HELLO

Well, Dearies, the Official 2025 SpinsterStitcher Week of Christmas Fun has kicked off with great success! Yesterday was all about the business of getting myself sorted. Ready? Here goes...

I took my beloved JB to the airport at the crack of 11am for his journey home to see his mom. This year is especially special, since she has been in a rehab facility for the last three months mending a fractured hip after a fall, and while he was winging his way to her, she was being released and sent home to her condo! So by the time he arrived, she should have been happily ensconced back in her own bed and recliner.

I stopped for a car wash and enjoyed driving around a bit. I forget sometimes what the outside world looks like, and can go weeks without stepping foot outside CS2, so it was nice to listen to some Christmas tunes and dodge potholes for a minute or two.

Then it was on to the CVS for all of the shots. I knew I wanted to get them while Rich was away so that I could be miserable with impunity, and that I might build up a little bit of resistance to whatever he brings home with him from the airplane this year, so without hesitation, I stepped behind that little fabric screen that doesn't hide a damn thing, whipped my big girl sweatshirt off and sat there in my old man Hane's t-shirt while the pharmacy tech did her thing in my non-stitching arm.

Provisions started arriving at 2:00, and by the time the sun went down at 4:30 I was chopping and dicing and slicing away with the air fryer frying and the rice pot ricing.

Viola! I give you my new favorite easy meal...steak bites on rice.

(I realize that the photo implies an enormous portion, but I promise you that the plate/bowl is actually appetizer size and there are lots and lots of leftovers.)

I use stew beef (I'm a spinster on a budget, and it was on sale), mushrooms, onion, and garlic...all in a Ziploc bag with a splash of marinade (Lawry's Steakhouse because it was what we had in the fridge), and then I throw it into the air fryer at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

(You take it out of the Ziploc to do so. I was somehow trapped by my own sentence structure there.)

(Yes, Betty. The steak bites are completely overcooked and usually taste like shoe leather, but that's how I like them.)

For the remainder of the night I watched the Outlander and stitched, and I'm happy to report that I went to bed at a relatively early hour for me. When Rich travels I am normally like a six-year old and I try to stay up until the wee hours of the morning so I can say I did, but last might I hit the pillow at midnight.

If you've been reading this here blog for any length of time, then you know exactly what I'm doing today...the day after getting all of the shots.

I'm a sick little mess, Dearies. My arm feels like it's going to fall off, my poor head wants to just split right off of my shoulders, and I'm pretty sure I must have fallen down the stairs last night at least a dozen times. Methinks this year's flu shot also has a tummy component, because even my morning damn good is not staying where it's supposed to.

Oey vey.

But.

The sun is shining, I am cozy and happy under my Stewey magic blanket, and I have the perfect plan for the day...

Enjoy the ball-less tree:

Drink lots of fluids:

And sip the damn good slowly from my favorite Christmas mug.

 

When I'm finished hitting the SEND button here, I'll grab a couple of the damn Greek cookies...which are delicious, by the way!...and finish up my Laura J Perin piece. I only have the background of the stocking ribbon, the border, and final embellishments to go!

I wish I could tell you how much fun I've had playing with this one! It's just been the perfect project for me lately.

So that's the report. I'm well-provisioned, well-hydrated, and happily stitching along today. What are you doing on this Christmas Eve Eve? I hope it's something wonderful and restful and peaceful and calm.

But if frenzy and chaos are your thing...that's good too!