Merry Christmas!

 It is a quiet Christmas morning. Roy isn't even snoring and he is sound asleep. I don't know if sugar plums are dancing in his head. Probably not, since he has cut way back on sugar. It was a late night for me, staying up till 10:00pm. We watched The Preachers Wife and The Bishops Wife last night. Two of our favorite movies. We didn't go to our churches Christmas Eve service as the afternoon got away from us and it was 4:40 when we realized we wouldn't make it. Only a call from the cell phone customer service tech, it was just about the only thing we took care of with the current business at hand. We think the list of items stolen is near completion and ready to send to the insurance company. Roy realized an original painting done by a friend of my mom was stolen last Saturday in the great Mobile heist. It was an unusual picture of a scene by a river in a small town. When you saw it from a distance, it was dark with a few splotches of color but when you got closer to the picture, you saw people. It was the most unusual painting and I loved it. So did my mom.  

Our neighbor stopped by last night with a tin of homemade cookies and a beautiful flower arrangement in a Christmas theme. What a wonderful and delicious surprise. It dawned on us the week before Christmas when we are engaged in Christmas gifts or thoughts, that we had given the majority of the week in taking care of business at hand. We apologized to Nancy, we had nothing to give, no gift. I taste tested the cookies and one of the cookies a molasses cookie, reminded me of my mom. She made those molasses cookies, as well as iced sugar cookies and gingerbread men. She once did a self portrait as a gingerbread woman, but Roy accidentally threw it away when he was cleaning out the freezer years ago. My mom had such a whimsical and fun spirit about her. When we moved into our new to us home in the suburbs all those many years ago, it was a home without a fireplace. She got construction paper and made a fireplace on the wall. That is where we hung the stockings. She also made some little felt elves with small Styrofoam heads. I wish I appreciated then what she fought against to bring in that little bit of Christmas fun. 

We made one last grocery store run yesterday. We decided to go up to Madison County to drive the scenic roads that bring me such great joy. Picked up a few items at the store and then went to Penlands in Marshall. This year with a much simpler Christmas, a few cards got a thought or two, but we didn't buy anything. Unusual not to. I did look at a flannel nightgown cause they are made by retired textile ladies and I love their craftmanship and work. Saw some quilts but out of my price range. We came on home and took it easy. Roy has been through so much. Last night, we talked about the week anniversary of our suddenly and I confessed I would have a difficult time this morning when that moment arrived. Roy had texted at 8:02 he was loading the car and at 8:20 came the news he had been robbed and left with fifty cents. Thankfully, he didn't have to surrender his watch or wedding ring. That is what we focused on cause I teared up at the memory and the suddenly to our lives. Not at the loss but at the gain of spending another Christmas with Roy. Even though we no longer give each other presents, these past few years of uneventful Christmases, are welcomed and cherished after so many years of unhappy Christmases with my father being the chief troublemaker and causer of tears. This morning I almost recreated a Christmas from 1979, I think. Our apartment seemed to have all the doors installed backwards. Our bedroom door opened into the hallway, not into the room. We were coming home from church on Christmas Eve, I was going down the hall, without turning on a light and ran smack dab into the edge of the door causing me to have a bit of a black eye. Now you know the old excuse, I walked into a door when something more sinister had happened, no I had really walked into a door. This morning, wanting to let Roy sleep, I had pulled the bathroom door almost shut. We have a motion nightlight in there. I forgot I had done when I came back into the bedroom that and walked smack dab into the door, my forehead taking the blunt of impact. Thankfully, a hard head hitting a hard door didn't wake up Roy. 

It just came to me, this year's Christmas theme, besides the obvious is stolen...no make that stollen as in bread. Think I would rather have coffee cake. Barbers Orchard closed for the season yesterday, until August 1st. A little bit of sadness but that means it won't be long and strawberry season will issue in produce stand season, the most wonderful time of the year. 

The Feral Fam got a few new toys for Christmas. We had a new visitor at breakfast but there will be more on that later. Got the Fam fed and maybe Camo is hanging around here more these days. The security camera showed her asleep on the chair on the front deck earlier with an unrecognizable black and white cat or mainly black cat. Mama Cat came inches away from me this morning. That is closest she has ever come near me in our years of knowing one another, since 2017. Biggio was here yesterday but is out and about once again on his rounder ways. 

Roy just fixed our Christmas breakfast and it was delicious. With the movers coming in the coming weeks, I am going to go ahead and get Christmas decorations inside put away. It is constantly moving from thing to thing, but don't mind it a bit. Roy has retired and he is here.