Enjoying December

Yes, I really am. It's been fun so far. I still have moments (every day, perhaps every hour) when I panic and think I'm "behind." But then I catch myself: you're not behind, you're right on schedule. And weirdly enough, this is true.

So what did I do this week? I baked SIX batches of cookies, so I'm halfway to my goal of 12. That goal was kind of a joke when I set it, so I'm very surprised that it is suddenly within reach. (The photo shows seven tins because there are two tins of Lebkuchen. Clockwise from bottom left we have (1) eggnog cookies, (2a) Lebkuchen with lemon glaze, (2b) Lebkuchen with chocolate glaze, (3) spritz, (4) candy cane cookies, (5) gingerbread cookie bars, and in the middle (6) panocha squares.

I keep thinking -- I could stop now! Or I could stop soon, that's more realistic. Tomorrow (Monday) I plan to make date crunch, which is many people's favorite cookie, so I don't want to skip that. And next Saturday I plan to make fudge, which two young people would kill me if I didn't make. But in between those two I'm planning to make Norwegian holiday cookies, peppermint meltaways, sugar cookies, and meringues. And you know, the world might not end if I didn't. So we'll just see how it goes. Six (maybe) batches to go, but I'm kind of in the rhythm now. The only serious problem is that I'm running out of empty tins! I will have to store some cookies in plastic.

When I got up each morning this week I would pull out the butter and eggs that I'd need from the fridge and put them in a bowl in the microwave to come to room temperature (because Mr. Merlino thinks jumping up on the counter and licking the butter is a good idea). Then I'd go about the business of getting the kids off to school and the cats fed and myself fed, and the clean dishes put away and the laundry started, and then starting at 9 am I made a batch of cookies. While the cookies baked I did some FlyLady things, and then by 11 am I was almost always done, and I would sit down at my computer to work on my novel for a little while. 

Later, after lunch and (some days) a short walk, I went shopping. Grocery shopping on Monday and Christmas shopping the other days. Well, actually I only shopped on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Friday I thought I would go to Pearl Street and look in stores, but eventually I realized that I didn't really have any specific ideas for what to buy -- plus, I was tired of shopping. So I stayed home and decided my shopping was done.

Actually, there will probably be a little more shopping after Rocket Boy comes and we talk about what I've gotten and what he'd like to get. But I'm basically done. Not only that, but almost everything is wrapped. That's unheard of, for me.

So, what are the plans for the week ahead? The mornings should be the same. The kids have final exams, two each day, so school starts half an hour later than normal. But I'll just go about my business the same way, doing my routines and starting to bake (they'll leave the house around 8:30 and I start to bake at 9, so no problem). The afternoons, though, will be different, because I have no more shopping to do.

Instead, I need to start decorating. It's interesting the way you do the things you want to do right away, and dillydally over what you don't. I love doing the cards, so that comes first. Then cookies. I did the shopping not because I love it, but because I knew I needed to get it done. But now comes the decorating, my least favorite task. This picture shows where the tree goes (we're only doing half a tree this year, so it will probably sit on the card table and I'll drape a cloth over the table to hide some of the unattractiveness of it.

But first I have to do something about all those (mostly empty) boxes. And the broken lamp. 

I need a plan for the decorating. Can I work on it for an hour each afternoon, or would that take me down? I don't know. I'll tentatively say an hour. If it seems too much, I can dial it back.

So, what do I need to do?

1. Clear off the card table (put the boxes in the garage or recycle them) and put a cloth down
   
2. Set up the half tree.
3. Put on the lights.
4. Put on the ornaments (focusing on non-breakable, non-chewable ones, as the folks in Breaking Cat News are doing this year).
5. Clear off the two pieces of furniture next to the card table and make them more Christmassy: put down seasonal cloths, set up a Christmas scene for my dolls or Teen B's Christmas Lego set from a couple of years ago (he still has it assembled in his room), set up a sort of Nativity scene, etc.
6. In my room, get my Barbie dolls dressed in seasonal outfits. Maybe some of them could come in the living room too, I'll see.
   

That might be it. We need to put a timer on the outside lights, but I don't know how to do that, so I'll leave it for Rocket Boy when he arrives next weekend. As cards arrive, I'll display them. As finals end, I'll remove the study materials from the coffee table (right now it seems better to leave them there). Hanukkah starts next Sunday, so we'll set up the menorah then.

This all sounds totally doable. Maybe #1 & #2 tomorrow, #3 on Tuesday, #4 on Wednesday, #5 on Thursday, #6 on Friday. Something like that.

And, in fact, I just pulled myself together and did #1. Look at that -- the boxes have been removed from the card table (except for one, because the cats like to sit in it -- it'll come off when the tree goes up). And a lovely seasonal cloth has been placed over the card table. I'm so excited.

Well, not really. This was the easy part. It's #2 that I'm dreading -- assembling the tree. Every year I say we're not putting up that tree one more time, we're getting rid of it, we're getting a new fake tree. And every year I put it up again. Hmm. And then there's putting on the lights, which I'd much rather Rocket Boy did, but he's not here. And then the ornaments -- that part's OK, except for having to try to guess which ornaments look too much like cat toys to be put on the tree. No straw stars for another year, gotta wait until Mr. Merlino grows up. He's three now. Maybe when he's eight or so?

Of course, I also need to work on clearing clutter from the desk room to allow room for another desk. I have made absolutely no progress on that. Talk about not doing things you don't want to do. 

***

I ended this rather abruptly last night because twins were calling me to come help study for finals and I knew I'd never get back to it. But now it's the next morning and I've already discovered that I need to change my plans for the week. So here is my new schedule:

7:30-8:30     Get up, get kids off to school

8:30-9:30     Feed cats, eat breakfast, start routines

9:30-11:30     Make a batch of cookies, interspersed with FlyLady tasks

11:30-12:30    Write

12:30-1:30    Take a short walk, have lunch

1:30-2:30    Work on cleaning up the desk room (I have to do this before the kids come home from school, because after that they'll be in here and they won't want me in here messing with things)

2:30-3:30    Decorate. The kids will be home by 2:45, since finals end at 2:30, so they can help me decorate. Ha. Well, it could happen.

And now I see that I am already 5 minutes late for baking cookies, so I'd better get going. I can already tell I don't have as much enthusiasm for it this week. No problem -- we already have six batches. I can stop at any time. Sure...