Monday Musings No. 52, a weekend update and holiday fun.
Good Monday morning musings my friends, happy Kwanza and happy Boxing Day.
How was your weekend? Christmas? Hanukkah?
Did you survive the storm of the century? I am not making light of it in any way because it was very serious but it reminded me of the storm in Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Although in this case I think Santa needed more than Rudolph to navigate the chaos created, 43 inches of snow in Buffalo, NY, flooding, freezing temperatures from California to Floria and everything in between.
Musings
The storm brought rain and wind and very cold temperatures here. In fact when we woke up Christmas Eve morning, the house was 61, and our heat didn’t work. So we hopped in the car and headed to Lowes for a little last minute Christmas shopping for a space heater.
After calls to several HVAC and no answer we gave up and decided to throw on another sweater and try to troubleshoot the problem. Desperate times call for desperate measures and sometimes Youtube has a solution that works.
I won’t go into all of the details but we did get the heat to come back on unfortunately it is not working correctly. The good news is we have heat, the bad news is that it has never gone above 64 so it is a little chilly. We have been spending a lot of time in the den with the little heater, it is cosy with its little tree and we have managed to catch up on all of the Christmas movies we missed.
Christmas Eve
The holidays were relaxing and filled with of festive fun. Thursday we had drinks and lots of laughs with our neighbors. The rain and winds did not dampen our spirits on Friday, we did our last minute shop for groceries and prepped the house for the holiday guests.
Christmas Eve was chilly, what can I say, 61 is cold inside when it is 13 outside. I skipped the holiday outfit I had planned and bundled up in a Ralph Lauren fair isle cardigan and velvet pants. My brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew came to spend the day. Fondu, nuts, charcuterie and lots of nibbles before an Italian dinner of lasagna, meatballs, sausages, bread, salad, and tiramisu(made by my brother).
After dinner the gloves were off literally and figuratively as we played dominos. I had no idea we were all so competitive. But a good time was had by all as we were trounced by my nephew in 3 of the 5 games.
Christmas Day
The day started with mass and then ended with a leisurely day at home. Bill and I celebrated a quiet family Christmas with the pups. A relaxed day opening presents, talking to family and friends on Zoom and FaceTime, dinner and a movie marathon. We ended the day with It’s a Wonderful Life, a 75 year old movie whose messages is as relevant today as it was then.
I have a wonderful life and we are blessed to have our health, family, friends, home, pups and could not ask for anything more.
New Year
2023 is just a few days away, can you believe it? What are your plans? Will you be heading out to celebrate or ringing in the New Year at home?
What are your plans for 2023? On the home front our refrigerator arrives tomorrow and hopefully in 2023 we will receive our hardware from Rejuvenation, so far it isn’t looking too good as the dates continue to be pushed back. As for the drapes, as much as I love them I am disappointed in the service from The ShadeStore.
This year we also have lots of other home renovation projects on the calendar, I will keep you posted.
As for the blog, Weekend Meanderings with Kim and Juliet will be back on the 7th. Is there anything you would like to see more of here? Or less of(be kind, this is a personal blog)? In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the last few days of 2022.
After Christmas Sales
There are so many great sales today, are you shopping? I have a few things in my cart at Ralph Lauren, H&M, Anthropologie and J. Crew. I am not sure if I will buy anything but I am looking.
Anthropologie
Belk Brooches
Boden
Chico’s
J Crew
Hot Chocolate
Mark & Graham
Plaid
Talbots
Ornaments
Plaid Finds
Until Next Time
I hope that you had a lovely Christmas and that you have a wonderful week ahead. If you missed any of my musings you can find them all here.
Take care and thank you for spending part of your day with me. I will see you tomorrow.
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It looks you had a great time with family and friends…we have a second Christmas Day here in Holland I am glad you are ok …we see terrible things from your country about that horrible wheater,glad you are fine ….but so much cold s no good .
Have a lovely week love from Holland ❤️
Thank you! It has been terrible all over the US. Hopefully this week we will see warming temps. Happy New Year
Elizabeth, your blog’s exceptionally-curated photos and relevant content continues to bring me and others much joy on many levels. You not only capture the scents, tastes, colors, design and moods, but magically elevate life’s mundane nature and soothe its occasional disappointments. Your personal notes of encouragement are especially valued. I am extremely grateful for your hands-on willingness and beautiful spirit. My prayer is it comes back to you tenfold.
Char, I am at a loss for words. Your kind comment has brought tears to my eyes. I am happy to know that my small cornet of the internet brings you joy. Thank you for making my year and reminding my why I write this blog, not only to bring you joy but for the joy that all of your bring to my life. I hope that you have a wonderful and blessed New Year.
The storm was fierce. I was expecting power outages, but that didn’t happen.
Thankful that you had power William. Stay warm!