Holidays can be hard...

[addy]

Oh it is wonderful to hear from you all.

Marianne, I smiled so about your mom winning a blue ribbon for her pie. Though my mom never won a ribbon, she was similar, not a great cook but she sure could bake. I have yet to eat a pie crust better than hers.

Kathy, people tell me we will know when we are ready to retire. All I know is I have changed my mind almost monthly for a few years now. But the pandemic made me rethink things. I knew I would never risk my husband’s health by returning to my office.
I joke that it took a pandemic to convince me to retire but there is truth in that. I hope you and your dad stay safe and well.

Although we made it through Thanksgiving in a positive mood, I do find myself unmotivated to try to pull off Christmas.Christmas has not been the same since we sold our house and mom died. The girls are older now and honestly, the last three years I dearly wanted to go to our Delafield Hotel with Koko and enjoy a different kind of Christmas. With the pandemic in crisis here, we won’t even think about that this year.

I imagine I will rally and pull out Zoe’s tree in the next week or two. If the lights still work, I will be amazed and take it as a sign.
If they don’t work, I’m sure I will bail and forget having a tree this year.
I will let you know how that turns out, lol.

Joan, I hope your husband is ok and the news is positive. I will be thinking of you.

This may sound silly, but do dogs get smaller as they age? Humans get shorter and Koko seems to be getting smaller. Zoe did too.

Koko loves to travel so much, I keep wondering if he will now fit in a carrier underneath an airplane seat. My day dream is once we can again travel, I would love to take him to NYC to visit my sil. Of course, maybe due to his age, that might be asking a lot of him.

Well Christmas countdown begins. I’m sure I will end up baking a few cookies without my girls. They plan on moving to Florida next year so this Christmas will be a trial run as I get used to navigating without them. My plan is to travel as much as I can as soon as I can. The daydream keeps me going.

So many holiday memories here. I remember one Christmas Mel and I were obsessed with Christmas penguins. Funny, I still look for them occasionally and think of her.

Hugs

[labblab]

Oh gosh, Addy, I remember you and Mel and the penguins!! That was back when we were so busy around here and it was such fun with everybody popping in. It’s been such a long time since we’ve heard from Mel. I so hope she’s well and happy now, and perhaps with another fur-child by her side.

For sure, let us know about Zoe’s tree. We just bought our fresh tree yesterday. We’ll let it sit outside in water for a week or so before we try to put it up. We get a much smaller one now than in the past, but we make sure there’s enough room for our most special ornaments. I leave a lot of things in the packing boxes now, but I still have to have a tree for my special ornaments. I love them so, and all the memories they hold.

I so wish we could travel this year, too, during Christmas itself. After being home alone last Thanksgiving without my mom, I *really* wanted to do something different for Christmas. So we packed up Luna and drove to a hotel in the North Carolina mountains over the holiday. It was the best decision. The hotel was all decorated, people were cheery, and I love all mountains, anywhere. We had planned to do something similar this year, but not now with COVID. So we’ll be home, and the holidays will be what they will be. I’m trying not to have any expectations at all, and just go with the flow of each day. But I’m glad we’ve got our tree to begin with.

Stay well, my friend, and please do keep checking back in!

[Harley PoMMom]

Oh Joan, I will be keeping you and Victor in my thoughts and prayers, tons of positive energy flying your way!

I made the Thanksgiving meal at my house, my BIL, niece, Misty, nephew and his wife came for dinner, we stuffed ourselves! Misty and I made cookies the day before Thanksgiving so we had them for dessert. We missed my sister deeply but got through it, Misty sure is the high light of our lives and she does make it a bit easier to face these holidays without my sister.

Misty sure is excited that Christmas will be here soon, I've got to get my lights up and the house decorated inside, hopefully Thursday will be the day as it is supposed to be sunny and 50 degrees, today it was in the low 40's with gusty winds which made it feel like it was in the low 30's brrrrr!!! Not ready for winter!!!

Hugs, Lori

[Squirt's Mom]

ADDY!!! It is so good to hear from you! And especially good to know you and yours are well. This year that is such a blessing! I bet Zoe and Koko bring many smiles to you and pray they continue to do so for many years to come. Travel....hummm, travel....is that like going to the grocery store? For me that is a huge deal these days and something I NEVER dreamed I would miss. LOL

This is one of the very difficult holiday seasons for me. Some years I can manage quite good while others, like 2020, every day is a struggle. Memories, tho treasured, are often too close and too raw. But I have a mantra of things I am grateful for that helps. This forum and the friends I have made here are on that list.

I hope each of you remain safe and well in the coming months and that you are able to find a way to enjoy some time with your loved ones, even if that is just a phone call. In the years to come we are going to find our priorities are greatly changed I believe - hugs will become longer and tighter than ever, eye contact will be maintained greedily, and we will truly cherish every moment we are able to be face to face with those we care for.

My love to you all with best wishes in the coming months.
Leslie

[addy]

Aw Leslie, what memories you bring. I read about your dog adventure on the COVID thread, scary stuff indeed. I hope you are ok.
I think we need to live in the now this holiday season and only allow snippets of memories, though that is hard.
The holidays are hard in normal times let alone during COVID. I have to really work at it.
Well, I promised to let you know and apparently Zoe still needs her tree because all the lights still work and it is standing in a new spot in the condo waiting for her birds.
So that’s my one good thing today.
Kathy, I hope you find one good thing too. Sometimes, we have to dig deep and look very hard for it.
Stay well and strong, we will make it through these challenging times. As hard as it is, I plan to put the sad memories in the drawer each day, even if only for a little while. Hope you all can too.

[Budsters Mom]

Yay Addy!!! Zoe's tree is my one good thing for the day!! Thank you for posting that! Actually, I am blessed with many blessings. Dad put the tree up and set out all of my Mom's special holiday treasures, while I was at work last Monday. The lights only worked on the bottom half of tree, but it was a special treat anyway. I have since replaced those lights. It was a pleasant surprise that he went ahead and did it anyway. I have no holiday spirit at all this year. Between losing my Mom five days before Christmas last year, COVID, work, and other stresses, my heart just isn't in it. We have our annual ugly shirt/sweater contest at work soon. I usually come up with something totally ridiculous and usually win a prize. Last year I wore our Christmas tree skirt as a shirt and decorated it with flashing lights and ornaments. To complete the costume, I also wore an elf hat with ears, green leggings, elf socks and Christmas boxer shorts. That was 4 days befoe my Mom went to the hospital and didn't return. This year, no drive to do anything. I'll probably just wear a Christmas sweatshirt and be done with it. Addy thank you for reminding me of your one good thing.

[labblab]

Well, I promised to let you know and apparently Zoe still needs her tree because all the lights still work and it is standing in a new spot in the condo waiting for her birds.
So that’s my one good thing today.

Oh Addy, for sure my one good thing of the day, too!!!!

I’m soooooooooooooo glad...

[labblab]

Christmas morning has dawned, and there’s even some snow on our rooftops here in Atlanta! We got to see some flurries last night as a storm front was pushed out by a very cold front coming in. What a nice gift at the end of this screwy year. It’s just hubby, Luna and me, but it was a cozy Christmas Eve with a big pot of soup and some binge-watching of old movie favorites. Cold, cold, cold this morning so Luna’s arthritic legs and my aversion to freezing my butt off means our neighborhood stroll will have to wait a few hours. So it’s off to bake a coffee cake to start the day, and then some egg nog as we check to see what Santa has left for us under the tree. (Spoiler alert: Luna will be getting a shiny new dog ID tag and a plush stuffed bone to carry around the house ;-).

In the meantime, I send my very best wishes to all our K9C family. Merry Christmas to all my friends. Peace on earth, good will to all living creatures. Stay safe, stay healthy, and God Bless All.

Marianne

[mommyslittlegirl]

Merry Christmas to my family here on this site. Hopefully we look for next year to be a better year for all. Another year without my baby . But her special ornament sparkles from my tiny tree. Merry Christmas my little love . Mommy loves you

[labblab]

Oh Dawn, how good to have you here with us once again. I know that no matter how many years pass, we miss our babies no less. But it’s so sweet that you have her ornament as a reminder of the joy she brought you at Christmas, and indeed every day.

Best wishes to you always, my friend.
Marianne