Happy Holidays! (Sunday Post – 12/25/2022)

December 24, 2022 Sunday Post 8

The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimberly, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week, take a look ahead, and showcase our new treasures—I mean books! I am posting it early this week because Sunday is Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas to all of you who are celebrating it this weekend! And Hanukkah sameach to all of you celebrating it this week! Happy Solstice, Happy Yule, and Happy Kwanzaa! Whatever your faith and traditions, I wish you a holiday season full of love, joy, and peace. May your candles and your hearts ever shine brightly.

This Week

We spent a relatively quiet week with Robin and their kittens — well, I suppose I should call them cats now that they’re over a year old. We have been a bit worried about O, who was sick and not eating or drinking. Robin took him to the vet for diagnosis and fluids. They ran X-rays and bloodwork, but found nothing unusual. The vet sent him home with medication for nausea, but if you’ve ever tried to give medication to a cat, you know how well that went! Robin confined O to their room while he recovered, and Mr. Bookwyrm and I tried to give C (O’s brother) lots of love and attention, since he was clearly missing his brother. So I got to enjoy lots of kitty snuggle time. Thankfully, after a few days of quiet, O seems to have bounced back completely, and both kitties are back to their playful selves.

Meanwhile, we spent the week wrapping gifts, finding a few last-minute gifts, and catching up on some needed downtime. In my case, that meant some reading and even a little blogging. We spent a few evenings with my mom and stepdad, but didn’t seen my sister and her family until last night, because they had colds. They got PCR tests on Wednesday, and thankfully it’s not Covid, so we had dinner with them last night.

Today is Christmas Eve. I spend the morning and early afternoon cooking, while Robin went over to my parents’ house to bake a Yule log. (Robin is a terrific baker!) My stepdad and Mr. Bookwyrm are putting up the farolitos; it’s a tradition on my parents’ street. Tonight after dinner, we’ll join the parade of cars driving slowly up and down the (very long) street with lights out, enjoying the farolitos and the Christmas lights. (The picture below is from a previous year.) Later, we’ll go to church for carols and the Christmas Eve service — one of my favorite services of the year. We’ll spend Christmas Day with my mom and stepdad, and get together with everyone again on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) for our traditional extended family Christmas celebration.

Farolitos in Los Alamos, NM (2018)

Recent Posts

Looking Ahead

What I’ve Been Reading/Watching

Reading: I read Forged in Combat, a short novella by Celia Lake, about the courtship of the parents of one of her heroes (Roland Gospatrick, from Carry On.) Currently, I am rereading A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh, and reading Without a Summer, the third Glamourist Histories novel by Mary Robinette Kowal.

Listening to: Mostly Christmas music, and the BBC World Service podcast of Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising. In January, I’ll continue with Season 3 of the Writing Excuses podcast and The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien, read by Andy Serkis.

Watching: Robin introduced us to Zootopia, which was charming. I would definitely watch it again. If we can fit it in tonight before church, we’ll watch A Child’s Christmas in Wales.

Added to the Hoard

Purchased in the last three weeks

Kindle: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy; Voice of Fear; Away In a Manger; The Art of the Decoy; Genuine Lies; Don’t Hex and Drive; The Earl’s Holiday Wager (was Season for Surrender); Forged in Combat; Merlin’s Booke; Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses; A Christmas Promise; Walking in a Witchy Wonderland; A Lot Like Christmas; The 12 Days of Christmas; The Time For Love; All Is Bright.

Wishing you all the happiest of holiday seasons, and safety as you travel!

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8 Responses to “Happy Holidays! (Sunday Post – 12/25/2022)”

  7. Greg

    Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Those candles in bags were a tradition in my neighborhood growing up but we called them luminaries, but it looks like the same thing. They look so beautiful on a snowy night. 🙂
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  8. Katherine

    Oh I love the luminaries! Beautiful Christmas pictures. I hope Robin’s cat is feeling better and I’m seriously impressed they made a Yule Log. The idea of rolling cake terrifies me but maybe I’ll try it this year! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and Boxing Day and are having a wonderful week.