We’ve had a busy Thanksgiving, as I’m sure you have also. We went to our youngest son’s house and enjoyed a nice dinner with him, his wife, and his three children. Holidays are always more fun when there are Grandkids involved. We played, ate, went for a walk, played, ate again, played, ate some more, and ended the evening playing a version of Monopoly Junior called Animalopoly. It was interesting, however, I STILL do not like Monopoly because I can never win!
The weekend was also good because I stayed within my goal of NOT gaining more than X number of pounds. I am excited to report that my husband and I have been counting calories, walking, and losing some weight. I’ve lost 15 pounds since returning from our cruise. 🙂 Therefore, I absolutely KNEW I had to set a goal for Thanksgiving that I wouldn’t gain more than 4-5 pounds. I’m happy to report that I only gained 2 pounds, and I have lost most of that already. Yea, me!
When we arrived home from our Thanksgiving visit, I knew we would be digging out the Christmas decorations to begin the process of decorating for the holidays. I love Christmas decorations, but I really don’t like all the work. I would just prefer to leave the decorations up all year, but that is not even a possibility as far as my husband is concerned. He would like to take down all the decorations the day after Christmas. At least I talked him into waiting until New Year’s Day. Oh, well.
We bought a new “skinny” tree this year. Since we have had a very large diameter, 9 foot tree for six years, this “skinny” 9 foot tree takes a little getting used to. Here is a picture of our tree after putting on all the decorations.
We also had to “re-invent” our mantle decor because we got a new, larger TV this past year. There just wasn’t enough space between the mantle and the bottom of the TV for the decorations that we usually put there. The decor is simpler, but I think I like it better.
Here is the ONE decor item that I DO get to leave up all year. It is my Willow Tree Nativity. A few years ago, I decided I wanted a new nativity scene. I asked for the pieces to the Willow Tree Nativity for Christmases and birthdays for several years. Since it is not real “Christmas-y,” the hubby DID agree to let me leave it up all year. This isn’t the best picture, and you can’t see ALL of the pieces.
As of Thanksgiving I had not even started any Christmas shopping. I need to start thinking about doing that. The Grandkids DID give me a few ideas. Hopefully I’ll have some gifts purchased by the end of this week. Until then…..Happy Shopping!