Life: It Goes On - December 28

Happy Sunday! It's winter here today - the white so many wished for at Christmas that I was glad to have done without. A cold front blew in last night bringing with it wind, sleet and snow. Glad that it waited until all of my people were home from their travels safely. Hoping yours are as well! 

We've had quite the busy week. Sunday through Tuesday was spent in preparations - far busier than it normally would have been but I was so far behind on getting things done. Wednesday we had both of our local(ish) kids and their significant others here to celebrate Christmas; Miss H and Mr. L stayed until midday Christmas Day. Friday my aunt and uncle came for a visit in the afternoon and later my brother and sister-in-law came to spend the night on their way to her family home to celebrate Christmas with them. Saturday the Big Guy's siblings and their spouses came to town for our annual holiday dinner out. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone; but I'm ready for some quiet time and to get back to a normal routine. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Mostly Christmas music, but I did also start Lara Prescott's The Secrets We Keep. 

Watched: All of our favorite Christmas movies, as well as our usual episodes of Only Murders In The Building. We're a few episodes into Season 5 and I'm not enjoying it as much as I have the other episodes. 

Read: I'm sorry to report that I didn't pick up a single book all week. 

Made: Twice-baked potatoes to go with our ham dinner, homemade sugar cookies because the kids insisted on doing our annual cookie frosting, homemade ice cream (although I was scolded for not also making the homemade chocolate sauce that I usually make with it), an egg and green chilies casserole, coffeecake, and sausage bites (Red Lobster biscuit mix, ground sausage and cheese). 

Enjoyed: In addition to the Christmas festivities and time with so much family, we took my brother and sister-in-law to hear a band Friday night and met up with friends there. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Christmas will gradually start coming down this week. Whilst I'm eager to get MY chair back into the family room, I will miss the glow of the Christmas tree lights so taking the trees down will probably be the last thing I do. 

Thinking About: Our family is not big but we are very close, with a lot of family holiday traditions and I do love to give gifts so opening them is always an event. But it's hard to get used to having to share my kids with other families over the holidays and trying to get all of the things done in half the time we used to have. It was a little overwhelming for Mr. L, who was spent Christmas with us for the first time. 

Feeling: Like today is a good day to not do much other than to finally pick up a book and try to knock one last book out before the new year. 

Looking forward to: I think the only thing on our calendar for this week is a hair appointment. We don't even have New Year's Eve plans at this point! 

Question of the week: How were your holidays? I hope you got to spend them in exactly the way you wanted to spend them, with people you love. 

Life: It Goes On - December 22

Happy Monday! It is decidedly un-Christmasy outside here. A very few little piles remain of our snows a week or so ago, but they will likely be gone by Christmas Day since our temps are forecast to be in the 40's. That's all good with me - means my kids can travel safely and get here so we can be together (at least as together as we can be when two of us live in Alaska). I still have so much to get done before they arrive - food to finish up, cleaning to do and absolutely nothing is wrapped yet! I have this week off so it will all get done but it will be a busy couple of days - more book listening to than book reading.  

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston and The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff. I had started the Damoff book some weeks ago but then the loan got returned. When I finally got it again, I was so confused as to why it was starting 2/3 of the way through it - I had completely forgotten than I had started it! Today I will start Lara Prescott's The Secrets We Keep.

Watched: Lots of sports (volleyball, college basketball, college and pro football), The Voice, and we finished season four of Only Murders In The Building. Plus so many Christmas movies and shows! 

Read: I'm currently reading Maria Semple's Go Gentle. 

Made: Chex mix, puppy chow, Bavarian mints, taco soup - all things to prep for the kids being here. 

Enjoyed: It's been a busy week with lots to enjoy - book club holiday party Tuesday, work party for our team Wednesday where we rode a trolley around to look at Christmas lights, Saturday we went downtown to look at lights and have dinner, and last night we had dinner with friends at their house. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: The goal is to finish up all of the cooking and last minute gift buying today then wrapping tomorrow. After that, it's about enjoying all of this work with lots of fun to look forward to throughout the week. 

Thinking About: How I never want to find myself this far behind again! 

Feeling: Even though I'm way behind, I'm feeling content. It will all be fine. 

Looking forward to: Having the kids here for a couple of days, a concert with friends Friday, and dinner with the Big Guy's siblings and spouses Saturday night. 

Question of the week: How are you all doing on getting things ready? 

Life: It Goes On - November 30

Happy Sunday! Belated Thanksgiving greetings to everyone who celebrates. This was our first holiday without my dad; and even though he hasn't been able to get to our house for holidays for the past year, it was so strange not to have to plan when we would visit him, think about what foods we would take him, and wish we could get him here. 

Our Novembers are usually very quiet, but with my dad's passing this month, the month has flown by. Not much reading has been done and almost no blogging. I'd like to say that December will be better, but I doubt it. There is still a lot to be done with my dad's estate and I haven't hardly begun Christmas shopping. Certainly wishing I was almost done, as I was last year at this time! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I didn't listen much last week, what with having Thursday and Friday off, but I am still listening to Liz Moore's The Unseen World.

Watched: The usual college football, basketball, and volleyball and pro football. We did, last night, watch The Ballad of Wallis Island, which we both really enjoyed. It's a quiet, British film that you will have to pay attention to, but we recommend it. 

Read: Not a thing. Haven't been able to settle on a book. 

Made: ALL of the Thanksgiving things, including my first attempt at sweet potato pie. Also made cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins for our breakfasts. Haven't made a single thing since Thursday as we are still grazing on leftovers, even though I sent home a mountain of food with people. 

Enjoyed: Thursday we had Mini-him and Miss C, Miss C's parents, Miss H and her boyfriend for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lovely day. I had things pretty well planned ahead of the meal and didn't rush to get everything cleaned up after so we had plenty of time to just sit and chat after. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Christmas decor will go up this week and I need to get a good start on my shopping. 

Thinking About: I'm hoping to find more experiences to give as gifts this year, rather than things, so I'm spending a lot of time thinking about what kinds of things my family would like to do. 

Feeling: We've had a very relaxing past couple of days and I find that I really needed that. 

Looking forward to: Getting my hair done this week! 

Question of the week: How did you celebrate your Thanksgiving?