Salmon and pasta was our first joint cooking effort a couple weeks ago.
Giving thanks - For the wonderful conversations that we are enjoying at the dinner table more often these days. With Josh coming over to cook with me, we tend to sit longer and enjoy each other’s company.
Many days, I get the opportunity to see all of our kids in person. Not all days, but many, and that makes me very happy. I get to talk to all of them nearly everyday and that’s a gift in and of itself.
I am genuinely looking forward to the holidays, especially Christmas, and that has been lacking in recent years. I’m not stressed about any of it, and I have ideas about fun ways to connect and enjoy the season in new ways. I’m not repeating the year of building a gingerbread house out of cardboard boxes, but I think there will be an air of cheer within the walls of this old house.
As always, I am thankful for Amazon. As much as I hate to be part of a system that is destroying the fabric of small business in America, I truly am relieved that I won’t be going out, searching stores for random gifts for people. I can get pretty much anything I want delivered to my door, and returns are incredibly easy. So, Amazon, thank you for making my life a little bit easier and my holidays a little bit cheerier.
Outside my window - I’ve taken a short break since beginning this so the sun is peeking over the eastern horizon. It looks like it might be a sunny day. Most of the snow has melted - everything except the pile we created when we had to take down the sagging sun shade on the deck. Since we had zero forewarning about the six inches of snow we received, we had not done some of the normal preparations we had planned to do before the snow that was actually in the forecast. We had to cut down some corners of the shade to get it down because the weight of the snow was just too much. I keep meaning to go out and shovel it off the deck so it will melt better, but I seem to always find something I want to do more LOL
There is a bunch of parsley still living in the raised bed that I might actually be able to harvest after the sun warms it a little today. I can’t believe it survived under that blanket of snow.
Clothing myself in - if you have been reading any of my Daybook posts, I bet you can guess what I’m wearing LOL. Yes, my pajamas. I have a new favorite pair of pants that I love - they are so comfortable I could literally live in them all day long, every day. But I won’t do that, I promise. I have things to do today and I’ll have to get dressed sooner rather than later. I bought myself some new things during a great sale at the place where our youngest is working - and loving it I might add!
The top of the new pajamas wasn't a fit that I love, but the bottoms are keepers.
I have no shortage of black tops to couple with the most comfortable pajama pants
I have ever owned.
In the kitchen - I have some ideas… I also need to restock some staples and I hope to do that this week at some point. I really need to take inventory before I go hog-wild. I do intend to stock up on some chicken wings if the deal my husband told me about is a real thing. I can’t tell you though, because if I do you might run out and buy them and cause a run of them and the price will no longer be such a good deal. Sorry!
I hope to get my spices organized in a new space; I’ll update you when and if it works like I hope it will.
Writing - Mastermind did not happen this week, not in the normal sense anyway. Stupid Covid. I did get a chance to chat with my girls about our writing though, and we set goals for ourselves and challenged each other with accountability. So I have resumed hand-written morning pages and intend to get this post up on the blog today. An additional goal is one post a month focusing on what it looks like to live ordinary lives with extraordinary love.
Also, there is a fiction project that has been waiting patiently on the shelf for me to rekindle my interest… my interest has, indeed, been rekindled.
Reading - My daughter is a genius. Part of the challenge of reading at night is the poor lighting in our family room. I have learned that I can tune out the noise of the television if I want to sit and read while the family watches mind-numbing movies and series. I had not figured out how to solve the issue of lighting. Rachel ordered a book light. Go figure. Why have I not thought of this??? I’ll be ordering one for myself. Thanks again Amazon!
Watching - started Jack Ryan again so Rachel could catch up before Season three streams. Yellowstone apparently started on Sunday but we have not watched it yet. This season usually calls for marathons of the classics - Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and of course, Marvel. I’m not sure which direction our television viewing is going to go. I have even been enjoying some of the Hallmark movies. Yes, I just wrote that.
Listening - just the clanking of the keyboard, sewing machines, and kids programming at times. Music and podcasts are waiting for me to remember they exist.
Making - I finished piecing the baby quilt I started last week. The next project is another baby quilt but it’s a pattern my mom has been doing for years for all the new babies in the family - puppy quilts. I may have been handed the tradition of making these sweet little quilts. I’m honored.
Camp - No progress for now. The family members we will work with to get information are traveling extensively this month and won’t really be in position to help. I keep up with all the camp news with multiple Facebook groups. In the bitter-sweet relationship with technology and social media, the ability to keep up with good things is the sweet spot!
The week ahead - The garage is calling. If I want to park a vehicle there, I need to make some space. Nothing new there, right?
Sarah will be having back surgery the week after Thanksgiving so we’ll have her and the kids here for an indefinite period of time. The guest room needs a little work and I might even get an extra little item that will help with sleep space.
Thanksgiving is next week??? Excuse me miss, you need to make sure you have everything you need because shopping the few days (or Heaven forbid, the weekend) before is never, ever, ever a good idea. Go get your turkey friends. And don’t forget the sage 🙂
Hey, does anyone else make oyster stuffing? Ever heard of it? It’s a midwest thing I think.
As you are going about your days, think about the ways you find that you are living an ordinary life and discovering extraordinary love! Come back and share it!
And always,
Love God and love people.
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