Good morning! A quick Pop-In this morning! I cannot believe I did not get the blog time in yesterday. I sat down to do that yesterday but was propelled into doing the next video. And would you know I worked on it for about 9 hours yesterday. I forgot to eat lunch. And quit when my daughter called, took a shower, and then it was dinner time.
I am almost through with the video but need to tape a short statement as requested by George, regarding Maisy. He wants to say a few words about our girl for the video. That is sweet. I will record that sometime this week. I’m hoping to release the video sometime New Year’s Day or this weekend.
I should not be blogging this morning either. I have to go do two payroll days in one. I should be getting ready, but I took a shower last night and I also got up about 30 minutes earlier. However, I have also worked in the laundry room and kitchen this morning and sliced up desserts for little containers to put in the freezer so we don’t throw nearly whole pies and cakes in the trash.
Our four day holiday was wonderful. I cannot believe it has gone by so quickly. George’s company gets New Year’s Eve also, which a lot of companies do. I don’t get that unless I burn a PTO day. However, if I’m working a day and a half today, I make take off an hour early or so Thursday and recoup some of that time back. So another 3 day weekend coming for me and another 4 day for George.
I promised I’d show my Christmas gifts as I do annually. It’s fun to take them out of the packages again and lay them out for the photos. I get to see what all I have again before putting it up. We are big foodie people so often we get and give food items. It’s practical! George bought the Maple Leaf Creme Cookies – actually we will both eat on this. I don’t think they will come out again until next fall. You get them from Aldi.
We will try the Swiss Style Hash Browns soon as the Chicken Enchilada Soup. I like Wild Rice and he found “the real deal”. Also have some almond chocolates for that 3 p.m. craving. Those will go to the office!
You see the note there about those “other two presents”. They were various forms of lamb. Lamb chops, leg of lamb, and some other cuts. That was one of my big gifts. Lamb is expensive. We love it. We usually don’t splurge for it unless we see a deal. He went to Sam’s especially to get this. Also while he eats hot sauce a lot of times, I like the Pickapeppa. And we were out. It’s good on most anything really but pork and chicken and probably what I use it most on as I like A-1 or Heinz 57 or creamy horseradish for steak. Those fudge dipped cookies look interesting and so we have a lot of cookies for those Netflix movies after dinner! We are good for a while.
I say that with confidence, because he also bought the Benton’s Peanut Butter cookies from Aldi – and LOTS of them. They go fast. You know why? THEY ARE (or are a close exactness to) the peanut butter girl scout cookies. They seem like the same thing.
He also bought me the good stuff….Carolina Gold Rice. It’s not your ordinary rice. It’s a category all in its own. A yummer! We often have given this as a Christmas gift. He ordered these over the internet, but you can get them in Whole Foods.
He also got every kind of Pesto it seems. We liked the Priano brand red sauce especially and have not tried the others. Most of these came from Aldi, not sure about the other brand. We put these on top of ravioli. We find fresh ravioli in Lebanon when we head out that way (about 30 to 40 minutes out) and this is excellent. I suppose it would work on the frozen ravioli as well. But if you can find fresh made ravioli – and put this red sauce on it – it’s a God send. You’ll think you are sitting in Italy having dinner!
He knows I’m a fan of pistachios! Those are going to work with me too.
I bought these for myself and had him wrap them up. I love my Liz Claiborne PJ’s every year. The top is soft and the bottoms warm. I’ve gotten to where I don’t want a flannel top as it gets too hot. But these are perfect.
Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken gave me this top. It is beautiful and warm! Also we have flavored coffees galore! Little K-cups.
George gave me this coffee we’ve not tried before. Looking forward to that.
I asked for more Happy. It lasts 2 years. It came with a “GWP” so I got all the little trial sizes of things and a little cosmetic bag. Love my “Happy”!
I also asked for this:
My Canon wide angle lense. So excited as this is the best lens for blogging. I will do a vlog showing both. He also bought the filter pack for me. I could have used that in the bright sun one day. I still have so much learning to do! Looking forward to that in 2021. Keep me locked up I guess away from COVID, I’ll get it done. 😉
This was a very thoughtful gift. It’s a Nest Temperature Sensor. The hallway is where the current one is, but you can have this in the room where you are and it’ll adjust to the room you are in. Our hallway is warmer than some of the other rooms so often it gets cold in certain places at certain times. So this will come in handy. I’ll break into these items over the next weekend.
I love these two candles! They smell so good and are good quality. From Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken.
I also love my airtight storage containers. We no longer keep flour and sugar on the counter area. Those times are gone. But we do need proper storage for our dry goods in the pantry that are easily storable and space saving. Once Amazon had XOXO brand, but I see that mostly they are selling the Chef’s Path brand. And Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken bought those for me. When comparing them, these seem to do the “air tight” about the same. Their top is a little different from XOXO but it still seems to be airtight. I had asked for these containers for Christmas when Aunt Martha asked what I would like or needed. And these seem to be perfect for our cause. I’ll be working on this over the weekend! Have to wash them and let them air dry and will redo our pantry! I love containers and baskets and often overby these things, lol! But this is a GOOD set and I”m looking forward to using them.
George bought me the little containers. We use them for packing dressings and dips in lunches. Or just about anything else that is small.
Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken gave me the Almay lip treatment! I am in love with this! Usually things break me out around my lips. But this is Almay and I don’t think it will. So far so good! I think I’ll always have to have this with me! ha.
George bought me a “coffee of the month club”. The first time they send samples and so I have to see what I like to know what to go on line and select. I’ll be doing that this weekend too.
I think George misses seeing me sitting and reading. He knows I love watching Below Deck – and I like knowing the behind the scenes on boat life. I am soooo looking forward to reading these! He knows what he is doing. I’m itching to sit and have time to read! This is likely to jump start me!
George bought a wine kit to make for me! Double Pinot Noir. He said when he saw that “I’m having that for Sonya”. I love my Pinot Noir. It’s just a good sipping wine! Very smoothe!
I think he may have to wait until Feb or March to start. Temps have to be at a certain place for the first week or two.
Mom gave me this beautiful quilt. My great grandmother did the quilt top and Mom had it quilted. It’s just beautiful! I’m going to order one of those quilt ladders to keep blankets on in our den. I’m always using them while we are watching TV. I love the pink and green color. It’s very cheery.
Mom also gave me some $$$ money. And I’m using that to buy a reading chair and little side table for my office. I need a dedicated spot for my Bible reading and quiet time along with a place to sit while watching YouTube’s on the Mac.
So I need to get to work now, but I’m so blessed and so happy with the thoughtful gifts. I realize my porcupine PJ’s from George did not make the pics. I snatched them up and wore them after my shower Christmas day. I guess that was the first gift I used. ha. They were cute and will wear those on really cold days/nights. I’ve been in PJ’s for 3 days ya’ll. It’s been wonderful.
More later after I get our payroll closed. What all did you get for Christmas?
It makes my day when I hear from you…