Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: Dec. 21 - Dec. 27, 2025

It’s always so much fun reading about what everyone else is doing. Today I passed out baked goods and took care of recovering hubs. And now I am enjoying chatting with you! I live further south than SummerBreeze so rarely need a real winter coat. I am the kind of person that slaps on flannel lined overalls for chores when it is cold and if multiple layers don’t get it done I am in trouble! Fortunately it was a balmy 72 today! Merry Christmas to all!
 
Checked out the other place today and I think that is who I will go with. 45 minutes closer to home and just.... better. I want to get thru the holidays and a visit to grandgirl, and I need to arrange my classes and some other stuff. I'm tentatively starting the therapy 1/12.

Went to a really big grocery store (Kroger affiliate) and just about had a panic attack. Too many people, too many choices, too expensive! Bought just a few things and headed home. Planning on staying in until we get together with the inlaws sometime this weekend - except maybe tomorrow I may go deliver a gift for a friend. It's been a decent day.
 
When I was a child, before artificial fabrics, we always had wool coats and snowpants. They were so warm, and we played outside for hours in the snow and only hands and feet got cold. Walked to school and did not freeze. As an adult with various arthritis aches, nerve issue in an elbow and a messed-up shoulder, I find wool too heavy to wear.

I went to the library today and only found two books that might interest me and a quilting magazine. I have two of the books from my sister started so will probably finish them first. One I may stop reading and donate if it doesn't improve shortly. When the main character is so dumb you wish you could slap her, the book doesn't exactly grab me. The other is historical fiction based on real people, so the first chapter pulled me along.

I've had a very quiet day with no phone calls which is amazing. My friend who I'm mentoring called me at least 10 times yesterday which I have not missed today! My grandson started his new job on Monday, and I have not heard from him which has me worried. I'm praying the job has worked out but his not calling has me wondering. I was going to call him this evening then realized he is likely on the road to his mom's. Tomorrow, I need to call my sister to check on her and wish her a Merry Christmas and I plan to go the Christmas Eve service.
 
Good morning!

Heading out to Menard's as soon as coffee is brewed. I'm out of Liquid Nails, even my spare tube. I'm glad I checked that last night.

I'm re-doing the shelving in one of the closets. I ran out of time when I was moving into this house and left the white metal closet shelf over the clothes rod (part of the metal shelving unit from the former owner). Several weeks ago, it pulled out of the wall. I'm replacing it with pine boards. I don't keep heavy stuff up there, but it needs to hold several clear containers of hats, gloves, and scarves.

It's one of the Christmas presents I'm giving myself. My overall theme: All Clutter is Fixed in 2026!

Have a Merry Christmas, all!
 
I, too, love to read what everyone is doing. I've said often that this is my favorite place on the whole forum.

I wouldn't even have bought my coat if it were not for us going to the mountains in February. I rarely need a heavy coat for our winters, here. Mine is a down filled, puffy, quilted coat with a fur trimmed hood. Almost knee length. Like I've said, I'm very cold natured, and I will need a warm coat when we go to the mountains. Otherwise, it won't be worn much. Tracking says it will be here, today. Plus, the bedsheets I ordered from Sam's should be here, today, too.

Today's high of 75* with low of 55*. Same, tomorrow. Temps are to stay the same through Sunday.

Doing some cleaning, today, and I have a pumpkin pie to bake for tomorrow. I'm getting out really light on cooking this year. DDIL and her mother are doing all the cooking. I was asked to bring dinner rolls, pumpkin pie, and a tub of cool whip for the pie.

Merry Christmas to all!
 
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Broke another tooth this morning - and now my obturator (upper partial kind of thing) doesn't want to stay in well. I have been trying to eat soft foods, but now will have to switch to purees/liquids for a while. Not a problem as long as I can keep up my calories. Thankfully, no pain. My prosthetic dentist (cause doesn't everyone have like 4 dentists?) is seeing me Monday (the man is a saint. Kinda like a divorce attorney - expensive, but worth every penny!).

I think I am going to go deliver a present to a friend today and drop off a package at the post office.

Merry Christmas, everybody. I will 'see' you tomorrow, since I'm sure I will be online then too!
 
$5 rotisserie chicken at Fareway today (You may have that deal, too, Anna). I'm pairing a little of it with leftover rice for lunch. I'll save the rest for another meal. Several slices of ham also came my way, but I'm still going to grill out tomorrow: I want hamburger for the freezer.

I'm very thankful to have yummy things to eat. I know it's a tough Christmas for a lot of folks.
 
Awesome! I'm glad it worked out.

I'm sitting here going through my pocket notebook and calendar. I have the nagging feeling that there was something else I was supposed to do today. There's no follow up email or text, so maybe it either got canceled or I mixed up the date.

Or, it wasn't something I really wanted to do.
 
Merry Christmas!

I'm going to change into my comfy sweats and have some ham and mashed potatoes. It's starting to get foggy, so I'm in for the night. If I attend church, it'll be online.

I will be keeping an eye on the news. I'm still a little uneasy, but I'm encouraged that nothing major has happened.
 
I took an easy out tonight for supper. I made a baking dish filled with cut up Polish sausage, chunks of potatoes, a quartered onion, baby carrots, and minced garlic all mixed up in a large bowl with olive oil. Put it in the oven covered in Aluminum foil. I took out 3 dinner rolls for Cary from the freezer. The potatoes were for him. The carrots were for me. I just finished cleaning up the dishes and kitchen.

Thinking about going for a drive in a few minutes to see all the lights and Christmas decorations here and there. It's still 69* right now.
 
Merry Christmas everyone.

I worked this am then we took a drive. Then DD and I prepped dishes for tomorrow. We took advantage of HyVees Christmas dinner. Made pies and cookies, sweet potatoes and prepped green beans for casserole. She has 2 ovens so heating everything will be easy.

The Grands are promising to wake us at 4:30 in the morning. We will get up and watch them open presents, put the ham on to heat, and crawl back in bed for a bit. Saturday we are driving north to meet another of the kids. Sunday we are headed home.

We have had a lot of fun and made some great memories.
 
Went to the candlelight service this evening. It was lovely and a full church. Cake and treats afterwards. One toddler got overwhelmed and had a meltdown, so her mom took her out which triggered her little boy losing sight of his mom and going into his own melt down. Dad came to the rescue. Doesn't bother me as long as it's not MY toddler, loved those years but not the public meltdowns. Actually, it embarrassed me with my first two but after that not so much. Just have to accept when it's nap time or bedtime it's going to happen.

We are under a dense fog advisory with 100% humidity. So glad family is not traveling tonight. Grandson who was driving to his mother's got there before the fog got bad. Temp is 34 and low to be 32 so at least the roads should not be too slick.
 
We woke up to a heavy fog this morning, too. High for today, 76*! That's almost unheard of for this time of year. Heavy fog advisory this morning and very humid.

We didn't go for our drive last night. We opted to stay home and started watching a new series on TV, along with our egg nog. "4400" is the series. It's quite good if you like a little SciFi.

We're having our Christmas meal at DS's this afternoon.

DS harvested a 9 point buck, yesterday. Not many deer have been taken so far. He always gets 3 or 4, but not this year.

Merry Christmas!
 
Merry Christmas everyone!

We had our family Christmas last night. My house isn't tiny, but it's not big either. We all enjoyed it but it was a bit of chaos. We had 3 young grandkids and 2 great grandkids here. The 7 and 8 year old cousins had great time playing. The 3 year old got a bit overwhelmed for a bit and went to the bedroom away from everyone. But after a break she was back having fun. The 2 year old got tired and had a melt down a time or two and the 5 month old was adorable. It was a really good day even though I was pretty tired at the end.

The older grandboys sited in their guns. One got a new gun and the other got a new scope. The neighbor called to make sure that was what all the shooting was about. While out there, my son killed me a squirrel. I am cooking it today. Hubby won't eat it, but he has leftover ham. I love squirrel. We had it a lot growing up. I haven't had one in years.

I got my first Social Security check yesterday. I am officially old. LOL! It's not a lot, but better than nothing. I want to use it to pay extra on our land payment. We already pay some extra a month, but I want to knock it out faster.

I don't know what we are doing today. Maybe just finishing cleaning up after yesterday or maybe work on the firewood.
 
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Digger said:
While out there, my son killed me a squirrel. I am cooking it today. Hubby won't eat it, but he has leftover ham. I love squirrel. We had it a lot growing up. I haven't had one in years.
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My dad was an avid hunter and fisherman. He hunted squirrel, rabbits, deer, and loved to fish. He would always make a huge pot of squirrel stew that we all loved when I was growing up. It was really good, too. I haven't had any in years, either. He liked squirrel dumplings, too, but I never cared for them as much as the stew.

Chicken fried rabbit smothered in brown gravy with hot biscuits is good, too.
 
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Merry Christmas!

The fog is just now starting to lift. It's around 40 degrees. I had bacon and eggs for breakfast, and I'll start the grill around lunchtime for steak (today) and hamburgers (for the freezer).

The closet project continues. I learned that the closet wasn't fully framed out, so I pulled out the drywall on the back wall, added the rest of the lumber, and installed the new drywall. It's a 3' x 4' x 6' space, so no big deal, but that's probably why the former owner put in that goofy wire system.

I put in pine boards with clothes mounting hardware yesterday, and today I'll finish painting, cut the clothes pole, add the pine shelf over that, and re-assemble everything.

That was a lot more than I planned for, but it's now done correctly. Neither the pole nor the shelf will come down. I'm not going to think about whether that's also a problem in the other closets. No, not on Christmas, LOL!

The fog is supposed to return this evening, but I will go down to the town square to look at the lights and to also get in my remaining steps. I've been doing a good job with keeping up with those and staying within my "snacking limits," so no weight gain! I'm proud of myself for that. Holidays are hard because there's so much gooey goodness around.

I hope that everyone is having a fun and peaceful day!
 
We're still socked in with fog. I can see across the street but the church a half block away is just a dark shadow in the fog. Mid-day it was slightly better but is now worse again. Dangerous with so many traveling for the holiday.

I'm alone so having a typically quiet day. I've done a few little jobs but nothing much. Cleaned out the car glove box and the between the seat's containers. I put new insurance cards in the glove box then had trouble shutting it!! I mainly rearranged the stuff in it because mostly needed stuff. Between the seats however I threw away a bunch of unneeded odds and ends and found a handful of change and a mask. I don't know where the change came from because I never throw it anywhere except my purse. I suppose it could be from dh which means it's been 11 years since I cleared that area. Emptied the waste baskets and took a bag out to garbage can. I MUST put that out today as I haven't since Thanksgiving. The snow has receded enough I should be able to get it out to the curb.

How many of you still send Christmas cards and do you receive many? I've only received three (not counting banks/insurance companies) one from a cousin and two from friends. I sent 14 and have three I plan to send with letters next week (I hope). I will continue to send to nephews, sisters, two friends and maybe a cousin or two but going to cut the rest that I never hear from. I may cut one sister too as I've only heard from her once since mom died in 2021. I've sent birthday and Christmas cards every year and called several times but I'm about to stop.

While I was in the car I checked milage and I've only driven 962 miles this year. I check my odometer on January 1 each year so keep track. No reason really just find it interesting.
 
Anna, I mailed 9 cards and hand delivered 6 cards. So far, I've received about 7 cards in the mail and 4 that were hand delivered. Given that my mail is slow, I expect several more, and I was told that several more small gifts are coming my way, probably late Saturday or early Sunday, so those totals may rise.

It's been pretty close the last several years: I get back about as many as I send. Given that I used to send out around 30 and get gobs back, I think this number is easier to manage. I'm also living a different lifestyle. Next year, I'll be retired, and I will revisit my list, but I know how much those cards mean to some relatives, so I'll probably not cut the list much more, unless they pass on.

The fog is coming back here, too. I walked down to the square and around it twice. Several other families were doing that, as well. One of the city workers who lives near by came over and put the lights on. That was cool! There's eight or nine little light statues and a few wire statues scattered around: angels, Santa, snowmen, stuff like that. It started drizzling on the way home. Again, I was glad that I didn't have to go very far. I think the fog is going to be really thick tonight.
 
We had a blast at DS's, and there was so much food that everyone got to fix a big plate to bring home. All good food, too. DDIL out did herself this year. Her mother made a new cheesecake recipe. I had to try it, and it was good, too. I'll lose the pounds from that in the next few days. I tried to stick with my eating plan, but it was sorta hard to do, although, it was almost all gluten free, MSG free, and no sugar. So much delicious food. All made from scratch.

After we all ate, we sat around and talked about our plans for the vacation. DS has already booked all of our hotel rooms, so Cary paid him for ours. Cary decided to rent a van for us to use and is going to let DS make the arrangements for that. We paid him for that, too. Enterprise will make sure we have the van, since we are making the reservation for it ahead of time. DS will pay for all the gas for the trip.

We are done for the day. We were richly blessed.
 
Kids let us sleep in until 5:30. Chaotic, fun gift opening. Put the ham in oven then we all went back to bed. Hyvee dinner was very good. Much better quality than any ready to go dinner I have ever bought. Haven't touched pies or cookies yet. We are all stuffed. Naps all round. The kid who woke us up early is already back in bed surrounded by goodies.

One of family gifts is a family golfing trip tomorrow. That should be interesting. It's at one of those digital golfing places. One of the Grands got new golf clubs. They won't really get broken in until he is out of basic training. He is enjoying the real food.

Resting today.

Merry Christmas everyone.
 
Most every year, our Christmas is spent with 40+ degree temps and rain. Looking ahead for next week, temps are going to drop big time for Monday and Tuesday, then back up into the mid 50's. No rain in the forecast. That's still a bit above average for our wintertime temps, being it's December. 71* for our high, today, and cloudy. Lots of folks walking around in short sleeves and shorts. Not me.

Not much going on here, today. I have a load of laundry in the washer right now, but I don't know that I have anything else that needs doing, except cooking supper.

I didn't gain any weight overnight! YAY, ME!
 
Overcast and 40 degrees here. I'll take it! Upper 20s and 30s with snow are normal. We'll return to that next week. In the meantime, I'll go do my steps and work on the closet and garage.

The snow has almost disappeared. There's just a few piles left in the parking lots. The trails are wet and muddy in spots but free from ice, so I can wear my running shoes today.
 
50 deg and very nice day in KC. Once a year we take rig to Charlie's car wash and pay for the works. $60 and clean as detailing if right crew working. Hesitated for a minute because funds aren't real flexible but I love driving a rig that looks new. DD treated her DH to same wash for his truck. Looks really good.

Trying to get our stuff gathered up and packed as much as possible. Going home in am then driving south Sunday for one last Christmas dinner. I tend to use the same bags for the same things every time so that helps. Gave Army Grand a duffel I used to toss my shirts in this trip. Winter stuff takes up so much more room in suitcase. I will just toss my shirts in back seat. Since drill sergeant wouldn't let him bring anything but his wallet and phone he had to buy clothes and hygiene stuff. He can use duffei to store everything until next time. He would like to find some regular clothes made out of same fabric as uniform. They can crawl in mud for hours and as soon as the mud is dry it brushes right off uniform.

Restocked my car bag and made sure emergency kit good.

Normally carry extra contacts but somehow left them out this time. I remember looking at them and thinking they needed to be in something more protected. Guessing I left them on cabinet. One of my contacts had a notch out of it this am. No idea how that can happen. I am functioning OK with only one in. I have an aunt who wears 1 contact all the time instead of wearing bifocals.

Our anniversary/Christmas gift to each other is a large countertop ice machine. Found it on sale for less than a replacement Samsung ice maker. (Never buy a Samsung appliance) Found at Cargo Largo where we also went in with grands to get DD a robot vacuum. He is eating crumbs as we speak, lol.

It has been a great trip but now we are getting what DD calls "last dayitis." Hate to leave but ready to be in our own bed.
 
When I was traveling quite a bit, I made a list of what I needed to pack. Not clothes but everything else. Clothes always depend on the weather. A few things I bought duplicates and kept them in the suitcase. I keep my extra glasses in the glove box because that way I always have them when I'm away and can easily get them from the car at home. I cannot drive without my glasses.

It's 36º/feels like 39º with 100% humidity. It's still foggy but not enough that we're still under a dense fog warning. Sunday has possibility of snow and low of 7º so we're definitely headed back into the deep freeze. At least most of the snow is now gone so we'll be starting over accumulating!

I'd planned to vacuum today but after standing and doing dishes, my back is saying no way. Guess I'm going to have to pay someone to come in and do vacuuming again.

Asking for prayers for my g-granddaughter. She is a teen and has been through hell in her life with her birth parents whose parental rights were terminated, adopted and life was going well, now they are split and one in trouble so upheaval again for the poor kid. I don't know the story of what is happening now, but let's just say her birth mother should be in prison for life but walked on charges so that part was beyond terrible. I'm so sad as she had just completely adjusted to her new life and relaxed into being a kid and now shitz is happening again.
 
Praying for your great grand. It is so hard to watch them endure when life gets rough on them.

I think the reason my son in law and his nephew, the Army Grand, have developed a close bond quickly is because they both unfortunately had horrible dads. This summer was the first time they got to spend time together.
 
We're back under a dense fog advisory this morning. High today of 72 and very humid. The high humidity, yesterday, caused our front porch to sweat. This is early summer weather for us. 78* for our high, tomorrow. A frontal system is coming through tomorrow night bringing with it some mixed frozen precipitation. Wednesday, we'll be back in the 50's and 60's. Crazy weather for sure.

Home fellowship, tomorrow, so I need to tidy up the house a bit. Sweeping and dusting, mostly. One load of laundry to do.

I made a very simple and delicious chicken and rice casserole last night for our supper. Cary loved it. The recipe calls for 2 cans of Campbell's French Onion Soup, so I'll not give the recipe, since most don't use Campbell's soups.

Off to get the laundry started........
 
Yes, fog is just starting to lift here. I need a new door pull for the closet I'm working on (bi-fold door) and several other small items. Fortunately, Menards hasn't been crowded, so I'll head there and also get in my steps there and at the nearby park. The cold and maybe some snow comes back tomorrow.

I'm so grateful that I'm off next week. I'm not doing season work, either. I'm finally getting some energy back! But I can clearly see that working two jobs is getting to be much too hard. I can handle that schedule for about 2 - 3 weeks, and then my body starts yelling at me.

I wish that I could've retired at 62 like most of my relatives, but I couldn't afford it. Per the gov't, my "full" retirement age is this month, but I'm going to work until June.
 
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