Ketchup

Brrrrrrrrr...it got very cold here last night. It's 10 degrees with a -3 windchill and I woke up freezing despite being snuggled under three blankets! I just poured a cup of coffee and climbed back into bed to type this post. Wish I could stay here all day. Or at least until the sun warms things up a bit.


Walking from the kitchen to my room, I glanced in Will's room and smiled because all three of our kids are camped out together in sleeping bags on his floor. They have the week off from school and they've spent the last three nights exactly like that. I'm grateful that my kids love each other and get along so well. They really are each other's best friends.

Ugh. Just took a sip of my coffee. I've weaned myself down to one cup a day because I gave up sugar a couple of weeks ago and unsweetened coffee is just plain bad. I wasn't going to give up creamer, but I tend to be an all-or-nothing-girl so I bid it farewell too. The good news is that my scale says I've lost 5lbs in about two weeks. The bad news is that I've grumpily counted the days until I'm reunited with my Pumpkin Spice and Gingerbread CoffeeMate again. Two more days!

I'm actually considering extending my sugar fast beyond Thanksgiving. After I feast on pumpkin pie, of course. I have SO much more energy, I'm sleeping really well, and I just feel better without it in my system. Also, did you know that sugar greatly compromises your immune system? It really does. That alone is reason to make me think twice about overloading myself (and my kiddos) with sweets.

In other news...

I've been working like a madwoman getting my house really clean. I'm sure some of you have figured out by now that I'm a little obsessive in the housekeeping arena. That obsessiveness gets ratched up a dozen or so notches when I have guests coming. A friend is house-sitting/dog-sitting for us while we're gone and my inner clean freak has been in overdrive for the last ten days. I've been cleaning blinds, windows, cabinets, closets, and more. I have a couple more to-do's on my list today and then I can relax!

Oh, and I started my Christmas shopping--I've bought one gift. Considering that I usually start mid-December, I'm very proud of myself.

We were planning to leave for our Thanksgiving road trip today, but John really needed to work after being gone most of last week so we're leaving tomorrow. That's fine by me because I have a few things left to do today, including a trip to Target. Target is the brightest spot in my day. I just wish Target was closer--the nearest one is 12 miles from my house. Which, come to think of it is probably a good thing. I always spend a chunk of change when I go to Target.

I realized on Saturday that I don't have to prepare one single thing for Thanksgiving dinner this year. That makes me both happy and sad. I offered, but was assured that I only needed to show up with my appetite. I'm sure that won't be the case again for a long time, so I'm rolling with it!

I spent some time with my calendar on Sunday morning and realized that December is already *very* full. If you're my Facebook friend you've likely already heard me say this, but I decided on Sunday that nothing else is getting scheduled for next month. All the important things are already on the calendar, and I blocked out all the free days I have so that they actually stay free. I was talking to a friend at church about this and she reminded me that December will roll around again next year and I'll have opportunity to say yes to different things. Some of my Facebook friends scoffed at my resoluteness, but I'm really sticking to my guns on this one. I want December to be enjoyable, and it's not enjoyable for me when I'm running from one thing to the next.

Lastly, I had a lot of comments yesterday asking if I would share the list of activities for my Advent calendar. YES! As soon as we finish it, I'll post it for you. However, you should check out Michelle's list. She has some great ideas I want to copy.

Oh, and thanks for all your Trader Joe's suggestions. I'm going later this week and so excited to find some of the things you guys love!

Alright. Must get out of my warm bed and get this day started!

Catch-up. Ketchup. Whatever. You're caught up now. Smile.