Weekend Coffee Share....Come Sit with Me

It's another week of Weekend Coffee Share. I always love everyone's posts. Are you like me and try to visit everyone? It doesn't always happen but I try. I have loved getting to know different bloggers and I figure if they take the time to write a post, I'll find the time to visit, even if it's a week later. I truly enjoy what you all share and I often learn so much. 

Check out all the other posts on Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I'm off to go visit some now. #weekendcoffeeshare.

If we were having coffee we'd probably talk about:

The weather: We've had some nasty weather the last few days. No white Christmas for us, just lots of rain and in the evening high winds, which look like rain and wind will continue the rest of this week. Yesterday there were several branches and trees down on our hill. Well, the branches were on the road, the trees were laying on the hillside. 

What we're thinking about: It's that post Christmas let down, slump, lull, where it's just suddenly done (at least for us) and life goes back to what it was. We all worked the next day, so there was no lingering or extended visiting. I chuckle at the memes I see out there talking about the days between Christmas and New Year when you are just confused as to what day it is, what is happening, etc. Having the holidays in the middle of the week doesn't help.

I've also been thinking about so many who have lost loved ones in the recent weeks and months including one of my cousins. My heart breaks for all of them. The firsts are hard and when it's so close to a holiday I feel like it makes it worse. 

I've been thinking a bit about the new year, what I hope to see take place. I normally choose a word for the year, but the reality is, the last few years, I've chosen words and then done nothing with or about them, so I'm thinking I won't this year. 

What we're thankful for: I am so thankful for my in laws. I hit the jackpot with my mother and father in law. They are two of the most amazing humans. 

My mother in law got this Christmas dress from Walmart and she has worn it a lot. She said "I'm almost 80, I figure I can wear whatever I want". One of the games we played was being blind folded and scooping Christmas bows into a bowl. She brought them on the floor when we were done for the youngest ones to do. Pepper and her cousin are 3 weeks apart. They were supposed to be born within days of each other, but he came early. 

Around the house: Here at our house, I leave Christmas up until after the New Year, so maybe next weekend I'll take it down. We'll see. I reorganized a few cupboards to make room for another set of dishes. I have had the same dishes for over 20 years. I had 12 plates, salad dishes and bowls, and was down to just the dinner plates. They were red and the other items had rings of blue and yellow and red. I loved them but didn't have matching sets of anything and I wanted something new. Costco had some that I loved and I got two sets for my birthday and then a set for Christmas so I would have a set of 12 of everything. I really like them. 

For the love of food: As always our Christmas Eve tradition of Clam Chowder in bread bowls was a hit. One of my hubby's co-workers even came up to get some since he always hears about it at work and loves clam chowder. We sent him home with enough for him and his wife. Christmas morning was homemade cinnamon rolls. I did make some caramel corn, Italian sprinkle cookies (or Anginetti) and peanut butter fudge. So much good food, but I'm ready to get back to eating more normal, and I'm ready to not have so many sweets accessible to us at work..haha. 

I have tried whenever possible to find and use items without food dye, especially for the grandkids. Well, I follow a dye free page on FB and someone share about these sprinkles from Walmart. The ones on the left have no "artificial dyes" (think red dye 40, etc), but are colored with "plants". They are muted in color but still pretty. I am glad I found them because other ones I've found can be really expensive. 

For the love of books: I did reach my Goodreads goal! I'll share my final results next week. I have started a few new books. The Zookeepers Wife by Diane Ackerman, and Broken Bayou by Jennifer Moorhead. 

What we're listening to or watching: I finished the audiobook The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns, and just started Tears of the Giraffe (No. 1 Ladies Detetive Agency book #2) by Alexander McCall Smith. My aunt encouraged me to listen to at least one book in the series because you gained a better understanding of how certain words were pronounced, since it is based in Botswana. Last week was pretty busy with work and Christmas that I didn't listen to any podcasts. We did watch a few Christmas movies. Eloise at Christmastime, Christmas with Holly, and The most wonderful time of the year. I don't think I watched any Hallmark movies or Holiday cooking shows. 

A favorite quote: Since this week was so hectic, I'm sharing a quote I saw on IG. I usually share them so I can go back and read them again. I thought this one was really good. 

Favorite photo(s):

I found this super cute measuring vessel at one of our local resale boutiques. I never know what to call the shops that have vendors who sell new and used items. Anyways, this was at one of my favorite ones and I just had to get it.

2025 Family photo. I love these people! 

Every holiday since about 2009 (we've maybe missed one) we get a picture and video of my nephews holding my oldest like this and then "curling" her..haha. We joke that they need to do this when she's in a wedding dress and when she's pregnant someday. 

Random or not so random things: I'll share about Christmas soon, but first.... Friday at work, I was eating something and realized I broke a tooth. I am NOT happy at all. This more than likely means a crown, which means $$$$. Hopefully they can get me in soon. Thankfully it doesn't hurt and isn't sensitive, so that's good. I'm avoiding eating on that side of my mouth. 

I finished the fall puzzle and have started on a winter one I got for my birthday. Though I haven't worked on it much the last several days. 

I normally do 1,000 piece puzzles but this one was 500. Even so, it was still a bit tricky. I recently saw some on amazon that were books and wildflowers and so pretty, I might need to buy one. 

This one I got from my hubby for my birthday. I haven't worked on it much, but will probably work on it on New Years Eve. 

Christmas was fun. The grandkids were extra fun this year and excited about everything. It's always nice when we can all get together. Christmas morning everyone comes up for Cinnamon rolls and we open our gifts. Then we hang out for a few hours and then head down to my in laws for the main meal and more gifts. 

 I got my son in law and grandson one of the those boxbollen games you see online..it's basically a ball attached to a thin cord that attaches to your head and you see how many hits you can get. It has an app that goes with it. They all love using it, even Pepper. 

My husband had a series of group games planned to do at my in laws and everyone had fun with those. He had prizes. Even the little ones could get involved in them. 

For this game, there were two of each item he had. One item was put in the box and the others were on the table. The top of the box was numbered and you picked an item you wanted and put it on the number you thought had the second item. If you were right you won both items. The littles had fun with this on and even won a few times. 

This one, we had to try and flip the cups so they stood up. It was hard to get them upright so we decided as long as they were standing straight, it counted. 

This one made me chuckle because we got the cup mid flip and it looks like it's floating. 

Create the tallest tower of marshmallows using these long skewers to pick up and stack. Indiana won it one time. he had a good method going and everyone else's fell. 

The rest of the week has been a bit of a blur. I went back to work the 26th and 27th so no real "easing back into things". I worked a lot more this month and it made it a little difficult to stay on top of things. I'm looking forward to January getting back to a normal routine. 

I hope you all have a great New Years. "See you next year"!

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin