Highlights and Happenings for December: One Sentence a Day

Oh December... what can I say about December? Our month was such a mixed bag of up and downs that I'm really still not sure how I felt about it!  For once I was looking so forward to a truly relaxed and laid back Christmas... but life had other plans. 

1. After working out at the gym with my mom and finishing up school with Evan I headed out to go shopping and finished up all my Christmas gift buying (I even made sure to check that I had enough for each person to fill their stockings).  We spent our night eating pizza & ice cream sundaes while watching Home Alone. 

2. I spent my morning working on the blog and on some cards then my husband and I headed out grocery shopping. We ended our night watching Like Father on Netflix; it was really cute! 

3. My husband, Evan, and I headed to the mall so my husband could get some new clothes for the cruise and we went to lunch at Olive Garden. I spent my afternoon wrapping gifts.

4. My mom and I worked out then Evan and I did some of his schoolwork before he went to spend the afternoon at his friends house (his friend was celebrating his 16th birthday).  Evan went driving for the second time that evening with his instructor. 

tuna on pumpernickel with salad

5. After a quick morning of schoolwork, I spent my afternoon running a few errands and wrapping gifts. 

6. After working out with my mom, I worked on school with Evan, and then went driving with him after lunch. It was only our second time on the road together but after a couple of driving lessons with his instructor I am already seeing lots of improvement (he still hates it though).

7. After some morning work with Evan we headed out to Alec's school for lunch and it was delicious; plus a fun lunch out with my mom, mother in law, and family friend is always a bonus.  I did some wrapping for the boys' (gifts they bought for others) and then sat in with Alec on a Zoom meeting with his personal rep. from Johnson and Wales to go over specifics of what next steps to take before dropping Evan off at driver's ed. 

beautiful sunrise on an icy lake-- it was chilly today!

the pizza Alec made for me at the school's restaurant 

8. I started my day at the gym, worked on school with Evan and then went to run a few short errands (gas, library. post office to mail out the last of the Christmas gifts) and spent my afternoon cleaning house and read books. 

His official acceptance letter (finally!) arrived from Johnson & Wales; we knew before Thanksgiving that he had been accepted

9. We started our day grocery shopping, in the late morning my husband and I headed to a graveside service,  then took the boys and my mother in law out to lunch at the Ninety- Nine.  4 of us ended our afternoon with a nice long walk in the woods.

my funeral outfit

an odd field of pumpkins off to the side of the woods

10. It was a cloudy, rainy day so I spent my time curled up on the couch reading a book, watching movies, and folding laundry.  Ian nearly finished 1/2 of my Christmas village diorama (he just wants to add snow to the trees and rocks once they dry).

11. Evan and I headed out to tour one of the Newport mansions-- it was a fun morning.

We toured Rosecliff

12. We had a shortened day of school because Evan had a dermatologist appointment in the morning and both of us had dentist appointments in the afternoon then I had to drop Evan off at driver's ed. after dinner. 

All finished and set up! I'm kind of amazed he built this from Styrofoam, newspaper and various other materials

13. A quick workout with my mom, some schoolwork with Evan, and then a mini driving lesson all before lunch. I spent my afternoon on the couch nursing my aching back (I pulled a muscle or something while sleeping).  

14. My day started so incredibly early when my husband woke up at 2 and by 3:15 was heading out the door to bring his mother to the ER (emergency room).  I fed her cat, worked on school with Evan, made my husband's lunch once he made it back to our house around 8 or 9 and then spent my day running around; packing up what my mother in law needed at the hospital, running to Alec's school to pick up the cookie/pie orders from a selling project and dropping some of them off.  I ended my night visiting my mother in law along with my husband. 

15. Fed the cat again, hit the gym with my mom, went on a hike with our hiking group and then spent a quiet afternoon at home blogging (my mother in law told us not to bother visiting her at the hospital again today). 

My husband was sent another cheesecake this Christmas

16. I spent my morning folding clothes, putting together our candy ball games for Christmas eve, and working on a few new blog posts. My husband and I went grocery shopping in the afternoon and then went to check on his mother who was released from the hospital (we checked on her again before bed). 

17. I spent my morning making a salad, prepping food for dinner, and then making a few cards for next month. 

18. We woke to no power and while it came on for a few hours mid-morning it then blinked off again and we used our generator for the rest of the day with the storm dumping more wind and rain on us. By days end all the road leading to ours had road closed signs on them due to downed wires, trees, or even flooding. Poor Alec had to call on his way home from school since he could not figure out how to get home (he finally had to drive around one of the road closed signs!).

19.  Another day of no power, road closures everywhere,  and still checking in on my mother in law who isn't showing any signs of improvement since coming home from the hospital.  Evan and I did manage a hike but stuck to high ground since everything is so wet and flooded. 

Drying clothes like a pioneer!

20. We started the day without power and spent the day doing some laundry (and drying it by the fire again), cleaning, and running errands. Power back on at 3!! Alec immediately set to work baking up some things on his list. My mother in law finally went back to the ER and they admitted her for the next few days while they test and treat some more. 

I walked into the kitchen to find nearly every available surface filled!

21. I hit the ground running; doing ALL the laundry at both my house and my mother in law's house. Evan and I also cleaned out her fridge/freezer and went to buy a few staples to replenish it after she was without power for so many days. Alec was invited to a pizza party at school for the kids who scored in the top 10 on their SAT's in the senior class (I was pretty surprised because he took the SAT as a Junior and never bothered retaking them this year!).  We ended our night visiting my mother in law in the hospital while Evan finished up his last driver's ed class.

I think "Tillie" is lonely (her real name is Matilda after waltzing Matilda since she only has 3 legs)

22. Last workout at Curves (our branch is closing), fed the cat, did some more laundry, and mostly enjoyed a quiet day at home where I even managed to take a nap! My husband and two older sons just had 1/2 days of work and school so Alec began working on some homemade croissants for Christmas as soon as he got home and my husband and Ian headed off to a company Christmas party.  

23. We had a Christmas party/brunch at my father in law & stepmother in law's (probably not a real thing but it gets confusing talking about 2 mother in laws!) then went to visit my mother in law in the hospital who still isn't doing well.  

24. Christmas Eve day I got out of bed in time to get Alec off to work then fed my mother in law's cat and began making cookies to bring to my mom's house that night. We went to visit my mother in law and then headed to my mother's house around dinner time. We had a great time playing all sorts of games. 

Butter cookies and gingersnaps with powered sugar sprinkles

25. The boys asked to open gifts around 7:30 then Alec made us some croissants while I whipped up some scrambled eggs and bacon. We visited my mother in law at the hospital around noon and then went over to my brother in law's house for dinner. We ended our night playing all sorts of fun games: Tellestrations, Blank Slate game, and Pitch. 

26. A busy day of errands, cleaning up Christmas decor and gifts, and prepping food like crazy.  I don't think I even sat down until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. 

The only photo I took all day; sunset

27. Today was another busy day of errands; I got my haircut, picked up cat food and cat litter (for my mother in law), picked up even more groceries and party supplies from Bj's, got some cat medicine and then went to visit my mother in law at the hospital after dinner she's looking and feeling so much better now that they've drained lots of fluid from her abdomen. 

28. I spent the morning alone; Ian and my husband were at work, Alec went to meet his friend for breakfast and Evan went out driving with his instructor. I spent most of my day watchin TV and reading while I also did clean the bathroom and do a lot of vacuuming. 

29.  I spent most of my day working on the blog and pulling together insurance paperwork for my mother in law. We ended our night visiting her in the hospital. 

30. I spent my morning baking up some cookies and making a lemon tiramisu for my mother's birthday party. In the evening Alec, Evan, and I got tickets to zoo lights & met up with my mom, step-father, sister & nephews (who just arrived from North Carolina late last night).

31. The whole reason my sister and nephews made the trip was so we could throw a birthday party for my mom so I spent the day getting ready for the party (my husband went to visit his mom in the hospital to get the latest); decorating, prepping food, etc. and around 5 the whole family showed up to celebrate my mom. 

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