Christmas 2021 has come and gone and I will most likely always refer back to it as the season with the very big feelings, and for now we’ll just leave it at that. But with the big feelings there were many beautiful moments…and that guy that I like so much and I embraced each and every one of them.
Matthew in China wasn’t able to come home…we’re now going on 17 months since I’ve hugged him, but I also know there are far worse things and so we all smile and make the best of it. Alex came home from Colorado and filled every inch of space with his laugh and his size 13 shoes. And Brian…he lives here (and I am so gosh darn thankful that he does!) while he prepares for the big, long, overwhelming grad school push that will begin soon. He’s memorizing parts of the body that I had no clue existed, yet thanks to him I now feel aches and pains in those places because that’s what Italian mothers do. Sympathy pains. 😎
Our tree this year was probably the most beautiful we’ve ever had, picked off a lot right as a truckload was delivered. It smelled christmasy all the way through New Years when we finally cleaned everything up. There were lots of rainy days through the whole Christmas season, but thankfully, THANKFULLY, we were able to have some sense of normal this year – aside from the kid stuck in China.. We went to live concerts and the ballet (my very first time seeing the ‘real’ Nutcracker!) and dinners out and dinners in and it felt sort of like it used to feel before this virus took over.
And now we’ve taken a few steps back, masks and closures that cause chaos at my work….but this too shall pass when Spring comes. I’m hopeful. 😊
We served many an Old Fashioned this year, with batch after batch of burnt sugar syrup made in the cutest $5 copper pot that I found while thrifting with my Mom last summer. It’s one of my favorite finds ever.
I haven’t felt much like cooking the last few weeks for no reason other than I’m uninspired. There’s food on the table each night but it’s just that…food on the table. It’s time to put a stack of old cookbooks by the couch to flip through while watching TV to see what ideas will come. I still make a loose weekly menu plan which helps, but by the time the work day ends I just haven’t felt much like cooking…so we’ve done the easy thing and had our fair share of delivery/take out this month. I just hate to spend money on food that will taste better if made at home. Do you ever feel that way too?
Little House, Big Table 