Merry Christmas (and some quick news)

I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy during the month of December and this year, I spent most of it longing to be in bed. Bronchitis will set a person back like that. I did however manage to get a couple of important projects taken care of. Unfortunately, none of them involved beading.

Geek and I got married!  He asked me to marry him on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I was pretty happy. We found a fabulous woman to perform the ceremony. She came to our home and we were married in front of the Christmas tree in the presence of our children.  Our littlest one, rolled around on the floor with my flowers and baa’ed like a sheep. It was very family centered and was just perfect for us. Our only complaint of the day was that our cheeks hurt from smiling so much.  The Christmas party? Well, that was to let everyone know that we got hitched.

I spent the first week of December getting everything ready for our wedding.  We decked out the house, hung lights outside and I spent hours and hours making garlands and wreaths to hang around the house. The second week was spent prepping for our party.  Then we went to the farm for a family visit.

At some point I became overwhelmed with Bronchitis. It’s been dreadfully uncomfortable but I think I’m finally on the upswing.  I went in to the allergy clinic for my shot today and it was pointed out to me that I am allergic to trees, that it might not have been a good idea to sit among piles of tree boughs while making garlands, and that my recovery might actually happen faster if we remove all of the greenery from our home.  About thirty seconds after I told geek this, he was in the family room ripping ornaments off of the trees and tossing wreaths.  So Christmas is officially over in our house. 🙁 It’s such a shame because this was the best our home has ever looked during the holidays.  I should have taken photos.

Aside from sprucing up the house, I was able to make two special gifts. I knitted my son a scarf, and I crocheted a pair of fingerless gloves for my daughter.  I also received a very special gift in the mail. My mom mailed me some of the ornaments off of our family tree. I remember fighting over them with my brother and sister over who got to hang what.  I believe my mom made the felt ornaments in the 70’s.  The others aren’t quite as old, I think we acquired them in the 80’s.  It was such a surprise to open the box and find them. I cried a little. My family is so very far away and those silly little ornaments made me feel like they were here. Thanks mom!

The trip to the farm was exhausting. It’s been forever since we’ve been down and I was just sick as a dog. I was also very behind on prepping for Christmas. I’m going to be honest and say that I wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch, watch Christmas movies and have the kids bring me tea and a never ending supply of nyquil.  Instead I spent several hours in the car clutching an empty dutch brother’s cup, hoping the hydrocodone cough syrup didn’t make me lose my dinner on the winding road. Despite all of that I am so glad that we made the trip.  You know that song, the one that goes. “over the river and thru the woods, to grandmother’s house we go”.. Well that was us.  It was dark when we left and it’s a three hour drive so it wasn’t any surprise that it was dark when we crossed the mountain pass. It was dead silent though and there was a dusting of snow on the evergreens that lined the road. We were the only car on the road and it seemed almost magical. The road that winds along the river, and thru the woods was a bit hairier. It sees very little traffic. There were trees down and a bit of snow to boot. I was very happy when we arrived.

I didn’t venture out with geek and the kids but I hear they had a blast. They watched Salmon jump up the waterfall and hiked up in the woods a bit. I curled up on the couch with some tea, enjoyed the wood stove and worked on a scarf. The company was good. We got to catch up with extended family and the kids got to visit with friends too. I’d have liked to have stayed longer, but I knew I was already struggling to get caught up for Christmas. Sadly it was a short trip.

Christmas was wonderful though. I still haven’t finished my Christmas cards, wedding announcements, home made granola or those hazelnut meringues I was going to make, but I was surrounded by people I love. Really when it comes down to it, that’s all that really matters isn’t it?

I hope that you had a very happy Christmas and that the New Year brings you  wondrous new possibilities.  Thank you so much for stopping by!