Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  And I hope you did, too!  Did you get to see family?     Did you have snow (if climate-appropriate)?

On Christmas Eve day, about noon, it began snowing here.  The roads weren’t bad, however, so as the family joined us during the day and evening, the driving conditions were not hazardous.

Bruce’s daughter Stacy and her family visited in the afternoon.

Stacy and hubby Mike

Grammy (me) and Hunter

Grandpa reads to Remi

Hunter likes to play Grandpa’s Workshop on my iPad

Remi likes to “read” too

Hunter the Red-Nosed Cute Boy (isn’t that vest darling?)

Then in the evening of 24 December, my three kids and their families joined us for dinner and presents.

London pets Boomer while cousin Easton and Grandpa look on
Kim, Lauren (DGD) and son Ryan

Kim, Lauren, Ryan, Easton and Ron (daughter Meg’s husband)
I didn’t get many pictures, because we were too busy having fun. But one of the highlights of the evening was when I realized what London’s mom had done to London’s hair.  About six weeks ago, London “cut” her own bangs. We all have horror stories of that, right?  Anyway, Heather (L’s mom who does not live with Shane and London) decided to (1) trim London’s bangs at an angle (like this: /) and (2) chop off some of the sides, effectively giving her a mullet.   U.G.L.Y.

So, I grabbed a brush and scissors and when no one was looking, brushed London’s hair and chopped off about 4-5 inches off the back, even-ing it out in back to a cute, curly bob. Everyone was astonished that I would have the nerve, then they laughed and applauded. Shane was grateful, especially that I had done it without consulting him (plausible deniability) so Heather couldn’t get mad at him.  My daughter Megan put it on her Facebook, saying it will go down in family lore.   :-)   Now, London looks pretty again, and she knows it!

Christmas Day dawned bright and clear; a perfect picture day.




We had already seen and exchanged gifts with all the local family (who were now off to other parents and in-laws), so Bruce and I had the day to ourselves.  Bruce’s Christmas present was a new laptop computer with touch screen that he’d ordered and received a couple weeks ago.

So, it was my present from Bruce that was the highlight of the day:


Here’s a better shot of the Certificate of Compliance so you can read it.  He has quite a sense of humor, that boy!


So, as you can see, Bruce did certainly meet his compliance requirements. The chips were eaten on Christmas Eve, the Bud Lite (aka SWILL) is still sitting in the ‘fridge because we don’t drink Bud.

And the $100 gift certificate, you ask?  I used it for the down payment of this:

The Sewing Machine of my dreams
I have been coveting a Bernina 550QE for months.  They are simply the best (and among the most expensive) sewing machines made.  Solidly engineered in Switzerland and will last me for the rest of my life (and then can be passed down).  I have had mediocre-to-bad sewing machine karma all my married life (when I lived at home, we had my grandma`s Necchi that she used as a dressmaker in NYC).  My last (bad) purchase was a Brother that I bought on Amazon.  It has been in for repair twice, but seems to be doing OK these last couple months as I have whizzed through quilts, pillowcases, Christmas stockings, etc.




Anyway, my Bernina is on layaway, and will not actually be paid for until after DS Ryan and Kim (see pix above) get married in June. We are joining them and the family on a cruise to the Bahamas, and then several days in Florida, where they will get married on the beach. Then we will all visit Disney World, etc.  Bruce and I are also visiting our friends Carol and Woody while there.  So, there are other priorities to pay for first.





And speaking of paying for things, hehe, I am having a year-end clearance sale in my Etsy shop (link on sidebar).  Everything is 20% off, even the clearance items.  Just type in the code GOODBYE2012 at checkout, and you will receive your 20% off. (and if you mess it up, I will do the refund manually).   This offer is good through 31 December 2012.  I hope you will stop by and take advantage of this great deal!


Wishing you and your family a bright and beautiful New Year 2013, and safe travels over the Holidays.



 Cathy maroon

3 comments:

  1. Bwahaha, love the impromptu haircut, and the certificate ;o) Hope you have a great 2013!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank Goodness for Grandma's like you. No one deserve to have a mullet, but least of all an innocent & beautiful child like London. I would have done the same thing as you. Looks like you all had a good Christmas. Poor little Hunter. He has no idea how much that picture with the reindeer nose will come back to haunt him when he is in high school and it gets shown to a girlfriend. Too cute!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi cathy

    You will love your Bernina. I have had 2 and 2 Bernette Sergers. when I buy a new one I pass the older one on to my daughter. I went with a Pfaff on my last purchase and while it is an excellent machine I still go back to my Bernina. In fact I bought it down to Florida with me this year instead of the Pfaff.

    Your June plans sound wonderful. I wish we could be down when you are in Florida but we will be back in Chicago then. Carol and woody are only 45-60 minutes from us. In fact I need to call her and get together.

    One of these years we will get together again.

    Hugs

    fredaB

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your visit to my blog and love your comments!