December was a wonderful month overall, most especially because we not only finished our year long outdoor remodeling project, but because we were able to spend oodles and oodles of time with family and friends, enjoying all that makes this festive month so lovely.
December In A Sentence A Month
1. Morning walk with my Saturday group on a gorgeous, sunny morning, set up and decorated our Christmas tree below, then off to the most wonderful holiday concert, A Feast of Lights, put on by students and alumni of Saddleback College, then a quick drop-in to catch my gal pal Eileen's a capella group performance in San Clemente before heading to dinner at Pizza Port.
2. A terrific production of The Importance of Being Earnest at UCI with our Lifelong Learning group, which included post and pre-performance discussions with the stage crew and actors, then a quick dinner of leftovers before welcoming fellow spiritual congregational members into our home for a discussion group we'll be hosting throughout 2019.
3. Morning beach walk with hubby, then a holiday party celebrating volunteers at the cultural center I'm a new volunteer with . . . such a beautiful place!
4. Morning hike with my Tuesday group in Aliso Woods Regional Park, an appointment with our realtor to get her updated market assessment of our home post-renovation (significantly more than what we spent, yeah!), then, bam!, the onset of intense tendinitis pain in my right leg, which rendered me pretty much useless for the remainder of the day.
5. Insane tendinitis pain the entire day, relieved only when I remembered the leftover pain pills I'd hung onto after last February's episode with calcific tendinitis . . . this getting older stuff is not for sissies!
6. More rain than we've seen in a good long time, plus with the pain in my leg somewhat subsided, I made a long overdue appointment with my doctor to try and figure out what in the heck is going on, then a quick training session at the cultural center in order to learn how to use the credit card machine in the gift shop, before returning home and making a super-easy oven mushroom risotto for dinner - not as good as the not-so-super-easy risotto I make when entertaining, but a more than acceptable alternative when it's just hubby and me.
7. We passed, we passed, we passed . . . the city inspector gave the final sign off on our backyard trellis and balcony project, which we celebrated on our balcony by raising a glass . . . or two(! ). . . then off to the harbor to attend a Christmas Boat Parade celebration at the marine institute we volunteer for.
9. Morning spiritual services, then off to meet our family for a fun afternoon and evening - an early dinner at the always delicious El Farlito, then CSUF's spectacular Deck The Halls concert and symphony event, a walk through our favorite holiday lit-neighborhood afterward, then dessert at the home of dear and longtime friends . . . whew!
10. I so wanted this to be a stay at home day after our busy weekend, but not to be, as hubby and I did a five mile beach walk, enjoying lattes at Ellie's Table afterward, plus I attended Spanish class, and had my annual mammogram.
11. Learned I have another squamous skin cancer growth (localized, no worries!) that needs removal, no big surprise after spending pretty much my entire childhood outdoors and under the sun without benefit of sunscreen.
12. Gym workout, including, yeah, weight training, the weekly grocery shopping and errand running, then home to get pretty for a members night holiday event at seaside Casa Romantica . . . so lovely!
13. Early wake up to make 60 mini-corn muffins, a brief visit by our HVAC installer to show me how to change the air filter (yep, felt like a real dunce afterward!), a volunteer shift at the cultural center, then off to a holiday potluck dinner with our lifelong learning group in order to plan our monthly dine-outs for 2019.
14. Beach walk and breakfast in San Clemente with my gal pal Sherri, included delicious avocado toast afterward at Catarina's Cafe, then home to make a raspberry custard trifle for a weekend event, plus baked a second batch of lavender shortbread cookies for yet another weekend event, plus laundry, then hubby and I agreed we were simply too exhausted to head out yet again to use already-purchased tickets to see this amazing young woman, Jackie Evancho - our bad, and lesson learned . . . too much of anything, even fun times, is not good!
15. Morning hike with my Saturday group, then off to attend a holiday dinner and beer tasting event at my oldest daughter's, bringing along the raspberry trifle I made yesterday, and with much energy hubby and I ended up being the life of the party in spite of being the oldest ones there . . . the beer helped!
16. So tired after last night, but sucked it up and prepped all morning for my annual Cookie Exchange event, and was so, so pleased that all my gal pals were willing to travel south to our new home in order to attend!
17. Picked up the needlepoint project I made my oldest daughter for Christmas from the framing shop . . . I love how it turned out!
18. It poured rain, so unusual here that it's always exciting, but also meaning that my tide pool shift was cancelled, so I stayed home to enjoy it!
19. A busy day stopping in at lots of different grocery stores in order to take advantage of all the Christmas food sales, and came home with bulging bags, but within budget, hooray!
20. Super tired (it's been a busy month!), so I hung out and read this book for most of the day.
21. Lunch and shopping in Laguna Beach with my gal pal, Wendy, then Happy Hour overlooking the harbor with a group of friends that all volunteer with us at the marine institute . . . it was a wonderful day!
22. Attended an event that will definitely become an annual holiday 'do' - met a group at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, then walked a total of five miles to and around Balboa Island to watch the boat parade (though the festively lit houses were just as awesome!), enjoying both dinner at Picante Martin's and dessert at Baking Betty's along the way.
23. Treated ourselves to a new 65" TV, then spent the night watching movies on it, plus discovered this awesome Netflix crackling fireplace 'movie,' which sounds just like the real thing but cheaper . . . our fireplace is set up with gas and a faux set of logs, and it's pricey to use as a result!
24. Our Christmas Eve plans go blown out of the water when one family member came down sick, and the other two (my oldest daughter and her sweetie) got stuck in traffic on their way home from a skiing weekend, so hubby and I enjoyed an unexpectedly quiet night at home eating dinner and watching It's A Wonderful Life together alone instead . . . not gonna lie, it was kind of nice!
25. Merry Christmas . . . family, sun, sand and a great meal . . . our hearts are full!
26. A glorious day of staying in my P.J.s and doing pretty much nothing, a long running day-after-Christmas tradition!
27. Morning gym workout, a shift working in the gift shop of one of the places I volunteer for, then a night in our old neighborhood celebrating my girlfriend's 60th birthday . . . the photo below definitely captures how much fun we all had!
28. Met my hiking group for a gorgeous seven mile hike to Aliso Hill Summit, with incredible ocean views the entire way and back, my first time hiking it, but most definitely not my last (see below!).
29. So excited about yesterday's hike, I went right out and did it again with my husband, adding in a lunch stop afterward at a new cafe, Plumeria, that we both thoroughly enjoyed.
30. Hosted my oldest daughter and niece, plus their sweeties and roommates, for breakfast at the house, followed by kayaking and lunch at the harbor . . . we had such a wonderful time with them all!
31. A lovely late morning walk along the beach, then back home to clean up and enjoy a quiet but romantic New Year's Eve at home with hubby enjoying good wine, good steak, and each other's company.
1. Morning walk with my Saturday group on a gorgeous, sunny morning, set up and decorated our Christmas tree below, then off to the most wonderful holiday concert, A Feast of Lights, put on by students and alumni of Saddleback College, then a quick drop-in to catch my gal pal Eileen's a capella group performance in San Clemente before heading to dinner at Pizza Port.
2. A terrific production of The Importance of Being Earnest at UCI with our Lifelong Learning group, which included post and pre-performance discussions with the stage crew and actors, then a quick dinner of leftovers before welcoming fellow spiritual congregational members into our home for a discussion group we'll be hosting throughout 2019.
3. Morning beach walk with hubby, then a holiday party celebrating volunteers at the cultural center I'm a new volunteer with . . . such a beautiful place!
4. Morning hike with my Tuesday group in Aliso Woods Regional Park, an appointment with our realtor to get her updated market assessment of our home post-renovation (significantly more than what we spent, yeah!), then, bam!, the onset of intense tendinitis pain in my right leg, which rendered me pretty much useless for the remainder of the day.
5. Insane tendinitis pain the entire day, relieved only when I remembered the leftover pain pills I'd hung onto after last February's episode with calcific tendinitis . . . this getting older stuff is not for sissies!
6. More rain than we've seen in a good long time, plus with the pain in my leg somewhat subsided, I made a long overdue appointment with my doctor to try and figure out what in the heck is going on, then a quick training session at the cultural center in order to learn how to use the credit card machine in the gift shop, before returning home and making a super-easy oven mushroom risotto for dinner - not as good as the not-so-super-easy risotto I make when entertaining, but a more than acceptable alternative when it's just hubby and me.
7. We passed, we passed, we passed . . . the city inspector gave the final sign off on our backyard trellis and balcony project, which we celebrated on our balcony by raising a glass . . . or two(! ). . . then off to the harbor to attend a Christmas Boat Parade celebration at the marine institute we volunteer for.
8. A five mile soft beach sand walk, the only activity I'm currently cleared to do by my doctor, a few hours reading out on our new balcony and gazing at the ocean, then a night of holiday big band jazz at Saddleback College . . . what a show!
9. Morning spiritual services, then off to meet our family for a fun afternoon and evening - an early dinner at the always delicious El Farlito, then CSUF's spectacular Deck The Halls concert and symphony event, a walk through our favorite holiday lit-neighborhood afterward, then dessert at the home of dear and longtime friends . . . whew!
10. I so wanted this to be a stay at home day after our busy weekend, but not to be, as hubby and I did a five mile beach walk, enjoying lattes at Ellie's Table afterward, plus I attended Spanish class, and had my annual mammogram.
11. Learned I have another squamous skin cancer growth (localized, no worries!) that needs removal, no big surprise after spending pretty much my entire childhood outdoors and under the sun without benefit of sunscreen.
12. Gym workout, including, yeah, weight training, the weekly grocery shopping and errand running, then home to get pretty for a members night holiday event at seaside Casa Romantica . . . so lovely!
 |
| The view of San Clemente pier from beautiful Casa Romantica. |
14. Beach walk and breakfast in San Clemente with my gal pal Sherri, included delicious avocado toast afterward at Catarina's Cafe, then home to make a raspberry custard trifle for a weekend event, plus baked a second batch of lavender shortbread cookies for yet another weekend event, plus laundry, then hubby and I agreed we were simply too exhausted to head out yet again to use already-purchased tickets to see this amazing young woman, Jackie Evancho - our bad, and lesson learned . . . too much of anything, even fun times, is not good!
15. Morning hike with my Saturday group, then off to attend a holiday dinner and beer tasting event at my oldest daughter's, bringing along the raspberry trifle I made yesterday, and with much energy hubby and I ended up being the life of the party in spite of being the oldest ones there . . . the beer helped!
16. So tired after last night, but sucked it up and prepped all morning for my annual Cookie Exchange event, and was so, so pleased that all my gal pals were willing to travel south to our new home in order to attend!
17. Picked up the needlepoint project I made my oldest daughter for Christmas from the framing shop . . . I love how it turned out!
18. It poured rain, so unusual here that it's always exciting, but also meaning that my tide pool shift was cancelled, so I stayed home to enjoy it!
19. A busy day stopping in at lots of different grocery stores in order to take advantage of all the Christmas food sales, and came home with bulging bags, but within budget, hooray!
20. Super tired (it's been a busy month!), so I hung out and read this book for most of the day.
21. Lunch and shopping in Laguna Beach with my gal pal, Wendy, then Happy Hour overlooking the harbor with a group of friends that all volunteer with us at the marine institute . . . it was a wonderful day!
22. Attended an event that will definitely become an annual holiday 'do' - met a group at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, then walked a total of five miles to and around Balboa Island to watch the boat parade (though the festively lit houses were just as awesome!), enjoying both dinner at Picante Martin's and dessert at Baking Betty's along the way.
23. Treated ourselves to a new 65" TV, then spent the night watching movies on it, plus discovered this awesome Netflix crackling fireplace 'movie,' which sounds just like the real thing but cheaper . . . our fireplace is set up with gas and a faux set of logs, and it's pricey to use as a result!
 |
| Honestly, it looks and sounds just like the real thing, plus in S. California we really don't need the additional heat! |
24. Our Christmas Eve plans go blown out of the water when one family member came down sick, and the other two (my oldest daughter and her sweetie) got stuck in traffic on their way home from a skiing weekend, so hubby and I enjoyed an unexpectedly quiet night at home eating dinner and watching It's A Wonderful Life together alone instead . . . not gonna lie, it was kind of nice!
25. Merry Christmas . . . family, sun, sand and a great meal . . . our hearts are full!
26. A glorious day of staying in my P.J.s and doing pretty much nothing, a long running day-after-Christmas tradition!
27. Morning gym workout, a shift working in the gift shop of one of the places I volunteer for, then a night in our old neighborhood celebrating my girlfriend's 60th birthday . . . the photo below definitely captures how much fun we all had!
28. Met my hiking group for a gorgeous seven mile hike to Aliso Hill Summit, with incredible ocean views the entire way and back, my first time hiking it, but most definitely not my last (see below!).
29. So excited about yesterday's hike, I went right out and did it again with my husband, adding in a lunch stop afterward at a new cafe, Plumeria, that we both thoroughly enjoyed.
30. Hosted my oldest daughter and niece, plus their sweeties and roommates, for breakfast at the house, followed by kayaking and lunch at the harbor . . . we had such a wonderful time with them all!
31. A lovely late morning walk along the beach, then back home to clean up and enjoy a quiet but romantic New Year's Eve at home with hubby enjoying good wine, good steak, and each other's company.
), with two thumbs up for the glasses of excellent Chianti we enjoyed along with our wood fired pizza.
