took turns having Sylvester on our laps.
The wind is whistling outside and it's even colder than yesterday morning yet it's very cozy inside.
Went to church this morning on this 2nd Sunday after Epiphany.
Dale had to count the collection after the service so I zipped over to Lake Harriet for a (very) short walk due to the cold.
After my Lake Harriet visit I picked up Dale at church and we headed over to Creekside for brunch.
Stopped by Kowalski's after Creekside and picked up some potato salad to bring over to Warren's tonight.
This afternoon Dale went to the gym and I had a cigar upstairs.
Also listened to another childhood favorite Christmas album by the Harry Simeone Chorale.
Dinner of BBQ chicken and ribs at Warren's townhouse. Gary was able to join us and we watched Crazy Mama starring Cloris Leachman. Oh so silly. Actually, just stupid.
Saturday, January 13, 2024
MLK weekend is here. Enjoying not having anyplace to be but home. It's cold and there's a light coating of snow on the ground. Dale and I are lounging on the couch and Sylvester is on Dale's lap. It's very cozy in here. We're contemplating shoveling the snow but we're not moving too fast to make that happen.
It's cold. Dale and I just got in from shoveling the little bit of snow that's on the ground. Glad we're not just south of us in Iowa which is also frigid but getting HAMMERED with snow.
For us it's notable because we've been way warmer than usual this season and we haven't had enough snow at any given time to shovel any more that what we got overnight. We've been spoiled but we're bracing ourselves. Who knows when but the monster snowstorm WILL come.
I've come to regard MLK weekend as something of an extension of winter break. As a teacher I've always gotten a 2 week break around the holidays. Every other teacher I talk to says the two week mark is just when they feel they're starting to really relax. That's the case for me with summer break too. Anyway, the two weeks I've been back in school have been productive albeit tiring. There's some good stuff going on at work but I'll just leave that there for now as I need to give myself a mental break from thinking and talking about my job.
I'm sitting down now with a Fresca and listening to Christmas with Ed Ames, one of my favorite Christmas albums from childhood. Hearing these songs brings me right back to the living room in the house on Stevens at Christmastime.
We had Fran, Charlie, and Christine from Gethsemane over for dinner tonight and it was really delightful seeing all of them. Dale and I made a lasagna that went over very well. Fran brought over lychee martinis which she's been telling me about for a while. I loved 'em. They're one part lime rum, 1 part lemon run, 1 part vanilla rum, and 1 part lychee liqueur.
Sunday, January 7, 2024
1st Sunday After Epiphany
Church this morning. Dale and I were lobby hosts.
After the service Dale and I helped Rosemary take down the decorations and lights of the outdoor Christmas tree.
Before Christmas I had bought a memorial of a poinsettia for Dad for them to use to decorate the church. Dale had a meeting at church recently and brought it home for me (not the one shown above). It was in a bag and I haven't even opened it yet. They're bad for cats so I put it upstairs.
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Epiphany
Got most of the remaining tchotchkes put away. Lit the candles in the dining room right before dinner.
Shortly after dinner got everything else put away.
Sylvester was poking his nose around where the tree used to be and looked a little confused.
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Epiphany
Cigar in the garage after my time with Noel.
After that I set out the Three Kings in the manger scene.
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Epiphany
Started the process of de-Christmasing this morning. Got the ornaments off the tree.
Took down the red lights and eventually the white ones too.
Got together with Noel for lunch and shopping. This was not like one our post holiday shopping adventures of the past. We used to hit the stores a day or two after Christmas for the sales but not this year. In fact, I didn't even buy anything. However, Noel got me a couple of sweet little gifts. Actually these were more like white elephants since she's downsizing from her vast amounts of Christmas stuff. Still, very sweet and I like them very much.
