Sunday Salon - December 9

I kind of panicked this week when it occurred to me that it was little more than two weeks until Christmas (and managed to take several others along with me via Twitter!). I have so much left to do but I'm bound and determined not to stress so I made a priority list and have been trying to convince myself that whatever gets done will be good enough. Of course, that plan meant that I would have to keep moving steadily along - and then I had some kind of stomach bug that meant the only thing I got done yesterday was laundry. Panic is starting to set in again!

Here's What I'm:

Listening To: Trish's playlist - I don't get much of a chance to listen to Pandora so I count on others to lead me to new music I'll like and Trish has now introduced me to The Lumineers. The Big Guy was listening, too, and decided I'm just a rocking folk gal.  On the other hand, Miss H was laughing her head off watching me head bang to Drowning Pool's "Bodies" recently while we were driving.  I just love music, all kinds of music. Mini-him was teasing me earlier, telling me that with all of the songs I've told them I want played at my funeral, it will basically be a concert. That works for me.

Watching: "The Iron Lady" starring Meryl Streep. She's amazingly good at her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher but what really amazed me was what an incredible job she did portraying an old woman.

Reading: This week I started Alice Hoffman's The Dovekeepers for book club. I also started, on audio, Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age which I'm loving so far. What are you reading this week?

Making: Christmas goodies. I don't like to start too early, otherwise my family will finish all of one thing before we get to the next. Most of the things I make get made by a team of us; the kids always wanted to help when they were younger so I managed to break the job into tasks so they could all lend a hand. They still like to help but even now are not much more help sometimes than they were then.

Planning: Mini-me's 21st birthday. Just as this is a landmark age for a person, it's an age that makes a parent feel older!

Grateful for: Our cats leaving our Christmas tree alone. We put it up in stages: bare tree, just with lights, finally with ornaments. They watched me at every step but seem to have no real interest in it...so far. Still, I'm glad they are shut in the basement at night to they aren't scaling it at night when we're all sleeping.

Loving: Having made such wonderful friends through blogging. Two packages arrived in the mail this week from blogging friends sharing books they've loved. Thanks, Stacy, for Mr. Churchill's Secretary and Princess Elizabeth's Spy and JoAnn, for City of Women on audio (and for the tip not to listen to it until after the holidays!).

Looking forward to: The holidays actually arriving, when all of the work is done and we can all just enjoy time together and celebrate the reason for the season.