I posted photos of two ornaments I’d painted and then blogged about them a couple of weeks ago. Bex expressed a wish to own the star-shaped one, so I put it in my Etsy shop and she promptly bought it. I brought it to Omaha with me so I could mail it as soon as I got here. Ha.

After a week in Omaha, I remembered the star. I finally mailed it TODAY, at 5:15pm, just before the post office closed. And I had to buy bubble wrap while I was there because my mom had run out.

Bex, your ornament should arrive in 2-3 days! Unless the box gets “accidentally” damaged and someone from the USPS takes a liking to it.

We had lunch today with my friend Stephanie—the same Stephanie with whom we went to the zoo after we first moved to California. She happened to be passing through Omaha on her way to spend Christmas with family in central Nebraska, so we arranged to meet for lunch at Wheatfields. It was great to see her, as always.

I splurged and let Annalie get hot cocoa. Boy was I glad I did that, because this was what the waitress brought out to her!

I wish I had gotten a photo of when the waitress first set the cocoa down in front of her. Annalie’s jaw dropped, and she was so happy and excited! I love how kids can really appreciate the simple things. The thoughtful waitress had even added a few ice cubes to the cocoa to cool it down, so Annalie didn’t have to wait to drink it.

The cocoa made up for Annalie’s disappointment that we didn’t get to sit in the sun deck by the fountain, as we usually do. So did the fact that we were sitting next to a gingerbread Dr. Seuss town. Yep, someone recreated Whoville from How the Grinch Stole Christmas in gingerbread, frosting, and candy! I especially love the gumballs (or giant jawbreakers or whatever they are) that were used in various places.

If you look at the biggest size of the second photo you can see a little Grinch towards the bottom, with a Wheatfields restaurant on the right, and a movie theater that’s playing It’s a Wonderful Life. I kind of wanted to take more photos, but everyone was waiting for me. Anyway, as long as the weather cooperates we’ll be going back to Wheatfields on Wednesday for brunch with a bunch of friends. Maybe I’ll get the chance to take more photos then.

This was my alternate 7 Days shot. Scooters is an Omaha-based coffee company that has really good coffee at their many drive-thru locations. Today my mom and I stopped there after lunch for lattes.

Annalie got a GloDoodle at our early family Christmas on Sunday, and she’s been playing with it a lot. Can you tell we miss Troy? We do. Thank goodness we have snow and beloved restaurants and friends and family, especially a sweet new baby, to distract us.