Monday, Dec. 23

Up early this morning to wake Daughter, who wanted to head home by 9 a.m., because she was scheduled to be on duty at noon to take care of her friend's elderly mother-in-law until 3 p.m.

I skipped my exercises after breakfast today, since I expected Mother and Sis to come over sometime mid-morning. When they arrived, I gave Mother the last of her twelve days of Christmas gifts, as well as a small gift to Sis, who had brought a large box of goodies to us.

Sis's gift was a cookbook titled "Taste of the Mountains," compiled by a group in another county.
The cookbook features biographical stories of some of the group, as well as country wit and wisdom sayings.

We spent most of today watching a couple of Christmas movies..."It's a Wonderful Life," and "Miracle on 34th Street," as well as the animated Charlie Brown features.

While we watched movies, Hubbie ran errands, including going to the grocery store to get cream cheese for making Italian cream cheese balls. When he returned, Sis made a couple to take home with her.

Lunch today was soups and sandwiches, and supper was a choice of barbecue sandwiches or hot dogs, served with slaw and chips. There was plenty to choose from in desserts, since we brought sample of goodies home from Hubbie's daughter's Sunday Christmas party.

Sis gathered her stuff and headed home shortly after supper. Mother opted to stay here and watch Hallmark Christmas movies with us for the evening, and then Hubbie accompanied her to her house.

We weren't long heading to bed after that.

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Mother's twelve days of Christmas gifts included: a jar of homemade peach jam, two gift cards to the beauty shop, a gift card to our favorite Italian restaurant, a gift card to the WDCS, Jelly Belly jelly beans, a box of chocolate covered cherries, a jigsaw puzzle, scratch off cards (for winnings of  $7), a hairbrush, two picture calendars and a bottle of her favorite shampoo/body wash, a Skipbo card game, and a bag of Little Cuties mandarin oranges.

I had to strain my brain this year thinking of things that Mother could appreciate. At her age, there is very little that she needs or wants. The food items are all things that she likes. She's looking forward to ordering spinach quiche (which she loves) with her Italian restaurant gift card.

Jelly Belly is her all-time favorite candy. She doesn't eat a lot of fruit, but she really likes the Little Cuties, which are easy for her to peel and eat, and are the right serving size for her. The chocolate covered cherries take her down memory lane to a time when that was the one special candy we could afford at Christmas.

We have many board and card games, but the only one that Mother likes is Skipbo, so we wore out the old cards. A new game was in order.

She recently lost her hairbrush, so of course she needed a new one. And the shampoo/body wash combination is the only one she uses.

She has difficulty keeping up with dates, but she still wants a calendar in her kitchen, and one in her bedroom. One of the calendars is a nature photo one that she'll enjoy looking at. The other features Norman Rockwell prints, which always charm her.