Friday we went to a Christmas jazz show and it was wonderful. It really set the holiday mood and the city was lit up under the foggy blanket over the buildings. We came home and put on the Christmas music station, lit some pine incense, turned on the tree and any other lighted decoration and enjoyed a mug of tea and a truffle. It was exactly one of those times that I talked about being able to sit back and enjoy the season. It was perfect. If every day felt like that, I wouldn't feel the stress the rest of the season brings at all!
Saturday we hit a few local stores, grabbed some deep dish at a pizza joint then headed on our road trip to more Christmas tomfoolery. We stopped by an antique store where I'm pretty sure these come to life at night.
We've been going to these candle lightings our whole marriage and sadly, the town is morphing from an old timey feel to just a regular mom and pop any town USA feel. The same stores are rarely there two years in a row. We think the last old fashioned shop will likely be gone next year and if that's the case, we don't think we'll make a trip back. We did luck out and have really nice people next to us this year instead of the usual screaming child, stumbling drunk hilljack, indifferent teens trying to pull of how lame it is to be there yet they're all there so just admit you like it since no one is holding a gun to your heads and shut up jerks or the sick person coughing their disease all over us. Having someone come up and stand beside us and wish us a Merry Christmas was like "holy crap! Did something normal just happen!? You mean, no drunk Santa this year??" Yep...it happened about 10 years ago.
We got home and watched some football then headed to bed. I am happy to report I got the best night's sleep I've had in a long time which is always the way to start what could be the most interesting day of your weekend.
Lunch with the in-laws.
It's not that it's bad, it's just awkward sometimes. You never know what will be said and how others will choose to react so you just kind of go in feeling like an emotional kamikaze and hope everyone comes out unscathed in the end. It seemed we all walked away with no therapy appointments necessary so...yay! His mom wants to get together again before Christmas. I don't think she realizes it's like 2 1/2 weeks away!
When that was done, we did a little shopping, chilled for a bit then headed out to see Christmas lights. We hoped with it being Sunday there would be less people than Friday or Saturday. It was a lie. I about froze my nubbins off but it was pretty just the same.
I don't know why we felt compelled to rent Tammy
but we did. (affiliate link) I enjoyed Susan Sarandon in a different role. I was irritated at first that Melissa McCarthy seemed to be playing the same character she does in every movie but thankfully the last third of the movie turned around and it was actually quite sweet. So, $1.50 well spent.Today, the Mr took the day off to breathe from all of that activity. I'd like to clean up a bit since we're having company this weekend and I don't want to be doing it all on Friday.
I'm looking forward to sleeping in and doing whatever the heck I want today! WOOT!
What did y'all do this weekend?
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This weekend was all about recovery and catch-up. I'm feeling better, but not great. My voice is mostly back, but we'll see how long it lasts with the hoodlums in class today (just one class of hoodlums, 5 groups of pretty well behaved, respectful kids).
ReplyDeleteSaturday night we went to the parade of lights. It always starts late and only lasts 20 minutes or so, but it's a fun tradition. Then we picked up movie theatre popcorn and drove around looking at Christmas lights - one of our favorite traditions.
Glad you're feeling a little better. I don't know how you do it with all those kids. Hats off to you!
DeleteI think we're going next weekend to look at Christmas lights. We love doing that too. :-)
I'm glad you had nice, normal people next to you for the lighting ceremony. They seem to be harder to find these days. The dolls in the store....definitely creepy! Looks like a perfect setting for a scary movie!!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day :)
It is harder to find these days! Oy. Those dolls were soooo creepy! She did have a sweet Strawberry Shortcake lunch box in there though.
DeleteEnjoy yours as well!
It is hard to see the changes over the years to some of our traditions. I guess the best we can do is try to hold on as long as we can to them until we are just unable to resist the changes anymore. Not that new traditions are necessarily bad to make but as you get older you like to think that you can still have some things that link you to your childhood and I sure hope that place is still there next year - I am not quite ready for that!
ReplyDeleteI know, I'm not quite ready for that either but I think that store is going to be gone. It was always nice to think that you and I could've been on field trips at the same time and maybe passed each other and never knew it. The sell off of items in there is the telltale sign that it might be a thing of the past sooner than we'd like. :-(
Deleteyou couldn't have described a lunch with in-laws any better...
ReplyDeleteLOL...yeah, I never thought I'd see the Mr so happy but when it was over he was so relieved. They haven't always gone swimmingly but this one was rather quick but still awkward especially since we were seated away from most of them. Always seem to be on the outside lookin' in. :-\
DeleteSound like a lovely, Christmas-y weekend to me. I love Christmas! I spend the weekend, preparing for and hosting a family dinner (my brother and his family) Sunday night, so I turned on the Christmas playlist while I cleaned and cooked, and worked my booty off. Hopefully I burned some of the calories I ate Sunday night! It is fun to have the whole family over, it was a tradition my niece started about 5 years ago. We took turns hosting it, and then last year, someone dropped the ball and we didn't get together. I missed it, and wanted to do it again, so I hosted this year, even though it wasn't really my turn! It's a houseful of relatives (18 in all) and lots of good food and conversations, although as my hubs pointed out, some of the (grown-up) kids seemed a little out of sorts last night. I was too busy to notice that I guess. When you lose your parents, it's easy to lose contact with your siblings, at least in my case. It is just my brother and I, and he lives pretty close by so there's really no excuse for us not getting together at least at Christmastime. I know my Mom would be happy knowing we have a Christmas dinner. She loved the season so much, that's where my love of it all comes from.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you didn't let the dinner slip by this year. That can go by the wayside far too easy in this busy world. I'm sure your mom was smiling down on the whole event!
DeleteThat one blond-headed doll in the green overalls cracks me up because of the dark eyebrows! Definitely has a '50's look to it. That many dolls does make you wonder if they talk to each other at night! LOL!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you had a wonderful weekend with the true spirit of Christmas warming you down to your tootsies. I did some running around early Saturday morning then was home for the rest of the day. Been struggling with headaches and couldn't shake that one (gee, perhaps because the day before my bp was 195/99?). I managed to do some laundry and took care of emails then watched some football. Sunday was just grocery shopping and some house stuff. Very low key which I needed. The hubs did up the lights in the house and worked to the bone outside and did around the back sliding doors and lights around the deck and down the railings, so it looks so pretty out there. He took some pics of the front, so when I get some of inside and out back I'll send 'em to ya!
I would hate to be stuck in there at night! No thanks!
DeleteI've had headaches all week too, aren't we a pair! Low key sounds good. I look forward to pics!!