I’m not sure what these monthly digests are going to look like moving forward. I like keeping a record for myself because it’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of life and forget what the moments were made of. But I don’t know if I’m going to keep publishing these long round-ups of all our activities. Maybe I’ll find a way to let you know some of our favorite things we did, ate, watched or read. I don’t know! Stay tuned!
What We Did
Early in the month, we celebrated our son’s birthday. We have two teenagers in the house now. Wild.
Then, I went into isolation because I tested positive for COVID.
I finally got the virus and it sucked just as much as everyone said it did. I missed a week of work and didn’t go anywhere for two weekends. Then I had brain fog for the better part of the rest of the month, and I’m still not feeling 100 percent.
Santa visited the neighborhood on top of a fire truck and our kids were as excited as I’ve EVER seen them.
Because of the COVID isolation, we postponed the boy’s birthday party with his friends. We took him and three friends out to dinner (Asian buffet because TEENAGERS!) and it was a fun time, mostly for all of us, but especially for them.
Phil was in fine dad form, calling our son from the other end of the table just to be funny.
We also had to postpone Christmas shopping, which meant that we put in ONE very full weekend of catching up. I love shopping locally for Christmas gifts.
Rec basketball also started in December, so our son had his first game. They won and he scored several points, including a three-pointer.
As we approached the holiday, I spent a lot of time travel planning/stressing/cursing Midwest weather. Months ago, we had booked our flight for the 23rd of December but when Winter Storm Elliott blew through, we decided to change to Christmas Eve. It was a good decision, but the whole rest of the week was stressful with travel uncertainties. We managed to avoid the nightmare that so many others experienced and made all of our flights.
We exchanged presents, just the four of us, before we left for Illinois.
In Illinois, we played a lot of air hockey. My dad stumbled onto an air hockey table for free on the side of the road and spent hours fixing it up so it would work for us. My brother, cousin and I used to spend a lot of time playing air hockey at my grandparents’ house, so I was eager to dust off my skills. The boy got competitive, which wasn’t always fun, but I do still love me some air hockey.
My mom always picks out a new board game to play at Christmas. This year it was What Do You Meme? Family Edition. I won the first game we played because MEMES ARE MY LIFE. It’s fun. I’m interested in what the regular edition might be like.
After we dropped Phil off at the airport the day he flew back home, the rest of us went shopping in the suburbs. I was in Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World long enough that I picked out two flannels and a pair of boots. The Midwest weather was getting to me.
I also went to IKEA for the first time (shocking, I know). And I was FLOORED. I had no idea what I was missing.
One day my mom and the kids worked on a puzzle. I took a photo as proof that my children CAN do puzzles just not when their mom asks them to. I finished the puzzle after they all abandoned it.
On Christmas Day, my aunt and uncle brought scratch-off lottery tickets for everyone. I won $5 in the first round and traded them in for more lottery tickets. Then I won $10, but I quit while I was ahead.
On the last day of our visit, the kids did their usual backyard motorsports. Because while it was 3 degrees when we arrived in Illinois, a week later, it was pushing 60.
We got spend part of New Year’s Eve at a game night with friends. We left well before the New Year was upon us. I made it till almost 10 o’clock before I had to go to sleep. The kids and Phil made it till midnight.
What We Ate
Cheese calendar.
Every day from Dec. 1 through Dec. 24. If you love cheese and have an Aldi within driving distance, mark your calendar for next year. These release on the first Wednesday in November and usually sell out. I loved every minute of it.
Because we had to postpone the birthday celebration, we got Wegman’s To Go when I had COVID. I had Italian Wedding Soup and potato wedges. Yum. So good.
And speaking of soup, I ate a lot of it. Homemade chicken noodle soup (made and delivered by a friend from work) got me through my bout with Covid.
I also made split pea soup with crispy hot dogs from the Cravings cookbook and Thai Coconut Soup from the Whole30 cookbook.
We got pizza from Pasquale’s one night because it was a fundraiser for the basketball team, except the fundraiser was canceled but oh well.
The aforementioned Asian buffet for the birthday celebration.
When it was time to celebrate Christmas, just the four of us, we had frozen pizzas and cookies and eggnog.
In Illinois, we ate Chicago style hot dogs at Portillo’s. Don’t knock it till you try it.
On the evening of our shopping outing, we found this place called Taco Dale in Lisle, and I had the best taco salad I think I’ve ever eaten.
Crumbl cookies was also nearby, so our son sprang for a 4-pack with some of his Christmas money.
And no visit to our hometown is complete without Arthur’s and spaghetti pizza from Angelo’s (neither pictured because of brain fog, I guess).
What We Watched
Not a watch but a listen, which I don’t have a category for because I only listen to a couple of podcasts regularly. I did a lot of listening to the WXPN 90s A to Z countdown while I was down with Covid. It was good company. A lot of jams from my high school years.
Three Pines. It’s a series based on Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache novels. It’s an interesting adaptation. I don’t usually get worked up about how I envision the characters but almost none of these characters are how I pictured them. So far, Ruth is my favorite character and Episodes 5 and 6 were my favorite so far.
Is It Cake? We finished the first season, finally. It’s just a fun, no-brainer kind of watch.
Richard Osman’s House of Games. My new favorite quiz show. It’s just low-key and nice.
(Listen, skip the next several if you’re not into the holiday romance tropes. This is almost all I watched while I was down with COVID.)
The Noel Diary. I am WAY behind in my cheesy Christmas movie watching, so during my COVID isolation, I watched this on one Netflix. Checks all the boxes.
Taking a Shot at Love. It was not a Hallmark Christmas movie but a Hallmark winter movie. (Friends, I have access to OFFICIAL Hallmark movies now with our discounted Peacock subscription. No longer must I be content with the Hallmarkesque movies on other streaming services.) This was typically cheesy and predictable, but so few things in life are, so I’m not complaining.
Undercover Holiday. Pop star brings her bodyguard home for Christmas pretending he’s her boyfriend … what could go wrong? Or right? I love what I love and I have no shame about it.
The Knight Before Christmas. 14th Century knight Sir Cole is transported to 20th century Ohio where he meets Brooke and has to fulfill his quest by midnight on Christmas Eve. Another feel-good cheesy romance.
Christmas With a Prince. Handsome prince breaks his leg while skiing and has to recover in the pediatric cancer ward of a local hospital where he’s reunited with the sister of his friend from boarding school who is a doctor on the ward. Whew. That was a lot.
Holidate. Not explicitly a Christmas movie but a fun romp through a year’s worth of platonic dates between two people fed up with the dating pressure of the holidays. Do they develop real feelings in the course of their friendship? (Take a guess.)
Christmas With a View. I’m pretty sure I watched this one last year, but what’s another viewing? Also, same female lead as Christmas With a Prince. I think my movie-watching is getting out of hand.
Hometown Holiday. Didn’t love this one. I think I’m watching all the same shows with all the same actors.
Royally Wrapped for Christmas. Is there a prince who falls in love with a commoner? Check! Is there an arranged marriage to a princess that stands in their way? Check! Is there a Christmas proposal? Check! I hope I’m not spoiling anything.
Single All The Way. Best friends and roommates go home for the holidays to the one guy’s family and find out they’ve been secretly in love with each other for years. So sweet.
While You Were Sleeping. This is my favorite holiday rom-com ever and I rewatch every year. Swoon.
Thus ends the holiday movie binging, but not all the show binging.
The Crown. I went through this season faster than I thought I would. I didn’t think I could binge it because it hurts too much. Diana was the princess of my childhood dreams and to know how it ends and learn how tragic it was is just hard. When I first started watching The Crown, I thought it was meant to give us an inside glimpse of a secretive system to better appreciate it, maybe? Now I’m wondering if the whole point is to make us hate the monarchical system that crushes people.
SNL clips. Good for some laughs.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. I laughed so much and discovered some new Christmas music.
Arrested Development. We’re slowly working our way through this.
Spirited. Watched this Ryan Reynolds-Will Farrell Christmas movie with the kids, and listen, I’m a little tired of being tricked into watching something that I think is going to be funny and it makes me cry. (Maybe I’m just getting softer, and that’s okay, too.)
White Christmas. Our annual viewing. We upped the entertainment factor this year by printing out Bingo sheets.
Billy the Exterminator and Swamp People, our day-after-Christmas TV background entertainment while we chilled from all the hubbub of the holiday gatherings. Why do I like these shows from Louisiana? I have no idea, but I’m obsessed with Swamp People, even though if I ever saw an alligator in real life, I would probably wet my pants.
Wild Hogs. We needed a movie night with my parents. This has some funny moments
What We Read
The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Mathews. This series is a new favorite.
Truman by David McCullough. OMG. I finally finished it nearly two years after starting it.
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. A fun little middle grade mystery about art.
High on the Hog by Jessica B. Harris. There’s a Netflix show about this, too. I picked up the book on one of our southern travels. It details the history of southern food through the enslaved cooks on plantations. It was eye-opening.
The Six by Mark Alpert. Not my usual genre, but kind of terrifying and an interesting read.
The Match by Sarah Adams. A super simplified romance. It had potential, but it wasn’t my favorite.
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. I don’t usually like Amish fiction but I will read anything Jodi Picoult writes. What I enjoyed most about this book is that it didn’t glamorize the Amish, like a lot of fiction from that genre does.
The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams. Phil bought this for me for a recent birthday. It was a dual-timeline work of fiction centered on a dictionary that contained a bunch of made-up words and the modern-day employee who discovered the words.
Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. Three short stories set in the same small town that gets hit by a blizzard at Christmas. Super-enjoyable.
Waypoints by Sam Heughan. I wanted to go out hiking, anywhere, but Scotland especially after reading the actor’s account of waling The West Highland Way. I loved his recollections of his journey as an actor and found it humble and honest.
Books in progress:
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
Spy School at Sea. Um, we have like a chapter left but still haven’t finished it. Oops.
