Christmas at the Manor

Andalusia Manor, as usual, celebrates every holiday big, and Friday was the West Hall party.  I took a couple of platters to contribute, and they really had a great party.  When Mama and I were walking around the halls, we saw people from all the halls making their way there and coming back with plates loaded with goodies.

Some pictures from our tour.

A couple of the trees we noticed on the hall.

A good many of the rooms were decorated.

Debby decorated Mama's room last week for her.  It looks pretty festive and cozy with the candles and her puppy resting in the recliner (she wanted a cat but couldn't find one - maybe Santa Claus will bring her a cat)

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Meeting up with friends in the halls.

Inez and Mama grew up in the same neighborhood as children.

Jeanette lives across the hall from Mama.  She worked with Daddy at the Alatex for years and has the her room decorated like home.  

Some of the sweet ladies who do a great job taking of these folks.  There are so many more that I didn't get pictures of - 19 in all, I think, serving West Hall.

Lots of good food.  They sent Mama back to her room with a bowl of soup.

I kept hearing about the "homemade butternut cake" all morning, and I could smell it when I walked in the door.

Debby and I had lunch and Zaxby's and stayed and talked for a long time.  There were even a few tears when she gave me this mug to remember her every day when I drank my coffee - as if I needed anything to remember her!

I love it.  It's so original - she knows just what I love.  All the cats seem to be different, and there is even one in the inside bottom.  I'll treasure it for sure.

I then went by and visited with Kathy for probably too long, but I enjoyed every minute of it.  Such a good talk.  She and Alan have invited us for Christmas lunch!  People take care of us!

The weather is really strange this week - warm and extremely wet with tornado warnings all over the area.  We'll enjoy it, but I'm sorry for the ones who have to be out and doing their last-minute shopping or traveling.  Looks like taco soup and cornbread weather.

 I guess the moving sale will just about shut down until after Christmas.  It's been slow but profitable. I like having a few people at a time drift in.  You get to chat and find out about them and visit a little bit.  One lady who had just moved from California spent around an hour here and spent $125.  We had fun talking and trying to work out how to get everything in her car.

A guy came by yesterday without our noticing him and was gathering up things in the garage, thinking that was the sale.  Mike had spent all morning organizing and staging things for moving - too well, it seems.

Most of the big pieces are sold or spoken for, thank goodness.  

Sherry and David plan to come back again this year for New Year's Eve and Day on their way back to TN from FL.  We had such a good time last year.  We'll put together a dinner Friday with ham, black-eyed peas, and turnip greens.  I think their motor home is better equipped than our kitchen at this point, so we'll be working together.  We'll go down to Andalusia Sunday to see Mama.

After that, it's crunch time.  The truck is booked starting the 8th.  We'll have the same people pack us and hopefully will be ready to leave by lunch time.  We still don't know what to do with the second car, but it will be revealed to us before then.  I'll follow the truck with Stella and 5 days of audio books.  Destination:  Echo Ridge, Snoqualmie, WA.   We can't wait to get there and see those sweet babies.  Graysen is enjoying every minute of this season.  She told her mom the other day that the birds were "going home for the holidays."  

Time to get ready for my last Alabama haircut.  We sure will miss Donna.  It's always hard to find new haircut people, doctors, dentists, etc.  I wonder if we could talk her into a Snoqualmie vacation.