HOLIDAY WRAP UP

 We had the pleasure of Maggie's company for almost 2 weeks!   We enjoyed going out to dinner...

 

bike riding and trying to harvest mistletoe!

Then all 3 kids were home and we had some family photos taken.

We had Christmas Eve dinner with my sister's family and played Cards Against Humanity with much laughter - the cousins enjoyed  each other's company.

Then we cozied up at home and opened presents and had our traditional breakfast, watched movies and made a nice dinner together.

As of today, Maggie is back in Philly and Zac in Monterey.  Ally is camped on the couch getting over a cold and checking the internet obsessively for her grades.  I am cleaning up the detritus room by room and happy to have 5 more days until I go back to work!

HOLIDAY HOME TOUR - 2013

Welcome to my Holiday Home!  I have enjoyed joining Jen's tour for the past several years - this year my daughter Maggie was home from Philadelphia and helped me decorate,  Her aesthetic is more toward the simple and natural than mine. ( I tend to go crazy with color.)  We think we blended our styles pretty well!

This is our entry, I placed some of my Christmas collection with some candles next to my card tree - not a single card yet!!

This is our newly reconfigured great room - Maggie and I found this lovely wreath with eucalyptus at a crafts fair as our starting inspiration then added some sparkle.

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 We took the usual stuff off the shelves and placed some shiny gold and silver things in their place.

We kept my favorite ceramic piece "The Cheeseburger Lovers" in place.

The dining room is festive in red, silver and gold.

These reindeer candle holders have been around for nearly 30 years - one broke last year and now they are too fragile to hold candles... still pretty though!

The tree!  Room for more presents...

My chubby new Santa joins the collection.

Our stockings are hung and ready to be filled with goodies.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a healthy, happy 2014!

HOLIDAY OVERLOAD

I know I am not alone in this - just too much to get done this week to post.  I a almost done decorating so I will be participating in Jen's annual Holiday Homes Tour on Friday - Maggie has been helping me change things up this year.  See you Friday!!

TOO COLD TO RIDE

It was 38 degrees at 9 a.m. this morning.  I declared it too cold to ride my bike. I rode last week when it was around 50 degrees and my biking capri's, 3 layers of jackets, gloves and earmuffs were not enough - so 38 degrees?  Hell no.  Cold weather biking togs are  on my wish list...

I settled for doing laundry, hitting the grocery stores, ironing and setting up my gift wrapping station.  Maggie is coming home this Wednesday and wrapping needed to be done. (Not that I am saying she would snoop.) The big game (Seattle v. SF) started at 1:25 and so did my wrapping.

 Most of my shopping has been done online so I have boxes inside of boxes to manage.  I am so glad I didn't get any "peanuts" because I hate trying to bag them up to recycle  Instead, I had one package which took the prize for most ridiculous amount of waste:

The box for this one calendar (I'm not revealing any big secret, I always give the kids a calendar...) was 48 inches by 28 inches.  The calendar was just bouncing around in the big box.  Maybe someone screwed up and ordered these big weird sized boxes?

I managed to get most of my wrapping done, the stocking stuffers sorted and the laundry folded.  Next up - cookie dough!

And Seahawks?  You'll get 'em next time.

RIP Mr. Mandela

One of the truest leaders of all time - may he rest in peace and continue to inspire, always.

HOLIDAYS AND BIRTHDAYS

I have been trying to write about my big week but Blogger kept doing weird stuff -  seems to be working tonight so no one has to miss my boring holiday recap!

This year, in order to spare our retail working son the long drive home,  we went out to dinner at a place we

like near him.  First we went to a movie and strolled the shopping area in Santa Cruz and then had a lot of drinks and  dinner and spent the night at a little inn on the coast.

Ally had her wisdom teeth (she only had 2 of them) out on Monday and had a little trouble eating, but a good time was had.  Zac made it to work at REI at dawn on Black Friday. Tom and I woke hours before we knew we could rouse Ally so we walked the beach and had breakfast before driving home.

The rest of the holiday weekend Tom and I enjoyed the amazingly warm weather and went on a couple of bike rides.  Ally and I had some quality time together and on Sunday I had lunch and did a little shopping with my sisters.

So on Thursday when we went to a movie (Delivery Man which was quite good) Tom and I were offered the Senior Discount.  Tom turned 60 last year so he took them up on it.  I protested that I had 3 more days until I was a "senior" and insisted on paying full price!

Then on Sunday I turned 60.  It is the first birthday in a very long time that I am having a little trouble with and it's that whole senior citizen thing bothering me.  I have been walking around with silver hair for 13 years and occasionally have been asked if I wanted a discount - but now I am actually old enough to take them up on it.

I suppose I'll get used to it and we all know that 60 is the new...what?  Fifty?  Geez. I know - better than the alternative and age is just a number.  Guess I will learn to embrace the new label of "senior" along with whatever perks it brings!

TIME WARP TUESDAY

This week for TWT I wanted to hare a Thanksgiving photo but found out that I rarely took photos on Thanksgiving.  Guess all the cooking preoccupied me!  Jenn hosts us every Tuesday and we share family photos and tell our stories..

This is 1997 in our house in Bellevue,  Washington. When we moved there I had a lot of work to do on the house, all kinds of wall paper that needed to be taken down, carpets and paint needed to be replaced. Believe it or not the entire house was baby blue and pink!!

It took a while.  Finally I finished the  messy stuff and bought a dining room set.  I think this might have been one of the first times we used it. It was just the 5 of us this particular Thanksgiving - though I didn't get a photo of all of us, I did manage to catch Maggie and Zac putting things on the table just before we sat down to eat.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and remember to take pictures!!

TIME WARP TUESDAY

Last weekend Tom and I had dinner with my two sisters who live locally and their husbands. We went to our favorite local place, Lokanta, and had lots of drinks and a fine dinner.  We were not ready to call it a night so we wandered down to a local joint which has live music every weekend.  Local bands who play music from the 80's and 90's for the most part - not necessarily that great but very dance worthy.

Well, we "Bradbury" girls had a ball.  We danced ourselves into stiff hips and achy knees and went back for more.

So this week on Time Warp Tuesday,  I m sharing an oldie picture of my siblings including my sisters of the dance floor - Nancy and Polly.  Because in the long run - your siblings can end up being your best friends...not to mention the people you can let your hair down with - or in our case, shake your booty with!

Christmas 1970  Jane, Nancy, Steve, Polly, me

ON MY MIND

These are the things I am wondering about this week:

1.)  How is it our country can come up with 20 million dollars at the drop of a hat to send to the victims of
typhoons and earthquakes and other natural disasters in foreign countries but we can't manage to fund food stamps for hungry Americans?

2.)  Have all those people who are complaining that their insurance rate hikes are due to "Obamacare" not noticed that their premiums have been going up every single year?

In fact, in 2011 the average rate increase was 8.8%, in 2012 it was 4.9% and in 2013 it was only 3.3%.  Many say the lower rate increase this past year was because Obamacare will actually create more competition and the insurance companies want to appeal those looking to sign on.

3.)  I heard Sarah Palin was coming back on the scene with a new book to sell - and today I found out it is about the "war" on Christmas.  Her complaint is not that Christmas is too commercial - she likes that part - but that businesses or people (like me) who say Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas are infringing on the religious rights of Christians .  So, somehow recognizing and referring to the other religious holidays which occur in the same time period is ruining Christian's  enjoyment of Christmas?  Okaaay.

Since every person I have ever known who is an atheist or agnostic still celebrates Christmas, granted  in the very secular way that Christmas is mostly celebrated, completely undermines her complaint as far as I am concerned.

4.)  Why is it such a shock each year when it gets dark at 5:30?

SHOPPING JONES

I have had an obsession for shopping for the past month.  Seeing the trees turning and experiencing the cool mornings and evenings has pushed my somewhat excess shopping buttons. For the past 9 year I have worn the same 2 jackets in the cold months.  A reversible rain jacket and a really nice leather jacket.  The combination of warming hormonal changes and a rather limited life made it possible to attend most winter events comfortably.

Now I find myself coatless.  Even the impulse purchased red trench raincoat which I squeezed into once or twice is way too big now.  I have been shivering my way to work in the mornings and layering up when we go out in the evenings.

The threat of rain this week set me in motion.  I poured over the internet to see what to expect in the stores.  Seems that double breasted is very big - but not my favorite look.  The patch work mix of leather and wool is cool but maybe too trendy for someone who plans to wear the same coat for many years to come.  Stunned by the department store prices I was seeing and underwhelmed by the selection in the usual discount stores, I asked around at work and was told to go to Burlington Coat Factory which is just down the road. Somehow it had never occurred to me that a place named "Burlington Coat Factory" would actually have coats...

Happily they had great coats at fabulous prices.  After trying on about 20, I bought a rain coat and a dressier wool coat - both from Michael Kors.  I have already shortened the sleeve on the raincoat, but plan to take the wool coat to a seamstress to alter. I go both coats for well under $200.00 so I don't mind paying to have alterations.

My next shopping jones will be some warmer shoes.  My former work environments allowed me to wear more casual clothing and shoes plus had the advantage of being warmer than where I work now, especially because I am in and out of our warehouse.  I am thinking a cool oxford...