gloomy out, sunny in

 This is what our weather has been like every day for days on end: gray, damp

and gloomy. No snow. Doesn't look like we'll have a white Christmas here in

northern Illinois. I took a walk yesterday morning and snapped this photo by my 

house. It's untouched. I wanted to show you all just how dark it is here during

the day. I'm sending a SOS to those of you in sunny climates.

 So if we don't have sunshine outside, we find it in little ways indoors, right?

 One of my best friends babysits her granddaughter on Saturdays. My friend invited me

 over this past Saturday and I got to play with this little darling and get my baby fix.

 Look at those big, beautiful eyes! She seriously is one of the sweetest babies I have
 ever encountered. She will go to anyone...lets me hold her, feed her a  bottle, diaper her 

(though that was comical...it's been about 16 years since I've diapered a baby and my

 friend had to help me!), play with her ~ and she doesn't even "know" me. 

I maybe see her once every six weeks or so. She is always so smiley and content.

Another bit of happiness...I'm in the middle of reading this phenomenal book. I think

it might be my favorite book of 2014. Hard to put down, though I'm trying to savor it

because I don't want it to end!

 

Best of all, my Bearded Boy came home from school yesterday! I made a lovely dinner:

Crockpot Italian Pork Chops and roasted potatoes and carrots. I'm normally not a fan

of pork chops, but I will eat one made this way. The meat just falls off the bones and is

so flavorful. Brian and Tim went back for seconds and kept claiming how delicious

the chops were. So easy to make, too. After dinner, we hung out downstairs in the family

room, watching Christmas programs on TV and drinking Moscow Mules. 

 And more little bits of cheer...the last of my Christmas decor around my house.

This table is at the end of the hallway. The family photo is from Thanksgiving 2008.

The last one where it was all four of us. (For those of you who don't know, my oldest

son, Philip - in the blue coat in the photo - passed away in September 2009.) The

frame was given to me by a dear friend from Boston. We started out as pen pals

way back when our boys were babies...before we had computers in our homes

and email and social media were the way of life.

I found this little bunny in a Hallmark store years ago. I had to buy it since the scarf said

Joy Phil - though Phil never was particularly amused by it. I have it sitting on top of the

bookcase under his memory shelf. 

A few Santa Claus tchotchkes on a wooden cigar box - all Goodwill finds - 

in Tim's room.

 

The only Christmas decorations I put in the main bath were the few angels that

I've collected over the years. The wooden angel by the "t" in the bath sign is hand

carved and from a European country, though I can't remember which one. I used to

belong to a woman's group called, "Circle of Gems". One Christmas we had to bring

something from our home that had special meaning to us, but that we were willing

to part with as a gift to another woman in the group. The angel was one of the gifts

 that was brought to the Christmas party and laid out on the table. It immediately caught

my eye and I hoped no one else would choose it. No one did! It was meant to come

home with me.

Thanks for visiting...and don't forget to send me some sunshine!