Tag Archives: Christmas

I’m Still Here!

Posted on December 13, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh dear, it has been ten days since I last posted.  How embarrassing.  I have a few (very few) good Mohawk Valley Adventures to write about, but I feel I should first make an apology if not an explanation of not being here for my lovely readers, which I hope I still have.

May be a doodle of 1 person and text that says 'Please do not accept friend equests from my husband. ...He's been hacked. Mrs. ROXALANA DRUSE,'

These crack me up.

I throw in a picture which has very little to do with anything, but I saw it on Facebook this morning (yes, I peeked at Facebook before logging on to WordPress, judge me if you want to be that way), and it made me smile.  My lawyer assured me he is still working on the appeal.  Longtime readers may remember that I had the honor to play Roxalana Druse in Roxy, the fact-based play about the local murder presented by Herkimer County Historical Society at Ilion Little Theatre.  I wrote several blog posts about it.  In addition to giving me a laugh, I guess it helps me to remember past triumphs.  I trust I shall not continue in the wallowy rut in which I have become mired (what an image!) (and autocorrect seems to think “wallowy” is not a word, but as usual in these cases, it is exactly what I mean).

Regarding the wallowy rut:  I try, I really do try to do things other than sit around and feel sad, try to sleep, or read books (reading books is great, but it doesn’t clean the house, do the dishes, or make blog posts).  At first the insidious voice in my head said, “I can’t!”  I could sometimes overcome it with a gentle, “Just try”  or “Just do one thing,”  occasionally even specifying an actual thing.  Then the voice switched to, “I don’t care!”  That is more difficult to overcome, but I have had some minor success with, “Do it anyways,” or striving to ignore the voice.

I throw in a Christmasy picture to liven things up (I was sure Christmasy was a word!).

What a dull, self-involved post.  I will play the widow card once again.  This is my first Christmas without my beloved Steve.  I remind myself that it is going to be hard, don’t be surprised by that, just try to do a few things to make the season merry for somebody at least.  I guess I have gone over these thoughts before, but I must repeat them constantly to myself so inevitably impose them upon others as well.

And I see I am over 400 words.  I hope to make a real Mohawk Valley Girl post later today or tomorrow.  I thank everybody who is still reading.

 

 

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Still Lame After All These Years

Posted on December 2, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Full disclosure:  I am making my blog post now only because I want my breakfast to settle in my stomach before I take a walk.  Otherwise, I might have done a Pedestrian Post with Pictures.  Perhaps another day.  The point is, I have nothing in particular to say or even to make a blog post about. Yes, I am still posting lame (and that gave me an idea for a title, at least).

Must up my decorating game.

A picture always make a post a little brighter.  This is from December 2021, before my life started to fall apart.  Oh, who am I kidding?  My life has always been a shambles, but we used to do a better job of decorating for Christmas.  I am particularly fond of the ghost with the Santa hat.  He has a practical function, which is to add light to the living room.  Right now he is sporting on of my rhinestone tiaras.

I love my Elliott Ghoul.

Here is another Halloween/Christmas mash-up.  The ghoul still stands in my window, keeping my company when I turn off the dining room lights or make a loud noise.  I especially like the reflection of Santa in this picture.  I brought that Santa inside Halloween night and mean to return him to the porch when I take down the pumpkin lights and put up some multi-colored ones I found (preview of coming attractions).

It looks a little like the ghost of Santa, no?

Here is Santa from the front.  I purchased Santa Claus the first year we lived in this house, from a nearby big box store which needs no plug from Mohawk Valley Girl.  I remember walking home with him tucked under one arm, feeling inordinately pleased with myself.

As I gear up to celebrate the first Christmas without my Steve in over 30 years, I remind myself to find joy, and to try to bring joy to others.  Perhaps my silly blog brings, not joy exactly (I shall not flatter myself), but a little smile.  Thank you for tuning in.

 

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Decorations Past, Future Plans?

Posted on December 30, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am not waiting for my dining-room-table-top to boot up and get to WordPress, I am pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet as I sit lounged on my comfy couch.  Full disclosure: I am not as comfy as I might be, because I keep doing crap to irritate my back.  I know, I know:  lift with my legs, not my back!

Anyways, it is Friday morning, and I thought I would try for some semblance of a blog post.  A comment yesterday complimented me on my Christmas decorations.  I confess, they are not great this year, but I can share some pictures of previous years and call it a Throwback Thursday Post.

Look at all our toys!

2017 was a good decorating year, it seems.

A less cluttered arrangement.

It is nice to look at these pictures and think, “Maybe next year…”  Then again, I think I thought that last year.

Backing up from the previous shot.

I have long had it in my head to get my house thoroughly cleaned and organized.  I make a little progress, then get discouraged and slack off.  I suddenly have the thought that it is time for New Year’s Resolutions. Could I use this sort of motivation to jump start my efforts?

Hmmm… This could start me off on a whole big thing on New Year’s Resolutions, which have become a kind of a controversial topic.  Sounds like a good idea for Lame Post Friday, a post I hope to make later.  We shall see.

 

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Tired But Still Blogging

Posted on December 28, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had hoped that Tired Tuesday would not follow Monstrous Monday, but here we are.  Yesterday wasn’t such a great Monstrous Monday Post anyways, with only one monster picture and a whole lot of whining, but one does what one can.  My intention now is to make some post, any post, and continue to do so every day.  We can all hope that at least a few good posts sneak their way in.

I do not feel really awful about not making a better blog post today, because I had little chance to do anything blogworthy.  I went to work and after work stopped at three retail establishments.  Oh, OK, it was the liquor store (I usually call it the liquid store, after a then four year old niece referred to it as such), a convenience store, and the grocery store.  I suppose I could have worked one or all of those into a blog post.  I can’t do it now.

“Ho! Ho! Huh?”

I thought I would throw in a picture to pep things up and found a shot of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in my Media Library in December 2020.  I feel it is OK to continue the Christmas spirit till New Year’s Day, if not Jan. 6.

In case you had not noticed, I continue my slow convalescence from the flu.  YES, I am grateful my case was not worse. I admit it may  be unbecoming to continue to complain. Sheesh!

On the brighter side, I am over 250 words.  Score!  Maybe I could try for a Pedestrian Post tomorrow.  Or there’s always Wednesday night at Fratello’s.  Different possibilities add interest to my life.

 

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Lame in the Christmas Season

Posted on December 23, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I have gone a week without posting.  That is not good.  In my defense, I have had the flu, despite getting the damn flu shot!  I feel rather ill-used about that, in addition to feeling just about as crappy as I have felt in a long time.  I feel I should have a good descriptive of my crappiness, but nothing is coming (autocorrect wanted to make that “creepiness.”  More appropriate? Discuss amongst yourselves).

On the brighter side, I have been feeling Less Crappy for a couple of days now.  I don’t feel that I will ever be 100% again, but I look forward to feeling progressively less crappy as 2022 wanes.

I hold tight to that glimmer of optimism, because I am very sad about basically missing over a week of precious Christmas time.  In addition to having scandalously few presents for my family and friends and very little energy to make up the shortfall, I have missed enjoying the time.  I was about to start taking walks around the neighborhood in the evenings, to enjoy seeing people’s lights.  I was going to listen to all my Christmas CDs, a feat I have never managed in a single Christmas season.

But don’t listen to me wine.  We never do all we intend or hope, even without health issues.  I also remind myself that depression is a well-known after-effect of flu, so I must not feel too concerned about feeling a little down.  By the way, that could be a whole other blog post: how we must not beat ourselves up for feeling down, thus creating a downward spiral.

Now I see I am over 250 words.  More than respe table for Lame Post Friday!   I will just find a Christmas picture in my Media Library, to end on a festive note.

All my Santas say Merry Christmas!

 

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I Guess I’m on the Cusp

Posted on November 25, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

It seems I am no longer a daily blogger.  I do not like that.  I like to be a daily blogger.  With that in mind, I am sitting at my dining-room-table-top on Friday morning, hoping to make a Throwback Thursday post.  Then later today I can make a Lame Post Friday post, and go on from there.  I have a recent history of dropping the ball on weekends, so we shall see.  A little suspense adds interest to my week.

So pretty!

I throw back to November 2016 and a lovely bouquet sent to me by my husband, Steve.  He recently sent me another bouquet, but I have neither my cell phone nor my Tablet handy to take a picture, and anyways, that would not be much of a throwback, being just earlier this week.  Then again, some people feel 2016 is not so long ago either.  I cannot deal with these deep questions so early in the morning.

So sweet!

Another picture from 2016:  our sweet, dearly missed poocher, Spunky.  I was watching the National Dog Show yesterday and simply longing for another dog of my own.

Time to be merry!

Let me take a break from melancholy with a Christmas muppet picture.  I feel Thanksgiving is a fitting start to the Christmas season, with Santa Claus anchoring the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  One of my favorite Christmas movies, Miracle on 34th Street, begins on Thanksgiving.  I happened to catch that movie recently.  I am ready to feel Christmasy, are you?

I hope everybody had a lovely Thanksgiving, by the way.   As for this blog post, I am going to bill it as a Non-Sequitur Thursday, seeing as I am having Throwback Thursday on Friday morning, and I cannot decide between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

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Is It Still Christmas? I Hope So!

Posted on January 1, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, here’s the deal, I am really drunk, we just heard that Betty White died, and I did not make a blog post yesterday. Can I make a blog post now? The answer must be yes.

I had meant to make a Throwback Thursday Post yesterday but could not muster the necessary oomph.

He’s the best.

Here is a true Throwback: a delightful Santa that lives at my parents’ house. It was a recurring joke for some years that my husband, Steven, would leave his clothes out of his suitcase and take that nice Santa Claus.

Since that time we have acquired a number of nice Santa Clauses of our own. Can I find a picture of same?

Are they not delightful?

It has been a wonderful wonderful Christmas season. My Tablet is not being especially helpful in my efforts to make a post today. No matter. I wish you joy in your continued yuletide festivities.

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And How Do You Feel?

Posted on December 20, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

And now, a few words about depression. I guess I should rather say a few more words, since I have written about depression before. I’m not even sure I will say anything new, but I ask you to bear with me.

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. I love the music, the decorations, giving presents, watching yet another version of “A Christmas Carol,” everything. And it makes me feel even worse when I am emphatically not inclined to enjoy any of it. What the hell, me?

It is not a constant feeling of sadness, so I have that going for me. But it does intrude at odd and increasingly frequent times. In addition to being uncomfortable, it makes it difficult to get Christmas stuff, as well as general life stuff, done.

The worst aspect of it is feeling that I am nothing but a whiny baby. Why can I not simply feel happy during what some have called the most wonderful time of the year? What is wrong with me?

I have read that gratitude is the cure for depression. It is impossible to feel depressed, one popular women’s magazine opined, when you are feeling grateful. All I can say is, if it is that easy for you, you indeed have something to be grateful for.

As for me, I DO count my blessings. Often it increases my depression, because I start feeling like an ungrateful wretch for feeling depressed in the face of such blessings. And now I also feel like a dull, redundant blogger, because I am sure I have expressed these thoughts before.

Finally I fall back on a thought which had helped me before: sometimes you just have to feel that way until you don’t feel that way any more.

In the meantime, I wanted to make a blog post, because I have not made one in a few days. I’m going to file this one under Wrist to Forehead Sunday and hold out for the next wave of Christmas spirit. As always, I hope You’ll stay tuned.

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Not Too Lame to Run, I Hope

Posted on December 11, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

I did it. I registered for the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls, NY, less than ten hours before the actual race. Nothing like waiting for the last minute, you may say, to which I will reply, not so. I could have waited till tomorrow morning and registered right before the race. So there.

Well, this is a kind of a dull post, even for Lame Post Friday. Quick, throw in a picture. I can’t download new pictures till I upgrade, but I still have access to my Media Library.

I’m the one on the left.

This picture is from the last time I ran the Reindeer Run, in 2019. I might have been able to beat that little boy (no guarantees), but I felt I had to let him finish before me. I hope I face no such moral conundrums this year.

Someone said I was a right jolly little elf.

This was me in 2017. I could not find a picture from 2018. I expect to wear a simpler outfit tomorrow. For one reason, it might pour rain. Also, I kind of let the week get away from me. I will be grateful if I can find a couple of good sports bras (do NOT say TMI!) and a pair of running socks (I think I know where a t-shirt and bicycle shorts are). Yes, more proof, if any was needed, that I do not have my act together.

I guess my main purpose in posting today was just to make a blog post. I thought, If I can’t make a blog post on Lame Post Friday… and then I didn’t finish the thought. Sufficiently lame, I trust.

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Summer, Halloween, Christmas… It’s Monstrous Monday!

Posted on August 31, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

So here I am, trying to get back into daily blogging and I feel unable to type a word. I was unable to write anything earlier as well, so let me attempt yet another Monstrous Monday Post.

Isn’t she pretty?

It seems my most recently shared monster was Bonita, our skeleton, in her summer outfit, accompanied by her friend Bonaparte (as I recently dubbed him). I have that same headband and wore it a few days ago, although I did not get a picture.

Who could resist that smile?

Here is another of our personal monsters, residing in a lovely pot given to me by my friend Marsha. It is one of my favorite Halloween decorations. Yes, I am thinking about Halloween in the last days of August. I think about Halloween year round.

Ho, ho, ho!

Back to Bonita, with a Christmas theme this time. Some people want to make Christmas last all year. I feel the same way about Halloween. So, I feel sure, does Bonita.

I approach 200 words (my self imposed standard) and have shared three pictures. I shall call that respectable for today and, as usual, try for a better post tomorrow. Happy Monday, everyone!

(That last paragraph made it exactly 200 words, by the way.)

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