The Merriest

It's known that IRL Steve is very much "respect the turkey" and doesn't like to put up Christmas decorations in the house until it's 2 of 2 things: both December AND snowing.

I never followed those loose rules and usually had the tree up right after Thanksgiving, like normal people. And I swear, the older I get the less snow we get and if we get any, it's way later in the season...like February. Yay Global Warming (j/k)

Anyway. 

We all know last year was a complete bust. Like my entire world was demolished and there was absolutely nothing to celebrate.

I'm not gonna lie. 

Not too much has changed. Except that I survived the past 15 months and I'm somehow still surviving. 

I'm not sure if I'm lucky that I haven't broken down, or if I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for me to be admitted into a full blown mental institution. 

REGARDLESS. My point is that last year had NO rules and I put my tree up and all my decorations the first weekend in November. 

I needed something to bring me some fake, superficial happiness. 

And I got to enjoy it for longer than normal.

This year we waited until after Thanksgiving.

And we got a tree that's even taller than last year's tree. 

And it's magical.

More superficial happiness to fill the giant hole in my heart. 

It's working for now, so I'll just let it be.

Mom's house. She likes to keep it super simple. Like, SUPER simple. She's really only doing it for the kids. But my plan is to bring a new piece over every year. She won't even notice! 

This cow is only a year old and has 23 points!

Here she is, all 11 feet of her. It's a tight squeeze in this room, but I don't care. It's merry and happy. 

See what I mean? Tight squeeze. 

Decorative bowl from Aldi, I fill it with different things for each season. 

My black, white, and red tree

Merry Wiener!

I love this time of year. Regardless of what's happening in life, Christmastime just makes me happy. I love giving gifts to people and I cannot wait for a few surprises I have up my sleeve! 

Thankful

You guys.

I've been waiting for a few days off of work to re-energize.

It's been a heck time the last few weeks. We went through another large round of layoffs and it's just terrible. 

Right before the holidays.

So it was hard to be cheerful going into Thanksgiving you know? I mean, of course I'm thankful to still be employed and able to provide for my family this holiday season.

The girls were off on Wednesday and I had to work. I didn't expect work to be busy at all since it's the day before Thanksgiving. 

I made sure to keep meetings to a minimum and to make sure they were scheduled for morning only. That way I had time to make my sides.

I made my usual. I want to try to switch it up next year, but it's tough because no one really tries new things...

So I stuck with the basics again: potatoes - 3 kinds! (I did add a new cheesy potato into the mix this year), green bean casserole, stuffing, squash casserole. Gravy. So much goodness. 

Cooking it all is just as much fun for me. I love the prep. 

I chose to make most of the sides Wednesday and left all the potatoes for Thursday while at my mom's. 

Our bird!! I can't believe we got 20.8lbs from our very own, home grown turkey! We will definitely do this again next year. 

Some cooking, then some resting and napping with my Wiener.

I didn't actually get any pictures of the family! We were too busy cooking and eating. 

Only a few more weeks and then it's Christmas! 

Even though it's been a rough few weeks...fuck a rough year let's be real. I still have lot to be thankful for. 

My family is healthy. 

My kids are doing amazing.

My job is going well - I mean, you know. I'm personally very busy and productive and hopefully making a difference. 

This year was hard. Very, very hard. It's still hard. 

I hope 2024 brings me peace. Peace with whatever decision I go with.