Saturday, December 26, 2015

My first Empty Nest Holiday: a Silent Night


Edited, because wine = typos.

This year, Little Sis opted to spend Christmas with her Special Person and their family.  That left myself and Eöl at home...alone for the holiday.

I'm pretty sure Eöl's holiday wish was for peace and quiet.  Not only were there no kids in the house, I lost my voice.  I'm pretty sure I left it on the table, but when I looked, it wasn't there.  Lost.  Lost, I tell you.

Anyhoo...it's been a different, but still nice, holiday.

We went for a hike in the unusually warm temps and sunshine Christmas Eve.

We saw perfect fairy landscapes...


 Roses that think it's time to put out new growth...


Brown Eyed Susans still in bloom....

And even honeysuckle bushes with new leaves.
It *is* December, and this *is* Ohio, right?

We had a fun evening of wrapping presents, because we are still having Christmas here, complete with ham, family, fun, and fruitcake.  We are just having it a week later, to give me time to recover my voice (I know I left it here somewhere!) and to give Little Sis a chance to have her own adventures.

While she is away, we are in charge of The Velociraptor, who decided to lay on the wrapping paper, wiggle around, and generally get in the way.

And this sad state of affairs...I dropped a present I'd purchased for Eöl.  Egads!  The horror!!



We did exchange one gift, saving the rest for our "official holiday".  The one I'd intended to give him was the one I dropped...egads again!...but thankfully I had a backup.  Anyway, this is what happens when alcoholics...I mean Wine Connoisseurs...shop for each other.


 The poor Velociraptor misses Little Sis...and is still in my way...

Then, on Christmas morning, we slept until noon.  Yeah, that never happens, even with teens in the house.  Instead of cooking for just the two of us, we went out for Chinese food.  Eöl looks very serious about this meal...


All in all, not so bad.  But I'm looking forward to next weekend:  kids, grandkids, presents, noise, hubbub, hooplah, and hopefully my voice back.

Happy Holidays, everyone!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our holidays have always been so busy, having Christmas eve and Christmas day dinner with my mom and step-pop, all the siblings, their spouses and our children and their children that I am coming to dread it. Now that it's over for the year, I'm trying to figure out how to plan one like you had. Sorry you dropped the gift, I would've cussed, then cried, and cussed some more.

Unknown said...

Seasons Greeting to you and yours also, from down under.

With Tom, 18, and hubby doing lots of hours at work, our Christmas day included a sleep in also. We dont do the big meal things, just lots of nibbles throughout the day. Last year we bought turkish takeaway from our local restaurant and heated it up the next day (making our own kebabs). Traditional we aint. The 3 of us did however play a mean (and i mean really nasty) game of monopoly, newly released featuring locations in Melbourne. Some hilarious Chances and Community Chest. How many 18 year olds would do that?

Cheers from a very hot Melbourne.

Country Wife said...

Lynda D, I am envious of your temps there! It's getting cold here and I'd forgotten how much I dislike the cold. Christmas Day was lovely and warm, but New Year's Day has snow and cold wind. Sounds like you had a lovely holiday!!

Ruth, I remember those days of family chaos. More and more people I know are skipping the holiday altogether, and I can totally understand. Here's hoping you find your holiday peace!