Way back in December . . .

Today's post is long but I want to remember that even though we are in an apartment waiting on the contractor to begin rebuilding our home, we still had fun. We still lived life in December of 2022.

I’m going to start all the way back on December 7. I only took one picture and it was of a really cute cheese “ball” which was actually shaped into a stand up tree! Arugula made up the garland and the star was made from orange peel. It was so cute!! Ann and Jane are sisters who are retired and they live together in our neighborhood. They used to live in two house but sold those and moved into one of the bigger homes. They are such great folks! The neighborhood ladies’ party was much fun!

On December 9, I took my final exam and I made an A . . .which makes my 3^rd A since I started school in January. I’m just taking one class at a time because I’m still working 40+ hours a week but I’m loving it!

We went to see a play at a local theater – it was the radio production of It’s A Wonderful life and it was really good. I’m not sure Mark enjoyed it but I loved it. We met our friends for dinner beforehand so it made for a great night!!

Mark strung lights in our tree in front of our darkened house and our neighbors allowed us to run extension cords to their house and it made me so happy. It is so weird that just driving by, you might not realize that the house had burned but if you look closely, you begin to see the charred siding and the black eaves and the tarped roof. The inside is gutted.

We went to Pike Road to see our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter and we went to her first dance recital. Oh my goodness – 3 year old ballerinas are so cute!! She is the one right by the teacher doing exactly what she was supposed to do!!

I finally started Christmas shopping online last Sunday night and I have lots of boxes coming. I hope it all gets here before Christmas.

On Wednesday, we started filming our staff video. Every year we make a crazy video and it debuts at our Contact Christmas service. Just in case you are interested in watching a totally silly video, here is the link. It is a “tool” to ask folks to give to our manger offering which provides assistance to 23 area ministries. Our people have come to expect and anticipate the video. This offering will bring in over $100,000 which will help feed people and clothe people and provide other assistance. The staff ate lunch together and then we went to the movie theater. We saw the second Black Panther movie and it was so good. I have to go back and watch the first one!! It is so awesome to go to the theater and sit in a recliner.

On Thursday night, we went to our Sunday school party. I made the marinade and sauce and Mark cooked the chicken thighs. They ate EVERY SINGLE BITE. The party home was spectacular. This couple is raising two of their grandchildren. The house looked like a magazine yet you could tell it was lived in! I love that. They were such hospitable hosts.

I got most of our Christmas cards in the mail on Friday. I had to spread them out on the bedroom floor since I don’t have a big dining room table in the apartment. This year, I prayed for every family as I put the stamps on the cards. I still have a few to send but I had to order more cards. I’ll get those in the mail on Monday or Tuesday. (They came in on Monday and I got them in the mail yesterday!) I’m usually the person who mails the cards on December 1. That obviously didn’t happen this year!! PLUS I put the wrong age on the card for one of our granddaughters!! (here is the explanation: Note about Christmas cards -I decided right in the middle of studying for my final, to create a quick Publisher document with photos and a few words. My daughter got hers today and texted me . . .I wrote that my granddaughter is 2 . . .and she is 3 ½. Yes, I know that! I will say that I didn’t get to go to her birthday party because it was the Saturday after my emergency surgery this summer . . .and a week after the fire . . .so maybe I had a weird momentary mental blip?? I may be kicking myself, but I’m going to try to extend grace to myself!!)

On Saturday night, one of our young adult friends took us all out to dinner at Bricktops. It was delicious and we had so much fun!! I had a Prickly Pear Margarita and it was so refreshing.

Sunday morning was normal – I worked the welcome center, taught Sunday School, etc. and then we had lunch with family. At 4:00, we went back to church to one of our special programs . . .it is one of our favorite worship services in December.

I worked on Monday but at 3:00, all of the girls in the office went to a co-worker’s house where we ate snacks, played Dirty Santa, and played another getting to know you game. My first question was, “I am surprised I survived _______________.” I immediately said, “having/raising twins.” They all yelled at me – but your house burned this summer!! I said I know . . .but having twin babies might have been harder! What would your answer be to that question?

Tuesday, the 20^th was our Young Adult Christmas Party. I cooked a regular dinner and we watched the last video in our Advent series and THEN . . . we played Dirty Santa. The two mini waffle irons were stolen multiple times!