Sentence a Day 12.2022

Welcome, sugar plums, to Sentence a Day 12.2022 – my monthly review of life in one run-on sentence a day. Today I am bringing you my festive but very long-winded daily rundown for December.  Each sentence is packed with more than you would ever care to know about my day-to-day life!!  With my blogging so hit and miss most of this year, I haven’t been very consistent with my shared SaD posts. I missed writing them and having them to revisit.  Each month I tell myself to just write a couple of words for each day.  But I wind up writing a novela instead.  What is it they say about the best intentions?

As always, want to give a big thanks to Rebecca Jo at Knit by God’s Hand who originally created this series.  She and I have both struggled with LIFE and blogging this year.  Hope you will please run by to say hello to her.  We are both hoping to get back to more consistent blogging in the coming year on things we care most about.

Sentence a Day 12.2022

 

December was a darn good month.  I was worried that as the holidays neared, I would become saddened about this being our first Christmas without Mom.  But to the contrary, it was a bit like a cloud had been lifted over our celebrations.   She disliked the holidays so.  It was just 3 Christmases ago that she spent the days leading up to the 25th in a mental health facility after having suicidal ideations.  I am thankful Mom is finally at peace.

Here’s how my December shaped up.

Just a reminder:  Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After occasionally uses affiliate links which are usually italicized.  If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link provided I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.

 

Christmas Feels

• Beginning to feel the Christmas spirit; unpacked some of my holiday decorations, vacuumed and mopped downstairs; ironed a few pieces of clothing; early to bed.  12.01.2022
• It’s been 4 months since we lost Mom…I miss her every day.  PC was off and we spent most of the day trying to get his new cell phone set up on my Spectrum mobile account – a 5 hour frustration; called Social Security trying to find out what happened to the check I should have received months ago – a 3 hour series of phone calls only to learn it was sent to the wrong address; brunch at La Madeleine while trying to handle both of those messes; power nap on the couch before going across the mountain to pick up the girls; Lauren and Francisco went to the movies and I babysat – we played hide-n-seek, colored, took Pumpkin on a walk; had bathes, played in the playroom, read books, had a snack and snuggles in bed – delightful evening with my babies.  12.02.2022

Nutcracker

• PC worked on the pool cleaning filters and chlorinator; I cleaned front porch and put out decorations; showered and dressed, met the kids at UTEP for the El Paso Ballet Theater’s production of “The Nutcracker” – the girls were enthralled and alternated sitting on my lap; danced up the aisles and out to the parking lot; several children in attendance recognized me from subbing at Lundy; enjoyed dinner at Victoria’s afterward; perfect outing.  12.03.2022

• Slept so deeply, woke up sideways in bed; over the mountain for church; lunch at Whataburger, walk around the outlet mall – bought some Christmas gifts for babies; DQ ice cream; home to snuggle and talk – so nice; Facetimed with my sister; football and pizza for dinner; poor Purrsimmony is so congested, makes me so nervous; feeling excited for the week ahead of cleaning, scrapbooking, decorating, getting back on track with exercise.  12.04.2022

Monday, Monday

• Love Mondays and being home; caught up on the laundry and much of the ironing; started watching the David Ortiz murder trial on YouTube; fixed chicken, broccoli and cheesy rice for dinner with PC’s beloved green jello (Watergate salad), did a very short Supernatural workout…the first time in 5 weeks – so sick of feeling sick and coughing; my fantasy football team beat Paul’s. 12.05.2022
• Errand running day:  library to return books, UPS to return this bra I bought from Amazon that fell apart – they’ve sent a replacement, it is so comfortable!!; Walgreens to pick up MORE Nyquil and photos; JCP to pick up this white vest as part of the Winter 2022 Capsule Wardrobe, dropped off PC’s silver chain to be repaired, ran by Lauren’s to drop off Cami’s water bottle and stayed for lunch; home to clean off my craft desk (big job); ironed; PC cooked = he picked up Taco Bell; struggling to find anything to watch on TV; went to bed worrying about Purrsimmony.  12.06.2022

December 7th

• Happy heavenly anniversary to my mom and dad; today would have been their 71st anniversary, the 81st anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  Time to get after this house; started with our bath and bedroom but somehow wound up downstairs putting up the Christmas tree and rearranging the furniture in the den!!; I was so worried about Simmie that Paul left work to buy her a humidifier, some Benadryl liquid and pills and helped me pill her; she slept most of the day under our bed and might be a little better tonight; met PC at Olive Garden for dinner then we went to Lowe’s to order flooring for the loft and hall upstairs and the stairway…ka-ching!!  12.07.2022

Homanay not to be confused with Hominy

• Over the mountain early to help my baby with her babies; Lauren took Cia to school with all of her GT project stuff and I took Cam to school, we sang “Jingle Bells” all the way and she cried and clung to me when I left; quick run in Target; stopped by the library to pick up books; decorated tree; scrapbooked with my sissy; fixed these Rachel sammies for supper with mozzarella sticks and green jello; football and brownies before bed; Lucia did a great job with her presentation about the Scottish New Year holiday Homanay. 12.08.2022

• Stay at home all day kind of day; worked on a Where Bloggers Live blog post; PC went to the dentist then home for brunch before going to work; scrapbooked with my sister and created 2 uninspired pages; Weight Watcher’s taco salad for dinner; helicopters have been circling our area for hours due to a swat situation that has a man barricaded in his home about a mile from here.  12.09.2022

Delightful Weekend

• Finally coughing less…had a busy day started with breakfast at Charlie Clark Nissan and a free car wash; Christmas shopping – I think I’m done!!; lunch at a Chinese buffet that was subpar; home for a cat nap then back out in the early evening for a play, “The Three Angels” at the El Paso Playhouse – we really enjoyed it, something different for a change.  12.10.2022
• Slept good, dreamed I was going gray – I am!!; snuggled and talked before getting ready for church; picked up Lucia and Cami for our Christmas program but got to church and the program was at the campus across town; grabbed McD’s for brunch; sang and laughed all the way across town; the girls were mesmerized by everything – snow in front of the church for the kids; snow falling inside, beautiful program of song and dance and good message; Cami was scared to death but so interested in the nutcrackers decorating the lobby; picked up acorns, sang Christmas carols in English and Spanish all the way home; ice cream at DQ; nachos for supper; football and blog reading before bed.  12.11.2022

Projects

• Monday…had hoped to get the house clean top to bottom this week but not going to happen; took PC to drop off his Mustang for its facelift then ran him into work; home to run vacuum, do laundry; sprayed weeds in the yard; ran by the library to pick up books on the way to pick up PC from work; picked up Popeyes for dinner; addressed Christmas cards; finished “Skipping Christmas“, off to bed.  12.12.2022
• Awoke to snow dusted mountains after sleet and wind in the night; addressed the rest of the Christmas cards; Lowe’s dropped off our flooring materials but they were soaked; PC came home to inspect the materials; we called Lowe’s to complain; wrapped a few gifts; ironed; PC came home to pick up wet packages of underlayment; we mailed all the Christmas cards then exchanged the underlayment, picked up McD’s; Lauren has Covid; praying she isn’t terribly ill and we don’t catch it and take it to Ft. Worth.  12.13.2022

Expen$ive Grocerie$

• Whew, busy day…dropped PC at work, ran back home to play fashion haus trying on all my jeans for tomorrow’s Ageless Style post; made my grocery list (and checked it twice); stopped for tamales at Sabroso’s; wrapping paper and kitty food at Walmart; then on to the commissary for the biggest grocery order I’ve had in a long time – course I usually shop the first of the month so maybe this will last a little longer on into January; swung by to pick up PC at work; stopped for dinner at Taco Tote (we have to stop eating out!!); dragged the groceries in and put them away; worked on my blog post and watched “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  12.14.2022

Ft. Worth Bound

• Probably the least stressful traveling day I have ever had…pinched myself all day; got everything situated for our kitties while we’re gone including 4 litter boxes, 2 automatic water fountains, 1 pet feeder and 3 bowls of food; early to the airport for our flight; the airport was packed with migrants sitting about everywhere, going through lines in security, waiting at the wrong gates and getting on the wrong flights, and at least 20 on board our flight to DFW; once we landed rented a Versa, picked up McD’s and drove to Bren’s; the baby was precious, their new pool is magnificent and Cady was a sweetie; gave Declan a bath; picked up takeout sushi for dinner; football and visiting before bed.  12.15.2022

• Slept so well, up for tamales from El Paso for breakfast then party planning for tomorrow got underway;  worked on blowing up balloons with Brennyn which terrified Declan at first until he got used to the machine; picked up packages at post office, bought Braums ice cream; took Cady to buy Christmas gifts for family and to spend her Ulta gift card from Lauren – she enjoyed that very much; hibachi dinner at Japanese Palace where Declan was a delight and well celebrated. 12.16.2022

Early Birfday

• Housecleaning and party prep on the agenda for most of the morning; PC swept the whole downstairs, I cleaned bathrooms and kitchen, Cady dusted and vacuumed; Mustafa and Bren ran to pick up birthday cake and had helium balloons inflated, then we created the balloon decoration for Dec’s pictures while he napped; have so loved feeding him his bottles, giving him his bath and snuggling him before nap and bedtime; Mustafa’s family came for pizza, pictures and birthday cake; Declan and his cousin Amara played so well together; leftover Japanese Palace for dinner; taught Cady how to wrap presents; watched football; early to bed after a very nice day.  12.17.2022

Home Again

• Up 4 times in the night with my stomach…am I turning into my mom??  Felt nauseous all day so didn’t eat anything except 3 packages of Saltines; dropped off clothes at Goodwill; picked up cleaning supplies for Cady at Walmart; took her buy candy to put in the coffee cups she bought as presents; watched football and Declan from afar – afraid I would give him whatever bug I might have; we Facetimed with Val who sent Christmas gifts and the primas (Cami and Cia); left for the airport at 3:30 and I was sick on the way; layover in Houston; home to a damp El Paso, and an airport full of migrants laying all over the floor with Red Cross blankets; PC tried to use the bathroom there but it was in disastrous shape; stopped by McD’s for a cheeseburger for my Prince; glad to be home in own bed tonight.  12.18.2022

Work Ethic

• Felt much better this morning – weird; went with PC to his urologist appointment, slightly enlarged prostate that we will watch – thankful that’s all; we picked up his Mustang from Auto Trim Masters (great work ethic) and they did a terrific job on the new leather upholstery and top; I did a drop in visit with Pepper the kitty; home to start laundry only to discover the dryer wasn’t heating; GRRRRRR; fixed chicken gnocchi soup; watched football and off to bed early.  12.19.2022

Real Birfday

• Happy birthday, baby Declan – so thankful for your sweet life.  Enjoyed a morning walk about downtown and breakfast at Healthy Bite with Lorena, my friend and former library assistant, then chai tea at Salt and Honey – so nice to walk and talk and just catch up; picked up a Christmas gift for Lauren and Francisco; dropped in on Pepper; PC ordered a new dryer so I put laundry on hold; snacky supper; Supernatural workout…felt great!!  12.20.2022

Holiday Fun

• Wonderful first day of winter spent doing all the holiday things with my El Paso granddaughters; cookie baking and decorating; Christmas caroling; picnic and soak in the hot tub; rode scooters down to the park; then over to sit with Pepper and make snowman ornaments – we dumped a quart-sized bag of Styrofoam “snow” balls all over the floor – MESS!!; took the babies back across the mountain; picked up Panda Express and crashed on the couch.  12.21.2022

• Baby, it’s cold outside…all over the U.S.; temps below zero in Ft. Worth, Crossville, Lexington, and Tipp City where our loved ones are; 18* here this morning; slow to get out from under the covers, enjoyed family time with the kitties for a bit first; breakfast of (turkey) sausage gravy and biscuits; did a l-o-n-g Supernatural workout – yes!! and tried the new VR tennis game; showered and dressed then off to run errands: Dollar Tree, dropped off many purged clothes to Goodwill, returned books to the library, picked up Paul’s repaired necklace, Walmart for last minute groceries, tried Boss chicken for early supper; blog reading with one eye on “Wednesday” before bed.  12.23.2022

Christmas

• Our new dryer is here, our new dryer is here…lots of laundry to catch up on; got started then went to see “Avatar” but the time we chose was 3D – both of us struggled to watch in 3D, thought the story was good but much too long; scrapbooked with my sister for a bit; tamales and chips and queso for dinner; watched football before bed; my former student Karla made cocoa bombs and sold them – can’t wait to try; sent out the book summaries and voting info for our book club’s January read. 12.24.2022
• Merry Christmas!!  Probably the easiest, calmest Christmas I can remember; PC and I exchanged gifts – he spoiled me once again; we had cereal for breakfast then I began the cooking – got the pumpkin pie made, then turkey, ham, cookies, sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes; kids arrived about 4:30 and we ate immediately then opened presents and the girls played; took a walk around the park; bath time and then they piled into the car to go back across the mountain; enjoyed snuggles from everyone today.  12.25.2022

Dust Settles

• Slept so deeply; enjoyed family time snuggles with the kitties before we got up; PC wanted to get to the outlet mall first thing so we were out the door by 11:00; looked everywhere for waterproof gloves for our New Year’s trip to Santa Fe, NM; I bought an insulated, mock neck Under Armor workout top; we got lots of shower gel 75% at Bath and Body; ran into Walmart for a few things; leftovers for late lunch; Supernatural workout and a little tennis; football and snacks before bed; started a new StepBet.  12.26.2022
• Enjoyed the slower pace of the day; finished laundry; piddled around the house doing little things, putting up presents; ironed the mother load of wrinkled clothes while watching YouTube programs;  PC came home early so we had my own version of these hot brown sandwiches for an early dinner; did tennis and Supernatural workout; started a new series on Hulu, “Candy.”  12.27.2022

Girls’ Day

• Sleeping so well and finally not waking in the middle of night coughing; nice morning getting ready to meet Lauren for a girls’ day; met at the Fountains at Farah – stopped in Versona (got this Love Ya sweater with rhinestone accents on the sleeves) and Loft (picked up a tweed skirt on sale); enjoyed a salad, soup and quiche lunch at La Madeleine and pedicures; home to warm up leftovers; watched more “Candy” before bed.  12.28.2022

• Made the bed first thing so I wouldn’t be tempted to crawl back under the covers; got PC off to work then visited with Bren and Dec while I had breakfast; put all the ironed clothes away, gathered things for our trip to Santa Fe; mixed together lemon cookie dough; visited with my sister on Facetime; cleaned the skimmer buckets and leaf catcher in the pool; vacuumed downstairs; had my eyebrows threaded; picked up Walmart order for our trip; kitty food at the pet store; met with the Rover.com sitter who will check on the kitties; fish sticks for supper; made these pecan bars; watched “Candy” before bed.  12.29.2022

Sun Bowl for Weekend Kickoff

• Slept so well but dreamed I was checking out books in the dark to kids who didn’t know their ID #s or last names; we slept late and were snuggled up this morning against the cold rain outside; PC cleaned the pool while I baked these sausage balls and collect things for our trip; he ran to the eastside to buy snow chains when we discovered the ones we have don’t fit my car; met Lauren and girls at the Sun Bowl game at UTEP after driving for over an hour trying to find a place to park; great weather, fun fans sitting around us including a little girl I knew from subbing; close game between Pitt and UCLA; drove downtown to see the lights and migrants; picked up Chipotle for dinner; watched Tennessee in the Orange Bowl; up to pack before bed.  12.30.2022

Not So Fast

Sooooo, my laptop, in its infinite wisdom decided to publish this post before the month was over.  It published the night of 12.30 so I am adding an update with my 12.31 sentence.  Not sure what happened but when I tried to save the last sentence above, I got that swirling thing up at the address bar showing my computer was thinking or working on it.  And I went to bed.  That will teach me!!

• Last day of 2022…not one of my favorite years but the last month or so has been pretty delightful and has left me feeling very hopeful for 2023.  Up early with PC having another coughing fit; started packing for Santa Fe; fixed everything for the kitties while we are gone and Sylvia’s drop-in visits; over to the kids house then on the road by 11:30; lunch at a pitiful McD’s in Truth or Consequences, NM and I drove from there to Santa Fe; we are staying in a quaint southwest style Air B-n-B; ordered pizza, soaked in the hot tub, played with the girls, and Pumpkin; noise makers and kisses at midnight ET.  12.31.2022

The girls are waiting for the pizza man and then for midnight and the Times Square ball to drop.  We cheated and went with midnight on the east coast so we could get in bed before 10:30 Santa Fe time.

The month in 1 second each day.

 

 

Your Turn

 

Well, now this post is ready to publish.  But it already published itself somehow a day ago.  How rude!!

Hoping to blog more regularly and to write about things that really matter to me like family, dates with PC, books, and life after retirement.  I have a few sub jobs lined up in the new year but want to be home in order to write, read, craft and clean and to continue to enjoy the slower pace life has taken in the last few days of 2022.  Thank you for spending time with me today and each time you visit.  I appreciate YOU!!  Happy New Year!!

Hugs and kisses,