We started the holiday season by meeting up at Val’s for Thanksgiving late lunch, and celebrated my birthday as well. That weekend I met up with Aunt Mary, who’s birthday is the day after mine, to celebrate both our birthdays together by going out for lunch which was a long overdue visit too!
December 14th we decided to make a rendezvous to Preston and Winona MN. Steve and I took off from our area, while Lori and some of her crew left from Appleton. We stayed in touch via text to report back to each other our progress, and although the weather got sketchy after Mauston and we weren’t sure if we’d go to Winona or Preston first, we were making good time. So, opted for Preston with hopes to meet up with Lori and crew because they weren’t planning on going to Winona. The whole initial goal of this trip was to gather the items from Candy’s nursing home, hence her passiong on November 2, but more specifically the necklace I gave her with Dad’s ashes and the veterans flag for Lori. Wreaths Across America was there that morning and the endless wreaths were breathtaking.
On December 20th my friend and sponsor, Suzie, had a holiday NA drink exchange at her place in Kohler which was very nice, festive and great camaraderie! My riding buddy Brad even showed up since he’s been friends with Mike and Suzie for quite some time. However, Jill and I were the only ones who made up some NA holiday cinchocaines.
On December 21st, I made plans to hit a meeting at the Gratitude Club which I used to be treasurer for and met a couple of friends, Brad & Steve, there too. Including running into quite a few folks I haven’t seen since summer. After that Steve and I decided to get some lunch at the Sweet N Salty Pig to catch up, and then I was off to find something for Mom and Dad’s benches at Lakeside Park. Although I usually opt for an angel ornament, there weren’t many at Joanne’s, so I went with some candy canes instead. It was only around 13 degrees, so I didn’t stay long at either of their benches, but felt accomplished that I had made them festive in time for Christmas.
For Christmas this year we had decided to do an experience and not share presents, which wasn’t until Dec. 28th, so I spent Christmas day with Val and Joy. I used a GC from my boss for Miesfeldt’s to buy some steaks and we had an early dinner after grilling the steaks. Then we had a situation with one of Val’s dogs biting here hand, so off to the ER. Thankfully everything was fine, but she was in quite a lot of pain. After getting back to her place, we yacked while watching A Christmas Story.
I finally received a message from Ron that he had new baby goats. Been waiting on that message since a couple gals were pretty preggers when I was there in October. So, I decided to hit his place on my way to Waukesha on Saturday, Dec. 28th. Although I knew his place would be super muddy, so I brought a change of jeans for the Enchant Snow Globe later. OMG… he wasn’t kidding (get it, kidding?) he had around 17 babies and a couple were born while I was there, and my namesake, Tammy, had hers shortly after I left. Love me some kisses and hugs with my gal, Twilight. Who by the way, was preggers now too!
Ron’s dog, Abby, jumped up on my car with her muddy paws, so I found a car wash in Mayville on my way to Lori and Dale’s. I arrived there right around 2 as promised and our time slot for the light show and ice skating was at 4. We, Lori, Dale, Vanessa, Kaz and I, left to meet up with Dale’s son Dylan and his fiancé Kylie around 3ish. Since the temps were near 50 and it had been warm for a while, including rain earlier that day and the day prior, we weren’t sure if the ice skating rink would be open. Luckily for us it was temperature controlled so it was and it was super fun! I cannot even recall the last time I had been on ice skates, as I gave mine to goodwill when I lived in Madison. However, I almost hadn’t missed a beat. Even did a little backwards with Vanessa as my coach.
After that we all went back to Dale & Lori’s for prime rib and king crab dinner. Although we didn’t eat until 9ish, it was super worth the wait!
Sunday morning I headed up to Fondy from Lori’s to meet my former coworker, Lisa, for lunch at Backyard to catch up, and it was very nice to see her!
Monday, December 30th I was able to see my cousin Deb for a really good hair cut, 3 inches gone! Including highlight touchup. After that meeting Linda, Ray and Kevin for lunch at Culver’s in Fondy.
And last, but NOT least… we did our new annual First Hike of the Year for Lori’s birthday on New Year’s Day, but this time we opted to do our own instead of the one hosted by the DNR at Pike Lake, with the plan to meet at the Zillner Trails south of Dundee. We met up there around 11ish and did the 2 mile trail before heading to Kewauskum for lunch at El Pig’s Butt. They recently moved across the street in a much nicer and more spacious location, and the food was awesome!
That’a a wrap for my holiday season plans which I extremely enjoyed, and having off for two weeks, since work was extremely draining leading up to it. I hope everyone had a very nice holiday too!
