Sunday Matters

My first week of vacation has already come and gone. I had lunch with my daughter (three times), attended a Christmas party, did away with loads of clutter, reorganized my filing system, took the pup for shots, and then took her to the dog park (I felt bad about the shots). I’ve watched many a TV classic, a couple of Christmas movies, made Christmas dinner reservations and bought tickets for the new Star Wars movie. The kids saw Something Rotten! yesterday and then we all attended a special light show afterward.

Right Now:

The Hub is finally off from work for a whole week. He never gets to take time off so he has been looking forward to this all year long. It’s not like we have big plans or anything but we plan to do some fun things.

This Week:

We love to drive around. We’ve been wanting to go to the beach but with the fires raging out of control we’ve not been able to. I’m not sure if the situation will be better this week but we hope to hit Santa Barbara at some point. My son’s last day in California is Jan 20th and he wants to hit Santa Barbara one more time.

Reading:

I’ve started my last book of the year. I hope to have it reviewed by the end of the year as well. I don’t know about you but I can’t have a book carry over into the new year. I am weird that way.

Watching:

Everything I can. I still have a few movies to watch before I can call this Christmas complete: A Christmas Story, The Family Stone, It’s a Wonderful Life.

Oh! And on Christmas evening, we will catch the new Star Wars movie.

Making:

I’ve made soup and garlic chicken with pasta and nibbled on gluten-free cookies and eggnog. I am about to make Caramelized Onion Cornbread Dressing for a dinner later today. It’s a Tyler Florence recipe and I’ve been making it for years.

Grateful for:

Family time. My son quit one of his jobs so he could spend more time at home before leaving for Orlando. Two jobs were great for money but he had no time to spend with us!

What do you have planned this week? I know for some of us, losing a family member over the holiday has created a hole in our hearts that can never be filled, but I hope the magic of the season still finds its way in.

Sunday Matters

It feels so wrong to be discussing Thanksgiving but somehow the week has arrived and I’ve done nothing. No shopping. No prepping. No anything. We went to Disneyland yesterday and today is filled with commitments so I won’t get anything done today either. I could really use a personal assistant right about now. Or, a magic wand.

Right Now:

I’m a little bleary-eyed. Seventeen hours at Disneyland will do that to you. However, after about two buckets of coffee, I will head to the park for breakfast with the ladies.

This Week:

I am off all this week and the following Monday. I hope to get most of my meal shopping done tomorrow and then pick-up all the produce the day before. Once again it will just be us for Thanksgiving. PJs welcome. However, my son has to work Thanksgiving evening so we will be eating earlier than we normally do.

By the way… the PJ thing started years ago when we decided to be comfortable on Thanksgiving day. The kids are older now but hey, who doesn’t want to be comfortable?

Reading:

Thankfully Reading Weekend is coming up. I’ve not participated before but I am really tempted to join in this time. What would I read? I have to finish the one book I have but I would love to read The Master and Margarita.

Watching:

American Horror Story ended for the season and it ended in a pathetically, horribly way. I groaned. I complained to anyone who would listen. None of my grumbling made-up for the time I lost watching it.

We watched our first Christmas movie of the season, Deck the Halls with Matthew Broderick. It’s not a fave of mine but my family loves it.

I plan to watch Home for the Holidays sometime before Turkey Day. It’s directed by Jodie Foster and stars Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning and Robert Downey Jr. If you enjoy dysfunctional families, you will love it.

Making:

This section makes me laugh. What will I NOT be making? I signed up to bring stuffing for a Thanksgiving serve opportunity but it just occurred to me that no one will be home to taste it before I bring it over and I can’t because of the gluten so I will be flying blind. Hope it tastes okay.

Grateful for:

So much. My family including The Otter Pup. My home. All of you who sent me a kind word on the anniversary of my mom’s death. My life group. My teen small group. Homeless outreach. My ever-growing faith. Our health even though it’s not perfect. My job. All of the friends I’ve made through this blog and in real life. Laughter. Kindness. Great books and the time to read them. Art. Holiday traditions. Time off and so much more.

Your Turn:

If you had the time this weekend to read one book, what would it be?

Chatting with friends about books and life…