A Little More Decorating

The problem with getting all of your holiday decorating done early is that you have more time left over to find other places in your house that could use a little something.

Grace's room is all holidayed-up and waiting for her return on the 22nd. We will get to enjoy her until the beginning of February when she will head back to Spain to finish her studies there.

Since the downstairs is all decked out I decided to move upstairs. I added a couple of wreaths to the bedroom doors and spruced up the bathroom with more red and green than a bathroom really needs.

I think I'm really finished now. I should probably start baking cookies, or making fudge. Everyone has a favorite holiday treat and they are all different. All that baking might keep my busy until Christmas.

Sally

Bieber Fever

The wrapping is finished!

We decided to try something new this year and assign each member of the family their own special wrapping paper. Alan was with me at Target while I was shopping for gift wrap, and he thought it would just be the greatest thing ever if we wrapped all of David's gifts in Justin Bieber paper. At first I was totally against this idea. The Justin Bieber paper is just plain ugly, but he was laughing so hard I decided to go along with the idea.

Sorry David. Hopefully you can appreciate the humor. You know how your father is....

I'm making sure that all of this paper stays towards the back of the tree.

Sally

Breathing Easier

After a very unproductive morning of shopping but not shopping I finally had a little luck. Just when I think that I really don't like WalMart and I'm never going to shop there again, it comes through for me. Cranberry Ginger Ale and Holiday tortilla chips. What more could a girl ask for?

My Iowa Girls are having their annual Cookie Swap tonight with out me. I am starting to regret that I didn't bake 12 dozen cookies and drive 8 hours to join them. I know that they are going to have a lot of fun and probably drink a little too much wine and eat a little too much cheese. Cheers to all of you!

Sally

Missing

It's December and that means Chex Mix and Cranberry drinks. The problem is that my local Kroger is totally out of said Cranberry drinks. No Canada Dry, No Sierra Mist. None, just empty spaces on the shelves where they should be. I'm thinking that someone is having a really big party and they decided to stock up. I hate that I'm going to have to visit another store, but now I'm on a mission. Hopefully not a "mission impossible".
Sally

Another Dreary Tuesday

Why does the weather always seem to be nasty on my days off? Today is just yuck; Misty, rainy and cold. I did put some new flannel sheets on our bed and that makes me very happy.

I finally made it back to my favorite yoga class this morning. I fell off the wagon a bit when Grace left for Spain. Why get up so early? I decided that during the month of December I'm really going to make a effort. I love yoga, so I'm trying to think of it as a gift to me...

The rest of my day has been filled with the usual, a little grocery shopping, a little laundry and a very little house cleaning.

I think tonight might be a fire in the fireplace kind of night. I might even watch the Micheal Buble Christmas special. I can't decide what I think about him, but I do love a good Christmas special.

I'm updating the other sections of the blog today if your are interested. I'm also trying a strange new recipe tonight that I'll try and post for you tomorrow if it turns out to be as good as everyone around these parts seems to think it is.

Sally

Feeling Content

Here it is December 4th and I'm happy to report that we are ready for Christmas. This is the first time in a long, long while that I've been able to say that. The house is decorated, the gifts are ready to be wrapped and the holiday music is playing on Pandora. I have no idea how it works, but listening to music through my TV is one of my new favorite things. Right now we are enjoying the Christmas Instrumental channel.

Alan and I spent most of Saturday in Deck the Halls mode. We bought our tree at Home Depot Friday night. I am not kidding you when I say we picked the first one we saw. It was the right height and even more importantly the right width. Due to limited space, a skinny tree works perfectly for us.

For the most part the house looks exactly like it did last Christmas. I added a few new things, the stockings, the quilts, this super fun candy holder from Pottery Barn, but my two new favorite things are...

this adorable print with a quote from the movie ELF

and this sweet little bird and nest idea that I saw in a magazine and totally borrowed. It's sitting on my kitchen counter and every time I see it I have to smile.

You have to admit that it's pretty cute.

The dog got me up before the sun this morning which is not usually how I like to start my Sunday's, but today I didn't mind so much. My Holiday Blend coffee from the Fresh Market was ready and the lights always look even better in the dark. If it had been a little bit colder I would have started a fire. We have the whole rest of the month to just relax and enjoy all that December has to offer. I can't wait!


Sally

A Big Pile Of Autumn

Even though I was reminded this morning that winter doesn't officially start until December 22nd, I'm pretty sure that Autumn is over.

I went around the house this morning collecting all things "fall".

I thought you might like to see what I ended up with.

When it's all in one place like this it's even a little much for me.

All of this "stuff" has crept into our house over the past 2o something years.

I can't possibly get rid of it.

I'll just pack it away and know that I'll be so happy to see it again next year.

I might need to run to the store and buy another plastic storage container.

The good news is that Christmas in still trickling in, bit by bit.

We have big holiday decorating plans for the weekend, so hopefully the next time you hear from me I'll be showing you pictures of more than just a swag hanging by the back door.

The weather is going to be beautiful here tomorrow, so we might even have time to finish (or start depending on how you look at it) getting rid of all of the fallen leaves that are currently covering every square inch of our yard and deck.

Alan ordered a fancy new bag thing for the lawn mower in hopes of chopping up all the leaves and adding the bits and pieces to our mulch pile.

Hopefully it makes the job easier, because we only have one rake....


Have a great weekend!

Sally