Hello, friends! Happy birthday to me! Yes, today I join the ranks of the senior citizens. I've been told that this is a good thing because I will get lots of discounts at the stores. It is early morning and nothing has happened yet, so I will tell you about my birthday tomorrow. Today I will continue by telling you about the last two days.
The day after Christmas Elaine and I woke up long before Joe. So we had a sisters breakfast together and had fun talking with each other. She had a great breakfast of muffins and fruit salad that was so delicious.
We sat around and visited and played with Ace for awhile. Then after Joe ate we watched the Queen's Christmas message. We do this every year. Usually on Christmas Day but with Elaine working and everything we forgot.
Elaine also gave us a wonderful lunch of all kinds of lunchmeat, cheeses and cookies. We were so full when we left.
Before I left I took pictures of some of Elaine's decorations. She always makes everything look so festive.
We left about 2:30 p.m. and although there was more traffic than on Christmas, we made it home in two hours. What a wonderful Christmas we had!
The next day Joe and I traveled out to the Plymouth Meeting/Bridgeport area to meet his sister Mary for breakfast. She lives in upstate New York and it has been years since we saw her. We met at a café my brother recommended. He lives around there so I knew he would know where to go.
We got a little lost getting there and so did Mary, but we still got there about the same time. Look at the cute chicken they have in front of the place.
We had a great breakfast and talked for about two hours. I found out so much about the family I married into. The little things Joe does, his likes and dislikes, etc. were the same for Mary. It was like looking at his clone. They walk alike, stand alike, talk alike even eat alike. They like and dislike the same foods. Oh my! I kept teasing them about it.
The time went by so quickly. She had a six hour trip home to do so we finally had to leave. Mary is hoping to move down here in the next year or two and we will definitely hang out together more. She is the nicest sister-in-law you could imagine.
I did get a picture (or two) of them together before she left.
The rest of the day was spent trying to clean up the house. There is so much stuff laying around and gifts to be put away. I am still working on it.
That brings us up to yesterday. I slept so late! I didn't wake up until 11:30 a.m. I must have needed the sleep. But I was meeting my friends Carol and Donna for lunch so I hit the floor running. I jumped into the shower and got dressed in record time. I left a little late, but got to Donna's house to pick her up just 10 minutes late. We still got to the restaurant before Carol did so that was fine.
We went to East Coast Wings and Grill. I had the wings special, Donna her favorite shrimp tacos and Carol a burger. We also exchanged Christmas gifts. Such nice things they gave me. I got two candles and two bars of scented soap along with candy and Donna gave me a unique thing called instant hot chocolate. They are sticks with chocolate and marshmallows on the end. You put them in hot water and it turns into hot chocolate. Can't wait to try it.
I am getting ready now to start my birthday! I will tell you all about it tomorrow and take some pictures too. Hope you all have a happy Kathy's birthday today. Ha ha!
Until later...
Kathy
Hello, friends! I'm sitting here in bed listening to the rain POURING outside and feeling so happy that this was not what I had to drive in on Christmas Day. We had a wonderful day. And a good day after that and another good day after that. I know I am way behind on catching you up but the days are so busy!
On Christmas Day morning Joe and I took our time getting up. You can tell we aren't kids anymore. Joe was surprised by the things I got him: a soft throw blanket, pj pants he wanted, a Kate Spade coffee mug from Lenox, a few little things from Target and a pair of stereo earphones he has been wanting. Joe gave me a huge bag of peppermints (my favorite), a very pretty outfit of a blue and black plaid top and black leggings, and a beautiful jewelry set (ring, necklace and earrings) of flowers made with mother of pearl. I have to get a shot of them to show you just how pretty they are.
After breakfast we packed up and headed out to my sister's house. We left around 2:00 p.m. so I could drive the whole way in the light. I hate making that drive after dark. Elaine had to work that day so we got up there about 4:00 p.m. Her home is always so pretty.
Elaine's tree was so gorgeous.
Our friend Frank came over too and we all had a wonderful dinner of roast beef, potatoes, and mixed veggies.
Can you tell she collects nutcrackers?
Of course before we ate we pulled our Christmas crackers.
For some reason we all got red crowns.
My prize was a shoe horn. Joe got a tape measure. Frank got a corkscrew. I forget what Elaine got. And of course a lame joke.
For dessert Elaine had gotten me a birthday cake. And because it is a special birthday (65) she got me a special birthday candle. I've never seen anything like it. It was spectacular.
It was a delicious vanilla cake.
After dinner we opened our gifts. There was so much more. We are really spoiled.
Fruitcake for Joe. He is happy!
As always we watched the movie "The Christmas Story." I think it was on three times before we changed to something else.
Of course the star of the day was little Ace.
A little blurry picture of Ace, but it's hard to get a good picture of him because he's always moving.
After awhile Frank left and we all decided to go to bed. Joe and I were sleeping over that night so I didn't have to drive home in the dark. Elaine had the next day off from work so it worked out fine. I was going to tell you about that but this is getting really long so I will continue tomorrow.
I hope you all had a really nice Christmas. I haven't had time to read your blogs but I will do some blog reading today and catch up.
Enjoy your day! Until later....
Kathy
Wishing you all the best Christmas ever. Remember the real reason for celebrating this wonderful day. Thank you for coming along with Blogmas this year. It has been my privilege to bring you along on my adventures. I will be back tomorrow because there is still lots to show and tell you.
Until then...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Love from Kathy and Joe
Hello, friends! The above passage from Luke has been the theme of my Christmas this year. Yesterday morning in church my Sunday School class (and the Youth Group) lit the fourth Advent candle, recited this scripture and then sang Silent Night. These are kids who have come from an unchurched background, who just recently heard about Jesus (and not using His name as a curse) and in just a few months have come so far in their understanding of who He is and what He did for us. I am excited to spend the next few months with them going over the life of Christ in our class. And this passage was also the theme for my lesson yesterday -- the shepherds who found Jesus.
For Fellowship Time Joe and I brought a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake and we all sang Happy Birthday before eating it. Joe and I have done this for years together but sharing it with the church was special. Several people stopped me after church to tell me just how special that was to them. One man told me he had never thought of it that way and what we did was awesome!
After church we stopped at Shoprite and got lunch. I had fried chicken legs and potato salad and Joe had a hoagie. I have been very bad in my diet and I'm sure my weight has gone up. It is very hard to do a diet during this time of year because everyone is shoving goodies at you, so I am going to go with the flow and start anew the beginning of the year. I have a doctor's appointment on January 19th and want to have lost at least another two pounds by then.
I am still working on my cleaning, baking, wrapping, etc. I don't think I have ever been this far behind before. My main problem is how much pain I am in this year. If you are not experiencing the pain, you don't understand just how hard it is to function. People who look at you don't see the pain so don't know just how badly you feel. So I press on and hope to get as much done as possible.
Last night Joe and I brought our friend Donna to the Christmas Candlelight Service at church. It is the first one we have been to with Pastor Ralph. Usually we are at my sister's house on Christmas Eve and go to her church. But this year she is working both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On top of that, our service was moved from Christmas Eve to last night. It was a beautiful service. Too bad more people didn't show up. They really missed out. I took a few pictures for our church's website, but I'm going to share them here as well. It was hard to take good shots because everything was dark.
The church was pretty with all the candlelight. There were candles in the windows also, but the shot I took of that was completely black except for a little white dot.
There was lots of singing led by Pastor.
Since it was too dark to read a hymnal, the words were projected for us.
Rusty lit the Advent Candles and the Christ Candle.
Debbie read the scripture.
The manger leads to the cross. Something we should all focus on. Jesus was born to die.
Pastor gave a beautiful message so full of meaning.
The true meaning of Christmas is Christ. He will be there even if I don't get all the cleaning, baking and wrapping done.
After the service Joe and I took Donna, Debbie and Rusty to see Greeby Street. They always have the greatest light show. Joe and I go several times during the season, but I knew these three living so far from it would never see it on their own. It was a wonderful thing to do for them. They were amazed and loved it. I want to get back there one more time before the lights come down and get pictures. I have driven down the street three times now, but you really need to walk it to get the good shots.
Here is one picture from a few years ago. It's even bigger and better now.
Joe and I wish each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas! Thank you for your friendship, caring and love.
Kathy
