cup o' coffee together...

i didn't realize how much i needed to sit down together for this (virtual) cup of coffee... hold on a sec while i get a refill...

i'm on my third cup! i usually only have two, but i'm busy this morning and i've just been chilly for days! any how, i've had my walk, avec une amie ce matin, and the second load of laundry is going (which means i had to go into my youngest son's room for his sheets and to hunt for dirty stuff in every drawer, nook, cranny, figure out which stuff in the pile on the desk is the clean stuff he never put away, and those socks! mothers whose children are still small, you have no idea how smelly and disgusting a 14-year-old boy's socks are... diapers are nuthin')! 

i'd ask you if you think i messed my hair up badly. i haven't been able to afford my hairdresser for about a year now, and i am at the age when my husband says, "i like it when you color your hair." the grey was really catching the light, :) so it was past time. hmmmm.... i ran out of day yesterday, so i performed the operation after dinner. i was tired, it is an involved process, i mean, highlights and all... 

our lovely tree is up and lighted and garlanded; tonight we'll put on the actual ornaments... my husband and sons are such a great help, they don't leave it all to me. i can't tell you how much i appreciate that! my eldest even did the lights this year. yippee!

 i am learning to pull back on Christmas. i've decided which decorations are enough. i've decided that we don't need to have more lights on the house than all the neighbors. my sons don't need knock-your-socks-off gifts. the past few years have been less prosperous, so we're learning to appreciate the little things more, and that's a good thing! we are all learning to give to our favorite charities in someone else's name... and that's our gift to them... and people really value that! i hand make my girlfriends' gifts. we read from the bible at dinner and remember that this season is really a time that is set aside to contemplate the mystery of an almighty and infinite God that came to dwell on this earth with us, to bring us light and life, and that he came, as we all do, helpless and tiny and so precious, so human. 

i'd show you the scarves i made. way too easy, just cut 'em out of fleece. shop around and you can make them for almost nothing! i am determined to wrap them up with a red bow and put them in my car. now i have a Christmas gift for the homeless folks i run into.

i enjoyed visiting with lisa and alli and corinne... you wonderful ladies make me laugh! have a wonderful day!