Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Christmas is Coming!

We were up remarkably early for us Monday morning!
I should say, LOUIS DEAN was up early! It was not even 6:00 when he asked me if I was ready for coffee! ?? Really?? Apparently he didn't get a lot of sleep.....which is not good for him....or me!
We checked out of the motel a good two hours before we had to and headed over to HEB to buy the ingredients for Texas Trash. All those Chex cereals are hard to find sometimes.


We drove by Chandy's work on our way out of town.
Look at that sweet cherubic face!


Chandy is such a good mother!
Bella 'works' with her and has her own little 'office space.'


It makes my heart happy to see these two together again.
We could not be prouder of Chandy and Chris and their beautiful 'Yours, Mine and Ours' family.


I didn't want to use this pic from HEB as the first one in the post!
We bought everything to make sugarplums, too.
Would you believe oatmeal is an ingredient in sugarplums aka chocolate butter!?

We took turns driving home and thank goodness we did not have to deal with a setting sun since we were going east! It was 4:00 when we pulled in the driveway. I unloaded a few things - leaving the bags of groceries in the car since they weren't perishable - and then headed straight to bed!
We both rested a few hours before getting up and starting laundry and putting things away.
It was wonderful to come home to no surprises!
I did a bit of cleaning in our bedroom before we had a snack and watched Bull and went to bed.

I'm not waking up as early as I was there for awhile.
It was 9:00 when I turned my coffee on.
Louis Dean was still sleeping.
He has the hardest time with insomnia.
I usually sleep fairly well and if I can't - I get up and have a glass of wine and then I fall right to sleep.


Brenda and I try to have lunch together every month and today was our day.
Chandy and Chris had sent us home with some of the delicious brisket from the weekend.
I chopped it up and added the BBQ sauce and let it simmer in a small crockpot. I brewed up the tea and made two salads - one garden and one fruit.


It was cold today and really cold this morning.
I baked potatoes the old fashioned way by rubbing them in Crisco and sprinkling sea salt on them and cooked them in the oven. That helped warm up the house, too.
We had a good lunch! Louis Dean sat with us at the dining room table.
An hour is never long enough to really catch up so we planned an evening out soon and that includes the guys.

As soon as the table was cleared, I went up to K Hair to get my hair cut!
I had been putting it off as long as possible since I wanted it short when I have surgery, but over the weekend it had hit that 'I can't STAND this' stage and I was SO excited to have Yulisa give me a great cut.


This pic was taken 11 years ago and it came up in my memories this morning.
I thought, "I want that same cut again!"


I didn't show Yulisa the photo until AFTER she finished my hair!
Perfect!!! She is such a great stylist!


I still needed the WHEAT Chex and found them at Kroger this evening.
I couldn't resist the Rosemary 'trees.' We have two bushes already but I dearly love rosemary and these were 50% off! I'm going to use them inside the house this winter and then plant them in the herb garden come spring.


Tomorrow is TRASH day!!


Tonight I made the fruitcake cookie dough and it looks like I'm running out of room to date it!
I'm going to need an extra fine tip pen!


The dough is bagged up and Louis Dean put it in the mini fridge out in the gazebo.
With all this Christmas baking and preparing, the fridge is getting crowded!.


I had a really good day and my knee felt better than it has in weeks.
I even walked normal today!
I'm going to go to bed now so I can get up and get with it in the morning.
It's cold but blue skies are in the forecast so I am going to make a batch of divinity before I tackle the Texas trash. Cloudy days are not good days to make candy!




20 comments:

Bluebird49 said...

I think you look as young as you did 11 years ago! Glad your knee wasn't as bad, even after your very busy days!

Carol said...

You are certainly the busy one. I am glad your knee was better and I love the hair style on you! I received my gift and love it!!!!

Stacy said...

Goodness, but you have been busy! I'm glad you got your haircut. Isn't amazing what a lift to our spirits a good one can be? And you look marvelous! I hope you'll share the Texas Trash recipe, too.

Changes in the wind said...

Love that really short haircut! Got my Christmas card...Thank you! You are always baking something to take somewhere:) You have made that recipe a lot of times...

Arlene G said...

I hope to do my chex mix on Monday. It just is not Christmas without it. So glad that knee is feeling better!!

Vee said...

Look at all that loot! Trash can be expensive! You never change, Linda; you look darling. So glad that your knee is giving you a break. My knee is feeling better, too. Phew! It is twice as hard to get things accomplished with a bum knee. Hope that Louis Dean is able to get good rest at home in his own bed.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I'm so glad you shared that recipe, I love fruit cake and so should enjoy the cookies. I don't make Texas hash but do make chex mix every year. It is good and I know what you men about wheat chex being hard to find. This yeaer I lucked out and found all throe packaged together at at the store. Nice you are feeling better with the knee, now hopefully you 'll be able to get a lot done.

Susie said...

Linda, I love the new hair cut. You look so pretty. I did not know what all went into making your Texas Trash. I was thinking of a blog friend named Nellie...she used to cook goodies all the time. I told I would probably be walking past her house many times a day just to smell the aromas. Now yours too. LOL. Glad your knee feels better, probably from rest. So take it easy girl. My back is a tiny bit better now and I am thanking God. I have to make myself not shovel snow or carry wood. Blessings to all of you. love you, xoxo, Susie

MadSnapper said...

YAY for the pain in the knee being better.. so happy for you. love the haircut and i just said the same thing Saturday morning. to Bob of course. I said my hair is at the I CAN"T STAND IT any longer... we used to cut it every 3 weeks, now we push it to about 6. 5 is good, 6 is NOOOOOOO longer

Debby said...

Love your pixie cut. I wish I could wear one again. You are having so much Christmas fun already. Merry Christmas.

Cheapchick said...

Your hair looks great and you don't look any older than that picture with your daughter, I thought maybe she came along and you got a picture this year! I made 7 dozen of your fruitcake cookies this year, now my family favorite. Even better, they freeze wonderfully!

photowannabe said...

So happy your knee is feeling better. No fun to feel gimpy.
Texas Trash...yummmm
I think I have to make some Chex mix this year too.
Love your hair cut and boy do I know what you mean about the "I can't stand it any longer" stage.
It comes on fast ..One day you can wait and the next its Arghhhh...that's it!!
I was relieved to read that you came home to no surprises...yay...
Hope LD can get some good rest. Love the photo of he and Chandy.
Wow that recipe with all the dates on it is amazing. What a journal of your Christmas baking.
Have a wonderful day
Sue

The Feminine Energy said...

Oh that doggone insomnia... it sure can tucker a body out!! Perhaps it's the excitement of this time of year that's not helping LD get the rest he should. Hang on, both of you.... a more peaceful time of year is coming soon. I love your hair, Linda. You are perpetually young!!!! Much love and good wishes for a beautiful Christmas, Andrea xoxo

Chatty Crone said...

I enjoyed your little trip with you. That trash costs a little bit!! So do you make cookie dough and freeze it to later make the cookies?

Carole said...

Wishing you all the best in the run up to Christmas - as usual we are having to get things fixed (a tap that leaked all over the place) Goodness knows why this always happens just before the holiday. Cheers

Ginny Hartzler said...

I love your pretty red Christmas tree top! The hairdo suits you, you look so young and pretty. WOW that's a lot of trash ingredients!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the lovely Christmas card and will also be making a
version of your Texas Trash. Take care of that knee as you are
bustling about. love, Phyllis

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

What a busy lady you are! I like your hair cut. I am like you and go till I can't stand my hair a lot of times and then want it done right away! Today was a bad fatigue day so didn't get much done but am mostly done for Christmas so that is okay. Nancy

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

You’re going to be making a lot of trash! Wow!

You look great!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

I also got a hair cut today, Linda, but never like the results for a few days, but your new do is very nice. I enjoyed the look back photo too. Thanks for the beautiful Christmas card with your original artwork. It was much appreciated. Glad your knee was not bothersome because you sure are a busy lady.