Currently... Happy about December

December - it's my favorite month of the year (though summer is my favorite season.)  It's the annual deadline for all projects.  Time to start thinking of new goals.  Time to take an honest look at yourself.  Time for reflection of who you are and who you want to be as you improve.  And it's time for cookies and hot chocolate and celebration and festivities.  And it's Christmas! What else can you want in a month?

So I'm currently...

Setting up my new calendar date book.  It's my annual search, but I think I'm going with the same that I had last year, a customizable, add your own cover and pages option, M by Staples.  It worked for me. There was enough space in each date box for my variable schedule (I don't like the ones with the time printed already) and to scribble notes. There are blank pages (removable) for notes and lists.  I think I'm going to stick a clear pocket (from my scrapbook supply stash) on the inside cover for the cards, stamps, and receipts I collect between the pages.  This may be a record for having a datebook before Dec. 31.

Thinking about Christmas cards. Not that I've bought any, made any, or selected the requisite family photo.  Just thinking it would've been nice to have put them in the mail today.

Flipping through cookie cookbooks.  We have an annual cookie exchange and, although we host, I still get anxious about what we're going to share as our contribution.  Chocolate chip is off limits because another family always brings those (yummy!)  And we have to make enough for everyone to take some home so they can't be too complicated.  It's a lot of thought, so I need to start thinking, baking, and having the family vote on our favorite.

Thinking about decorations. I love Christmas decorations. The lights, the sparkles, the rich reds and earthy greens and royal purples, shimmery silver and gold.  Fluttery angels, shiny gift wrap. Snow covered everything.  The tall, pine-y smelling, decorated trees.  And if I had the budget, I would hire someone to come and beautifully decorate my house for the holidays, or at least, come and take it all down (I am the slackermomof4, after all.)  I will get my decorations up (hint: cookie exchange party is always a good motivator), but it may be Valentine's Day by the time they're all packed away.

Shopping for new poinsettias. I have a friend who has kept poinsettias year round. Inspired, I intended to do the same (despite my notorious black thumb.) I researched poinsettia care, moved them to a more temperate part of my house, rotated them through the house depending on the sunlight, watered them, pruned falling leaves.  And though a bit scraggly, my poinsettia lasted until... October. Then it died! What? What plant lasts 10 months and then just dries up and dies two months before it's grand showing? Ugh.  So, now, I need a new poinsettia. And might as well get a new Christmas cactus while I'm at it.


What are your December preparations?

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Currently...Catching up on Randomness

I'm all over the place these days.  My to-do list has about a dozen different categories and 55 items.  On this Monday morning, I'm trying to corral it all.  What am I currently up to?

Being so very proud of my 3rd grader and her Girls on the Run team for running their second 5K yesterday.  This is our second season to have a school team.  Some of the girls on the team are not athletic in any sense, came to the program loathing the idea of walking across the school parking lot and looking down at their feet when they talked. They were all smiles as they crossed that finish line and it was a thrill to see how proud they were of themselves.  My son figured he'd been to all the practices, he might as well finish the season with his sister and also joined our team for the final race. Thanks to GOTR and particularly, Montgomery County, for a great race.

#GOTRMOCO5K - race #2 - done!

Trying to find a tinted, sunscreen included, face moisturizer that covers and/or heals blemishes. Is that really so much to ask for? That's what all the beauty product articles and blogs say a woman needs, especially as she reaches a certain age. So I find myself sitting on the floor of the drugstore and wandering the aisles of the make-up stores, reading the label of every moisturizer, trying to color match to my skin (depending on the brand, I'm light to medium, dark, natural, tan, or tawny) and not spend $100 per bottle (yes, there is a financial limit to my narcissism.)

Current moisturizer/sunscreen options I'm trying out.

Still sorting out my feelings about the Billboard Music Awards Michael Jackson hologram. I was, am, and will continue to be a huge Michael Jackson fan, from ABC to Off the Wall and  Thriller to the very end. But that hologram of him singing a song from a post-humous album. I wasn't particularly excited or emotional because it wasn't him performing, it was the image that computer folks and musicians and choreographers came up with. Now, the idea that his people have found music that he never released, that's pretty cool, but I was a bit confused hearing a couple songs on the radio, thinking "dang that sounds like Michael Jackson, but what song is that?"  But as for videos? Just play one of the classics like Thriller or Smooth Criminal, or his performance on Motown 25, that'll be fine.

Being careful not to upset my poinsettias that have actually survived this long! I do not have any kind of green thumb. Despite loving flowers and wishing for a garden full of blooms, I usually stick to simple, black-thumb-proof spring bulbs (although even they don't do to well in my shady yard) and water garden plants. But I always feel challenged to try to keep the beautiful Christmas poinsettias until the next year. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by mentioning them. This winter, after the bright red leaves all fell off, I moved the plants to a less trafficked room in the house, periodically water them whenever the planting soil is dry and every now and then, my mother throws some eggshells in the pot. That's it. So far, so good. But I'm open to any suggestions to ensure they make it another 6 months.

My post-Christmas poinsettia - look, there's still leaves!

Catching up on the hundreds of emails I need to respond to about my writing, PTA, sorority, and kid activities. Let me go pour another cup of coffee and get to that.

What are you currently up to?

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