Happy Christmas!

 From our house to yours!

Wordless Wednesday: Scenes of Celebrations

 

Five for Friday, Edition #35

Five Hard Things

1. I recruited a friend to be my co-worker. Did I ever tell this story? I had a friend in book club who was looking for a job and I told her to apply to my office and she did and now her office is across the hall from mine. She's sick. And things are not going well for her. On Wednesday she was admitted to the ICU and I feel like it was stuff with my mom all over again. Anyway, she's probably going to be fine, right?

2. I used to listen to a podcast called Let's Go To Court. It was two women who had been friends since they were in elementary school discussing true crime cases. But the podcast ended and so did the friendship. One of the hosts has a new podcast with her husband called An Old Timey Podcast and at the end of an episode they discussed how hard it was to lose that friendship. She said that in many ways ending that friendship was harder than if she had ended her marriage and I think that's right. When you get divorced, people around you rally around. When a friendship ends, no one really knows. Anyway, I've been thinking about this because I recently took someone off my holiday card list because I hadn't heard from them in a long time and it was clear they have broken up with me, but I don't know why. 

3. Yesterday when I walked Hannah in the morning, it was rainy and about 44 degrees (about 7 degrees Celsius). Not ideal, but it was fine. By the time I left work, it was 34 degrees and the temperatures were falling fast. By the time I walked her before bed, it was 19 degrees (about -7 Celsius). A winter weather advisory was issued for something called flash freeze, which is not a term I was familiar with, but some jackass on Reddit wrote "this is completely normal for living in the Midwest" and I'm over here going ???? in my brain. How have I ever never heard this term before?

4. Grades were posted Wednesday, so yesterday I spent the day following up with my students of concern to see how things were going. Most of the news was good and I was able to say congratulations and I'm proud of you. But the students who didn't do well. Ugh. I hate having those conversations. 

5. I'm reading a book that has a lot of buzz and has been well-reviewed and I just don't like it. How long do I have to keep reading it? 

Five Fun Things

1. Tonight we're going to the holiday light show at the local botanical garden with our friends. We do this every year and I'm excited about taking a little bit of fun time.

2. Sunday is the Winter Solstice! We have friends who have a Solstice Party every year where we go to their backyard and hang out around a campfire. It is a lovely time to see people we don't always see regularly and to remind myself that the days are going to get longer.

3. In January, I have blocked out days for me and Bestest Friend to hang out together. We haven't exactly planned what we're going to do yet, but it's on the calendar.

4.Speaking of Bestest Friend, I sent her a holiday card with some of my high school senior photos in it and she put those photos on the fridge. This made me laugh.

5. Did you all know Christmas is next week? And New Year's the week after? I'm super excited for time off and to get to hang out with my in-laws on Christmas Day.

****************

Are you familiar with flash freeze? Did you take anyone off the holiday card list this year? What holiday celebration are you most looking forward to in the next couple of weeks?

Five for Friday, Edition #34

1) Holiday cards - I put them in the mail Wednesday night. I presume that means my international friends will get them sometime in 2026. Woot woot! YOU GUYS. When I was cleaning my mom's house, I found my high school senior photos and there were a bunch of wallet-sized ones left, so I put them in all my high school friends' cards. Oh, and Allison got a couple. If you want to know what I looked like in high school, just imagine me with long hair and fewer wrinkles. 

I ran out of stickers, so the last few didn't get a sticker. How much am I going to let this bother me? (I think you all know that it's going to bother me, but if you get an envelope that doesn't have a sticker, it doesn't mean I don't love you.)

2) Secret SANta - Sarah was my Secret SANta and look what goodies ended up at my door! A fuzzy scarf and hat set. I think you all know I'm always cold, so what a thoughtful gift.

The deadline San set for us to mail our items was December 6. That seems reasonable, but I wanted to buy something for my swap partner at the local Holiday Market that was on that date, so I went to the market in the morning and got to the post office with five minutes before it closed. I told the rest of the story on Nicole's blog, so why am I redoing this?

3) Weather - Friends. It's batshit here. And do you know what the highs this weekend are supposed to be? I can't even. A high of five (that's -15 to you Celsius folks). Dumb. So dumb. 

4) Murderbot - Well, I am not going to let the weather bother me because my plan for the weekend is to sit on the couch with my favorite cat and watch Murderbot on Apple TV. My husband recently bought a laptop and we have three free months of Apple TV and you better believe we are watching A LOT of things. 

Do you see that car covered in snow? It's an Audi wagon and I'm so jealous of it. It's beautiful and perfect and THEY DON'T SELL IT IN THE US ANYMORE. Ahem. 

5) Cookies - Workplace demerit and gold star incoming. 

Demerit - Our holiday employee celebration was on Tuesday afternoon. It was an event running from 1-3 and we turned up about 2. I trudged across campus with some of my colleagues and arrived to find the worst food spread imaginable. There were meatballs in some sort of grey sauce (*gag*), an empty tureen of soup, some sad looking tiny sandwiches with one slice of lunchmeat (*heave*) on them, and a cheese plate. I liked the cheese, actually. There was a hot cocoa and coffee bar, but I don't drink either, so that was a bust for me personally, but went over well with everyone else. 

But the kicker? They had put a lovely sugar cookie at each place setting at some tables and there was frosting and sprinkles to decorate said cookies. But, hypothetically, if you arrived at 2, there were NO MORE COOKIES. Did I need a cookie? No. Did I trudge across campus with the thought that maybe I could get a cookie? Yes. 

I was actually more insulted with the lackluster food than if there had just been no food. That is all. Are you listening, Big Guy in Charge? (I actually really hope he doesn't read my blog.)

Gold star: The dean of our college

 (This might actually be confusing for non higher ed folks. I work at a university that is made up of six individual colleges. I work for one of those colleges. People frequently say they're going to college and that's technically true, but not all colleges are universities, but all universities have at least two colleges.)

hosts a Cookies and Cocoa event every year. His partner is a baker extraordinaire and she makes SO MANY COOKIES. And guess what? On Wednesday, I got cookies and the leftovers stay in the kitchen on our floor! Woot! Cookies galore at the end of the week. 

Also, I was bringing a friend a meal on Monday, so I made spiced chocolate chip cookies and brown butter sugar cookies AND we're going to a dealio tonight, so I made buckeyes last night. There has been SO MUCH BUTTER AND SUGAR usage in our house. It's going to be brutal when I have to go back to reality in January. But right now? My candy/cookie game is great.

***************

Are you going to be caught up in this Arctic blast? What's the last cookie you ate? 

Five for Friday, Edition #33

1) Update on an update: We did it. We bought a new car. I might have cried when we drove by the Hyundai for the last time. We bought a Subaru Outback (if you want the details it's a Limited trim with a turbo engine). Is it really an SUV? Yes. Do I feel like I've let myself down? Sort of. 

Her name is Lucy and she has heated seats and a heated steering wheel. Since the high topped out IN THE SINGLE DIGITS yesterday, I have made use of these features. 

I would show you a photo, but I literally never see her in the daylight. Maybe you'll get a photo in May.

2) Let the season begin: We have finally joined all the festive people. Lights are up and the advent puzzle has been started. The holiday market is tomorrow and I'm hoping to do most of my shopping by the end of the weekend. Cards have been ordered. Tickets for the Rotary Gardens light show have been ordered. Let's GO. 

3) Workity work: You know how work has been insane and I said things will slow down? I mean, that hasn't happened yet. The software launch has been a disaster and I'm still the point person for that. We have a new hire which will eventually mean less on my plate, but now means MORE on my plate. Eh. You know what? Who cares? It's fine. Just don't look at my work calendar.

4) Midwesterners must talk about the weather: If you follow other Wisconsin/Illinois bloggers, you might already know that last weekend an entire planet's worth of snow was dumped on us, followed by more snow, and then the temperatures plummeted so that the high yesterday was in the single digits. What does that mean? It means that snow ain't going nowhere and Hannah is by turns delighted by the snow and horrified by it. It also means my time outdoors stat is not doing well right now.

5) It's Spotify Wrapped time: The best of time of year is when I am yet again reminded that white trash stays white trash. YES, Tanya Tucker is one of my most listened to artists of the year. Do yourself a favor and listen to her cover of  "The House that Built Me" and follow it up with "Lizzie and the Rainman." If you want deeper Tucker cuts, consider her version of "The Thunder Rolls," the sad story song "What's Your Mama's Name," my karaoke song "Delta Dawn," or the super romantic "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane." I am a basic white bitch and I intend to stay that way.

*****************

Any big updates in your life? Do you want to talk about the weather? Do you have a song recommendation for me? Do you want to brag about any of the top artists on your Spotify Wrapped?

Holiday Card Display

This is what my holiday card display looked like last year before I took it down.

We just have some braided ribbon hanging there and the only way we have them staying in place is with a couple of Command hooks on the corners of the doorway.

The ribbon is knotted together three or four times and there are knots on both ends.

What it looks like before any cards are added to it.

We add the cards with tiny clothespins!

And that's it. 

How do you display your cards?

Five for Friday, Edition #32

In the spirit of San's list of five things for NaBloPoMo, I'm going to simply write five things I am planning on doing today on my day off. 

1) Put up Christmas decorations - the tree, the outside lights, and everything. It's supposed to be windy and cold, so we might nix the outside stuff if it's too bad and do that later if we have to.

2) Order my holiday cards - I already have THREE (THREE!) holiday cards, including ones from Elisabeth and J. I bought stamps already, so now it's just figuring out what photos to use from 2025 and order a card.

3) Buy some gifts. Not all of them, but I need to get started. Here's who I think I might be buying for this year. Honestly, just typing this out made me feel better. The list is reasonable.

• My husband
• The 2-3 niblings we get in the draw
• Bestest Friend
• TJC
• My peer mentor 
• The lady who coordinates yoga at the student union - She's retiring and her last day is January 2. *sigh* Guess who's taking over coordinating yoga?
• The mail carrier 
• I'll grab a tag or two off an angel tree

4) Take Hannah on an adventure. Last weekend we went to the dog park for the first time in 2025. There are reasons I stopped taking her, but she had a blast and maybe I should be better about taking her to places she can run around off-leash more often.

Dog park last Sunday. I love her furrowed brow. What does she have to be worried about?

5) When I came back from my cleaning my mother's stuff, I had two totes with me. One of those totes is mostly photographs. The other tote is stuff - paper products, knickknacks, craft supplies, etc. I did a first pass on Wednesday and organized it, but I'd like to get the rest of that tote put away/dealt with. The tote with the photographs is a longer project, but it does remind me that maybe I should put a photograph album or two on my holiday list.

Bonus

6) Write a holiday wish list. Right now, I'm thinking I want a fancy new hair dryer and maybe a flat iron. Maybe. 

Christmas 2024 in Photos

These photos are not in any real chronological order. But this is what it was. 

Weekend Roundup

Not to brag, but I don't have to go into the office again until January 2. I might check my email once or twice just to make sure I'm not heading back into absolute chaos, but I've checked out of work. Sorry, students, your "emergency" is going to have to wait (I do not deal in emergencies). 

Saturday was a cold, cold day in Wisconsin. It had snowed on Friday and then the temperatures dropped into the single-digits and I forced poor Hannah to wear all of her clothes - boots and coat. Boy was she ever embarrassed.

On Saturday morning, I met up briefly with Anne to collect our holiday ceramics. I'll let her share hers if she wants, but here's my before:

And after:

And, then, get this, I hung out with Zelda on the couch. It was in the schedule. 

Despite the single-digit temps, we walked over to our friends' house and hung out by a solstice bonfire. They do it every year and most years we go for about an hour and leave because we have work the next day, but this was SATURDAY NIGHT. Woot woot! We stayed for a few hours and had fun chatting with people. 

I built in more couch and kitty time on Sunday, but we also did laundry and Dr. BB wrapped presents and there were chores. But the weather was into the 30s, so Hannah no longer had to wear her coat, but the shoes are still a thing because of all the salt people have put out. 

If you ask Hannah, she's treated very poorly, you know? 

Wish me luck today as I am head to our regular grocery store and Costco. Dr. BB is going to meet up with some friends later in the day, so I'm going to wrap his presents, clean the vacuum, and make cookies while he's gone. Don't say I don't know how to live it up when I have the house to myself.

****************

Tomorrow's Christmas Eve! Can  you believe it?  

Presents: What I Got Everybody

This year I dramatically reduced who I bought presents for. Buying presents was so stressful and I just dipped out. Here's what I got for the loved ones in my life.

1) 15-year-old nephew (got him in the draw) - His parents told us to get him clothes and I also added a book:

A Hawkeye shirt, as requested by his parents

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

The books

2) 13-year-old nephew (got him in the draw) - His parents told us to get him books and said he likes facts. I added a cooperative dice game, hoping he'll play with his cousins and/or siblings:

The Complete Book of US Presidents, Fourth Edition - Includes Biden, so it's the most up-to-date as of right now. 

The Logic Puzzle Book for Teens

Scorpion Masqué Sky Team Cooperative Dice Game

Cooperative games!

3) 17-year-old niece (got her in the draw) - Her mom said to get her stuff for her dorm next year when she goes to college. I asked my freshman seminar students what they wish they had and they gave me the most practical answers. I bought some practical stuff and will write down everything else they said on a list for her. Also, I'll give her the gift receipts so she can return it all and buy makeup if that's what she wants:

Memory Foam Mattress Topper

Portable Clip-On Fan 

Fairy lights - Yes, I had to get LED. Damn it all. 

Such practical gifts

4) TJC: 

Stuff from her wish list

5) Dr. BB: 

Gift certificate for guitar lessons (he asked for this)

Three pairs of SmartWool socks

Two pairs of water bottles for his bike - We threw out a lot of our water bottles after the Great Mouse Incident of 2024. 

6) Yoga lady -  The woman who runs yoga at the student union is doing that on her own time. I think she deserves appreciation for doing something that benefits me tremendously: 

A pair of SmartWool socks

7) Peer mentor - There's an older student who was assigned to help me with my freshman seminar last semester. I bought her a gift for all her help:

A small gift set of hand lotion, lip balm, and soap locally sourced

A scarf

A small set of chocolate truffles 

8) FIL and his wife:

Went in with the family gift to get them a subscription for steaks or something - Dr. BB handled this. 

9) Secret SANta swap partner:

You can see my gift here

10) Us - Every year I try to get the two of us a couple of presents:

Our ornament for this year is going to be the one I made with Anne

Paint the Roses board game

***************

Are you done with your shopping? 

I Said I Was Chill, But I Was Wrong

 Look at a comment I typed out earlier today on Elisabeth's blog:

Seriously, me of ten hours ago. "It's been a pretty chill holiday season for me." GTFOH. 

I was doing well until I got a text message from my SIL with assignments to bring things to the holiday meal. 

T&D: Salad/veggies

VEGGIES? VEGGIES?

Look, I bring a salad and it's a giant pain in the ass. It always involves a trip to Costco and hours in the kitchen the night before and then I have to bring the big serving bowl and multiple coolers and IT'S A THING. And I do it because it's food I will eat and if I won't eat anything else there, at least I know there will be a delicious salad. 

But now I have to bring MORE STUFF. Veggies? Ain't nobody going to eat crudités at this shindig. Corn is already spoken for. Green bean casserole is disgusting. 

WHAT AM I GOING TO BRING? 

Cut to my surface level chill (sorry I lied on your blog, Elisabeth) being absolutely destroyed. 

Okay, blog friends. In this, my time of holiday-induced panicking, what do you think I should bring? NOTES: Whatever we make has to be transported 2.5 hours to Iowa. If it's cold, we can throw it into a cooler. I don't know if we'll have access to an oven there, but there are microwaves if necessary. Also, this is a midwestern gathering, so please remember that this family considered strawberry pretzel Jello salad as a "salad." There will be 23 people there, although let's say a good half of them won't touch a vegetable, so 12-13. It should be gluten-free, but that is probably not a consideration with most vegetable sides. 

Please help me so I can go back to my zen state. 

Tuesday Tidings

I'm leaning into the dark these days. Hannah and I have been LOVING our morning walks in the pitch black. It's just me and her and I like to just let her sniff and enjoy the world. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's nervous as all heck and jumps if so much as a leaf falls near her, but at least I'm having a good time. 

*****************

On our walk on Sunday night, I even took the holiday cards to the blue mailbox and dropped them all in (except for my five Canadian cards - I have yours sitting next to my goal journal all stamped and ready to go out as soon as the strike is over, Canadian friends) and whispered happy travels for them. I ordered my cards through Minted again, despite the fact that I literally have never been 100% satisfied with my orders from them.

One year, we did not get any envelopes. One year, we actually got two orders sent our way. One year some of our envelopes were duplicated, so I had to go through and make sure people only got one card from us. This year? This year some of the addresses were addressed incorrectly. The number 3 became the number 8.  Apartment numbers were added where apartment numbers did not need to be added. The abbreviation MN became MI. Now these are all things that could be blamed on me, but MY SPREADSHEET HAD THEM CORRECT. So I stuffed all the envelopes, but then had to go through each address VERY CAREFULLY to make sure things were correct. (If there is a handwritten correction to your address, I did that!) 

And let me tell you, I am not a detail lady. I am a lady who doesn't notice things like MN is MI. This took me a long, frustrating time. I don't know if I'm going to stick with Minted again. (Also, our card is HUGE. Like 5x7? This is on me, though. I just didn't look at the dimensions because I thought it was normal card size. I was wrong. I'm SORRY, friends. I'm bad at holiday card sending, I guess.) 

*****************

But, in more cheerful holiday news, my Secret SANta gift arrived from Jenny! If you don't think that dog ornament went right on my tree, you don't know me very well!

*****************

Also, we went on our annual trip to see the lights at the Rotary Gardens.

I did not ask my friends if I could post their photos, so I am protecting their privacy. Not my husband's though. If you see him around, maybe don't mention you saw his photo on my blog? 

*****************

Last week, the dean of our college did a "Cookies & Cocoa" event. His partner made like a million cookies and all the leftovers made it to the kitchen on our floor and every time I go by the kitchen, I eat more cookies. The eggnog shortbread cookies are AMAZING, but I have to admit that I have not been making good choices re: sugar this December. January is going to HIT HARD.

*****************

Speaking of cookies, do you know what my husband sent me a photo of today? 

A new KitchenAid!!! My beloved KitchenAid finally gave up its battle. We looked into fixing it (of course we did) and it was $200 to fix it and about $300 to get a new on, so Dr. BB took the plunge and bought me a new one! Who's going to make chocolate chip cookies tomorrow? This girl. (Yes, I'm going to make cookies despite the fact that I've eaten my weight in eggnog shortbread cookies this week. Don't judge my December baking decisions.)

(As part of the November/December hemorrhage of money, why not buy a new kitchen appliance? Fortunately, this came out of my husband's budget. He also paid for an oil change and the cat's trip to the emergency vet last week. Yes, all three things should have been mine to pay for, but that's how the cookie crumbles when you have a six-week winter break and your wife has to actually go into the office.)

*****************

Have you sent out your holiday cards yet (sorry, Canadian friends - your turn will come soon!)? What's the last kitchen gadget you bought? 

Five for Friday, Edition #11

1) Let's lead with the great news that Zelda's bloodwork came back from the vet and she's now in the normal range. THE TREATMENT WORKED. She's also 9.2 pounds and we like to keep her right around 8.5, so we might have overcorrected on the food we were giving her. Anyway, yay for this!

Zelda says, "Hi! I'm radioactive. Do you want to pet me?"

2) As you can tell from the above photo, we put up the tree! We are listening to the Christmas playlist in the car, waiting anxiously for our holiday cards to get here so we can put them in the mail, making plans to go see light shows, and I have been busy buying and wrapping presents for the Secret SANta Swap. I'm officially in the festive season. 

3) Last we left, Hannah had ongoing GI issues. We seem to have nipped those in the bud, although she's still on an antibiotic every other day for another week and then every three days for another two weeks and then as needed. Let me tell you how happy I am every time there are solid stools on our walks! She is CRAZY in love with the cooler weather and now that I have my new winter coat and boots, I'm happy to indulge her on longer walks. 

4) Purchase updates! You may recall I was looking for a welcome mat for the back door after Hannah's GI issues presented overnight and wrecked the mudroom.  I bought this rug for the back door and have been super happy with it. It's crazy absorbent, Hannah likes to lay on it, you can put it in the washing machine, and it was only about $30. It's so absorbent that now when we come in from walks, I have Hannah stay on the rug while I take off my outerwear and only release her from the rug once I take off her harness and/or other clothing. I hope this will come in handy when it's really wet outside because the rug will help dry her off and I don't care if I have to wash the rug all the time. 

I also purchased this puzzle advent calendar and my husband and I have been enjoying putting together our forty or so pieces every night. Super fun and I recommend it if you're a puzzler. I also am starting to think all puzzles should come together in labelled little boxes. It takes us about ten minutes every night to put it together and we usually do it right after dinner, but we're only on night five, so take that for what it's worth - we haven't opened any boxes without edge pieces yet. 

I hesitate to show you this, but yes, you'll find on the table my goal tracking journal, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, an N-95 mask, and paperwork we need to file. Also, in the month of December you'll find our puzzle. 

5) Do you want to know what I put on my Christmas wish list to my husband? Some picture frames for the photos on my desk I keep meaning to deal with, a black scarf (can you believe I don't have a plain black scarf?), Williams Sonoma hotpads (we threw ours away after The Mouse Incident of 2024 and I bought some cheaper ones and it turns out the more expensive ones are better - who would have guessed?), a case for my new phone, and new socks (these ones, if you want to know). 

*******************

What's on your Christmas wish list? 

Advent Calendar Search

Last year I failed to do my advent calendar search until it was too late and everything was sold out and I did the exact thing this year. Here are my options, which are very limited because everything is sold out. *sigh*

1) Book Lovers ($30 from Uncommon Goods)

2) Jigsaw puzzle calendar ($28 from Uncommon Goods)

3) Different jigsaw puzzle ($19.99 from Amazon)

4) Popcorn ($36 from Wayfair)

5) Licorice ($59.99 from Amazon) - This, unlike the popcorn, is labelled gluten free!

6) Should I invest in an advent calendar that I can fill myself for my husband? This feels like a good idea RIGHT NOW, but is it just another holiday chore I will find myself responsible for in the coming years? ($59.95 from LL Bean)

7) I waited too long again this year and we're not getting an advent calendar once more? 

*****************

What would you do, oh wise internet collective?