My uploaded pictures aren’t appearing on Flickr which is what I use to post photos here, soooo no photo today. I made progress on the Christmas card assembly this evening (doing it is much faster than thinking about it) and also made a meatloaf for tomorrow’s dinner and dealt with the baggie of Amish Friendship bread that a friend foisted on me.
There’s been cold rain and occasional flurries all day, but nothing dramatic. Just dark November dankness. I sprouted another migraine this afternoon, but that’s finally gone, and now it’s time to head to bed and read about Alex the parrot.
God, I’m tired lately.
The first snow of the season blasted into the area this afternoon, after a morning of soaking rains. Dime-sized sleety plops slammed into my face as I fought the wind to my car after work. Tonight, the wind is still whipping, but the ground is bare. For now.
I designed this year’s Christmas card back in FEBRUARY, but then…inertia. Card-wise, anyway. Tonight, finally, progress. Every year I vow to be done by Halloween which is a well-worn pipe dream. Now everything’s stamped and printed. Lots of cutting, matting, and assembly lies ahead, but I’ve kicked the inertia. Maybe I just needed a little snow slapping me in the face.
I made this for dinner tonight. Yum. It seems as though I’ve successfully broken out of our god-awful food rut, thanks to Real Simple and Everyday Food. And PLANNING. So far, so good.
Note to self–topics that I need to cover here:
Softub
Multi-pens
Spyder
OCC
It is POURING out. We’re holed up and hunkered down with tea, chocolate chip cookies, and a little work to do. Feels good. Also jump started my Christmas gift spreadsheet and ordered a bunch of magazines for friends. The cards still need to be made. Or, really, finished. Just do it.
What a difference a week makes. Last weekend I was layered in fleece and wearing gloves, and this weekend…wow…it’s like mid-July (or better). And though I SWORE that I wouldn’t complain about the heat when it finally arrived, I whined just an eensy-teensy bit on our afternoon walk. (My feet were sweating and I was thirsty. REALLY thirsty.) But yeah, it’s great to climb out of hibernation and wool, and to read on the patio (even if the next door kidlets are a bunch of screaming banshees).
What’s funny about the noise level from next door is that, while the kids are noisy, the mom is worse. She’s always screeching at them to pipe down and (loudly) micromanaging their little kid wiffle ball games. The dad? Well…he’s always hammering something.
Just finished The Geography of Bliss. Excellent (and funny). Now I sometimes say, “This day was soooo Moldova.” If you’ve read it, you’ll know that’s not a great day.
Took a spin in the Beetle tonight. ’tis the season.
Young(ish) people we know keep keeling over and dying. Two in the past few days. Aneurysm. Bad ticker. Okay one minute. Gone the next. I’ve had a naggy headache off-and-on since Friday so naturally my overly-dramatic mind leaps to dark conclusions. More likely, though, it’s just pre-Christmas tension coupled with the dark, weird weather*. Right?
We’re sitting here poised for Christmas Eve and Christmas proper. Everything’s baked, bought, and wrapped. (Isn’t it?) Tomorrow afternoon we head to Fred’s parents for lunch and the gift-opening frenzy. Really, it’s nuts. Between the fireplace, the frenzied kids, and my requisite sweater, it’s like spending the afternoon in a sweat lodge. Ahhhh…cleanse those pores.
We’ll spend Christmas at my parents, and that’s a much quieter and cooler venue. At this point, my sister’s kids would probably rather send text messages than open presents. Or at least they’re pretty calm about the whole thing.
Well…my headache’s fading (phew), so I think we’ll head to the mall to watch the last-minute frenzy. You know…just for fun.
(*Note: Today did not look like this picture…except for the snow. Seeing sun would’ve been cool.)
Sabbath #1Originally uploaded by Mary’s pics
Despite the 3.5 hour power outage last evening, I wrapped up all of my work-related activities (updated my action list for the week ahead, ironed enough work clothes for three days, blah blah blah) so that I could have a work-free Sabbath #1. Not that I sat around. I cooked a nice dinner, put together cookie dough (then let that chill), addressed my Christmas cards, took two walks, baked molasses cookies, and read the paper. It’s been nice, though, spending the whole day without spinning mental wheels on work issues that will be here soon enough.
Though it was only about 40 today, the sun and lack of wind made it feel almost warm. Yeah…temperature’s a relative thing. Just like time. Fast four-day weekend. Slow work week. Proven phenomenon.
Living with intention...or not 