Back to School and Back to Blogging

It has been ages since I posted but life has been so busy! Jenny’s First Communion, school’s end, summer vacation to South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana and bringing my step daughter home to live with us.
Summer felt odd. We are usually busy with Girl Scout day camp, vacation bible school and lots of swimming. Camp was cut short by our trip, the pool didn’t get put up until later in summer and we missed bible school altogether. School was almost looked forward to just to get us back on track.
So here we are, getting up in the dark and all of us feeling tired! The kids are glad to be back with their friends and everyone seems happy, especially Joe who is a senior this year. The only problem is that the house feels so empty!

Breakfast at Tiffany's

What a fun weekend! Jeff was working in Chevy Chase last week and saw a row of nice shops he knew I would enjoy browsing in – Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Cartier and Tiffany’s. He was right! So Saturday we took a day trip ‘up the road’ and I got to visit all these wonderful stores! Jeff was very nice about it and let me roam to my hearts content. He even bought me a necklace at Tiffany’s that I liked. It has a heart shaped charm that reads “Please Return to Tiffany & Co. New York”! What a sweetheart!

When we were done shopping we headed to D.C. & spent a couple of hours at the Air & Space Museum. The girls had never been there before (they like the Museum of Natural History and that is where we usually end up) so it was a nice treat for them. Since the Museum of American History is doing some renovating they have several displays at the Air & Space so we got to see the Scarecrow and ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, the Wright brother’s plane, and lots of other things as a bonus. We had a wonderful time.

We went to an Irish restaurant called the Dubliner for dinner, so from start to finish it was a perfect day! When I turned on the tv that night Breakfast at Tiffany's was on! Coincidence? I think not!

A New Year, A New Tradition

My sister and I went to tea last week at a place called The Royal TeaRoom. It is in a very pretty old house that used to be the rectory for the Episcopal Church that sits next door to it. My sister is new to teas and hadn't really been too interested until she went to a formal tea while on vacation in Florida this past fall. Since then she has mentioned it several times.

I bought her first tea pot for Christmas (a pretty Lenox pot with a cardinal on it). Last week I sent her some links to local tea rooms and we decided to give this one a try. It is one I had not been to before and was really hoping we wouldn't be disappointed. We had a wonderful time! The service was great and the food was incredible. I had nothing to worry about!

They had lots of pretty things for sale and Nancy bought a small teapot covered with roses. Naturally I had to buy a new tea pot and got a pretty white one with shamrocks on it for St. Patrick's Day. My sister has decided that she enjoys going to tea parties very much so we are going to have monthly teas at each other's houses. I am very happy about that since it is just one more thing we can do together.

I am already planning our tea party for the end of January with a Winter Wonderland theme, using mainly white, silver and crystal. I am looking forward to this very much!

Four Days Until Christmas

Four days until Christmas. The children are out of school for the holiday. The house is all decorated, most of the gifts wrapped and just a few more batches of cookies to be baked before the big day.
There are no ‘have to have it’ gifts on anyone’s list this year. I like that very much! No struggle to find that one desired item, no risk of disappointment and it is just a little less stressful all around. The girls are looking forward to Christmas for the sheer joy of the day, not just for the goodies.

I am looking forward to having most of my chicks back in the nest. It will be noisy, it will be crowded, it will be bliss. I know that the morning will dawn will smiling faces and small squeals of delight. Kindness will fill the room. Later, the aroma of the breakfast casserole will fill the air and then we’ll fill our tummies before putting our gifts to use.
Football will be the background noise of the day, too, but that’s ok. That means the men are home and for that I am grateful.
Dinner will be eaten in late afternoon by people too full from snacking on cookies and treats all day long. Sleep will find some, sprawled on couches and the floor. The room will be dark except for the glow of the Christmas lights. It will feel like the day is just about over.

Then someone will pull out a guitar and start strumming softly. Another guitar will appear and a voice will be added. Music will fill the house. Christmas classics, rock classics. Old and new tunes that most of know and some of us will learn as the songs progress. The music has begun and will continue until fingers and throats are sore from too much merriment.

It will end, reluctantly, but only after having given this family a wonderful night of song and memories. These are things I truly look forward to. These are the true gifts of Christmas.