I've been busy the last 2 days - the tree was gone by New Year's Day - little by little this week I have been packing things away - I'm always ready to get things normal again although I do enjoy decorating for the holidays.
Sometime around the end of the month or in February - we'll do our big garage clean-up - and reorganize things before it gets hot. That's when I can go through things and start downsizing. I'd love to have just two, maybe three bins. Wow, that would be amazing.
I could have kept this light out as a winter decoration but I also don't like the clutter I usually have during Christmas. When Laydee goes over the rainbow bridge, I couldn't dare keep this. It reminds me of her so much. Even if we brought in a new black lab puppy -
Cutest Card for 2023
My old friend, Cindy, and I go back to the old San Francisco Days - I was 19 and she was 20. We went through that early stage of working in the big city - in the financial district - we got married a year apart and had our firstborns a year apart and we stayed friends - going through all the stages of adulthood. She is a widow now and we did lose track of each other for about 15-20 years or so. She used to work at Hallmark - and so she always sends the best Christmas Cards and this one was a pleaser.
QUESTION: What do you all do with the Christmas Cards that people lovingly send to you, after Christmas?
I admit, I feel guilty just throwing the few I do get, away. I've framed some - I've cut them up into Christmas gift tags...this one is a keeper.
My son gave me a gift certificate and I needed a new light over my kitchen sink and bought this one. I love it. It's so bright.
Ring in the New Year
I got out some of my mom's bells. She collected so many from all the places she traveled to - My niece Nina, wanted them, and with a few of the ones that had meaning to me, I gave her 3 huge boxes of bells. Beautiful bells.
The yellow "little girl" bell is a winter bell that was given to me as a young child - to keep me from fingering the rest of her stuff. When Mom put it out I knew I could handle it. The little bell in front was once my Grandma’s - the Crystal Bell, my sister gave to Mom and the other more rustic girl was a bell, my mom got and she said it reminded her of me. The white one in the back - was just a pretty white bell.
Seemed Mom collected a lot of bells that were of little blonde girls - my sister and I were blonde. One is a Currier and Ives bell - another old bell that was my great-grandmother - the flowery one was my mom's and the dark blue bell was from Germany. I'm thinking my sister got that for her when she went there -
But that's it. I now wish I had at least taken a photo of the bells. Oh well. Then after Nina passed, I had no idea where the bells went - along with many other family heirlooms like my mom's wedding ring.
Lastly, this photo just seemed appropriate for the new year. Philippians 3;13. This was given to my son Michael when he graduated high school from his youth Pastor. His mother did the illustration - I don't know if you can see, but the outline of the runner, is in scripture. He wrote:
Michael,
It has been an exciting opportunity for me to watch you as you have grown. Your sense of humor is great and your creative thinking is a real asset. At times in life you're going to face tough times, maybe even more so than others. Please remember this verse then and keep pressing on.
Darryl
PS Remember my door is always open and I'm just a phone call away.
That's it for me folks - tomorrow I do grocery shopping. Fun fun.
