Greetings! Today, and each month going forward, I'm documenting how I spent my month in just one sentence per day.
Turns out that the theme for December was Joy!, then Dismay!, then Joy! once again. Sigh. It was an unexpectedly challenging month what with our voluminous water loss on the 5th, followed by the decision to go ahead and have our interior doors and kitchen cabinets repainted, and the kitchen ceiling track lighting removed and replaced, since we'd be ripping up all the flooring (again!) anyway. What. A. Mess.
By the time Christmas rolled around, however, everything but the flooring and Christmas tree - poor bald thing, we had to dismantle it for the water remediation, and I didn't have the energy to put all the ornaments back on - was pretty much back to normal. And we did manage to got our bounce back well before Christmas, enjoying lots of time with family and friends, plus holiday concerts, parties and plays, so a big 'yeah' for that.
December In A Sentence A Month
1. Attended the funnest holiday party with our wine society, eating, sipping, singing, dancing, and even running into a newly retired couple we'd known during our daughters' soccer years . . . we're so excited that after being out there all by ourselves for the past six years, our friends are finally starting to step away from their professional gigs and join us in retirement!
2. A wonderful morning spent touring the Dana Points Headlands with a naturalist, followed by a coastal walk on our own, then a bagel breakfast at this divinely situated harbor cafe..
3. A most festive holiday concert at one of our local colleges, which was absolutely wonderful, and definitely a new tradition going forward.
4. A 25 mile bicycle ride along the coastline on a glorious low 70-degree day . . . we had so much fun!
5. The disastrous day my washing machine overflowed onto my new hardwood floors!
6. A rough day of navigating around the very noisy and numerous water remediation machines situated all over the bottom floor of our house, but did break away for a bit to attend a previously scheduled lunch and tour of the Shakleton Antartic Special Exhibition at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.
7. Deeply depressed to once again be facing a period of demolition, chaos and dust, particularly during the Christmas holidays, but a festive holiday performance by the Dana Point Symphony went a long, long way in helping my mood.
8. This wonderful person, my oldest daughter, turned 35 years old today . . . how is that even possible???
9. Attended a holiday jazz concert at a nearby college and had an absolutely wonderful time - nothing perks up my spirits more than the energy of talented young people.
10. Attended our first theater production at the same college, and though we did not enjoy the play so much, Stephen Sondheim's very dark Assassins, we were blown away by the talented actors and actresses, so we stayed all the way through to the bitter end, and were glad we did.
11. Our dinner club held their annual potluck and planning session, and my husband and I agreed to take on one of the months in 2018 because we think the group will enjoy experiencing Burmese food as much as we did upon discovering the wonderful Irawaddy last year.
12. Worked a tidepool shift and enjoyed the utterly thrilling experience of watching dolphins leaping and somersaulting high into the air in what seemed to be a show of sheer joy.
13. Spent the morning hiking in the ocean-adjacent Laguna Wilderness with my hiking club, giving a little insight into why wildfires are a way of life here - our wilderness areas, even this one located just a couple of miles inland from the coast, are generally dry as a bone other than during the rainy season.
14. Painting of my interior doors and kitchen cabinets commenced, because we figured we might as well get them done before the replacement wood flooring went down; a.k.a., turning lemons into lemonade!
15. Believe it or not, we entertained around the chaos, but just for an hour (they are very good friends!), before heading out to Sol Agave in San Juan Capistrano - yeah for good Mexican food and drink for what ails you!
16. Dinner out followed by the Dana Point Harbor Boat Parade with my oldest and her sweetie.
17. Long walk around the harbor and headlands, one of my very favorite things to do here.
18. Kayaking in the AM, then a meeting with our financial team, followed by a lovely, but sad, farewell party with the members of my longtime book club now that we live too far away to make continuing tenable.
19. My kitchen refresh is done, including removal of of 1980's track lighting, and I am beyond thrilled.
20. Braved Walmart for a few household items, but got there early enough to avoid the Christmas crush.
21. We combined a walk to the beach for breakfast with a few on-foot errands, managing just shy of seven miles by the time we returned to the house.
22. Worked a volunteer shift at the harbor, which was fun but brisk at just 50 degrees in the shade where my info booth was set up, brrrr!
23. Ran six miles at the harbor with my running club, followed by breakfast together at Coffee Importers, then made and baked salted caramel chip chocolate cookies and delivered them to all the neighbors, plus attended a festive Rat Pack concert . . . a long, but super fun day!
24. Long walk along the beach, then to my older daughters for an amazing Christmas Eve dinner: Coffee crusted filet mignon, sweet potato puree, grilled asparagus, heirloom beet salad, and for dessert, fresh cherry pie. #feelingspoiled
25. Merry Christmas, S. California style!
26. Today was all about Japan - we booked a trip to visit there in the fall, and we bought ourselves a new Toyota Prius!
27. Wonderful hike along a coastal ridge trail near our home with my hiking club, and learned our daughter is having a girl!!!
28. Worked a volunteer shift at the harbor, took down all the holiday decorations, organized the garage, and made a fragrant slow cook Indian chicken curry for dinner.
29. Small drywall patch job by my painter in advance of our new floors going in in January, to Target to replace my 34 year old Hoover vacuum cleaner (!), plus our water loss reimbursement check arrived in the mail, big sigh of relief!
30. Morning run with my club, prepped the house for overnight guests, then spent the evening with them enjoying dinner and a Neil Diamond tribute band at The Coach House.
31. Took our friends for a walk along the Dana Point Headlands followed by breakfast at Coffee Importers, tidied the house after they left, then made a romantic dinner for hubby and me and settled in for a night of movies and waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square.
Goodness December was a roller coaster of a month! But I have to say, I doubt I would have bitten the bullet and gone ahead with getting our kitchen cabinets repainted, and our overhead kitchen track lighting removed and replaced with recessed lights if not for the loss. So, I am actually super happy with the way my previously very nice kitchen is being elevated to gorgeous status, and I look forward to sharing photos next month once the final touch ups occur.
How was your December? Please share your highlights (or lowlights!) below.
An InLinkz Link-up
By the time Christmas rolled around, however, everything but the flooring and Christmas tree - poor bald thing, we had to dismantle it for the water remediation, and I didn't have the energy to put all the ornaments back on - was pretty much back to normal. And we did manage to got our bounce back well before Christmas, enjoying lots of time with family and friends, plus holiday concerts, parties and plays, so a big 'yeah' for that.
(P.S. - Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to see who else is participating,
and to visit their blogs for additional September In A Sentence A Day inspiration!)
December In A Sentence A Month
1. Attended the funnest holiday party with our wine society, eating, sipping, singing, dancing, and even running into a newly retired couple we'd known during our daughters' soccer years . . . we're so excited that after being out there all by ourselves for the past six years, our friends are finally starting to step away from their professional gigs and join us in retirement!
 |
| Can you tell my husband is sporting a black eye in this photo? The result of an accidental head bump with our granddaughter while playing Hide n Go Seek! |
2. A wonderful morning spent touring the Dana Points Headlands with a naturalist, followed by a coastal walk on our own, then a bagel breakfast at this divinely situated harbor cafe..
3. A most festive holiday concert at one of our local colleges, which was absolutely wonderful, and definitely a new tradition going forward.
4. A 25 mile bicycle ride along the coastline on a glorious low 70-degree day . . . we had so much fun!
5. The disastrous day my washing machine overflowed onto my new hardwood floors!
6. A rough day of navigating around the very noisy and numerous water remediation machines situated all over the bottom floor of our house, but did break away for a bit to attend a previously scheduled lunch and tour of the Shakleton Antartic Special Exhibition at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.
 |
| The Endurance, stuck in the ice of Antartica in 1915 |
7. Deeply depressed to once again be facing a period of demolition, chaos and dust, particularly during the Christmas holidays, but a festive holiday performance by the Dana Point Symphony went a long, long way in helping my mood.
 |
| Not the greatest sightlines in that the symphony plays at a church, but the acoustics are great, and the tickets are a modest $15 each, so we'll deal. |
8. This wonderful person, my oldest daughter, turned 35 years old today . . . how is that even possible???
9. Attended a holiday jazz concert at a nearby college and had an absolutely wonderful time - nothing perks up my spirits more than the energy of talented young people.
 |
| The conductor brought up the children in the audience at one point, which will hopefully plant the seeds for future jazz appreciation. |
10. Attended our first theater production at the same college, and though we did not enjoy the play so much, Stephen Sondheim's very dark Assassins, we were blown away by the talented actors and actresses, so we stayed all the way through to the bitter end, and were glad we did.
12. Worked a tidepool shift and enjoyed the utterly thrilling experience of watching dolphins leaping and somersaulting high into the air in what seemed to be a show of sheer joy.
13. Spent the morning hiking in the ocean-adjacent Laguna Wilderness with my hiking club, giving a little insight into why wildfires are a way of life here - our wilderness areas, even this one located just a couple of miles inland from the coast, are generally dry as a bone other than during the rainy season.
14. Painting of my interior doors and kitchen cabinets commenced, because we figured we might as well get them done before the replacement wood flooring went down; a.k.a., turning lemons into lemonade!
 |
| Original maple cabinet paint color at bottom, a yellowish ivory, and refreshed color, the same Cream I used in my prior kitchen, on the top. |
15. Believe it or not, we entertained around the chaos, but just for an hour (they are very good friends!), before heading out to Sol Agave in San Juan Capistrano - yeah for good Mexican food and drink for what ails you!
16. Dinner out followed by the Dana Point Harbor Boat Parade with my oldest and her sweetie.
17. Long walk around the harbor and headlands, one of my very favorite things to do here.
 |
| My husband waving 'Hello' from the headlands trail. |
18. Kayaking in the AM, then a meeting with our financial team, followed by a lovely, but sad, farewell party with the members of my longtime book club now that we live too far away to make continuing tenable.
19. My kitchen refresh is done, including removal of of 1980's track lighting, and I am beyond thrilled.
20. Braved Walmart for a few household items, but got there early enough to avoid the Christmas crush.
21. We combined a walk to the beach for breakfast with a few on-foot errands, managing just shy of seven miles by the time we returned to the house.
 |
| Where the wonderful beach trail by our home ends. |
22. Worked a volunteer shift at the harbor, which was fun but brisk at just 50 degrees in the shade where my info booth was set up, brrrr!
23. Ran six miles at the harbor with my running club, followed by breakfast together at Coffee Importers, then made and baked salted caramel chip chocolate cookies and delivered them to all the neighbors, plus attended a festive Rat Pack concert . . . a long, but super fun day!
24. Long walk along the beach, then to my older daughters for an amazing Christmas Eve dinner: Coffee crusted filet mignon, sweet potato puree, grilled asparagus, heirloom beet salad, and for dessert, fresh cherry pie. #feelingspoiled
25. Merry Christmas, S. California style!
 |
| Us in the fall of 2018. |
 |
| Us right now! |
27. Wonderful hike along a coastal ridge trail near our home with my hiking club, and learned our daughter is having a girl!!!
28. Worked a volunteer shift at the harbor, took down all the holiday decorations, organized the garage, and made a fragrant slow cook Indian chicken curry for dinner.
29. Small drywall patch job by my painter in advance of our new floors going in in January, to Target to replace my 34 year old Hoover vacuum cleaner (!), plus our water loss reimbursement check arrived in the mail, big sigh of relief!
30. Morning run with my club, prepped the house for overnight guests, then spent the evening with them enjoying dinner and a Neil Diamond tribute band at The Coach House.
31. Took our friends for a walk along the Dana Point Headlands followed by breakfast at Coffee Importers, tidied the house after they left, then made a romantic dinner for hubby and me and settled in for a night of movies and waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square.
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Goodness December was a roller coaster of a month! But I have to say, I doubt I would have bitten the bullet and gone ahead with getting our kitchen cabinets repainted, and our overhead kitchen track lighting removed and replaced with recessed lights if not for the loss. So, I am actually super happy with the way my previously very nice kitchen is being elevated to gorgeous status, and I look forward to sharing photos next month once the final touch ups occur.
How was your December? Please share your highlights (or lowlights!) below.
An InLinkz Link-up
December was filled with holiday preparations and connecting with friends & family.
ReplyDelete1. Tom Jackson’s Huron Carole evokes the spirit of Christmas.
2. I did not attend the neighbor's jam session in an attempt to pace myself so walked, prepared soup mix gifts & read.
3. The movie “Wonder” was a wonder.
4. Christmas in the air with sugar cookies on Cookie Day & the Christmas letter prepared for mailing tomorrow.
5. Skate-tying at the arena for 2 elementary school classes then coffee with a friend.
6. Another 2-mile walk today, aiming for 8 miles/week before whist night in town.
7. A friend stopped by with nalysnyky (cottage cheese-filled pancakes) for the freezer.
8. To a friend's for lunch & scrabble.
9. Puttering in the kitchen while listening to a favorite radio program followed by a 2-mile walk.
10. More Christmas preparations before another 2-mile walk.
11. To the city 2 hrs away to shop & visit with extended family.
12. Volunteer day with Habitat for Humanity.
13. A visit with a friend after spending the night at my son's then home to the hills.
14. Lunch & scrabble with a friend, as well as tears as we reminisced.
15. It was nice to be home after 4 days out of the house.
16. I brought the Christmas tree home & set it up before a delightful evening of music and friendship at a house party.
17. Festival of Carols with my SIL then dinner & a twinkle tour.
18. Dress rehearsal @ the elementary school where I will do a reading of Davey & the First Christmas by Beth Vardon.
19. A home day after a busy week so I started the gift wrapping & made some holiday phone calls & prepared for a gathering tomorrow.
20. The Fearless Foursome Funtime & a game of Scattergories.
21. I participated in the elementary school Christmas concert – my first concert in 50 yrs!
22. I fell fast & hard on the ice on a friend's driveway yesterday but that didn't impede my ability to do holiday deliveries before a surprise visit from my young cousin.
23. The day before Christmas & all is well with stockings laid out with care.
24. I attended a church service then dinner at my SIL's.
25. Christmas Day with bkft at mom’s then dinner with friends after an afternoon of table games.
26. Let the games begin - the granddaughters have arrived with their dad!
27. Slow mornings & lots of little girl toys.
28. Cold, cold, cold with temps -30-40C conducive for indoor games with friends & family.
29. Friends for lunch & scrapbooking with the girls.
30. The house got very quiet when my son & his family departed.
31. A day of reflection; in the words of John Lennon – another year over and a new one just begun.
#22- Oh boy. I fell hard on my shoulder last month when trying to push the water out of our home after washing machine overflow. The pain has been steadily increasing ever since, and I'm actually on my way to Urgent Care shortly to seek help. Thinking I may have torn my rotator cuff, unfortunately. Boy, do I miss those days of bouncing right back up after a turmble!
DeleteThank you for sharing here, and forgiving my brief reply - I'm in a bit of pain at the moment. ;-)
Hi Mona, a quick follow up as I could barely think through the pain when I typed yesterday's reply.
DeleteYour month sounds so lovely, and evokes images of a beautiful winter setting combined with warm community. I think what I enjoy most about your monthly shares here how different your activities are, because of our differing geography, but how similar they appear in indicating lives well lived.
Tamara, thanks for the affirmation of a life well-lived. I endeavor to live a value-based lifestyle. Getting older and dealing with some of the accompanying "ailments", i.e. calcifica tendinitis?) reminds me of one of my words to describe 2017 - limitations. I like to think of limitations in terms of maximum capacity and go from there!
DeleteHow fabulous that you're going to Japan!!
ReplyDeleteWe are going to paint our cabinets this summer---any tips???
Enjoyed reading your month!!!!
XOXO
Jodie
www.jtouchofstyle.com
Jodie, my only advice is to hire a professional if you want it to look, well, professional! My painter sanded, primed, sanded again, and used a spray painter throughout the whole process. They look great as a result.
DeleteIt was a good month overall, thank you for stopping by!
Oh I long to be one of those couples joining you in retirement! You days sound so lovely. I love all the outings that you participate in.
ReplyDelete:) gwingal
Hi Nikki! We do love being retired and in charge of our days, and we much enjoy physical pursuits. We are so fortunate to live in an area with year round good weather where we can always do something outdoors. If you go hard once your life is fully in your hands, I know you will have a wonderful retirement as well, even if your version of going hard is different from mine/ours. ☺
DeleteA full month and beautiful pictures, Tamara. Glad to hear your kitchen refresh is done to your liking. I hope your shoulder pain is nothing serious. Take it easy!
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie, turns out I have calcifica tendinitis. Super, duper painful, but a condition, not an injury, which was great news. Honestly, this getting older stuff is for the birds!
DeleteThe kitchen looks so nice now, I can't wait to share photos once the flooring replacement is complete!
Your winter weather looks (& sounds) like ours in Queensland Australia - we're summer now so humidity central. Ohhhh, those dolphins & uhhhh re the washing machine.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo Tracey! How interesting/fun that we have so much in common, geographically speaking, even though we are half a world apart! It sounds like the only difference is that we don't really have humidity here, which is why so many tourists enjoy spending time here during our summers. And, yes, those dolphins for sure! ☺
DeleteMy husband's Grandmother used to live near Dana Point and she would always take us there when we visited her. Such a lovely place!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear of your happy memories, Jamie! I'm so, so hoping our granddaughters experience same over the years to come. Their first visit here in November was a smashing success, so we're off to a good start I think!
DeleteSounds like a pretty good month with so many wonderful activities. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kay Lynn,and a happy, wonderful January of activities to as well!
DeleteSweet one, I hope your January is working out to be stress free. Hurts my heart reading and remembering about the washing machine flooding your floors. Such a colossal and costly frustration.
ReplyDeleteOk, a six mile run? Put me right to shame. How did you find a running club so quickly? I am thinking I might do well to find one. PC doesn't run (after 23 years of having to in the Army) but that is the only 'sport' I can half-way do! Would like to move my running outside this spring and with company/encouragement. But I have no idea how to find someone to run with.
How festive was that boat parade? And how haunting is that photo of the ship stuck in ice. The ship appears to have been built from matchsticks or toothpicks, it looks so frail in the photo.
Happy birthday to your 35 year old beauty. How do we have children in their 30s? Mine will be 332 and 34 this year. Just crazy since I am not much more than that myself. Tee hee.
Looking forward to a happier, less worrisome January post for us both. Cheers!
Hi Leslie, well, so far January has been, hmm, interesting what with learning I have calcific tendinitis, a condition that can take up to ten years to resolve itself apparently, but is only an issue when there is a flare up like I had a few days ago. Oh boy! But, on the bright side, before the end of the month my new floors will be down, my kitchen island is going to be painted to match the rest of my kitchen (cream!), and the last set of shutters installed, so we're almost there.
DeleteRe: Running Clubs. My first suggestion would be to check with any specialty running stores in your area, as almost without exception that will have a corresponding running club, clinic or ongoing events. You also might try MeetUp.com. Either way, running is so much more fun when you have other people to do it with in my experience. I ran eight miles yesterday with my group, and the miles seemed to fly by given how much we were all enjoying talking to each other in the process.
What an interesting month you had! You were very brave to entertain during the mess - but I'm sure it's all been worth it for the new kitchen. My eldest daughter turns 35 this coming May and I also wonder how i can be???
ReplyDeleteHi Deb, I just felt bad that our friends were driving to us on a traffic heavy Friday night, and wanted to extend their evening accordingly, so we crossed our fingers that they would see the humor in our situation. Which both sets of couples did, nicely.
DeleteIt's so strange to see our adult children aging, isn't it? And each Big-0 birthday they have, oh my!