L'amore di vita!

All is calm. All is bright.

Not really calm! But the tree is bright. Typical Christmas hectic happenings. 

Got the tree decorated the first weekend in Dec. That's a record. We wanted a small tree, and last year we waited too long and every store was completely sold out except for 6 foot or larger. So this year we went to a garden store early and picked up the cutest 4 foot tree you've ever seen. 

It's amazing to me how much more time & material it takes to decorate a 6 foot tree than it does a 4 foot tree. 

After Thanksgiving we had had enough of "big" foods and decided to eat light. Our first big meal after the holiday was Asian food. So good, and not heavy with gravies and such. We both love our good holiday foods, but sometimes we need a breather.

We've done a lot of window shopping. The decorations this year are GORGEOUS and so creative!

The hubs made us a chocolate martini last Sunday.  OMG. It was soooo good. Really yummy. I'm not a martini drinker by any means (most taste like gasoline to me), but this drink was fantabulous!

Hope ya'lls holidays are merry and bright!

Till next time. Love and peace.

 

 

The reason for the season.

Christmas is coming on like a fast freight train!

Been shopping and getting together with friends. Eating and sleeping. Cleaning and cooking. I love this time of year. 

We put up our tree and decor last weekend. In the process got rid of a bunch of Christmas stuff. When we moved from the big house into the condo I pared down our Christmas stuff from about 25 boxes and 10. It was tough. The 25 boxes were an accumulation of years and years of buying at after Christmas sales and never (ever) throwing anything away. Can't do that anymore!

Then this year I decided to pare down even more, and now I'm down to 5 boxes of Christmas stuff. I don't know how much further I can go without getting rid of things that mean a lot to me. So I doubt they'll be any more Christmas supply clearing. 

The Salvation Army band was at the local mall recently. I just love that they do this. I hope they make a lot of money in these lean times. They help so many people.

 

Full as a Tick.

Haha. 

We had Thanksgiving at our friend's house, and one of the girls kept saying she was "full as a tick", and then she'd laugh like heck. Now I can't stop saying it.

We had a terrific Thanksgiving. All I had to make was an appetizer and a sweet potato souffle.  Anytime I don't have to do a lot of cooking is a good day to me. Our friends had crazy tons of food. Everyone brought something. 

I didn't take many photos. It was a beautiful day, so I took a little stroll in the neighborhood and snapped a few. Not much.

We've been so busy! Hope everyone is doing well!

 

 

Surprise. It's the Sun.

After constant rain, wind and minor flooding for the last four days, it was finally dry, sunny and fabulously warm today.

The hubs and I took a walk late this afternoon, and this is the beauty we saw.

The fall setting sun is so gorgeous!

Birthdays and Blowing my Nose.

Not related in any way, of course!

Mom came over Sat morning and we headed over to the Carolina Craftsmans Classic for a few hours of shopping. And since it was her birthday the next day, we met up with my brother and another family friend and treated Mom to one of our favorite Italian places, Mama Cuccina. We love the traditional Italian-style ambiance of this place. It's a small and intimate place. Reminds me of a lot of places we went to when visiting Todi, Italy in 2005. Lots of tables crammed into the space. Italian music in the background. The loud hum of everyone talking. The service was terrific. But mostly we love the food. Yummy, huge portions of mouth-watering goodness.

The only thing that put a damper on the day (for me anyway) was that I woke up with a scratchy throat, a bit of stuffy nose, and not feeling 100%. It wasn't that I felt sick. Just blah and a little tired. Like I was trying to come down with something and couldn't shake it. So I popped aspirin and drank a lot of water throughout the day. And stayed clear of everyone.

On Sunday felt a lot better, but still not 100%. The hubs and I had to get a few groceries for our bare cubbies, so we headed out to Whole Foods, and I'm so glad we did. The weather was amazingly warm and sunny - you know, one of those last really warm days just before the coldness of fall arrives for good. Just a perfect day to be out embracing the blue skies and watching the sun glinting off all the orange leaves on the trees and ground. The weather invigorated me and I was excited to be basking in the warm sun.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We deserve cookies today.

The hubs went to take the Nissan in this morning for it's xx mileage maintenance, and it wouldn't start. Ok, maybe we waited too long for the maintenance(!). Pffft. 

AAA to the rescue. The hubs drove off happily. We needed a new battery. It's amazing to me that overnight the battery went dead. There was a little hesitation when I tried to start the car one day this week, but we figured we'd tell the auto shop during the xx mileage checkup and they could look into it. 

We've been having a terrible time finding a room darkening shade for our bedroom. We ordered all our curtains from Calico Corners last Oct, and we just now got the last shade in our bedroom installed today! This was the fourth attempt at a shade. 

We needed a room darkening shade, without question. The first one they made for us didn't darken...at all.  It was made of the bamboo slats with blackout fabric on the back.  So we tried a roller type blackout shade. The first shade was too wide and the installer couldn't even get it in the window. The second attempt was the same. Finally, today, the last and final attempt was made and it fit!  Looks great too, and it really blacks out nearly every bit of light.

So we deserve cookies today!

One vote counts.

Did you get out and vote today? 

I hope you're exercising this right, privilege, and responsibility! 

Every day on the news I see scads of corruption in other countries when it comes to their voting systems (for those that have one). So I am thankful that I can go and cast a vote and not have to worry about being taken out and having my wits beat out of me because someone in authority doesn't like what I'm doing.

Or worse, not having an election at all and consequently living with a dictatorship.

I proudly wear this sticker every year. (It's not your eyes...it's really out of focus. :)

Mom care.

I can't imagine what it would be like for my back to hurt all the time. My Mom has been experiencing this for awhile.

Every day the pain is there first thing in the morning. And lasts all day. It gets worse as the day wears on because she has to work at a job that requires using the lower back. By the time the work day is over and evening rolls around, it's difficult to walk. After 10 hours of being on her feet and bending over a shampoo bowl to wash hair (she's been doing hair for as long as I can remember), it really really hurts. Sometimes, so painful she can bearly walk.

I can't imagine the frustration of not getting any relief after seeing several back doctors, a hip doctor, a chiropractor, and several other specialists. One doctor said it was lupus. Another said it was all imagined pain. Another recommended seeing a pain-management specialist. Several said they couldn't figure it out.

But at last, one said "we can do something about it." 

So on Friday there was a spinal epidural. By Sunday she already felt better. For the first time in a long time she woke up without any pain.

YEA!!!!

She really doesn't like it when I take these kinds of sneaky shots. :) She's going into the doctor's office for the epidural.

On then on Sat we went out for breakfast in the city. Good stuff. See her nails? That's hair dye. For as long as I've know my Mom, she's had hair dye on her nails. Occupational mark for a hairdresser.

I hope it keeps feeling better and better, Mom.