Is everyone calm? Or are you feeling frazzled? Or somewhere in between?
I’m fairly calm, though a teeny bit of frazzled has appeared as I have to go out today to get one more thing for Don. I’m feeling better, but still not tip-top (neither is Don.) This thing hangs on a while, but I think the worst is over. So I have to get one more present and that should be it.
We had our usual wrangle this morning over how many presents we’re giving each other. I keep saying that the vintage dollhouse is my present – it is!-and he doesn’t have to give me anything else. He wants to make sure he’s giving me the same amount of presents that I’m giving him. Then I reiterate that this year is different. I have my present and it came early. Finally, I said if he wants to give me three little things from the dollar store, that would be fine. Sigh.
Yesterday was sunny and much warmer and today it’s going to hit 50. Crazy. But I’m not complaining!
We watched It’s a Wonderful Life last night. My favorite Christmas movie – no question. Cried my eyes out, of course – that never changes. I’m not a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, nor of modern movies like Elf, though I saw it once and can appreciate it. They just don’t make our list of Must-See Christmas Classics. I think the only more recent movie that we love is A Christmas Story. We also watched Miracle on 34th Street the other night. The black and white version, of course. Same goes for It’s a Wonderful Life. I don’t think any movies should be colorized if they were originally shot in black and white. Everything; the sets, the lighting, the camera work, costumes, was executed with the highlights and shadows of black and white in mind.
I love TCM and I’m grateful to Ted Turner for that wonderful channel, but not for his mission to colorize movies that were part of that great era of filmmaking.
I have to get going. I always forget that it gets dark so early, so I want to get out there and take care of my errands soon.
Added: If any of you follow Susan of the blog Ash Tree Cottage, please say a prayer for her. She has been in the hospital fighting an infection and in the course of her treatment, doctors found a renal mass that might have spread to her liver. Susan is a longtime blogging friend. She and her husband David need our prayers. Thank you.
Happy Monday.
hope you and don continue to feel better soon!
seeing the ice melt will help a bit, huh? while i think a snowy Christmas is beautiful, i am grateful that it’s dry here.
agree with you 100% about “it’s a wonderful life” and about not colorizing old b+w movies.
merry Christmas to you and don, your family and everyone who gathers here. thanks for creating a wonderful spot for community here, claudia!
and happy, healthy new year to everyone!
kathy in iowa
ps: what a perfect place for your new santa … on the porch of your new dollhouse!
Thank you, Kathy! Having all of you reading the blog and interacting here with each other is a joy. Merry Christmas, my friend. Have a wonderful holiday.
I do follow Susan (& Bentley) and knew she has not been feeling well for a while now. She hasn’t been posting much. Will definitely keep her in thoughts and prayers.
The Santa looks like he was made to be on that sweet little porch!! Great idea! You can decorate the porch for the seasons!!
Glad you are feeling better. Hope you can get in and out of wherever you are headed today. Craziness out there!! We aren’t complaining about this great weather, either. Days like this in December are, indeed, diamonds!!
It IS crazy out there. I was able to do what I needed in record time, so that’s good. Then I came home and dusted, vacuumed, did some laundry and now I’m collapsed in my chair. We’re going to take it easy tomorrow. All we have to do is wrap presents. Thanks, Chris.
It was at least 50 today and very sunny. A wonderful weather day!
As I waited for your picture to open I got a big grin on my face when I saw Santa standing in the doorway. Thanks and have a great Christmas.
You’re very welcome. Merry Christmas, Elaine!
Claudia I’m really loving your new Santa this year. He looks very much at home on the new dollhouse. You and Don are such special people. I’m glad you are feeling better. This is my hard day Dec 23rd, since I lost my brother 4 years ago. I’m doing better but still it’s hard. Some difficult decisions have to be made soon about my Mom’s living arrangements and its not going to be easy. I just can’t keep taking care of her like I have been. So the first of the year we will see what we can do. Ashleigh is coming to visit after Christmas and will help me have that talk with my Mom. Enjoy your holiday. It’s raining here but maybe Christmas Day will be better. Well it will be because I’ll spend it with the Grands. Hugs!
Thinking of you today, my friend. I have been full of memories of my parents and brother and our dogs and I miss them all so much it hurts. I understand. This Christmas in particular is bittersweet. I know you’re dreading talking to your mom so I am glad Ashleigh will be there with you. It’s the talk no one wants to have. Sending you love and a big, big hug. Merry Christmas!
to linda …
sincere condolences on your brother’s passing.
and sincere wishes and prayers that the talk goes well, that your mother has good health and that the path ahead is clear and easier than you might now think it will be.
hope you have time to do something every day that you enjoy.
sending a (virtual) hug if you want.
kathy in iowa
Your two new acquisitions look great together…like they were meant to be. Hope the crowds aren’t too bad for you today.
This weather is unbelievable. If we can’t have snow for Christmas…then I hope we don’t get any for the rest of the season. But…I’m sure that is very unrealistic. We did have a white Halloween, so I guess I will have to be content with that.
We are worming our way through the Christmas movies. Both the oldies, and the newer ones…to each their own. But I do prefer the original black and white versions better, like It’s a Wonderful Life.
Enjoy your day! ;)
It was very crowded, but I shopped locally and I got what I needed rather quickly. Then Don went out and did his thing. We’re were waiting for a package, so one of us had to be here during the day. It was 50 degrees here today, which is unbelievable given that the wind chill was below zero just three days ago! Let’s cross our fingers for a mild winter….Thanks, Donna.
Feeling that something serious was happening with Susan @ Ash Tree I have
kept her in my prayers. Thus I am most grateful for this update so that I may pray in specifics as we are divinely instructed. May our Heavenly Father watch over her surrounding her with
comfort and true healing.
Thank you for sharing.
You’re very welcome. Susan is loved and has a lot of people praying for her. Thank you!
Frazzled. Don’t recall a Christmas season for a long time when I’ve been this frazzled. I hope today is IT for being out & about as I need to be home. I keep saying that, but something keeps happening every day to pull me away from home and it’s getting annoying. I feel like I have a lot left to do (does that sound self-important? [don’t mean for it to]).
Even SoCalif is getting rain, so that adds to things feeling more complicated. As with you, it’s like I forget it’s going to be dark by 5pm and, yesterday, I got stuck at a busy store and walked out to black sky and heavy rain; when, really, with my eyes, I don’t need to be driving at night and with rain. Thankfully, I was close to home and drove like a snail, which p.o.’d another driver or two behind me, but so be it. Better safe than sorry. Everybody’s in a hurry; I really noticed this yesterday. Shoppers; drivers.
I already wrote myself a note to put with the 2020 calendar that next year has to be diff; I can’t have another holiday season like this one with too much going on and feeling behind. I get grumbly, and I don’t want to be grumbly at holiday time!
Glad you’re feeling somewhat better. Certainly illness during the holiday season contributes to even more of a feeling of frazzlement (I’m making up words today as I go along) because feeling puny just knocks you off your feet to where you don’t want to/can’t do anything, at least for a few days, but also when the days seem few.
I finally had success in transitioning my outdoor stray cat to the shed (nice shed, finished and stained wood floor, two windows; large shed), safe from cold, other cats who like to fight at night and also sheets of rain. The first night, he wouldn’t eliminate/relieve himself and I feared he’d risk bursting his bladder. But, yay, last night, all’s well and I think he’s adjusting to his new nighttime abode. (He used the litter box! Cats usually instinctively train themselves to a litter box pretty fast.) And our dog sailed thru her medical procedure and anesthesia; so, on the one hand, I’ve got no complaints. And I’m glad my newly-retired husband is no longer having to commute an hour back and forth to work on rainy L.A. freeways now. Looking so forward to being IN and together for Christmas Eve/Christmas when I know not everybody has that, i.e. families that are spread out and can’t all be in one place at one time.
Your Crystal guy is so cute I want to reach thru the screen and give him an affectionate poke!
Glad to hear about the stray.
Take a deep breath, Vicki. It will all work out!
to vicki …
it made my day better to hear all you and your husband are doing to help the stray cat and that your pup is doing so well post-surgery. may all the good you do come back to you!
congratulations to you both on his retirement … gaining more free time and losing that awful-sounding commute!
hope the frazzled feeling has been replaced with calm and that your to-do list is all done.
merry Christmas to you and your family.
kathy in iowa
I’m one of those that was feeling frazzled! Brian is out right now meeting up with his sisters and then visiting his dad in the nursing home. I was going to join him, but I just couldn’t. I am so burnt out from socializing and people-ing (and Brian himself has been home every day for the past week on vacation) that my head was ready to explode. I desperately needed some alone time, and am finally getting it this afternoon. Tomorrow we are going to my cousin’s house for a big family get-together and then Christmas day will just be Brian and I. Then it’s over for another year. Whew.
Your taste in Christmas movies is just like mine. We don’t have the Hallmark channel, but even if we did, the last type of Christmas movie I would watch is one on Hallmark. I love A Christmas Story and the other oldies you mentioned. (Same with Brian.) We haven’t even watched a single Christmas movie this year. Perhaps tonight.
I had no idea Susan of Ash Tree Cottage was sick – I don’t follow her, but am familiar with her blog. How sad. I will definitely keep her in my prayers. Thanks for letting us know.
If I don’t talk to you before Christmas, I’m wishing you and Don a holiday filled with love, peace, and relief from your colds!
xoxo
Glad you’re getting some quiet time, Melanie. I am the same way. Socializing exhausts me and I must have quiet time if there’s too much social activity.
Susan is very ill and the update her husband shared shocked me. Very worried about her.
I’ll post tomorrow and then I’ll take the day off on Christmas.
Please tell David that many people love Susan through her sweet blog. Her love for David, Bentley and all her previous dogs, and her parents is inspiring. Her decorating skills admirable.
I will. Thank you Jan.
Merry Christmas to you and Don. And thank you for the update on Susan – I knew she was fighting an illness but this sound serious. All my prayers for her too.
It is very serious. Thank you, Dawn.
Merry Christmas to you and Don. This is the season for frazzling times, isn’t it!? Today my 11 yr old grandson and I were in a store. Various things happened, but as we were waiting in line for the cashier, several people cut in. I apologized to the person behind me saying I thought we were in line. He said “we are in line, they are just idiots.’ The more he grumbled, the more I relaxed. Weird, I thought it was funny.
Thanks for info on Susan. I enjoy her postings. Knew she has not been well, but had no idea was so serious.
Hearing someone else’s take on that kind of thing often lightens the mood. Glad he made you laugh.
Susan’s current situation sounds very serious, Jan. Thank you!
I hope you and Don will be better soon and that you have a lovely Christmas. Thank you for the update on Susan. I knew that she hadn’t been feeling well for awhile and I will be praying that she will be healed Very soon.
Thank you Christina. Susan’s illness is very worrying.
Don and I are still a bit under the weather, but feeling much better overall.
Glad you and Don are feeling better. Sorry to hear about Susan. My sister follows her blog. I just told her what you said concerning Susan’s health. Will keep Susan in my thoughts and prayers.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn.xo
Your photos made me laugh. Thank you.
Hope you both are better soon. So sweet that you do a few little presents. We both know what we are getting but still have to wait until Christmas.
Sort of the same here, though there may be a few little surprises! Merry Christmas, Kay!
Your Santa on the rooftop made me smile. I’m sick and instead of getting into gear to prepare for Christmas, I’m getting very tired. We will see … All the best to you and Don. Regula
I’m sorry you’re sick – we’ve just been through that. It is always hard, especially at the holidays. Take it easy my friend, and Merry Christmas!
That Santa has just the right quirky quality to go perfectly with the magic house! Claudia, I hope that you and Don finally are over these colds and feeling well enough to enjoy today and tomorrow in your cosy home surrounded by treasures from all of the times and places of your life. Thank you for sharing so much with us over the year and years past. May the coming 2020 be a gentler winter and a gentler world. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love–N
We’re still stuffed up but feeling much better overall. Thank you, Nora.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Thanks for the heads-up about Susan. I hope to hear some good news about her soon. Meanwhile, I left a little cheer on her blog thanks to you!
You’re welcome, Roxie.
Yes, I’ve been thinking of Susan. She does indeed need prayers.
I love your new “Crystal” St. Nick. He’s wonderful with the doll house — perfect placement! And I’m with you on the movies. I like Love Actually, too, as a holiday movie and Christmas Story but the rest pale in comparison to The Bishop’s Wife, White Christmas, Man Who Came to Dinner and It’s a Wonderful Life.
It sounds lovely in your world. Merriest. Keep celebrating!
We will! Though were tired this morning! xo
Claudia, thank you for sharing the news about Susan. I was wondering what was wrong since she hasn’t blogged in awhile. She will surely be on my prayer list. I enjoy your blog and you are the reason I have followed Susan’s. Hope we all have a great New Year! DEB
Thank you, Deb!