The Point of This Picture

 

The point of this picture isn't me in my living room chair again,  the highlight is the bowl of pimento cheese that Winnie made.  And, of course, the two little hopeful dogs, since they like a little taste of most anything that is good for dogs.

If you get Southern Living, you can find Roselynn Carter's recipe in the December issue.  It's just so, so good.  Highly recommend.

It's been a beautiful December day.  Since there is only one step down to my back porch, I was able to sit outside for a while and that was good for my soul.  Sarah very nicely even blow the debris off the porch and carried out my bed  room chair.  Fifty-nine degrees.

For one bright shining moment I thought I could surely make it down the steps and into the car for an evening drive to look at the lights.  When I got back up that one step I decided that wasn't such a good idea.

***Sometimes it's hard to be a Bengals fan, but a win is a win, and a big win is even better.

Barbie Night

 Last night was family Barbiie movie night, complete with pink flowers for the occasion.  And popcorn and snacks, of course.

Nora had seen it twice before, Winnie once before, and the rest of us not at all.  And we all enjoyed it.

There was PT yesterday as well, with a few new exercises added.  And one stair step, just one.

The tech from the eye doctor's office called this morning, saying that the doctor wouldn't be in the office on Monday and asked if we could change my scheduled appointment to the following Monday.  That's fine with me, it will give me an extra week to get stronger, with less effort to navigate the steps.

I woke up during the night worrying about projects that I hadn't been able to focus on.  So this morning I tried to make a dent in a few of those before I started on the NYT word puzzles.   Mini, Spelling Bee, Wordle, and Connections, in that order.  Does anyone else love those?

Change of Plans

 

Little visiting dogs on the Purple People Bridge this morning.  

As the name implies, the bridge is only used for people these days, and it's painted purple.  Opened in 1872 as a railroad bridge connecting Newport, KY, and Cincinnati, it's decorated with lights at Christmas.

Our Christmas Chinese take out dinner yesterday was delightful, but not as planned.  Our go-to Chinese restaurant was closed - we should have remembered that - and we selected another one close by.  We'd ordered ahead but the restaurant was swamped, even doing carry out only, and our order wasn't ready and wouldn't be for more than an hour.

Time for a back story - last Christmas my daughters had Covid.  Fairly mild, so they went for a solitary hike then started thinking about food.  They ended up Door Dashing from a local Indian restaurant because that was what they could find open.

So it only seemed appropriate this year to order appetizers from the Indian restaurant, to be picked up with the Chinese food.  Since the Chinese food wasn't ready we ate the Indian appetizers, then went back for the Chinese order.

Which was perfect.

Christmas Is Here

 

Merry Christmas Everyone.  

May your day be merry and bright.

May your heart be light.

Christmas Eve

 The last minute wrapping flurry is happening.  The family Christmas will begin in two hours.

Tonight there will be pizza and cookies, tomorrow Chinese take-out.  And it will all be just right  Who doesn't love pizza and Chinese?

When I was a child we would gather at my grandmother's.  We would wait impatiently for my dad to finish milking so we could head out.  And then after dinner we would wait impatiently again for the dishes to be washed and dried so we could open presents.

There was a gift exchange with a $2 limit.  Totally exciting, both to get a gift and to see who drew your name.

One year my sister, ten years younger than me, got a Fisher Price corn popper push toy and we were all amazed at such a wonderful gift.  I just checked on Amazon - that corn popper is still available, for $24.

My grandmother would give us each red envelopes from the bank.  $1 for the grandkids and $2 for the adults.  One day this fall I was going through drawers and found several of those envelopes, still with the crisp bills inside.

I thought it would be fun to give them to my family for Christmas this year, but, today, I can't find them.

All Those If's

 IF

the Bengals win their last two games

and

if the Denver Broncos lose to the Kansas City Chiefs

and 

if the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts each lose at least one mor game

THEN

and only then

The Cincinnati Bengals will be in the playoffs.

ESPN gives them a 10% chance but Bengals fans are ever hopeful.

(But don't forget, in seven weeks pitchers and catchers report for duty.)

Good Week

 It's been a good week.

I talked with the ortho PA and learned that I have two sacrum factures, but no nerve involvement, which is a good thing.  And so, in home PT for now, very conservative to start, to keep from aggravating it again.  This morning we added a few simple exercises.  No walking without the walker or stairs yet.

Patience and PT should get me back to where I was before.  And I was happy with where I was before.  I could walk the hills in my neighborhood, do some easy gardening, do a lot of stairs.

But today I can stand for longer periods of time, am increasing my steps and decreasing the pain meds.  All good things.

And in the meantime, it's almost Christmas.  Steph helped me wrap and she's been so nice with making sure I'm eating good food and have clean laundry, Sarah and Winnie are on their way with the little dogs,  I've loved my tree every single day.

My sweet sister sent me reindeer chow, a lovely recipe that doesn't have powdered sugar or peanut butter.  It's delicious but not messy -  the perfect reindeer chow.

And I always love the Winter Solstice.  The days lengthen so slowly at first, like the earth is holding its breath before it commits to moving forward.