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holiday post
December 28, 2015
Christmas Eve, we got up, had coffee and a bite (my bite was FRUITCAKE!! Yum.), did some housework, and I helped Spouse get water off the pool cover--and, as it turned out, strained my sacro rather badly in the process. Took over cookies, fruitcake, and candies for W&T, had a nice afternoon visiting with T, although W was working. I think it did us both good, actually.
Came home, had a nice dinner--Spouse made his famous "BBQ meatballs and wings", plus a lovely, fresh batch of his homemade Russion dressing for the tossed salad. Very enjoyable. We just hung out in the evening; he was channel-flipping, but I managed to hang in there until he gave up and went to bed. My back was starting to really play me up, so I didn't sleep very well.
Christmas morning, we slept in, and then had "breakfast jump up". He made himself fried eggs and toast, with tomato juice & coffee, and I made myself a cheddar & herb omelet and toast, with cranberry juice and coffee. It was actually pretty nice, and next to no fuss. My back was dreadful, so I actually broke down and took one of my pain pills. I don't like to, because they make me so sleepy--but this time it really was necessary. After breakfast, we opened presents--he seemed to like his shirt and his hat (he has a hard time expressing gratitude for gifts), and I absolutely loved the two new pens he bought me. (see below.)
Spouse chatted on the phone with Auntie, I chatted with Dad, and one I was done with that, well...since I was pretty zoned out from the pain meds, I went to bed for the afternoon. Once the pill had worn off, I got up and had some eggnog and Christmas cookies. Spouse made a lovely early dinner of prime rib, Hasselbeck potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and stringbeans that he'd frozen over the summer, and a pan of dinner rolls. He made me a Cosmo before dinner, and there was triple-berry cheesecake for dessert. All quite delightful! Back or no back, after he prepared that magnificent dinner, there was no way I was going to punk out on doing the dishes.
I was still hurting, so I went to bed early with another pain pill.
On Boxing Day, we got up slowly, and since moving around seemed to help my back, I picked at the laundry a bit, and we did a bit more housework. Spouse had learned from talking to Auntie that my dad was pining for his favorite kind of salad dressing, which is apparently not sold in Arizona, so we undertook to pick some up and send it out--to her, so she could tease him with it! She slays me. We had to run out to get a new cable for the pool cover, any way. And Spouse decided that, as my back seemed to be behaving better, we would go ahead as we'd planned, and go down to Deerfield and check out the Fresh Thyme Farmers Market grocery store they have. K-Town in supposed to be getting one of these, and we wanted to check it out. Very nice! Sort of a small-scale version of Whole Foods. Lots of bulk items, and good produce.
We stopped at Meijer on our way home, to get the dressing and a couple of other things, and found some good Christmas clearance deals. Spouse started grabbing marked down candy, and I found that I could get all the fruit for next year's fruitcakes for a song. Seriously--I added it up, and the whole kaboodle--2 pounds of mix, 24 ounces of cherries, and 8 ounces of pineapple--was marked down from $31.43 to $8.00 That's $23.43 off!! And the fresshness dates were all in the middle of 2017, so it will be perfectly good next November when I'm ready to bake! You'd better believe I scooped that up. When we got home, Spouse sealed the tubs of fruit up with the Foodsaver, and I stashed it all downstairs in the fridge to await the great fruitcake bake of 2016.
We got home around two, had leftover pizza from Wednesday night for lunch, and took a lie-down for a while. Dinner was simple; Spouse made mashed potatoes, gravy, and salad to go with the heated up remains of the prime rib, and it was just as delicious on day two. My back was still aching, and running around earlier took its toll on me, so I was very happy to just watch the 8 out of 10 Cats Christmas show, put some Icy-Hot on my back, and then go nighty-night.
Sunday was a better day for me, pain-wise. Spouse made a great breakfast, I finished the laundry and other chores, and we just relaxed, knowing that work and bad weather was going to be there soon enough. Nephew & Wife came by around four, to exchange gifts. We got a gift card to the Italian grocery & deli we like--and I got an apron from the niece-in-law, because she's cute that way. They seemed to like their emergency lights, mini-safe, giftcards, and movie tickets.
We had a nice visit, and then they left to meet some friends for dinner. Spouse was making Thomas Keller roast chicken with root vegetables for dinner, and it was ready about the time that they left. This is a dish Spouse makes to perfection, and the all-natural chicken he bought at Fresh Thyme was particularly suited to it. And leftovers tonight!
After I cleaned up the kitchen, I puttered around getting things ready for Monday, and watched The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year 2015 while playing word games and munching Christmas candy. Perfect end to the holiday, if you ask me!
Today was back to work (well, back to the office, anyway.) and the start of some extremely nasty weather that I really don't want to think about. took nearly two hours to make the normally 45-minute trip home. Freezing shit, basically. Slick enough to be shit, anyway. And all day in an office chair didn't do my sacroiliac any good, either.I think I will have to stay home tomorrow, because I'm already plowed in, and I'm not going to be able to get all that ice moved so I can get the car out in the morning.
HELD OVER
Nothing like having to clear a huge block of densely-packed frozen slush--at about a tablespoon at a time. It took me multiple attempts, and most of the day, and I got it about 75% clear before my back, shoulders, and wrists gave out and I just couldn't do any more. Spouse couldn't do it in the morning, because it took all of his abilities just to get the Ford out--and it was parked on the side-street! He was grateful for my progress when he came home, though, and it didn't take him long at all to clear the remaining bits.
After tackling that, I took a long hot shower, threw in a load of wash, had something to eat, and stretched out on my heating pad with the B for a while. Got up about 4:15, and after I put the clothes in the dryer, and took care of the B, started making dinner. Pasta with marinara & meatballs, salad, and garlic bread. We were both ready for a good dinner. He was wiped and went to bed right after dinner, but I sat up till 9:30, watching the 8 out of 10 Cats Year-End Special, and the latest QI episode.
Reading: "Ruth Fielding In the Saddle, or College Girls in the Land of Gold" (1917) by Alice B. Emerson, and "The deBercy Affair"(1910), by Gordon Holmes (Louis Tracy)
Listening: "An Evening with Tom Lehrer"
Inked Up: Enjoying my Christmas gifts from Spouse--Noodler's Konrad F-M flex nib, "Emeralds on the Sun" pattern--Noodler's "Apache Sunset" ink. Waterford Marquis Claria in chrome, medium nib, with Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku.
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