my favorite things...

 ...coffee.  I love a good coffee.  This year for Christmas, I gave out several bags of fresh, whole bean locally roasted coffee for Christmas.  When I picked it all up from the little roastery, the car smelled heavenly.  I drove around with those bags in the car for a good week, it was cold out, and it was a good place to store it.   My friend Annetta gave me a nice bag of coffee for Christmas, and shh, I'm enjoying it by grinding just a bit at a time in the small grinder, didn't dump it all in the bigger community grinder, because Paul doesn't so much notice the variances in coffee.  :). (I have a good excuse for hogging it, ha)

Anyway.  The coffee I usually order from Amazon has gone up in price, so I decided to just order some from the local guy, it's not that much more, and it's so much better.  I have to drive up there today to pick it up...

For Christmas, I also got some soap from Kathryn that smells just wonderful. I love love love a nice bar of goat's milk soap, with only a few ingredients.  Emily and Mariel got us a basket of amazing things for Christmas:  homemade caramel, homemade vanilla, some spices and seasonings, and Trader Joe's peanut butter cups, which are hands down the best.  Mariel says they should be illegal.  

Sonja got me some clogs for Christmas, they're Birkenstock knock-offs, and every bit as nice.  She said the real ones were back ordered and out of stock, but I'm glad she didn't spend that much, they're overpriced.  These are really nice, and I hope they stay as comfy as they seem to be.  My feet are very picky.  

Paul got me a few books, one "A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide To The 21st Century" (Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein, they do the Darkhorse podcast...), and an Andrew Klavan novel.    He made tables for Emily, Kathryn, and Evelyn.  He buys the wood slab from the Mennonite farm down the road, then sands it to silky smoothness, coats with an oil based poly, sands it some more, and so on, until it's a beautiful table.  He orders legs from Amazon, and voila, a nice little table.  Evelyn's is a dark walnut, so nice.  

We got Miss Camille a new iPhone for Christmas, her old phone was not doing well.   Her older siblings were surprised, it was a big gift.  I also got her some AirPods, spoiled girl ha.  She got a few sweaters and things like that too.  Miss Char got slippers and sweaters, nice perfume, and a sweatshirt, but also the airline ticket to come home for Christmas!   Jonathan got some clothes too, and a burr coffee grinder.  

Anyway.  I am enjoying my coffee, and this fine morning I'll be heading out to pick up some from the local guy.  Then we're maybe baking/making something for later, we're going to a nice New Year's bash with a bouncy house for the little kids, snacks, games, ect.  

Yesterday, Kathryn and I went to Walmart.  She brought just Rhys, who fell asleep in her car seat.  So we talked and got coffees (an iced Americano from Starbucks, mmm).  The Christmas stuff was 75% off, so I got some Hershey Kisses, and sour patch kids, and some cookies for tonight.  I got a three dollar shirt, and some toaster pastries for the girls.  So basically not much, it was nice just to get out and about.  

I had gone to the pool in the morning too, then this morning I woke up thinking it was a pool day, and I had to hurry, then I remembered it wasn't, ahhh.  Paul went out hunting, and it's quiet here.  I would be sitting here even if he was home working, but I do feel a bit guilty when he's here and I'm being lazy, not sure if there's a reason for it.  But in any case, when he's not here, I can laze more relaxingly.  ha.  

My year has been an eventful one:  no new grandchildren, but two more are coming in 2025, Kathryn and Darius are expecting a baby brother for Achilles, Rhys, and Jamison in March.  Sam and Grace are expecting a new baby sibling for Grant, Ruth, and Maeve.  

Sonja got married in August, and Suzanne in October.  Jonathan is engaged to be married in October of 25, and Evelyn will be married in May of 25.  

New Year's Resolutions:

The phrase All the more!  is going through my head.  We can be prodded, ever so gently, to be kinder, to apologize, to give others more benefit of the doubt, whatever it may be.  But we can be so stingy!  Why not just be quicker to be good, and be nicer!  Don't ignore that little voice of the spirit, be obedient, and ask for more help, God surely answers!  Oh, I don't want to get older and be stuck in my ways and so demanding that other people are this way or that way!  So All the more!  will give me those little pushes to not be spiritually lazy.  

Of course I'd like to lose like fifty pounds, and get into fantastic shape, have my knees replaced, and be able to walk for miles again.  I renew my vows to stay away from sugar, and eat lower carb, and get those steps in, and never miss a swim class.  

Around the house:  repaint the kitchen cabinets and the end tables, redo the entire main bathroom, organize closets and cupboards...Evelyn got me a Marie Kondo book for Christmas!  

Ah well, time to get moving!  Have a really nice day, and Happy New Year!