Holiday Review #Weekend Coffee Share 12-30-18

Good morning, Everyone! Join me for an early cup of coffee. Dawn will soon break through. If we were having coffee, I would tell you that my house is very quiet now. My daughters, son-in-law, and grandkids went back to the places they called home.  It was a great holiday.

The big Family Christmas Party at the Congregational Church Fellowship Hall went so well. We counted 95 heads–all those I am related to and love dearly. It was great to catch up with my extended nieces, nephews, and cousins. Everyone pitched in with food, supplies, and hands to make the afternoon a chaotic success. The craft table was a mess, the weather was pleasant enough for an outside game of catch, and oohs and ahhing went on all afternoon admiring the new additions. The ugly sweater fashion show was silly fun even though I did not win. I will have to up my game for next year to earn that paper plate trophy.  My daughter and son-in-law made it from their two-day road trip from South Carolina in time for Santa’s visit.

We did get a day to relax and play with kids before the Christmas Eve. My 14-month-old grandson had the best time running laps around the house and testing the integrity of the baby gate blocking the stairs. I bought tickets to see Beauty and the Beast play at the local Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts. Read about that magical night with my granddaughter. Special shout-out of gratitude goes to Ann Marie Bryant for reposting my Christmas Magic story on her Tales of a Family blog.

Christmas Eve was a marathon of eating fish and seafood at my parents’ house. My sisters and I did most of the cooking, so there was more than the traditional seven fish. The house hummed with my sisters’ and brother’s families. My parents beamed with all of their kids, grandkids, and their bonus great-grandchildren surrounding them. As my grandma said, “We are rich in flesh and truly blessed.” Christmas Day took on a slower pace. We played with the new toys, watched Christmas specials, took naps, and nibbled on cookies.

Now that the house is quiet, I will have to start getting prepare for work and routines. My husband and I plan on a sedate New Years Eve. I do not like to make resolutions, although I do need to move more, eat less, and write furiously in the coming new year. That is an ongoing mission.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the day dawn into a grey morning. It should brighten up, but temperatures will remain winter cold. I need to refill the coffee cup and get going on my day.

Once again, thank you, Eclectic Alli for managing Weekend Coffee Share.

Wishing all a wonderful 2019.

Have a good week, Everyone. Make it great.

Antoinette Truglio Martin is the author of Hug Everyone You Know: A Year of Community, Courage, and Cancer. The memoir is a wimpy patient’s journey through her first year of breast cancer treatment.

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