Friday, December 24, 2021
Merry Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas tomorrow! I am so grateful for you all!
The week went by so fast as it always does, but it was a good one.
Here are some things that I would call my favorites…
I chose two books to enjoy over the break…


I still have a no book buying policy – I love my library! It’s not a hard and fast rule, but for my fiction books, I am not going to read them again so I just choose not to spend money on books. It’s also about the space/clutter issue.
Hair day – I had it this week! I get my hair highlighted every 8-10 weeks and I always enjoy chatting with Laura, my stylist. I always take a selfie under the dryer. I’m not sure why.

Tom and I had not been out to dinner in quite awhile. He has been out to lunch at work (er’day- annoying) and I have been out for happy hours (no more than once a week), but it had been some time since our last “dinner date”.
I wore the Amazon leopard skirt, Amazon sweater, and old witchy pointed suede boots.

We went to The Pine Room and it was great ambiance, food, drink, and we had great company with…

Victoria and Dave! We have been friends with them for 22 years I think. Victoria and I taught next door to each other for a long time and Dave is a former art teacher turned dentist. His slogan should be “your teeth are my art”. I don’t know why he doesn’t hire me for his marketing. He has an emotional support lap dog for his patients if they so desire. How cool is that? Victoria was born in Greece but came here for college and met Dave. They are interesting and fun people!

Here is a blurry photo of our pretzel bread and queso and behind it you can see the cauliflower with peanuts and hoisin sauce. Both were excellent! Sorry, but I was anxious to eat and didn’t take the time to take a decent photo.

I ordered a burger and fries and I think that is the first time I have ordered one in 9 months? I have been no stranger to fries, but this was a great burger to indulge in because it had brie! I was a member of the Clean Plate Club that night.

Tom got the fried chicken, salt and pepper biscuit, mashed potatoes and greens.

It was a fun night out!
I had my baking day this week on our coldest day. I told you about it yesterday, but it is still a favorite!
I had to make the pink meringues!

They must be stored in a tin like Aunt Judy did. We would go to their house and sneak goodies from her tins. Our cousin April (her daughter) is in between my age and Kate’s ages and we got into trouble together.

I tried Pioneer Woman’s devil’s food cake cookies.

And, I did regular and

white chocolate Chex Mix.

I am loving my air fryer. Tom says I talk about it too much. He told Victoria and Dave not to get me started. Oops.

I have been eating lightly as much as possible. I did the Greek Bowl for a lunch one day.

I did a taco salad while the fam had BLTS, tator tots, and a regular salad. I don’t feel one bit bad not eating the same things. These variations have worked for me. I had the taco meat left from the boys’ tacos the other night.

I am so excited about these gifts! I have been saving the boys’ vacation souvenir t-shirts since they were 2 years old.
Here is Mason’s quilt:

And, here is Jack’s:

The fleece on the underside is so soft. I realize that 19 year olds may not appreciate this gift now, but I hope they will as they get older. I used a local company and I felt that is was pretty expensive, but this is something I have planned for 17 years, right? I loved that I got to make an appointment, pick the side of the shirt I wanted, pick the border, the fleece color, etc. Here is the company if you are local to Louisville or nearby. They might also offer a mail in version. It took about 6 weeks and I had my appointment on September 30, fyi.
What were your favorites this week? Are you calm? Are you stressed? I am good. Very little is wrapped, but I am going to turn on a movie and enjoy the process. I have to clean the whole house, too, but again, I am going to put on a podcast and just do it, and be thankful I have a home to clean. I also have a list for my elves to do (Tom, Jack, and Mason!).
Merry Christmas to you and yours,
Amy





























































































