By now, dear blog readers, you are used to me filling my days with many, many activities and this week it was goodie making and delivering, a LOT of driving, a LOT of early morning departures and a few late evening bedtimes. It was tiring!
Monday evening, Steve and I drove to the West County Mall where we met the Southerlands at the Giving Machine. Here we are with the items we purchased to donate.
Temperatures early in the week were so mild that I was able to finish trimming back my roses and mums and NOW, the yardwork is completely finished until early spring. I also went over to the cemetery to finish up the loose ends of photographing the tombstones in section 14.
Tuesday morning, I had a mammogram at 7:20 in the morning! I spent the rest of the day baking sugar cookies, making cherry-nut cookie doughs (a half-batch each of gluten-free and gluten-full) and doing water colored cards.
Wednesday morning, Steve and I drove Sally down to Open Door Animal Rescue to be there by 9:00 (meaning we left at 8:20) for her annual vet exam and vaccine updates. I baked the cherry-nut cookies that afternoon and decorated the sugar cookies that evening.
Thursday morning I left the house at 8:45 to have a left breast ultrasound because the radiologist thought he saw something on the Tuesday mammogram. Happily, after being prodded by the ultrasound tech and getting a more extensive mammogram on the left side, it was determined that it was just a lymph node....WHEW! I was never so happy to be so tortured. Steve and I walked up and down Bates Street late in the afternoon and delivered goodies to the neighbors. We also went to Fred's where I wrapped three gifts for him (remember he is blind). Kindness Begins With Me had a fundraising event at Panera Bread that evening where they donated part of the cost of a meal to the non-profit so Steve and I had dinner there. I was skeptical about finding anything gluten-free but was pleasantly surprised with their apple pecan salad. Delicious. I had an 8:00 pm rehearsal at the church with string musicians. We had a sextet playing a Christmas medley for church on Sunday and three of those musicians also needed to rehearse their part in a choir number also being sung on Sunday.
Friday morning I worked on finances while Steve took Fred on multiple errands, including the post office. We went to the temple that afternoon and in the evening, I dipped gluten-free pretzels and nut clusters while we watched The Ultimate Gift.
Saturday was a temple baptistry shift until 7:00 until 11:00 (meaning we were up by 5:00 and on the road by 6:00). Afterwards, we drove home, ate lunch, packed up the car, took a nap and then drove two hours to Columbia to spend the afternoon/evening with Elise who is not coming here for Christmas because she has to work so much before and after the 25th. We also returned Smokey Bear's cat tree back to Elizabeth and took a little Christmas gift to Melanie and Sal. We didn't do much at Elise's except eat dinner, watching Meet Me In St. Louis while we ate, and we played a few rounds of Tenzie before driving back home at 8:30. We took Sally, the road-trip-loving dog along and that is her in Elise's arms in the photo.
Sunday morning we had to leave the house at 8:15 to be at an 8:30 choir rehearsal. We sang "What Shall We Give?" in church and our rehearsal time with that piece up until then was just not adequate so we really needed to work on it. We had hoped to practice last Sunday after church meetings but a last-minute baptism pre-empted our rehearsal time and so 8:30 in the morning the day of the performance was our only other option. Happily, the members of the choir (basically a double mixed quartet plus one) are all strong musicians and they didn't need a lot of work on their parts. It turned out very well with the string players doing well on their parts, too. The string sextet (one bass, two cellos, one viola, and two violins - me being one of them!) played a medley of "Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Angels We Have Heard On High and Joy To The World" and we sounded pretty good. I then accompanied on piano the family trio that sang "Away In A Manger" and I helped sing along with the Primary children who sang two pieces. Plus, I was on organ that day! I really hate being the Jeanne Lambson show but I guess it is what it is....
Church was only an hour long so we got home early, ate an early lunch, took a little nap and then drove to Ballwin where we joined the Southerlands as they sang carols to three members of their ward. Then, they followed us to our part of town where we sang to three members of our ward. Then we had dinner together at our house and sang a few more carols around the piano. All the Southerlands are such good singers and I think we sounded pretty good. At each house, we just sang two carols and ended with "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". The first photo is us singing at the last house we visited before dinner. Lucy and I handled the alto part and Lucy is a very solid alto! Emily, Larkin and Quinn sang melody, Steve took tenor and Joe and Noah were awesome on bass. (Notice Steve's and my matching Christmas shirts - they are a mock advertisement for the Haynes Sisters singing White Christmas at Columbia Inn in Pinetree, Vermont)
This last photo are of the Southerland grandkids at our house after dinner
I wish I could say I watched a LOT of Christmas movies but, aside from The Ultimate Gift, I watched nothing! Just too busy. BUT, I needed something to watch while I decorated sugar cookies and I just couldn't decide on which Christmas movie to put on (Steve was in a meeting and not able to watch) so I started watching the BBC Sense and Sensibility 3-part mini series (the one with Dan Stevens) and, even though I have seen it a few times before - heck, I OWN the DVD - I got sucked in and ended up watching all three episodes throughout the week.
This week I am taking it easy - really!
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