Happy Thinking Out Loud Thursday! And, maybe more obviously, Merry Christmas Eve! Today, I’m off to my uncle’s house for a lunchtime/afternoon celebration with my mom’s family. We’ll head to my dad’s parents’ house a little before dinner, and we will spend the night and have our Christmas Day celebration there.
The last couple days have been so fun, and also hectic. That explains the lack of pictures in this post, but I would still like to take the opportunity to share some holiday thoughts.
1.) I think we’ve been over the fact that I’m not crazy about stuffing before (cough soggy bread cough). However, when Sally posted this stuffing recipe around Thanksgiving, my mom really wanted to make it. Seeing as we had Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant, we didn’t do it then. We did put it on the menu for while I’m home over this break, though. Since it’s soft and I’ve been mostly sticking to soft foods, we had it for dinner on Tuesday night. And? I actually really liked it. The flavors are kind of fantastic.
2.) Two days before Christmas, Target is busy. And the shelves are relatively sparse. My mom and I had a couple small things we wanted to pick up for around the house… and we just wanted to get out of the house. Target is obviously an attractive destination 😉
3.) I hurt my hip while running in June. It was the morning after I got home for the summer, and I was less than thrilled, since I had been enjoying a lot of runs throughout the spring. Since then, I’ve done a lot of work on strengthening my legs and hips and trying for lower-impact cardio. I figured my body would let me know if/when I could run again. I’ve jogged to the gym a few times in the past week or so, and while that is honestly only about a quarter of a mile, It has felt really good. Yesterday, it was breezy and dark and beautiful, and I wanted to test my luck. I ran about 4.3 miles, and it felt fantastic. My pace is only a little slower than in June, and my endurance felt just the same. I felt like I could’ve run longer, but I told myself I wouldn’t push it too much. Still, it’s nice to know I can go for a run when I’m craving it.
4.) I did most of our gift wrapping last year on a night I couldn’t sleep. This year, my mom and I did it together, but I mostly did the ones in bags. This sums up why:
5.) We’ve probably made entirely too many cookies this year. I baked two batches on Monday, a pan of red velvet bars on Tuesday, and three batches of cookies yesterday. And that’s in addition to the small amount remaining from last week. My dad claims he’s on a “mostly cookie and limited other food” diet (but don’t worry, he’s okay with it). He not only tells me how delicious they all are, but he even seems to have picked up a few tips from the huge number of Food Network shows I watch. Last night, he complimented the presentation of some frosted sugar cookies my mom and I made yesterday:
“I like how there are some red sprinkles and some green ones. Oooh, and the single snowflake sprinkle is a nice touch. Great presentation.”
He’s goofy and I love him.
6.) It’s supposed to be over 60° on Christmas in Ohio. Also, rainy. But you won’t find me complaining about that kind of weather in December!
What’s the weather like where you are?
Are you a skilled gift-wrapper?
Anything else I should know?
YAY for a great run! Nothing better. It’s hot down in FL (of course) but I’m used to it at this point.
I agree! Glad you’re able to start easing back into running again!
The weather today is 60 degrees!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING?! I LOVE IT!! I will wrap presents tomorrow morning before I head to family dinner 😉 Procrastination is the name of this game. Merry Christmas!
I’m loving this weather, too! Hope you had a fabulous Christmas!
I’m glad you’re learning to appreciate stuffing 😉 WOOOO soggy bread wins!
Fabulous news on the running front!!
And omg….I helped my mom with wrapping some gifts. A few of my brother’s presents look like a drunk elf wrapped them 😛 I don’t understand how to cut the perfect amount of paper either. And I’ve never been able to master that magic scissor slide people do to cut on easy line.
LOL “drunk elf” ? That’s awesome. And I’ve never mastered any of those skills. I really appreciate gift bags and tissue paper, though 😉
I definitely feel like people either love stuffing or hate it. Personally, I’m a huge fan.
As for wrapping, I love it! My mom’s first job was wrapping presents at Macy’s and she’s awesome at it, and passed it on to me so I’m not half bad!
Haha teach me your ways!
Hahaha I love that your dad commented on the cookie presentation 🙂 Your house sounds like a fun place to be right now with all of those treats!
It’s 80 degrees here in NC today with 90% humidity. The humidity kills me!
The humidity is what does me in, too. Still, even though it’s only about 60 here, the humidity has been pretty crazy. Lots of rain!
Nope I am a terrible gift wrapper. I think part of it is because I’m in too much of a hurry sometimes, but some of it is that I’m just clumsy with my hands. 🙂 I try to do it with as much love as possible, remembering Him who first loved us. <3
My fine motor skills apparently aren’t the best, either 🙂 It’s the thought (and love) that counts!
Your dad is funny! ? I am naturally pretty awful at gift wrapping, but my mom is awesome,plus I have an aunt who is gifted (lol, I didn’t intend that at first!) at it, so between the two of them, I’ve picked up a few tips. Still, a gift wrapped by me is usually very plain and basic.
I woke up this morning to slushy snow on the ground, with the snow on the grassy areas barely hanging on and managing to stay not-melted for awhile. ? It’s been absolute ages since we’ve had a white Christmas here in Western Washington, so I’m sure there are people who are crossing their fingers and hoping and praying it’ll snow again tonight. I don’t really care, being a hot weather fan as it is, though I do love how pretty everything gets when it’s covered in snow. Hope you have a wonderful holiday, Ellen!
Haha my mom will add all sorts of curly ribbons to perfectly-wrapped gifts, and I’m the one looking for a decent gift bag and some tissue paper to make life easier. Oh, well. Plain gifts are still given with love 🙂
Hope you had a fantastic holiday, as well, Hannah!
Right now, it is sunny over in Southern California. But I heard it was supposed to rain tomorrow. Boo. Oh well!
Merry Christmas, Eve. 🙂
We’ve had a very rainy holiday weekend, too! The weather has been crazy lately. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!