Saturday, December 28, 2013

Holiday Grab Bag . . .

I assumed that after clogging your inboxes for eight or nine straight days earlier this month, you could use a break.  So I just lived life, took a picture here and there, and saved stories to share.  In no particular order . . .

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The truck (and the rest of Ohio) spent most of December buried under a blanket of snow.  We would get two inches of snow here, another two there, and subfreezing temps and cloudy skies just let it accumulate.  But last weekend, three days of rain and temps near 70 washed it all away.  I was beginning to wonder if I would have to uncover it before leaving for Texas in January, but unless we get more between now and then, it won’t be necessary.

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On one of the rare sunny days, I got this pic of my front yard . . .

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Saw this at the post office as I was mailing another load of your packages and loved it.  The driver said his wife is a marathoner – and he isn’t.

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Our favorite holiday tradition is Cookie Night.  For the first time, we held it at my brother’s house to give us a little more room with two new participants.

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My annual wreath was a little lopsided this year – I didn’t realize the cookie wasn’t perfectly round until I had already gone all the way around the perimeter once.  So I did the best I could.

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My brother-in-law and his family came in from Maryland over the weekend, which gave two of his daughters a chance for baking lessons in my kitchen.  Mary made snickerdoodles this time, and Natalie tackled chocolate chip cookies – and both were excellent students.

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Meanwhile, Alexandra sampled retro fashion – the dress at left was worn to a high school prom in 1976, and the outfit at right was worn by her grandmother in the early 1950s.

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Christmas Eve Eve at my parents’ condo was highlighted by lots of bakeware for the brides-in-training . . .

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. . . and this 16” x 20” collage of pictures from our Grand Canyon hike that I put together for Dad and Blake.

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And of course, the animals got to participate.  This was Nala’s favorite, and I got her to stay still for a minute with it after several minutes of throwing it up in the air and chasing after it.  Probably should have shot video instead . . .

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