Another week of festivities! On Monday I hosted a party I call Women Supporting Women. Women carry the heavy load usually this time of year: gift buying, wrapping, cooking, planning, hosting and coordinating- on top of everything else we normally do. So I invite every woman I know to come over and eat, drink and be merry. We even did a TikTok with my mom and Nutcracker friends. That evening, I went to the MOPS cookie swap. I was wiped from my party but kept the party train going. Grateful I made the decision to make the 5 dozen cookies on Friday because I have no idea when else I would have done that! The games played at the cookie swap were awesome! Tuesday, I spent the day at Stanton for the teacher soup swap. I got up early to start on the chicken soup; turmeric and garlic were perfect additions with this funk going around town. That PTA is off the chain with how much they do! Ellie and I did some quick thrifting on the way home. I was happy to have leftover soup (with fresh bread from Kerri) on a perfect soup dinner day! My dad came over to hang that evening, too. I went to Walmart, HIIT holiday class then April’s gift wrapping party on Wednesday. It was a great time to get myself organized. And then I ran around getting all the teacher gifts squared away. That is no joke! Embroidered pashmenias and gift cards all over town, oh my! Marly made panko chicken for dinner. My parents had a friend’s Christmas party so they didn’t join us. Thursday I took my parents to dad’s neurology appointment downtown. He still has Dementia but the neurologist suggested trying UF’s memory disorders clinic in Gainesville for a second opinion. Not that the type of Dementia matters but why not. Maybe there’s a cool study we can be a part of? I rushed to the elementary school after to help run Abby’s class party. I’m grateful Phil got there early to cover for me until I could get there. We ended up getting plenty of volunteers and donations and it was a great party! I re-used the jingle bell game from Monday night. It was the kids last day of school for the year. Ellie went to Charlotte’s for a gift exchange party. Phil and I picked her up then stayed for a drink with the Bentons. Friday morning, Marly and I spent the morning with my dad while my mom ran errands. Bruce, the caregiver is in the hospital with pneumonia and a collapsed lung! Last minute we threw out an all call and got a great group to go caroling at the nursing home, like old times! It was the perfect way to get in the spirit! We had lunch at Firehouse. That evening was our neighbor progressive dinner. This was one of the better ones. I failed on the luminaries but the turn out was good and my chocolate peppermint martini was delish! We had apps at the Sassers, soup & salad at the Langstons. Linda brought over rolls and smoked turkey for our house then Monica and Elmer ended with dessert. We met the Strassers for a nightcap at Orsay. Poor Lauren is feeling awful this week. Saturday was a lazy morning. I did some last minute gift gathering; printing coupons for my mom’s gift and laminated photos for dad’s wallet. Ellie came with me and my parents to mass at Sacred Heart for the 4th Sunday of Advent. We met the Johnson Hardisons at High Tide then Gracenote. Christmas Eve we played soccer with the Fredlands then went to the kids mass. I’m so proud of all my children for serving! Ellie read the first reading. The 3 other kids altar served. It was special. Phil and I made a delicious surf and turf dinner with our family. It was nice to have just us together. We opened gifts and watched Christmas Vacation. Santa seemed to have a much easier time this year. I can’t put my finger on why. It just seemed to go much smoother with a decent bedtime. The deal was 7am but Voss started around 3:30 to start Christmas. We eventually went downstairs together at 6:30. There were happy screams all around. We had a lazy morning with the kids playing with their gifts. I watched It's a Wonderful Life. Marly made Jesus' Birthday cake. We went to my sister's around 3 for supper. We had dueling crockpots of beef stroganoff. The fact that I came home with almost a full crockpot means SQ won. Hers was so good! I brought raw oysters and we had multiple cocktails. We did the white elephant gift exchange and just had family fun. It was a nice Christmas. Here are the pics of the week.