I finally made a hat for me!
Ten years ago when I faced my first Christmas without Mr. Virgo, I could never imagine a life without him let alone one with all this joy in it. I cooked a nice breakfast of grits, eggs and turkey sausage. When the dishes were done, I headed to the studio to play. I made four hats and sorted through some antique hand-pieced quilt blocks I picked up this summer. I absolutely love these blocks. They’re shabby and aged with the occasional stain on them. I can’t decide what to make with them…whether I want to make a small quilt, or divide them up and make several wall hangings. I thought of making table runners, but for now I’ve bundled them in packets of nine blocks to keep them safe and in the back of my mind.
I brought the hats upstairs to do the finishing work and ended up doing a little holiday baking. I made two full sheet pans of Rolo Pretzel Cookies and a batch of fast Two-Ingredient Fudge. You can find my fudge recipe here. Well, three ingredients…I added walnuts! I made a big pot of White Chicken Chili. OMGosh! It’s been years and years since I made that and it was SO yummy! With the tender chicken, chunks of onions, carrots, white beans and fire-roasted corn in a thick rich broth, it was comfort food without a ton of calories. I trimmed the calories down by eliminating the tortilla chips, cheese, and avocado and adding carrots as an extra veggie. You can find the White Chicken Chili recipe I used here.
I enjoyed several phone calls with family far and wide. We watched football while I did the handwork on the hats. It was a beautiful, relaxing day. I’m so grateful I have spaces in the house to work that are away from the heat of the family room. Mr. FixIt keeps it pretty warm in there and for some reason, it about made me sick. So, I just retreated to my own comfort zone. I usually sleep in the spare bedroom because of our different heat preferences. I keep a board over the heat register and open the window…even when it’s in the twenties outside. Poor Mr. FixIt comes in of a morning and shivers, bless his heart. I’ve never slept better in my life so I think we’ve found a happy medium. Life is too short to be miserable or to take offense. We have plenty enough fun to make up for the time spent in separate corners of the house.
I think I’ll play in the kitchen some more today. Not sure what’s on the menu yet! Cookies? Another pan of fudge? Those sugared nuts I’ve been talking about? Who knows? Maybe I’ll do a Facebook Live! That would be fun to get to visit you at Christmas.
And here it is…Christmas Eve. I have such a clear memory of my brother and I kneeling on the floor of the living room…looking out the picture window…hoping against hope that we’d catch a glimpse of snowflakes for Christmas Eve. We had just moved to the new house. It was a mansion compared to the ratty old houses mom and dad had rented. Christmas was always slim pickin’s at our house, but that year we felt like Richie the Rich Kid!
Fond memories. I’ve known a few people whose entire childhood was filled with perfect holidays with the perfect family. That wasn’t us. But now…as an adult…I choose to focus on the GOOD times. Too many people go through life blaming their problems on their upbringing. I know…I was one of them for far too many years. You can’t rewrite history, but you CAN change the narrative!
May this years’ story be the best one yet!
🎄
”In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.“
Luke 2:1-5 ESV