Diving into the holidays

Well, Thanksgiving is over. Rocket Boy has gone back to St. Louis and the twins and I are alone once more, with the December holidays looming ahead of us. I felt so sad when he left yesterday, but it will be OK. It actually may be a little easier to get the things on my list done when he's not here (I'm thinking about all the cookie baking). I've got three weeks until the twins get out of school and RB comes back again (we hope). Let's hope my energy lasts that long.

Turkey Day (which we should probably rename Swordfish Day) went fine. I made the cranberry sauce the day before and everything else on the day. Teen A helped me with the pie and we got a very good do on it. Rocket Boy made the mashed potatoes and gravy and assisted with the fish. Teen B refused to help with anything. I wasn't motivated to object. We had swordfish steaks with basil-lemon-caper sauce, sweet potato casserole, spinach dish, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and Pillsbury crescent rolls (which I think weren't out of the oven yet when I took the picture above). We drank two bottles of sparkling cider on Thursday and two more on Friday.

It was a quiet week, with no special activities. Teen B got his Covid booster last Sunday, so he was kind of low energy for a few days. I offered to take the kids to a movie (I think "The Menu" sounds fun), but nobody was interested. This week last year we saw FOUR movies in a theatre, plus one on DVD. This year we just watched a couple of things on DVD, "Quartet" (about a home for retired musicians, that Teen B actually enjoyed) and "The Humans" (which only Rocket Boy and I could sit through). Last year we also took a quick trip to Wyoming, but that wouldn't have worked this year, since RB had to leave on Saturday.

We got takeout from McDonald's last night, something that Rocket Boy wouldn't approve of, as a way to remind ourselves that we have fun when he's not here, too. And he called later that evening to say he'd made it to Russell, Kansas, so that made me feel better.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, so we'll light the first candle tonight, and it's also Baby Kitty's 3rd birthday, so when Teen A and I went to King Soopers this morning for his Covid booster, we also picked up a small white cake. We'll have it probably this afternoon, or possibly after dinner, which will be the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers.

And then we'll do some last-minute forgotten homework, go to bed earlier than we've been going, and get ready to go back to school for three more weeks (while Mom gets going on Christmas prep).

I've been making lists, of course. It's how I cope with complicated tasks. Some of the lists are in my head and some have already been written down. One list has to do with how I plan to handle my time on weekdays for the next three weeks. It's more of a schedule than a list:

• 7-8 am: get kids off to school
• 8-9 am: feed cats, eat breakfast, do basic routines (dishes, laundry)
  
• 9-10 am: do FlyLady stuff, i.e., cleaning and sorting
  
• 10-11 am: write
• 11-12 pm: work on a holiday task, i.e., cards, baking, decorating
• 12-1 pm: lunch, a short walk
• 1-2 pm: errands, shopping (on good-weather days)
  
• 2-3 pm: work on the desk room (long-term project to make it possible to add a desk)
• 3-4 pm: free time before the kids come home
  

This is somewhat delusional, or no, can I call it aspirational? I aspire to have my days be this organized. On the one hand it seems very unlikely, but I have to remember that these time slots put limits on the day, they don't just give me too many things to do. If I follow this schedule, that means at 10 am I will have to say, OK, FlyLady time is over -- even if I haven't mopped the floor yet. And if I spend from 10 to 10:50 diddling around and then suddenly at 10:51 I get inspired to write, well, too bad, at 11 we move on to the next thing.

Well, I'll try it this week and see how it goes.

There's another list that's more specific about what needs to get done over the next three weeks:

• Cards. Off to a good start: cards and stamps are purchased, holiday letter is almost done, and 17 envelopes have been addressed. I'm planning to write most of these this week. It's a fun activity (for me), best done before Christmas goes crazy.
  
• Calendars: I make us a personalized calendar every year and give Rocket Boy one as a present, so I have to set aside some time to do this. Could be an evening/weekend project.
• Cookies: I have decided to make 12 batches. This is so totally not going to happen. I'm sure I will make 6 as I usually do. But at the moment the plan is still 12. I am planning to start on Monday, December 5th and bake steadily for two weeks. On Monday, Dec. 19th, we're supposedly getting a new kitchen floor, so I need to be done baking by then.
• Decorating: The lights are still on the house from last year, but I forgot to ask Rocket Boy to set up a timer for them. Maybe the kids and I can figure it out ourselves. We brought the Christmas boxes up from the basement today. There's a lot of "weather" in the forecast, so it's better to do it now, when we have a clear day (though snow still covers much of the ground). We'll probably put the tree up next weekend (or the weekend after -- next weekend is filling up at an alarming rate). We're only going to put up the top half of the tree this year, since the cats were so hard on it last year, and I'll have to leave off the cat-attracting ornaments. Things that look like cat toys. Oh, speaking of decorating, in the Thanksgiving picture at the top of this post, you can see just a glimpse of the turkeys (made of pine cones and orange and yellow pipe cleaners) that I found in a cupboard and put on the table. And later, Mr. Extremely Bad Merlino took one apart. It must have looked like a cat toy.
  
• Food (other than cookies): I'll plan meals by the week, as usual, in fact I should get busy and plan this week's meals this afternoon. I've already started buying eggnog and putting it in my tea (very bad). There's already Christmas candy in a dish on the coffee table (very bad). We'll have our usual menu on Christmas Eve/Day. We haven't decided whether or not to get a honeybaked ham for Christmas -- that's the one big question mark. I like it because it's easy, but of course, it is a ham -- a dead pig that probably didn't have a very good life. OK, I know, I don't know! We'll think about this.
  
• Gifts & Giving: Colorado Gives day is December 6th. I have to make my list for that. I also should donate to the kids' school -- haven't done that yet. And then there are those family presents. I've had a few ideas, not many. Have to nail that down. I have some ideas for me (a popover pan!), and I've mentioned them aloud, but probably I won't get them. Perhaps I should buy one for myself and wrap it up. I might. I wonder if McGuckin's carries them.
  
• Music: In addition to playing records and CDs and listening to KOSI 101.1 in the car, I'd like to go to some holiday performances. I love the harp concert at the library, but this year they're doing it at the Meadows branch and it conflicts with something else I'm doing next weekend, so maybe next year. I decided the CU holiday concert was too expensive and just now I looked at another holiday concert and the tickets are $40! For a concert in a church. At least the Lights of December parade is free. If I can convince anyone to go with me this year. It's more of a little kid thing. Maybe Teen B will go.
  
• Religious Observances: We've set up the Advent wreath and candles and will light the first candle tonight. I feel like going to church -- maybe I'll go on Dec. 11th or 18th (the 4th won't work because the kids are getting their flu shots that morning. Busy busy busy). Hanukkah is late this year, but I bought a new box of candles already, because those tend to vanish from local stores. And maybe we'll have latkes one night.
  

It sounds like a lot, but I'm looking forward to it. It's so funny about Christmas. Sometimes I'll try poking myself during other months, to see if I'm interested in thinking about Christmas yet, and I never am. Even in October, so close, Christmas is completely unappealing. I think, why would anyone want to decorate in red and green?

And then we get past Thanksgiving and all of a sudden, whoosh, all I can think about is red and green.

However, I also know how quickly it goes, so I'm going to try to enjoy all the bits and pieces as they flash by.

With only one month and three days left of the calendar year, I've started to think about what I wanted to achieve in 2022 and what I could still do. I took a look at my resolutions list and started checking off things I've done -- it looks like about a third of my goals were achieved. A third is not bad, actually. I'm pleased with what I've done. But I'm wondering what else I could do before January 1st.

Maybe I shouldn't do that. December is crazy enough already. Well, I'll see.

One goal that I've happily achieved already -- as always -- has to do with my reading. The goal was 52 books and I'm already up to 106, with a whole month (and three days) left to read. I read all my books for the Classics Challenge, four Presidential biographies, and all the books for my book group, and I read aloud many books to the kids. I guess I'll need to do a "wrap-up" post for the Classics Challenge soon, but I don't think the organizer has posted the link-up page yet, so I won't worry about it for now. I've been thinking about what my theme might be next year, but I'm wondering if there will be a Challenge next year. If there isn't, I'll challenge myself in some way.

I'm currently reading two books at the same time -- it was three books, but I decided to set one aside for later because it's confusing enough switching back and forth between two. One of the books is Howards End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home by Susan Hill, and it's given me an idea that I may pursue next year. As I've been decluttering, the last few months, I've come across a lot of books that have been sitting on my shelves for years without being read. I'm thinking maybe 2023 is the year I read some of those books and then make decisions about them: to keep or donate. Shelf space has gotten to be such a premium in this house -- I feel that books should earn their spots, and if they've never been read, well...

It's 5 pm and I haven't gotten done some of the things on the list -- haven't addressed any cards, haven't planned any meals, haven't celebrated the Baby Kitty's birthday. I did spend roughly an hour helping Teen A with an essay that was supposed to be turned in before the break. I think I need to finish this blog post up and move on to another task (probably Teen B's homework). Oh, Christmas, are you making me crazy already?