Thursday, December 19, 2013

"Tis The Season

 
 
sharing with...
where you share 5 random facts about you, your day,
your pets, your kids, whatever...
 
1. Christmas comes at the same time every year, but as the years go by, I find that it has a way of sneaking up on me unexpectedly!
 
2.  I've always loved shopping, and have been a "shop till you drop" person, but this year, just as I was about to drop, I decided that next year, I will drop the shopping, and buy online.
 
3. Christmas dinner at our house NEVER includes turkey. No one likes it. We have chicken, prime rib, and ham.

4. I miss my dad more and more each Christmas. He passed away 12 years ago, a few weeks before Christmas. I will never get used to that empty place at the Christmas dinner table, and I will always raise my glass, and quietly wish him "Merry Christmas" at the end of the meal.
 
5. We also celebrate the Winter Solstice every year. Our granddaughter was born on the Solstice, and she surely is the light of our lives!
 
 
I'm taking a blogging break for the holidays. 

Wishing you and yours,
 the best of the holiday season!

 
 Happy Solstice
Merry Christmas
Joyeux Noël
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

40 comments:

  1. happy birthday to beep. :) may you have a full house and full heart at christmas, karen.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Karen

    I wish you and your dear ones also a nice Christmas time and for 2014 all the best.

    warm greetings, Joop

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karen, to you and yours, all Best Wishes for Christmas and the New Year, a happy time with family, remembering those who are not with us,(as I do, too), thinking of our blog friends all over the world, many fond greetings, from Jean

    ReplyDelete
  4. And a Merry Christmas to you, Karen!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, yes!! A very Happy Birthday to Beep!! And a very wonderful, fun and Merry Christmas for you and your family, Karen!! Enjoy!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I do a combo of online and real shopping -- works for me.

    Thank you for joining in on R5F this week my friend -- it means alot to me.

    Happy Holidays to you and yours. xo

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful photo of your Christmas decorations.

    ReplyDelete
  8. For a season which is about peace and love, it slips too easily (for me) into frantic busyness.
    And there are empty seats at our table too - and I will stop and remember them at intervals all day.
    Happy Christmas to you and yours. And the turkey agrees.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A lovely random 5, expressing beautifully the spirit of Christmas! Happy belated to your beautiful granddaughter. (Our oldest granddaughter will be 30 this week, another special age, but I so well remember when she was the age Beep is.)

    Enjoy your wonderful family Holidays with your family!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you, Karen.
    I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful New Year.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy Birthday to your granddaughter! Lovely image. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  12. lovely post and a beaut pic, have a great Christmas and a happy, healthier New Year *VBS*

    ReplyDelete
  13. I did more shopping online this year, and just a couple things in the store.

    My dad died on Christmas day 20 years ago, and I too have the same feeling when the family gathering.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I don't like to shop--it is exhausting to me. I shop online when I can.

    My father died 16 years ago, and I still feel like the holidays are not complete. I remember him saying, when we asked him what he wanted for Christmas, "Just all my family to be here."

    Merry Christmas! Blessings to you and your family! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Our family does not exchange presents anymore. Less stress, just enjoy the family more. Wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a sweet post. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Enjoy the blogging break. But you will be missed for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think I will buy next years gifts online also! It has slipped up on me this year too. I miss my dad so much this year, it is a fresh wound for us.
    Merry Christmas to yall

    ReplyDelete
  18. #4....melts my heart!!

    Happy Christmas to you and your loved ones.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love that quote you have used on your photo. and the little insights into your Christmas world.
    I will be raising my glass to my Mother while you are raising your glass to your Dad.
    Wishing you blessings at Christmas. And thank you for stopping by my blog this week.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Super bokeh shot! Merry Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I lost my dad 13 years ago. He was the joy of the family especially during the holiday season. I don't think I'll ever truly accept that he is gone. Once the parents are gone, we the children become the matriarchs of the family... we can only hope that we do as good a job as our parent's did... XOX

    ReplyDelete
  22. What fun to be born on the Solstice...except that it's awfully close to Christmas. I wonder what Beep thinks about that!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh Karen HUGS I wish you and your family the very best of Christmas and all that love that comes with the time together. I lost my Dad six years ago at Thanksgiving and I know what you mean. Have fun with your Granddaughter and be careful outside I think you are probably getting what we are slippery. Hugs B

    ReplyDelete
  24. Love this image ... a perfect Christmas card/greeting! Yes, shopping stores after Thanksgiving is suicide. What I don't get before then I get online ... or not at all and there's still plenty under the tree. Have a very Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  25. #1 is so true. how does that always happen?? no matter how much i plan ... it is just there too quick! ( :

    ReplyDelete
  26. Merry Christmas Karen. I'm sorry about your dad and think it's lovely you quietly toast him. I just lost my mom in Oct. and it's weird knowing i'm not buying presents for her. Of course this is the year I see everything I'd love to have given her too.
    Have a beautiful holiday.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Merry Christmas to you! I lost my dad Dec 8 ten years ago. I miss him so much especially at Christmas. Your toast is a great idea. I'm going to copy it. Have a wonderful holiday!

    ReplyDelete
  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Merry Christmas, Karen! and Happy Birthday to your granddaughter..

    ReplyDelete
  30. Love them...except for the anti-turkey message.

    A very Merry Christmas to you & your family.

    ReplyDelete
  31. That is very beautiful. I miss Bert too.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Beautiful golden capture.
    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Enjoy your blogging break and chicken, ribs and ham on Christmas day - maybe your family would enjoy an Aussie seafood lunch, although we're going traditional with Turkey this year!
    Wren x

    ReplyDelete
  34. Searching for beauty and find hope
      Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014! Hugs from Spain. Leovi.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Tis the season to be jolly falalalalalalalala.
    MERRY CHRISTMAS!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Happy Birthday to your granddaughter- and shopping online is fast becoming my favorite way to avoid the mall- at any time of year. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  37. That's a very lovely photo. And your quiet toast to your Dad is very touching. I hope your Christmas was lovely. Enjoy the rest of your holidays.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Wow..the jewels are just so pretty!
    It's time to get back to routine :-)

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to leave a comment, and hey, why not follow my blog too.
I can't respond to every comment, but I will return the favour and visit your blog. I have turned off word verification, but it randomly shows up, that's a BLOGGER glitch.