Merry & Bright?

Hi!

I've been pondering what to write about for this week since I turned over my new blogging leaf last week. I thought I'd keep the new leaf turned over for at least two weeks :)

As you likely know (from last week's entry), I've been baking like crazy over here! Finished up some mini muffins of the Friendship Bread I posted about and these delish Peanut Butter / Oatmeal / Chocolate Chip cookies, too!

Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we host our Annual Holiday Dinner. 50+ people come and go for an open house style party with loads of buffet style food. It is one of my FAVORITE days of the year. I love having our house company ready and decorated for Christmas. I LOVE making LOADS of food - a big turkey, homemade noodles, mashed potatoes, "baked corn", gravy, stuffing, oh my! Clearly, this is 2020, so we are not hosting our Annual Holiday Dinner this year as we know it. This is the 20th year for it! So basically, I've been hosting these longer than I've had Homestead Phil around :) (This picture is from last year as our tree is not yet up! haha)

We considered two options for our 20th Annual Holiday Dinner. 1. Zoom - I think most people are zoomed out though, right? 2. Ask which friends within reasonable driving distance are interested in a social distance outdoor visit at their home where we can drop off some of these delicious cookies that I've been baking and Homestead Phil has been tasting! We snap a selfie, enjoy a quick visit, and move on to the next stop! If you know anything about us, we're kinda of "Go Big or Stay Home" kind of people. So we opted for option #2! Sounds more Merry & Bright! (Homestead Phil hasn't said it but I'm sure he would have preferred option #1!)

In addition to this revamped Annual Holiday Dinner, I've tried to brain storm as to how I/we can be an extra blessing to others to help bring them joy or provide some extra "Merry & Bright" in the midst of this bizarre season of life. I put up outside Christmas lights this year. Some years, I do it. Some years, Homestead Phil does it. Some years, we don't put up outside lights. Not many people see them but I wanted to see them and bring a smile to who ever may see them. I've also decided to wear my Christmas shirts around the house even if I'm not going anywhere. Usually I save them to wear them out for parties or shopping, etc. So when I wear them, I'm going to post to my FB wall so I can share my joy with others :)

At the same time, our state just mandated another shut down but they didn't outright say that it's a stay at home order. This announcement just came out yesterday to be in effect as of today. Even more reason to spread some holiday cheer, right?! Some friends are all in to participate in our Holiday Dinner - Revamped! Many, whether they are in or not have expressed out thoughtful, sweet, and generous this is of us. This is about bringing joy to our friends and family but golly... I just LOVE feeding people even if it's just a small box of cookies! Since the announcement by the state yesterday, at least two of my Facebook friends have posted offering help to provide Christmas to a local family to help lessen their burdens this year. Not just some copy and paste post but true heartfelt offer to help especially knowing that restaurants are no longer operating with dine in service which means less or no hours, barely any tips if any, and right at the time when restaurants are usually the busiest.

I don't share this for credit but to remember how this year has been very different and how we can each make some slight changes in our paths to bring some extra joy to others - help it be more Merry & Bright! I'm still brain storming on what else I/we can do and I still have a few things up my sleeve not just for the holidays but beyond! How about you?