A little Simple Woman's Daybook for this afternoon...
Outside my window...
gray sky, bare branches. I was just looking at the starkness of it all earlier this morning and wondering where the year went. I know that's so cliched, but it seriously feels like I was *just* marveling at the beauty of the color green, and *just* complaining about the mosquitoes holding us hostage, and *just* enjoying all the reds and oranges and yellows in the trees. I feel like I'm in a time warp--even the days don't seem all that long here lately.
I am thinking...
that I really need to get a move on with my Christmas shopping, seeing that it's December 9 and I pretty much haven't really started. OY.
I am thankful for...
simultaneous naps. Jude seems to have finally settled into a more predictable nap routine, and oh how I cherish both the one-on-one time with Elijah in the mornings, and these quiet afternoons by myself.
From the kitchen...
I haven't been cooking much this week--needing to use up what's in the freezer! Though I did turn out 2.5 quarts of homemade chicken stock the other night.
I am wearing...
jeans, a gray nursing tank top and a blue zip-up fleece sweatshirt.
I am creating...
ornaments for our Jesse Tree.
I am going...
to go take a shower as soon as I finish this post. I'm kinda gross. Just keepin' it real around here.
I am reading...
a bunch of different things, as usual. Recently finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Baptism: Three Views. Now mainly in Tim Keller's newest book, The Meaning of Marriage, as well as The Omnivore's Dilemma, plus picking up Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus for daily readings in the mornings. In the car I'm on the third Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Really enjoying those more than I expected I would!
Bible-wise, I've returned to Hosea, an old favorite book, prompted by a recent conversation.
I am hoping...
to get back on track with both Bible memorization and exercising in January. Both were fantastic for the first four months of this year, and then slid into oblivion.
I am hearing...
Christmas music! I have a pretty strict "no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving" policy, but once Thanksgiving is over, it's playing 24/7 at our house.
Around the house...
the glow of Christmas lights behind me...we put the tree up in the office this year so as to keep it away from the Destroyer Baby and save my sanity :) We rushed to get our tree up right after we got home from Ohio after Thanksgiving, but we didn't bother to get out any other decorations. My mantel feels very bare without the lighted garland on it! But I am loving the little lighted tree we bought (half off at Hobby Lobby!) for a Jesse Tree, which is sitting on the piano in the dining room.
One of my favorite things...
getting fire department patches in the mail in December. My brother, who's a firefighter, collects them, and so a few years ago as a unique Christmas gift, I set out to get him a patch from all 50 states. I write ten letters a year, asking the capital city's fire department to send me a patch. The response has really been amazing. Last year was the worst, with only 4 out of 10 sending one, but we've bounced back this year--I contacted the last nine and have already received five patches--three just today! Seeing those SASEs in the mailbox puts a smile on my face--it has really become a fun Christmas tradition.
A few plans for the rest of the week[end]...
Steve emailed me earlier today and proposed 8-corner pizza from Jet's and and a movie (The Help just came out on DVD) for tonight--yay! Tomorrow some friends from church have unbelievably graciously offered "Parents' Day Out" for anyone who wants to drop their kids off and go shopping, have a date, etc., so I will probably be taking the boys over there for a few hours and going out by myself while Steve gets some projects done without interruptions. Then on Sunday night we're going to a sing-along concert of highlights from Messiah. Can't wait!
A picture thought I am sharing...
Elijah and I messed around with the webcam last week--Mom and I were finding Photobooth hilarious, but he was a little freaked out by the way it was distorting our faces. So we took a couple of regular pictures. Love my big boy and his footie PJs!
Elijah and I messed around with the webcam last week--Mom and I were finding Photobooth hilarious, but he was a little freaked out by the way it was distorting our faces. So we took a couple of regular pictures. Love my big boy and his footie PJs!
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3 comments:
Yay for Harry Potter! Absolutely love those brilliant books.
I wish my boys liked footie pjs. But alas. They hate them. As in tears and sobbing. Not worth it.
I too cherish my one-on-two time with with the boys in the mornings, and these quiet afternoons by myself. So nice. I'm trying to take time for more reading and less "work" (photography and writing). I won't have these days forever!
That new Keller books sure looks good. Finishing "The Reason for God" here. Took me about all year. Just so thought-provoking. For some reason I struggle with "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Have no clue why!
@Ashley - thanks to you and your sister - it was your linking to the AP article on Facebook that convinced me to give HP a try :)
@Danielle - tears and sobbing! oh my. here it's about that bad when I tell E he has to take the footie pjs OFF to get dressed! :P in fact some days it's not worth it, if we're not going anywhere. I never realized he loved them so much last year, but he was beside himself when they came back out this fall :)
really loving the Keller marriage book. I actually didn't read The Reason for God - the only one of his I haven't. Steve loved it and passed it along to his brother before I got a chance to read it.
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