2 day pass

the weekend was full...full of a little of this and a little of that.

the whole family attended a christmas cookie decorating party at the onset.

lily almost stayed home, and then ended up having the most fun decorating cut outs too cute to eat.

almost too cute because they are also delish.

were delish save for a few saved for santa.

saturday we woke to seasonal temps that were rather shocking given the lack of bone chilling weather patterns thus far this year.

we bundled up for her last riding lesson of the semester.

cinnamon was still a little lame so hopefully she'll get the rest she needs before riding resumes next year.

i cannot believe i'm already saying that.

mike and i spent the afternoon wrapping.

it was a bit more of a challenge this year given the dearth of boxes and tissue offered by retailers, and the number of online purchases.

i think at this point he's wishing he kept his paper prowess under wraps oh so many years ago because i definitely take advantage of his skills.

we got most everything wrapped and then fell into exhaustion so severe we were catatonic as the debate limped along unable to change the channel, and the party we were supposed to attend likely raged on without us.

teddy went out for an overnight and lily invited a friend in.

i managed to get a second wind and stay awake for a viewing of the family guy.

somewhere i read that it was a top 10 christmas movie.

it was cute, but miscategorized.

we were up early for the last sunday of advent.

even ted who i later learned had just barely fallen asleep when i announced our arrival.

the highlight of the mass was humming silent night at the recessional.

mike and i made sandwiches for the homeless with other parishioners and still had time for a quick breakfast during sunday school.

ted went to workout and shop with his uncle, and lily and i went to finish up some shopping.

her shopping is complete and ted's is almost done.

whew!

i think i'm done, but i'm not committing to it quite yet.

in other words, i'm done unless i find myself in a store in the next few days.

my brother and sister in law came in for a cocktail when they dropped ted off.

he promptly passed out on the floor in front of the christmas tree and slept through dinner.

jess joined us.

mike grilled ribs that we picked up the day before straight from the country butcher we love.

i made a spinach pie and a salad with homemade ranch dressing.

dessert for the adults was a glass of the delicious irish cream i made earlier in the day.

after jess left and the rest of my family was fast asleep, i sat admiring the tree feeling extra thankful that my brother noticed it was leaning at about a 15 degree angle earlier.

i also was thinking about  the holy truth of these adrienne rich words...

we are moving towards the solstice and there is so much here i still do not understand.