It was 8:00 Christmas morning. Long gone are the days when a little one tugs on my sleeve with a breathless “Wake up, mom!!! Santa was here!” Instead, my phone vibrated. I felt around till I found the little sucker.
“Hello?” I muffled into the speaker.
“Nana!!!!! I got a new phone!!!!”
“Little” was beside herself. She rattled on and on about the uber cool features and I mustered up as much enthusiasm as I could BC (before coffee). I told her now we can FaceTime whenever we want. Now…THAT is exciting ’cause I miss these rug rats when I’m in WV. It takes two weeks to re-bond when I come out here and I want that connection to stay.
Once an adequate amount of coffee had been consumed, we popped the Brussels sprouts in the oven with the stuffing. I make these killer Brussels sprouts. Cut a pound of bacon up in relatively small pieces. Fry and stir till crispy brown. Remove from heat. Clean and quarter your sprouts. I made a huge bag of them. Place in a large bowl and pour your bacon and bacon grease over all. Toss and place in a baking dish. At this point you can refrigerate overnight. Pop in a 350 oven when you’re ready to bake them. Bake about an hour. We used the liner of one of those crockpots with the lid that snaps down for transporting. Then, I left the crockpot as the gift for the hosts of this year’s family dinner. I know, I know…a dish like that is definitely not good for you and certainly not on my diet. But…it’s not what you eat between Thanksgiving and New Year’s as much as what you eat between New Year’s and Thanksgiving.
After dinner, we all gathered to open gifts. That always takes a couple of hours as we open them one at a time so everyone can enjoy watching. Dessert was served and then I took Bernie, my second father-in-law, home. It was a day full of love and happy memories.
I took a break in the middle of the day to catch up here and respond to comments. One of our readers posted that her husband passed away Saturday. I went off by myself and shed a tear for her…for myself…for all of us who walk this path. I remember that raw, searing pain when you literally cannot get a deep enough breath. It was horrendous, and to come at Christmas? That’s extra brutal. My heart is with you all and I pray you made it through the day with love and support from family and friends. You are strong women by virtue of what you’ve been made to do. ❤️
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:29-31 NIV