Five hours remained on Sunday morning to arrive at my sister Lisa's house in time for her annual neighbor party. We pulled in right on time at 1:00 to find my parents already there and Lisa's amazing spread of appetizers and snacks neatly laid out around her kitchen. Three of my parents' long-time neighbors joined us and we spent the afternoon catching up and sharing stories. We grew up with the Moody and Broach families and all have been neighbors for 45-55 years. We finally arrived at our house after dark and unloaded everything into the downstairs. We went through our mail, scooped some Amazon packages off the front porch, turned on the heat, hot water heater and propane, and then called it a night. Everything else could wait.
Monday brought laundry, shopping, picking up all my e-commerce shipments from my parents' house, and putting up a few Christmas decorations -- my advent star and small tree on the porch, candles in the two front windows, and stockings hung on the mantle. Although I missed having a tree, this would prove to be just enough for this year.
We carried our cactus home with us, both to enjoy it's opening blooms and to keep in watered during our two-week absence. It also seemed to enjoy being home. Long-time friends Cindy and Larry picked us up on Tuesday for our traditional Christmas night out. We drove through the Illuminate Light Show before having a great dinner at the Iron Horse in Ashland. The mornings in Virginia were cold and I grumbled each time I had to scrape the frost off my windshield. Wednesday was full with a dentist cleaning appointment and haircut, both desperately needed. I met Ashley for supper and we had a great long chat while under no pressure to get back to work. Michelle and I were able to get in a three-mile walk-and-talk before the rain started on Thursday. I wasn't very good about taking pictures during this week, but we did get in a quick selfie before I drove off.
That afternoon I set up Santa's workshop downstairs and started wrapping presents. By the time Charlie Brown's Christmas was over, I was done. Friday, I headed west to visit my Crozet family. Glenda, Greg and Jaxon were back from Florida and watching the grandkids while their parents were at work. The girls all headed to Chick-fil-A for lunch before catching Mary Poppins Returns. What a special day! Dinner with my family on Saturday and yard work on Sunday brought us to a most-anticipated Christmas Eve. Barry and I both headed to Crozet for a great fellowship, an amazing spread of appetizers, gift exchange, and cookie baking. Each of the kids painted a glass vase in Crossroads' colors. They now have a prominent spot onboard. I was back home in time for the 5:00 candlelight service at Michelle's church and then home to stream the 7:45 candlelight service from Home Church in Winston-Salem. My heart was so full after an amazing day.
On Christmas morning we found that Santa had brought us a new outboard. Being that I had no tree, he and his elves decided to leave it in the garage. We packed up and headed over to my parents' house at 9:00 for presents and brunch. It was a good morning as we all gathered in the living room around their tree. Back to our house by 12:30, we quickly repacked and headed to Winston-Salem for Christmas night.
Twelve of us gathered around the table for our traditional meal of chicken pie, cole slaw, green beans, and deviled eggs. We laughed plenty and I cried as they all took part in recreating Candle Tea which I missed this year while in Alabama. Barry received a paddle to ensure that he never finds himself up a creek without one. We were going strong and were all shocked to see that it was after 11:00 when we finished up. A long day for sure, but I wouldn't trade a minute. So many memories were made that defy a short or logical explanation (you can never imagine why four of us are in a pool lined with candy canes in the Florida Room). Scenes such as this are all commonplace in our family that has way too much fun together. One of the treats at Aunt B and Uncle Bennett's house is being able to watch the sunrise while your head is still on the pillow. This one was particularly colorful on a cold morning when I didn't want to leave the covers.
We headed back to Richmond on Friday, bringing presents back for Mom, Dad, Lisa and Robbie. We had our final gift exchange tonight following a wonderful dinner prepared by Lisa. Our time home has flown by and we have cherished every moment with family and friends. Thanks to all who shared their time and gifts (yes, they are different than presents) with us. Due to illness, we missed a few "regulars," but were able to text and/or chat on the phone. We will head back towards Florida tomorrow morning and plan to stop just shy of the Florida-Georgia line. We're leaving our cold-weather clothes at home. I hope it warms up quickly.
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