Christmas cards and stuff

These are the Christmas cards I received this year. I don't get as many as I used to but I still send to the people who don't send them back. I've noticed on a lot of blogs people talking about not getting a lot of cards this year.  I don't know if people were just late sending them, it's getting too expensive or with the Internet people are in more contact so they don't send them anymore. 

 

I used to tape them to the inside of the front door.  Now I tape them to the mirror in the dining room.  My aunt originally had it in her home.  She then gave it to my Mom and she had it for many years.  Then when Mom didn't want it anymore, I took it.  I'm thinking this is probably an antique mirror by now LOL.

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Nothing much has been happening.  I'm doing this and that around here but nothing that anyone would notice but me. 

 

I'm seriously thinking about taking the Christmas decorations down.  I talked to my son and he said he doesn't really care if they are up or not when he comes for a visit.  I would like to get the house back in order.  We'll see.

Bah Humbug and misc.

This is my husband's favorite decoration LOL.  Although technically, I guess it's not really a decoration.  He puts this button on his coat sometime right after Thanksgiving. We don't remember exactly when or where he originally got it but as you can see from the picture and it's somewhat ratty appearance, it's pretty old.

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We visited Mom yesterday and then went to her house.  She got a super high water and sewer bill and I think it was because her toilet was constantly running.  My husband turned it off.  We took a meter reading and will go next week and see if it slowed up the numbers.  There's been a little drama with the house which I don't want to get into but suffice it to say, I'll be happy when it's sold.  That made me a little Bah Humbug but thankfully, it didn't ruin Christmas for me. The real estate agent said after the first we will drop the price. 

Last night, I went to a friend's house for a little Christmas gathering and to exchange gifts with her.  Magellan and I bought her a Scentsy candle warmer.  We went to a party a few weeks ago and she wasn't able to come.  We decided then that's what we would get her for Christmas.  She happens to be a Snowman collector LOL.  Naturally, we got her one with Snowmen on it. 

From Magellan, I got a Scentsy plug in candle warmer.  In fact, we each picked one out at the party for our Christmas exchange to each other.  We figured this way we would get exactly what we wanted.  I also bought a bigger candle warmer.  Neither of them are Christmas.  I'll take a picture of both in January and show everyone what they look like.  They are pretty cool and are wickless. 

Snowman and Recap

This is a snowman that sits atop my dining room table.  When you take it apart, it all fits into each other. 

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The Nativity scene from yesterday came from my brother and sister-in-law.  They brought it back from Mexico when they went on a trip years and years ago.  I still keep it wrapped up and in the same Christmas bag they gave it to me in.  Pretty soon, I'll have to get rid of the bag.  It's seen better days.

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We had a very nice Christmas Eve.  My brother and sister-in-law went and saw Mom.  He brought her a bunch of sugar free candy.  He left three bags there and brought the rest so I could disperse it to her over time. They then came over here. We had stuffed cabbage, ham, potato salad and baked beans with sausages.  I also had some candy and nuts out.  After we were done eating and were talking, I brought out the photo album to show my brother and his wife that I made for Mom.  We talked about all the pictures and wondered what happened to us.  We were all much skinnier LOL.  We had an apple pie from Schwan's and some vanilla ice cream but no one was hungry. We opened gifts.  I was happy to have the chocolate covered cherries for them  ;-) . It was a very nice time.  I gave them a tray of stuffed cabbage to take home and some potato salad.  They had ham at home so we didn't give them any. 

 

When we went to see Mom on Christmas Day, she was so excited.  Santa Claus had come in the morning when she was in her room.  She had me take her back to her room to show me what she got.  She got some candy in a bag, a calendar and a little picture frame.  There were a lot of people visiting residents today and the parking lot was packed.  We called my son and Mom talked to him for a little bit.  I think Mom was very pleased with the photo album.  She went through the whole album.  Hopefully, she will look at it again and again. 

 

Did you all have a good Christmas Eve and Christmas?

 

 

4 snowmen etc.

I bought this through a catalog. I love how each snowman has a jingle bell, a wooden sled, broom or the birdhouse.  They are so fun.  The whole thing reminds me a quilt with appliques (if that is the correct term)

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Right when we were getting ready to leave yesterday from the nursing home, some carolers came.  Probably about 6 or 7 young people with Santa hats on.  I can't even imagine how many times carolers or Christmas entertainment have come.  I bet January is going to seem pretty boring there when the holidays are over. 

 

My cousins and their husbands came over the weekend.  Mom got a cute little stocking with a snowman in it and a Santa Claus ornament that lights up.  Also, some money which I will probably use for haircuts for her.  I think next year I'm not even going to bother with decorating the bulletin board, she got so many cards and stuff that I hung over the decorations. 

 

We cooked and did more prep work yesterday.  I'm waiting for my brother to call and tell me what time they will be coming.  He's going to see Mom first.  My husband and I will go Christmas afternoon so she will have family both days.  It will seem weird not seeing her on Christmas Eve. When I talked to my son today, I told him I would call him on mom's phone from the nursing home (it has an amplifier on it) so he can talk to her for Christmas. 

 

I decided we would eat leftovers here for Christmas so that will at least be good. 

 

I better get going, I've still got a ton of stuff to do.  Have a good Christmas Eve.

 

Gingerbread and stuff

Just pretend this isn't a little blurry.  I don't know how many pictures I took of this but I just couldn't get a clear one for some reason.  Kinda like my plan with the gingerbread.  I had the bright idea that I wanted to do my kitchen in all gingerbread stuff.  I bought some little garlands that a few years we taped on the cupboard doors.  Also, I bought some hot pads that I hung up above the stove.  I never really followed through with getting more gingerbread stuff.  This year the only thing that made it up were these blurry gingerbread people LOL.  Oh well, maybe in the future I will get back into it and get more gingerbread stuff.

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We went to the meeting at the nursing home.  It was like I thought it would be, everything was good.  I had a couple of questions but I could have just as well asked the nurse on duty. We probably were only in the room 5 or 6 minutes.  I think the next time there's a meeting, if there's no problem, I will probably pass on it.  As long as we were there, I just went in to say hi to mom for a minute and told her we'd be back today.

My husband went with the list and got all the food for Christmas Eve.  He was able to get the half of ham cut into quarters, so we'll be making that.  I'll put the rest in the freezer.  I can probably use it for Easter.  I did a few thing to prepare for cooking today.  I couldn't believe it when he came home, he thought to buy the chocolate covered cherries.  OMG, I completely forgot about them.  I was so happy. If I don't write things down, I completely forget.   I told him I would have just felt terrible if we hadn't have got them.  He really saved the day ;-)

Another craft fair find and 2 mysteries

I bought this at a craft fair.  Every year I would go with my friend to this one craft fair.  I would always see these framed scenes.  You can't really tell from the picture but the snowmen are popped out a little almost like 3D.  I probably looked at them for 5 years.  I would always think before I went that I would buy one. Then when we would go, I would debate with myself if I should buy one, but I could never justify spending the money when it came down to it.  Then finally one year, I saw this little one and it spoke to me LOL and I shelled out the money.  Plus, I was afraid that sooner or later this person would stop selling them.  Believe me, that's happened to my friend and I.  We didn't buy something thinking it would be there the following year and it wasn't. 

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Number 1 mystery: Sunday morning when I opened the blinds I looked for the newspaper in the driveway and it looked like the newspaper wasn't there.  Although there were signs that it had been there.  Then I noticed on the walkway up to the front steps there were little paw prints, even on the front landing.  So, I get a coat on and go outside to look to make sure the newspaper isn't really there because I thought maybe with the snow I just wasn't seeing it.  I got a couple of feet from where the newspaper should have been but it was gone.  I saw more paw prints on the grass but neither those nor the ones by the walkway were really close to where the newspaper was supposed to be.  There also weren't car tracks in the driveway or footprints where someone would have come and taken the newspaper. I went back in the house and I'm thinking what could have happened to it.  I decided to open the door and take a look outside once more and then I spot the newspaper.  It was by my neighbor's evergreen next to our driveway.  I can't figure out how it got there.  Evidently at one time it was in the driveway.  I thought maybe a deer (because that's what my husband thinks walked on the front grass) or a cat (that's what we think walked on the front walkway) seemed to be close enough to pick it up to put it where it was.  I guess this will be one mystery that will go unanswered but that won't stop me from trying to figure it out ;o)

 

Sunday when we went to see Mom, she was playing bingo. She won two little candy bars.  She said they had already done the rosary.  Then at 1:00, they were having Christmas carolers come in.  Boy, she is busier than me.

 

Number 2 mystery: When Mom was playing bingo, I took her pop and candy that I bring her when we go to her room.  I noticed when I was in there the stuffed animals were gone.  Then I saw that the gorilla stuffed animal was on the night stand but I didn't see the teddy bear one.  I'm not sure what happened to it.  I didn't ask Mom because I figured if she didn't know it was missing I wasn't going to tell her LOL.Maybe eventually this mystery will get solved.     

Santa clock et al

One year my husband bought me this Santa clock.  Usually I have batteries in it but for some reason I didn't put them in this year. 

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 Yesterday, I got most of my cleaning done.  I'll finish up today.  I had one more thing to wrap and that should be it.

On Friday, we took what we bought for the staff.  I think it was a good choice.  I took pictures and I'll explain why we decided on it.  I think it was a pretty logical choice, if you ask me LOL.

My son's girlfriend and mother came to visit on Friday morning.  That was very nice.  We visited for probably a half hour.  It was good to see them.  They brought Christmas cookies which was a good thing.

We've been lucky in the snow department.  We hardly got any which is unusual but I'm not complaining LOL.

Door Hanger et al

I have this snowman door hanger on the inside front door and it has a couple of bells on it.  So, I guess I still have a little bell action going on with the door ;o)  I'm not sure where I got this.  Probably a catalog. 

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I'm going to be busy getting my house cleaned and writing my list of what food we have to buy for Christmas Eve this weekend.  I'll probably make the stuffed cabbage Wednesday then I will just reheat it.  I'm debating on if I should get a ham or not since there will only be the four of this year.  Last year, we gave my brother half of the half of ham to take home LOL.  I guess that was good for them because they had something to eat for a few days.  I will have to see. I had a few presents to wrap and I did that last night. 

Earlier in the week, I mentioned to the nurse that Mom's legs looked like they were starting to swell again.  It just so happened that the doctor came in that same day.  He decided to just have them elevate Mom's legs when she is in bed to see if the swelling will go down on its own because double dosing her with the water pill isn't that great for her kidneys. 

I was a little upset because Mom didn't get her haircut this week.  The person that cuts it is only in on Tuesdays and Thursdays (the days I don't go, it figures) and the regular receptionist wasn't in yesterday.  I will have to talk to someone Monday to see if the beautician will be in on Tuesday and can cut her hair then. Otherwise, she will have to wait until after Christmas. 

When we got there yesterday, Mom wanted to show me something in her room.  I wheeled her down and sitting by her TV were two little stuffed animals.  A teddy bear and a gorilla.  Apparently, they had something the other night and they were on the tables and everyone was allowed to take one.  She said the guy that was sitting at her table didn't want one and he told her to take it. 

Christmas magnets et al

My son when he was little and my husband for a while were giving me Christmas magnets for Christmas. One year they couldn't find any so they made their own. You'll notice in the last row; one was a little Christmas bag I had that they put a magnet on; the other two are Christmas tags and they put magnetic backing on.  I thought that was pretty clever.  That was, however, the last year I got magnets  LOL.

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I got Mom's photo album almost done.  It took me a long time to pick out the pictures.  Then I kept putting different ones in and taking others out.  I finally decided enough was enough.  Yesterday, I put tape behind the pictures because they are all different sizes and I didn't want them to fall out when she looks at them.  Overall, I think it looks pretty good. I hope she likes it and will look at it frequently.  The only thing I'm still thinking on is the title on the front of the album.  I have a picture of her and I titled it "This is Your Life" but that seems too corny to me now and reminds me of the old TV show.  So, I have to think up a new title.  Then I'll be done.  I've got one more week LOL. 

I had a Christmas miracle [I hope saying this doesn't jinx me].  My tooth stopped hurting since I've been on the antibiotics.  I called the dentist and I decided to wait and see what happens with this tooth.  I hope I don't regret it. 

Santa wreath, dentist, tour

Another craft fair find.  This Santa Claus Welcome wreath used to hang where the Snowman Happy Holidays (the one in my header) sign now hangs.  When I bought it, I thought it was going to look great.  When I put it up and took a picture of it, I realized it was way too small.  I did use it there for a couple of years until I found the decoration in my header.  Now the Santa Claus Welcome hangs on a small wall and doesn't look quite as small. 

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I went to the dentist yesterday.  OMG, this might turn into a project.  I thought I would have to have root canal on that tooth but guess what?  I already had root canal on that tooth.  Who remembered?  Obviously not me. He thought it could be because my bite was off or it could be an infection.  So, he drilled some off the tooth and took an x-ray. The x-ray showed nothing.  He said he would put me on an antibiotic and see if that helped the annoyance/pain which is no guarantee if it helps that it couldn't return.  He ended up taking an impression for the other tooth next to it since that needed a crown because the filling was so big.  I have to call him back on Thursday and let him know if it is better.  If not, I would need what ever is left of that tooth to get pulled.  Joy to the World, just want I want to have done right before Christmas. I guess that would be one way of me not overeating for the holidays ;-) .  He is not going to send the impression in for the crown on the other tooth until he finds out about the hurting tooth because I would need a bridge made (to know where if you ask me).  I'm hoping and praying that the tooth stops hurting.  The receptionist said she could get me in on Tuesday if need be.  Oh boy, lucky me.  If I do, I suppose I could take a chance and wait until after Christmas but the way this is going I could imagine waking up on Christmas Day and finding myself in much more pain.  I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it LOL. 

Did anyone go over to Nester's Christmas tour?  I've only looked at about 50 so far. There's already almost 1000 links.   I'm determined to go look at every blog even if it takes me until next Christmas to do it.  I could really use a wireless lap top LOL.

Christmas candy dish et al

This is my Teddy Bear Candy Dish.  My husband makes sure it's supplied with Christmas Hershey Kisses and Christmas Reese Cups.  I used to share them with my son.  Unfortunately, now that he's not here it looks like I'll be eating 99% of them myself.  My husband can eat just one and be satisfied.  Who does that LOL???

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I went Sunday to Office Max and bought a little album to put pictures in for mom for Christmas.  There's not much she needs and since her room is so small, she has no pictures of family.  I've been going through her old photo's and picking some out.  Unfortunately, she never labeled most of them and I'm not sure who a lot of these people are.  I'm also going to add newer photo's that we've taken over the years. 

I really have to start going through our photo's too and labeling them.  Looking through them, there's some people that we knew at the time but now I don't even remember their names.  Oh well.

I went for my six month cleaning and check up at the dentist yesterday and they are doing a new thing.  They usually check my mouth to see if there is any oral cancer.  Now, they have a new test.  You have to swish around this liquid in your mouth for a minute.  Supposedly, it's vinegar (which it tasted like) and raspberry flavoring and then in the dark they shine this light in your mouth.  It's supposed to light up differently I guess if there is any start of cancer.  Unfortunately, insurance doesn't pay for it but I let them go ahead and do it anyhow. When I came home, I read up on it.  It seems like it's kind of an iffy test if it works or not.    I guess this is all related to the wellness thing.  Hopefully, these tests will work out and people will be able to find out sooner rather than later if they are starting to get cancer.  Now, if only the insurance companies would see the value in paying for this.  That would definitely be a good thing.

Santa, the Angel and the Snowman et al.

Forget that they aren't evenly spaced. I didn't notice until I took the picture.

The Santa Claus was another Christmas thing my son bought for me. I fell in love with it the instant I saw it. I've never had a Santa Claus with anything other than red clothes. The green on the clothes is so pretty to me. It also plays White Christmas. Beautiful.

The Angel was from Party Lite. I'm sure everyone in their lifetime has been to at least one, two or three of these parties ;o) Normally, there is a white taper candle that goes in this but I never light it and you can't really even tell there's supposed to be one there. This year I decided not to add it.

The Snowman was from one of my Dinner Friends and naturally there's a story to that. We had our Christmas dinner at a fancy, fancy restaurant. I checked my coat. When I was getting my coat, I put the gift exchange on a chair by the coat room. I don't know what happened but my one friend and I were there and somehow it broke. She took the blame for it. I'm not really sure it was her fault. It could have been mine and she went out and got me another one. Don't I have such nice friends.

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Tonight is my Christmas dinner with my dinner friends.  We are going out a little farther than usual so I hope the weather will cooperate.  We might get some flurries.

I'm thinking I didn't win anything at the raffle at the nursing home.  Unless when we go today and they say I'm a winner LOL but I'm not counting on it.  Oh well, it was for a very good cause.  I really have more stuff than I can put out anyway.
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edited: Kelly's Corner is doing Show you Life - Christmas trees.  If you go down to my Dec. 2nd post you can click on the link and see some people's Christmas trees.