December 21-28, 2014
Merry Christmas!
Christmas time is here! We had lots of work still to do to complete all the projects for our upcoming Christmas party in southern Indiana. Dd did finish the red scarf she had been working on for Aunt April. She had first intended it to be a fun poncho type thing, but found that to be too long of a job for the time we had available. It turned out great, and Aunt April liked it very much. The ironic part is that Aunt April made Dd a scarf this year too!!! Isn't that funny! Dd scarf was made out of camouflaged yarn.
We went to the library on Monday, and I was so blessed to find two used cookbooks (that looked awesome) for Dh! I was so happy about that! He LOVES cookbooks, and new ones are just so expensive that he wasn't going to get one this year.
Return of the mouse sounds....again Dd was woken up by the sound of a mouse gnawing in her bedroom wall. Dh also "caught" another mouse in the kitchen traps; which makes our tally up to TEN.
This year Dh made the Ranger Cookies for his family, normally I make the cookies, but I was so behind with my present making that I was going to not give cookies this year. Dh's grandmother use to make Ranger Cookies, and they are a family favorite, so, with his help the tradition has made it through another year.
On Christmas Eve day, Dd spent a lot of time and effort cleaning up her room, and I also went in and helped to finish up the job. It was a big job, especially when this apartment bedroom is 1/4 of the size of her last bedroom. Trying to find a place for her things is impossible, and discouraging!
Christmas morning, Dd woke us up at 5:00 AM! She had been awake since 2:00 AM, and was kind enough to wait until a more respectable hour to wake us. We were all surprised by our gifts, and I was especially appreciative of the poem Dd made for me that has a lovely drawing of a Black-caped Chickadee on the top of the page. I just love thoughtful, homemade gifts like that. Dh presented me with a yearly pass to the sculpture garden in Grand Rapids, and I am looking forward to taking Dd there soon.
We did get to take a nice nature hike on Christmas!
Christmas was also the start of my migraine cluster--Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun were all migraine days (Mon was only a bad headache...phasing out of the cycle - hopefully). With my migraine and miserable head, Dh had to do the whole drive to Indiana. On Friday we packed up the van and headed to our home in Indiana, to spend the night there, so we could make the last two hours of driving to get to southern Indiana in time for the big party. I was glad we split up the seven hour drive; so there was one bonus to our house STILL not being sold!
Sat (12-27-14) we headed to southern Indiana for the big show...Dh's parents Christmas party. We all crammed into her living room and opened gifts. It is such a odd thing, these parties where you only see most of the people one time each year. It always leaves me very, very sad at the interactions I have with "family". I always had such high hopes for being apart of a big, LOVING family. The Christmas party we had with the "L" family was so perfect--I know them well enough to know what to get them, and they know exactly what to buy to give me--and the heart and tone is of love and kindness. I was so blessed by that day with the "L" family, and will cherish that memory---that truly is how a Christmas party should be! I will have to stop thinking about the family party and move on...some things in life can't be fixed by me. After the party ended, we got back in our van and drove the two hours back to our house for the night. Then in the morning (with a massive migraine) we cleaned up the house (dishes, wash floor, wash toilets, dog poop duty, vacuum the house), packed up our bags, and got in the van for the final five hours of driving back to Grand Rapids. It was good to be back and this time without the weight of getting presents completed. (I was still putting on the last minute touches to the felt birds I was giving to the females in the family during the whole drive.)
During our fourteen hours of driving we listened to
Little Town on the Prairie
By Wilder, Laura Ingalls Little Town on the Prairie CD (Little House) Unabridged, Audiobook (2005) Audio CD
1000
and completed the audio. I should say how much we enjoy these books, but this one is probably the least politically correct for two reasons--this is the book where Pa dresses up in black-face as part of a comedy routine with other men from town, to do a song & dance show. They referred to the men as "darkies", and that isn't a term we use in this day-in-age. That old term could really offend some people. The other thing that is a bad example, is the chapters where Miss Wilder (Almonzo's sister) is the school teacher. Nelly Olson had told lies to Miss Wilder about Laura, and the teacher repeatedly is beyond awful to Carrie and Laura, to the extent my blood wanted to boil!!!! This injustice is never entirely cleaned up, and they just kind of move on without justice being served. Pa and Ma have such clear instructions to their girls that the teacher is ALWAYS right, and they must do WHATEVER their teacher tells them to do, and that just doesn't sit well with me, and isn't what I preach to my daughter. I am all for respect and obedience, but children also need to know that they have permission to tell their side of the story and be aware that some people are bad and act for their own safety. Pa didn't ever want to hear the details of what was happening in the school!!! Poor, poor Laura and Carrie!!!! I really disliked that section of the book! But, besides those two sections that book is very good, and this is the book where Almonzo repeatedly asks Laura to allow him to "walk her home". He also gives her a ride behind his two horses, and they exchange "name cards" to each other too. It is sweet to hear about the first steps, knowing they will eventually get married and have children.
Audio 2:
Audio 2:
Holiday Toy List
We are enjoying this audio for another week; as it is ten discs to listen to! Even though Dd read the book this fall, she is happy to listen to the audio. I don't really have anything bad to see about this audio. The narrator is our buddy, Percy Jackson, and he walks us through many Greek stories, adding his own humor along the way!
Within the Palace Gates
this week. She was not a big fan of this book; but I liked it myself. I'm glad that she finally completed it so we can get onto our next SL Reader--Theras and His Town! A Greek story, so she is sure to enjoy! Even when we are "off", I usually keep her reading something for me; plus she always is reading her own books and many magazine subscriptions.
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