Hello, Sunday.

Hello, 2021!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and are ready to face all that the new year holds for us. What is that? I don’t know! None of us do, which is why my word for this year is SURPRISE.

Rather than set resolutions, my friends and I each pick a word to help us guide our thoughts and actions in the upcoming year.  Last year, my word was SOAR, and well…yeah.  This year, I set zero expectations that anything that I think will happen will go to plan, but I’m ready to be pleasantly surprised by whatever does.  I do actually like surprises (most of the time) so for me, this word is about hope and faith rather than about a deep foreboding.  

To be honest, in looking at last year’s board, I didn’t do too badly with it. While I didn’t get to go on any of the international adventures I had planned, I did get a new job, spent a lot of time at the lake, out on the tennis court, and outside on the trails. All which did, in the end, help me get through 2020 in the plus column, which I realize is much more than a lot of people can say.  

Do you do a word of the year? What do you hope for this year? Let’s start this one with a little fun:

wishing: i had some fun plans in store for the next few months now that the holidays are over.

hoping: that 2021 is better than 2020!

thinking: (shhhh….I didn’t think Bridgerton was very good…)

praying: for all of us

planning: for trips waaaay into 2021 and maybe a road trip or two before then!

dreaming: weird dreams, the fantasy mixed with reality kind.

eating: all the veggies, please

drinking: hot chocolate! baby, it’s still cold outside.

watching: Grantchester, because I can’t help but love a period crime drama.

wearing: loving this basic shirt – so cozy!

Let’s do our best, okay?

Happy Festivus, ya’ll! Every year, I try to come up with a new Christmas drink. For no reason, just because at Christmas time I actually take the time and effort and find an occasion to drink something more than La Croix and diet root beer.  And this year, as I grasp at any straw to mix up my routine, I’ve done the season justice with this Chai Hot Chocolate. With, homemade (yes I did that) cardamom-dusted marshmallows. Yes!

(more…)

Hello, Sunday.

Mid-December! We’re here! I have most of my shopping done, though everything seems to be in USPS limbo and therefore I have nothing to show for it under my tree. Mom and I are baking up a cookie storm today and I’m sure there will be so many cookies that we won’t even know who to give them to…and shipping like I usually do is risky – I don’t want them also ending up in USPS limbo. Still, it’s been years since we baked all the things we used to bake when we were youngins’ and I’m excited to get in the kitchen.

It was a rough week here- Crawley had to go to the vet on Tuesday (he’s fine) but we both spent the rest of the week paying for it with his bad mood. Dramatic, yes, but since there are two of us in the house, when one of us is in a mood, the whole house is in a mood. Cats have feelings, too, don’t I know it?

How are you? Are you in the spirit?  I really am and embracing it because it’s going to be a LONG January- March. My old landlord used to leave the house tree up and change decorations for it to keep it up through Mardi Gras. I wonder if I should do the same? 

Anyway, the internet has words for us. Here’s what I got:

Damn, I love a good holiday ad and this one made me tear up a little. Also, a good reminder for us all!

My friend Grape, who has her Ph.D. in vaccine design, passed this on. Her comment, echoed in this article, was that, in an ideal world, vaccines would be ready and waiting on the shelves in the labs for outbreaks rather than reactively trying to rush the process.However, with the current funding model- why would anyone want to spend millions of dollars on a vaccine that might be needed someday? Anyway, a good read, We Had the Vaccine All Along.

So…does the vaccine mean we’re back to normal? Hardly. Wear those masks!

Interesting: how the pandemic distorted time.

If the pandemic hit Stars Hollow…(this is spot on, GG fans!)

Did you know about the Hermitage cats? Well, they just got a small windfall.

If the Nutcracker was part of your Christmas tradition, it can stay that way this year! Free virtual event!

Could this BE any more Chandler Bing?

DYK- It’s a Wonderful Life.

BRB, baking these.

I’m making Christmas Eve dinner and am going with paella (but with rice instead of cauliflower rice. Good decision, I think!

What are you making for holiday eats? 

That’s all she wrote. Have a good week!