wah!!!

 

Paul and I went on a little adventure today, and stopped in Bass Pro Shop...we didn't buy this, but it's too cute!  (Paul bought a new muzzle loader, extends hunting season for him....very exciting stuff!).   

We said goodbye to the Christmas stuff...this is my Goodbye Tree Pic.

My mother-in-law is the Cross-Stitch QUEEN!

Now they're all packed up and put away...

This Rudolph was at Lights on The Lake last evening, I went with Ben and Anya and Elise....it was GREAT fun! We went to McDonald's first, and who doesn't love a McDouble without ketchup and mustard, and don't eat the bun?   Ha, that's me.  I did sneak a few of the fries, why on earth are they SO GOOD?!  

Anyway, this fine morning was Pack Up Christmas time.  Now that the red mugs and festive rugs are put away, I actually kind of like it in here. It's lighter, somehow.  More open, less clutter, not dreary at all.  

The girls and I were thinking of going to the thrift store today, donating a few bags, and maybe clearing out the cupboards a bit more...once I start decluttering, I like to get rid of even more.  Travel mugs, for instance:  I have a nice pink Yeti coffee mug, love it.  The lid is simple, easy to keep clean, so it doesn't start smelling yucky.  Sonja has one in darker pink from last Christmas, Char got a yellow one from the girls' Christmas party, and Paul has his own few travel mugs.  So why, pray tell, do we have like a dozen extra ones? I do have a nice Dunkin one gifted to me last year, which works really well if I forgot mine in someone's' car....but we don't need them all!  We don't need all the random mugs, either. At this time, there are only FIVE of us living here.  I still have that large family mind! I need ALL the plates, ALL the spoons...but...I really don't.

I do keep small forks and spoons for small children, and a few sippy cups, and some children's plates...because GRANDKIDS.  We have eleven of them...do you know that when Kathryn's baby is born, in March, we'll have six grandsons and six granddaughters?  

Tomorrow is the last day 22.   We are going to have a celebration at church, a bouncy house for the kids, games, crafts, a coffee and cocoa table,  dinner, and dessert.  It will all wind down by 9 o'clock, then the youth kids will have girls' and boys' gatherings...and we'll come home, Paul and I...the old people, ha...we're going out early to get the food prepared, and to sett things up.  

One of my daughters, as they are scrolling through their phones looking at huge-0 expensive houses for sale:  "I refuse to believe that homely means ugly.  This house is beautiful and homely."  I do believe she's thinking homey.  

Ah well....I came home from our adventure, and the cook hadn't shown up!  So, I took a nice fresh package of chicken breasts, sliced them in half lengthwise, poured lemon juice on them.  Then, chopped up some russet potatoes, and put them on a baking sheet with olive oil, salt and pepper, fresh rosemary from the rosemary plant that is somehow still alive, garlic, and thyme...then the chicken:  rolled the pieces in a mixture of baking powder and cornstarch, salt and pepper, then put on a baking sheet with olive oil...after fifteen minutes, I put some broccoli, the steam bag from Aldi, in the microwave for two minutes, then dumped it on the pan with the potatoes, stirred it all up...back in the 400 degree oven....ahhh, dinner, in the oven! 30-40 minutes later, and nice tender chicken, crispy roasted potato chunks with broccoli...mmmm.  

Tomorrow morning, I plan to put a chuck roast in the sous vide....I got a new sous vide container for Christmas from Aaron and Riley...chuck roast in the sousvide tastes like prime rib...mmmm.

And....goodnight...