I’m on the other side of a very busy Christmas that had a number of challenges.
Moving before Christmas not recommended
Along with getting ill with Cold-zilla 2019 Rob and I had a very busy week before Christmas getting my in-laws moved into a nearby retirement home.
It’s just around the corner from our house. The tentative move-in date was Monday, Dec. 16th and we waited till the 13th for the go-ahead to move in. That left me with one afternoon to hunt down new bedroom, dinette and living room furniture to be delivered a couple of days later along with all the other items that needed to be moved from the house.
Needless to say, getting furniture and mattresses delivered to “metro” Strathroy is not the easiest task a few days before Christmas. Especially memorable was waiting from 12 noon till 8 pm with a raging fever for the furniture to be delivered the day before Bob and Estella moved in. No wonder I was tired.
Christmas Eve with my twin grandkids
The kids arrived Christmas Eve with 1½-year-old twins Ada and Wesley. Wow, have they grown, and in this Gran’s estimation, they must be the smartest little bitties around!
It was non-stop go, go, go till the 28th. We had a lovely Christmas Eve celebration at my late Mom’s home with my entire family. The evening included lots of good food, carol singing, and reminiscing. Santa even made a special stop for the grandkids!
Even more family and food
This was followed by a Christmas day brunch and later in the day a turkey dinner with all the trimmings at our home for Rob’s family.
Boxing Day brings Rob’s Mom’s side of the family together and there was a large group in the community centre with plenty of visiting and picture taking.
Saved by a cookbook
Naturally, there’s always a lot of home cooking at Christmas time.
This year I was saved hours of planning by a till then unused cookbook in my collection called Company’s Coming – Christmas Celebrations by Jean Paré. I have no idea where I would have been without that book as my ability to think straight was severely compromised by my cold and the general rush to get things done.
We had sweet onion tartlets, eggnog lattes, blueberry lemon trifle, layered fruit muesli, smoky brussels sprouts, lemon fusilli salad, seasoned potatoes, cranberry marzipan sticky buns and more… Yes, and I gained 5 pounds.
Patterns and how-to books
This cook-a-thon got me to thinking about how I’ve always loved how-to books, especially the ones with great diagrams and photos. They just can’t be beat when you can’t manage alone.
Sewing and quilting patterns are just the same. With a set of great instructions, you can do anything even if you are under the gun, hurrying and scurrying to get things done.
Happy New Year!!
I hope that your new year is starting off with a lot less rushing and stress and that you’ll have a moment to savor the memories of another Christmas past with family and friends.
Happy New Year everyone!
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