Hello Monday ~ Christmas 2025

Good morning!  This is the week of recaps.  Today is last week's Christmas recap and tomorrow I will share my annual yearly recap.  I hope you all enjoyed your holiday!

Last week started with a full day of work on Monday.  I served dinner alongside of one of my favorites at the hospital.

Tuesday night I was alone, so I took myself to the movies by myself.  Tuesday is half price tickets at the movies here, so I went to see Wicked, For Good.  I cried during this as it is a show with lots of betrayal and hurt.

After the movie, I went by to join Jenn and her sons and friends at the local hangout place for a little bit.

When you need a hug!

This hang out place has such a cute exterior!

Apparently, You Tube does their own version of Wrapped and this was my result!

I finally wrapped gifts on Tuesday, so I had to get one picture of the tree with gifts under it.

I finally saw both of my girls on Christmas Eve late morning.  We hung out at home and then went to a Christmas Eve service at my church.  Afterwards, we went to my sister's house for breakfast food and a time with her crew and my parents.  We opened some gifts there.  My sister has lots of stockings for her kids and grandkids.

Every year, my brother-in-law has a tradition to buy the adults a scratch off bingo card.  It was so kind he included us this year and we had fun participating.

My girls with my dad and one of these 3 won a little bit!

Christmas morning wrapping paper for 2025

If you need a simple, delicious breakfast treat, this is it!

Christmas morning breakfast included these waffles, strawberries, donut holes and bacon.

After exchanging presents, we watched ELF and I worked a puzzle.  I had watched Christmas Vacation the night before.

We took a walk on the square.

I had this platter for us to snack from during the day, which was great.  The girls met their dad for about an hour and I met up with another friend at a Starbucks.  Isabella joined us later when Brook went to join her boyfriend and his family for the holiday.

Clearly, Christmas looks very different for us.  I keep reminding myself how different it would look anyway as my parents age, my girls are young adults now, and my sister's family looks different as it has grown.  I loved a low key Christmas with no where to go and no big meals to prepare.  Later that night, Isabella and I watched Emily in Paris and ate chips and dip and chicken nuggets. My brother and 2 of his kids flew into town Christmas night.  We picked up my niece and she spent the night with us.  Friday morning, we went to the cutest decorated Christmas coffee shop. It was fun to laugh with these 3.

I went to a nail salon to join my sister and sister-in-law and got a manicure with chrome.  I love it!  I think this could be my first manicure this year.

We went to my niece's house for a gathering with my family and it is always nice to be with my brother and sister at the same time.

Saturday was a lazy day for me.  I stayed at home and briefly saw my girls that day because they were with friends.  I had a hard moment later in the day with some news, but in my aloneness, I knew I was getting stronger.  Sometimes when hard things happen, I think not having someone with me helps me heal from it quicker because I have to do it alone.  I have sure had more time alone the past 3 years than I ever had in my life.  I am thankful to have the holiday in the past now and move on to a new year! I went to church Sunday and it was a low key day too. I am thankful to be off work this week with no major plans.

Happy Monday (I keep having to remind myself what day it is :))

 

Hello Monday ~ December 22, 2025/Spur of the Moment

Happy Christmas week friends!!

I missed a recap from last week, so my weekend recap includes the end of last week.

I will take a break the rest of the week from blogging so I can relax and be with family.

Today, I have a super long day at work, but it is my last day of the year working!!!

Last week, my daughter and some friends came by the office to help sort toys for a toy drive.

I went by John Mark's store last week to see the Christmas decorations.  I am glad I went because the store is now closed through the first week of January.

Another great meme....

Last week, we had a work Christmas party during work hours.  It was a bring a snack to share event and we had all drawn names for a gift exchange.

I went out with some of my co-workers last week too.  I love these ladies and 2 of them are interns, so today is their last day with us at work.  I was so honored they invited me, "the old lady" to go out with them.  They are between the ages of 20-23, so I am like a work mom to them.

I have had a few random drop ins to Jenn's house lately.  I always love seeing these 2 girls!

A good reminder for me:

The best out of office messages:

After work Friday, I helped my parents wrap gifts.  Then, I went out to dinner with a friend spur of the moment since I had no other plans.  It was fun to laugh and catch up with her. Later that night through a longer story, I was able to have 2 of my greats to spend the night with me, which was also spur of the moment. One slept in my room and the other slept with my daughter.  It was a fun short, night.

Saturday morning, we got a snack at home & took them to my sister's house. Meanwhile, another spur of the moment thing happened when I was offered tickets to see the Grinch musical.  It was a Friday to say yes to all of the unexpected things!  Saturday morning before the play, we stopped at The Peabody, which is the nicest hotel in this area.

There is a huge gingerbread display each year. Hello Memphis Bridge and Graceland in the background!

It was time for the famous duck march at the hotel, but we left beforehand.  We have seen this many times, but the man below is the "duckmaster".  People line the red carpet to watch the famous Peabody ducks waddle off the elevator to get in the fountain for the day.  The ducks do this every morning and there is an exit ceremony too.  They live on the top floor of the hotel in their own duck palace.

We then walked over to watch the play, which was cute.

After a trip to the grocery store on the way home, I was glad to be lazy at home for a little bit.  I had a Christmas party to attend that night that some friends were hosting.  They use to have this every year, but have not hosted one in a few years. I had a few moments beforehand that were hard and it was something I had to do alone this time.  I had not ever been to one of their Christmas party's without my former husband.  It is hard to do things alone, but I get stronger every time each time I step out alone.  Thankfully, I had a great time but I didn't feel well afterwards.  

One more spur of the moment happened this weekend...I bought this quilt from Target, which was on sale at the time.

Lindsay had purchased a similar pattern and there is also a Christmas tree pattern. After getting the quilt at home, I read that it has some mixed reviews online.  One complaint was that the quilt is too thin.  Personally, this was a plus for me because I sleep so hot, I don't want a hot comforter/blanket or quilt.  Hello 50's!  This quilt with just my sheet is perfect for me.  I find reviews so interesting how so many people can like something and the other half doesn't at all!

Thanks for catching up with me on my spur of the moment weekend!

Wishing you have many happy spur of the moments this holiday week!

I will be back next week with a holiday and end of the year review.