Friday Favorites - January 3, 2025

 

A new blog graphic for winter Friday Favorites.  I wish I could say that snow was a favorite but there was no sign of it here in the Pacific Northwest.  This post is dedicated to Christmas 2024 because we had a lovely time together.  Sophia had a Rover job over Christmas, so we moved our celebration to the weekend before.

We started off with our annual Barnes and Noble tradition.  We each have a dollar limit ($50 in this economy) and everyone picks up books or magazines or other items.  We take them home and put them under the tree and once the excitement of opening presents is over on Christmas Day, we have something to read in the quiet afternoon.  It's a version of the Icelandic tradition, the Christmas Book Flood.

When we got home, it was time for Father-Daughter LEGO (Harry Potter Mandrake) while I was the caller for a Bingo game.

Sophia picked up the prize for a straight-line Bingo while Vic scored two prizes for the four corners and blackout rounds.

Next up was CRISP-ilicious, a guessing game with eight varieties of Lay's potato chips.  Sophia correctly guessed 3 out of 8 while Vic was close behind with 2 out of 8.

Christmas Eve is the time for opening one present, and it is always Christmas pajamas.  There were bandanas for the three rascals - Spectra, Bishop, and Whiskey.  Malone still doesn't play nicely with other dogs so Spectra and Whiskey stayed home with a Rover sitter, but Bishop was on medication for an eye irritation, so Sophia brought him along.  He spent his time in the bedroom, sleeping, and we would put Malone in our room when Bishop needed a potty trip to the backyard.

Sophia was happy with her Lay's Ketchup chips (an import from Canada) and her platform UGGs.

She's also going to enjoy her new Keurig.

Malone enjoyed gnawing on Gingie.  All the squeakers have been removed and he's working his way on chewing away Gingie's coat.  Chew toys don't last long with Malone.

Lots of loot for Vic including a flashlight from Costco, photos for his desk at work, long-sleeved shirts, a grill cleaning robot, a Chinese cookbook, and a few other goodies.

We also got two more flashlights as a gift, so we took one of them back.  Vic now has one for work and one for home.

Time for dinner.  We usually have baked ham with a variety of salads, but Sophia wanted mashed potatoes and Vic wanted green bean casserole, so we changed things up a little this year.

And it wouldn't be Christmas dinner without the paper hats from the Christmas crackers.

It was a great weekend - every part of it was a favorite.

Share Your Shelf - January 2025

 

It's the first Thursday of the month and that's time for Share Your Shelf hosted by

Joanne at Slices of Life

Marilyn at Memphis Bridges

Jennifer at My Joyful Life

Tanya at The Other Side of the Road

I only managed one book in the month of December, and it was grueling.  I really wanted to close it and mark it a DNF, but I persevered, and it ended up as number 29 on my list of books read in 2024.

My goal was 24 books so 29 is a respectable total.

No surprise that my top genre was historical fiction, followed by fiction and romance.

Happy New Year and Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

Happy New Year - wishing you all health, wealth, and happiness for 2025.  Do you make new year's resolutions?  I'll be coming back to blogging.  I have missed it so, and missed all of you, but life gets in the way, doesn't it?  Here's to another new start for The Lady of the House Speaking!

Kicking right off with the Wednesday Hodgepodge.   Here are this week's questions, which you should answer on your own blog and then pop over to Joyce's blog (click on the graphic for the link) Wednesday to add your link to the party. 

1. Oxford's Word of the Year for 2024 is 'brain rot'.  Are you familiar with this term?  Do you suffer from this condition?  This is a term used to 'capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media'.  If you were choosing a word to capture 2024 (for the nation/world, not your own life personally) what word would you choose?

Trust me, this is a far nicer graphic than many of the pictures that come up when you Google 'brain rot'!

I haven't heard this term before, but I will admit to suffering from it.  I click on a reel on Facebook and that's it, I've gone down a rabbit hole of low-quality online content (ie. trash) and I just can't seem to tear myself away!  Need.to.do.better.  As far as a word for the nation/world, how about repair?  There are so many systems, processes, laws, regulations, you name it that need an overhaul.

2. It's National Polar Bear Plunge Day (January 1)...will you be participating in one of these events (or even your own)? How will you spend the first day of this brand-new year? Do you have a traditional New Year's Day menu? 

No polar bear plunges for us this year.  We'll be spending the first day of this brand-new year with friends at a Swedish Pancake Breakfast and then we'll head home for Vic to continue working on the deck and for me to clean up the December Daily supplies for another year.  Our traditional New Year's Day menu is roast chicken with stuffing and gravy, rice, and carrots and turnips.  It used to be mashed potatoes, but I know Vic prefers rice.

3. What's something that brings you joy and how will you do more of it in this new year?

Spending down-time with Vic doing the things we love.  They're simple things for the most part - afternoon tea, browsing through the bookstore, a movie date, making plans for our next home improvement project.  Since Vic went back to work and some of his weekend time is spent at work, it's tough to make time but we'll try our best. 

4. Do you struggle with the January blues? What's one thing you can/will do to keep them at bay? 

I don't struggle with the January blues.  I can imagine that some struggle with the Christmas season being over, financial woes, health concerns, or ongoing miserable winter weather but I don't have a problem with any of these (for which I am very thankful).  I'm at the stage in my life where I'm happy and content.  My needs are met and a lot of my wants.  I have a loving husband, a beautiful daughter, a comfortable home.  There may be little things that bug me, but I brush them aside and as my Mum used to say, "Onwards and upwards".  There's never anything to give me the January blues.

5. Will you choose your own personal word of the year for 2025? What about a goal, resolution, or maybe even a bucket list? Elaborate as much or as little as you like. 

I have two words - time management.  It all stems from needing to organize my time better.  Less time on the computer, less time in front of the tv, I need to get myself on the timer system.

The bucket list has only one thing on it - Christmas shopping in London!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Will there be any snow in Washington this year?  We've had substantial snowfall in two of the last six years - Snowmageddon in 2019, and the Snowpocalypse in 2021.  After that, really nothing.  Have you had snow in your area?