I’m late, I know. This post usually goes up on the first in the new month, but I haven’t had the energy to write it earlier. December has been…ugh. You remember how I complained in my previous “Goodbye…” post that November is my least favorite month and how I wasn’t sad to see it go? If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have complained so much. November was great compared to December, because I’ve been sick most of the month. I’ve been coughing and coughing and coughing, and it’s been driving me crazy. It wasn’t covid so don’t worry, but I was still miserable. And now it’s January 6, and the cough still lingers. Not a lot, I’m definitely better and on the mend, but it’s still there. Annoying me.
I looked forward so much to doing Christmassy things in December. Drinking mulled wine, making candy, listening to Christmas music, decorating the house, buying gifts. All the fun stuff. But that didn’t happen. I barely photographed my life, so I had trouble finding pictures for this post, but after scrolling my phone several times, I finally had ten pics. So let’s dive in, shall we?
Do you remember how I finished my Goodbye November post by telling you the snow came to stay? I wasn’t kidding, it stayed, and then some. It snowed so much that we actually got snowed in. We were supposed to go visit my daughter and grandbaby the first weekend of December (to set up the Christmas tree), but the roads were in terrible condition. We set out early in the morning, drove a few miles on slushy, icy roads, hoping the conditions would improve. But in the neighbouring town, we had to pull into a parking lot, where I burst into tears. I don’t remember being so scared ever in my life before; I was sure we were going to slide right off the road and crash into a tree. So we had to cancel our trip and go back home – which in hindsight was a good thing because later that weekend, we got sick and it would’ve been terrible if we’d spread the illness to our darling granddaughter. But I didn’t know that when I was crying in a parking lot, calling my daughter to tell her we couldn’t come.
I started decorating the house for Christmas, so at least I’ve been able to enjoy this lovely star. The picture doesn’t do it justice; it’s golden and glittery and lovely, and it makes me really happy.
Eventually, the snowplows found their way to our corner of the world, but not before I’d worked from home for two days because I couldn’t get to the office 😁
Project Build Nell’s Fancy Bathroom has been going on all month. We’re getting there and it’s not long now until it’s finished. It’s gonna be gorgeous, and I can’t wait to take a long shower in our huge two person shower, or soak in the two-person tub with the hubby and a glass of bubbly.
The snow stayed and some mornings were absolutely beautiful. And it was easier to enjoy the snow when the roads were travelable again 😁
Almost the entire time I was sick, I was still working both my day job (I worked from home) and my writing job. Which in hindsight, maybe wasn’t the best idea. Maybe the stupid cough wouldn’t have lingered for so long, if I’d called in sick and allowed myself to rest? But eventually, I did call in sick. One morning after barely sleeping due to the stupid coughing, I gave up and told my boss I was staying in bed. She was very understanding.
But I wouldn’t let a stupid cough stop me from making Swedish Christmas Ham. I wrote about Christmas Ham when I visited Holly Day’s blog for my new release, The Santa Emergency, (link if you’ve missed the blog post), and this is the glaze I was writing about. Egg yolk, brown sugar, two kinds of mustard, and a healthy splash of bourbon. It turned out great.
This is the sad proof of my non-existent energy: the ugliest Christmas gift I’ve ever wrapped. Usually, I love wrapping gifts and making them pretty (in 2020 I even painted my own gift tags for them), but this year, I hadn’t even wrapped the presents when we left to visit our families for Christmas. So I brought the stuff I needed – but forgot adhesive tape – and wrapped them in the hotel. The gifts were so ugly, I had to apologize to my daughter, but luckily my 15-month-old grandbaby didn’t care much about what they looked like 😁
On Christmas Eve, we met Santa, aka my son-in-law. Look at that horrid Santa mask! 😁 If you’ve read The Santa Emergency and wondered where I got the inspiration for the ugly Santa mask Sigge had to wear…now you know 😁
On New Year’s Eve, my cough was mostly gone and our BFFs from Malaysia was here visiting. I made food, we drank bubbly, and talked non-stop for 24 hours. We haven’t seen each other IRL since November 2019, when we left Malaysia, so it was great meeting them again. It was a fabulous way to end the year…and those cheese crackers (the picture to the right), I made with pecorino cheese, pink Himalayan salt, and fresh thyme was absolutely fabulous!! Soooo yummy!
That was my December. I hope your month was better than mine, and I also hope that if you got a visit from Santa, he was less scary-looking than mine 😁
Tell me something fun you did in December!
Nell Iris 