Time for Normalcy?

 Well, the last of the holiday activities are over. I guess it is time to settle back into a normal routine. I love the holiday season, but it is exhausting!

We enjoyed our trip to Grapevine to watch White Christmas, even though the weather was frightful. I went to Diane's first, so we could ride together (and she could drive!). Sheila and Nam rode the train and met up with us at the theatre. It rained all day! We enjoyed the movie and the company, but it was too messy outside to do anything else. Usually I spend the night with Diane afterwards, but I opted to just come on home this time. The older I get, the more of a homebody I become!

The day after Christmas, Charles and Belinda came by for an overnight visit. We really enjoyed our time with them. We don't get together very often, since Ricky's family moved back from Arkansas. It seems like we mostly see one another at funerals. So it was good to catch up without having a sad occasion to prompt it!

We had our 5th Sunday "potluck" and guest speaker this past weekend. Since it was New Year's Eve, I decided to make it more festive. I did a couple of charcuterie boards and everyone brought finger foods. We didn't have many show up, but we had a good time nonetheless. A little later that afternoon, Matt and Sheila brought Nam over for a sleepover, so we had a few more to visit with. The crowd all cleared out a little before suppertime, and we spent the rest of the evening enjoying Nam.

melting snowman cookies

hot cocoa cookies

I really enjoy doing a seafood boil on New Year's Day. So Monday was spent hanging out with Nam and getting everything ready for our special dinner. This year we had both Sheila and Ricky's families, which was great! Sheila made a beautiful boule of homemade bread. I had made up a butter candle ahead of time to place in the center. It looked so wonderful on social media! In real life, it was somewhat disappointing. Oh well, live and learn! We had lots of yummy food, fun with the grands, and good times! What a special way to begin a new year!

I got a call from my Aunt Coez first thing yesterday morning telling me that her last remaining sibling, Aunt Fay, had passed away. That's NOT a good way to start a new year! She had been in very poor health for a long time...in a nursing home for the past year and mostly bedfast. She was such a dear lady! She was pretty much my second mom growing up. I spent a lot of holidays and summers at her house. I'm glad that she is no longer suffering, but her sweet, loving nature will be missed by all.

I've been focusing my crafting efforts on knitting and crocheting lately. I'll probably put off any quilting projects for another month or so. I knitted my first cap last week and am happy with how it turned out. I also crocheted a pair of mittens and started learning a new (for me) type of crocheting...Bruge crochet. I started working on a piece, but I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it. I'm wanting to knit some more caps for the grandkids, and maybe some mittens. I also have an embroidery kit that Sheila gave me that I need to get started on. It is an embroidery journal. You stitch little pictures to remember things that happen throughout the year. It ought to be really neat to see how it shapes up! I finished my temperature blanket for 2023, so Sheila decided I needed a new "year-long" project!

My 2023 temperature blanket...lots of hot weather in the middle!

knitted cap

crocheted mittens

Today is being spent trying to clean up from the weekend's festivities, get back into a somewhat normal routine, and also rest up a bit. I hope to start working on my embroidery project, too. I am looking forward to having a few weeks of a little slower pace before I go on my (first!) cruise the last of the month. I'm really looking forward to that!

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! Let us work towards improving ourselves as we enter into this new year. Love you all!

Ps 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. (NKJV)