Editor’s Note: Guess who’s back on the blog, friends?!?!? MRS. BEAR!!! After sharing the joys of her European Adventure over the summer, I’ve been waiting and looking for the next opportunity to have her return for another classic Story Time! She doesn’t disappoint with today’s post, either, with her tale of our sweet twist on our holiday tradition this year. And, yes, before you ask: I can personally vouch for the deliciousness of all the yummy desserts she cooked! How on earth does she make it all look so easy?? She never fails to keep me in awe of her magic… xoxo
Did you ever notice how often you do the same thing over and over, even when it no longer suits you? I’ve noticed this about myself for a long time, but recently, I started noticing this about other people too. And, I’ve started questioning myself as to why it is so hard to change. Well, no answers yet, haha, but I have been thinking a lot about this lately and decided to try to practice what I have been preaching to myself (and actually, to Melissa as well, because she is practically incapable of shaking things up!) Case in point with Melissa…she’s only had one hairstyle in her entire life! But, I digress….
2017 was not our finest year. I think I can honestly say it is the worst year we ever had, except for 2003, when Brian died. Without getting too deep into my trauma with the year, let’s just say it involved some family problems and heartbreak and some of what seemed like endless health problems for me. Of course, it was also one of my finest years, with the trip to Paris and all! But, I digress again!
So, after a really bad Thanksgiving (and I do mean really bad!!), we just decided we had to shake things up a bit at Christmas. Our refrain was, “There will NOT be another day like Thanksgiving in our house on December 25th!” But, being kind of boring and set in our ways, we couldn’t quite decide how to make this happen. We talked about it endlessly and finally came up with a plan that we could all (mostly, because the things we decided to do were two things Janelle hates), but we forged ahead anyway. Christmas morning brought us around the kitchen table and our little tree (another change we made last year) opening all our gifts. Then we headed out to IHOP to, gasp, have Christmas dinner out! Now that was really shaking it up, because never in my almost 62 years had I ever had anything but a home-cooked turkey or ham dinner on Christmas! And, man, what a good Christmas dinner it was…Janelle and I had breakfast; it may have been the first time in 20 years that I had French Toast and I didn’t even feel guilty about the calories!). Melissa had her usual burger and fries because she said she had a stomachache, and only Melissa feels that a burger and fries are her cure-all for nausea!
After lunch, we were going to go off to the movies — after watching a lot of trailers because we couldn’t decide what to see — but the restaurant was so crowded that we missed the show times. We did go drive by the show just to see if it was crowded, and boy was it!
Another thing we shook up this year was some brand new cookie recipes. If you read So About What I Said regularly, you know that I am well known for my mother’s almond cookies and for my chocolate chip ones. Well, this year we didn’t have a single one of those! We made 7 layer bars, sugar cookies (unfrosted!), gingerbread and peanut butter cookies with kisses in the middle. And you know what??
IT WAS GREAT!!!!!
So, if I had to sum up Christmas 2017, I would say that I learned a lesson, which I hope I will hold onto. I learned that things can change and that doesn’t in any way diminish what was, or what will be. It just was what it was and a very nice holiday was had by all. Not a tear was shed this Christmas, which I think may be the first time in almost 15 years that that happened!
I hope all of Melissa’s readers have a spectacular 2018, and if you don’t, just don’t worry, because you can always make some changes and move on! Happy New Year to all!
