This Week in Retirement-And a Christmas Challenge

This morning I am sitting on my recliner, feet up, still in Pj's. Most Sundays around here involve me getting out of bed and going to church, then returning for brunch and a nap or football. Today, however, I am committed to help setting up for our evening Taize/Gregorian chant style service, so I'll move when I feel like moving.

It's been a mainly lovely week and I am reminded that there is so very much to be thankful for, not the least of which are family and friends (especially my children) my church, my comfortable home, this beautiful planet and knowing that I will always have enough. For travel, for life, for health care and for the rest of life as we know it, when so many do not.

While this past Thanksgiving and post Thanksgiving weekend seem a bit earlier than usual this year, Christmas is coming. Advent comes first of course, but Christmas is coming (I've already done my annual Facebook post reminding everyone that December is Advent and that Christmas begins on December 25th). I love Christmas, all of it. The music, the baking, the gift giving. I've been known in the past to consider the 12 days of Christmas  style gifts for my kids to extend the holiday. That said, I do prefer a more mindful Christmas, and I think that so often we miss all the little joys, the day by day stuff if you will, of the month of December. And of course, the 12 days begin with Christmas, rather than ending on that special day.

Which is why I'm jumping into two new challenges, one of my own making. The first challenge I'll be partaking of is offered by Courtney over at the Be More With Less blog, which I recently discovered. Courtney is offering up 31 Days of Gift\\s to our inbox, and I'm signig up for this one today. I encourage you to check this one out, and see if it is something you might enjoy or appreciate.

The second challenge for me is, as I said,  of my own making. A  December bucket list, or Christmas countdown list, which I'll be sharing this week. The goal of this list is to remind, me even as I am baking ten dozen decorated cookies, to take time out and not forget the joy of the holiday. Most of the things on my list are free and not time consuming and they range from having breakfast for dinner, to watching a favorite Christmas movie (or two or three) to making an ornament to writing to a soldier overseas, to taking an evening and checking out all the light displays around town. Admittedly it also includes seeing the Botanic Gardens lights, and trying to see a concert, but it's 90 percent about doing this in the moment, if you will. Please check back on Tuesday, and if you like, consider joining up and making a list of your own. 

Obviously not m list, but a good starting sentiment

Meanwhile, this past week, where a few things other than Thanksgiving happened:

Reading and Watching:  A friend gave me the book Alias Grace so that I could read it before watching the Netflix mini-series, but I'm reminded again that I simply do not like Margaret Atwood. Yep, I know I'm in the minority, especially in these times but she is simply not my "thing". My reading group (or one of them) is going very light this month and we are reading The Rosie Project. A bit light for me, but enjoyable. 

On TV of course, this has been a major football week. With apologies to fans who may be reading, it always does my heart good when either Notre Dame or Alabama go "down" and so it was yesterday. In other watching, I cannot recommend the new Netflix series Godless enough. I began it thinking it was not my cup of tea, and was hooked after the first episode of this limited series. Do check it out!

Cooking and Eating: As my pictures yesterday showed, I've been heavy on the eating front and very light on the cooking front. But in my defense that will change as cookie time has arrived, and I'll be getting back into making (and sharing) slow cooker recipes. Hangar steak has been frighteningly cheap around here, and so we've cooked up a couple. I remember when I had no idea what they were, and now because of their lean-ness and ease in cooking they're a regular when on sale. Beef, a pile of chicken thighs and leftover Turkey Day food has kept us well fed this week. Today butter is on sale for 1.50 for one day only at my local grocery, so I'll be the crazy lady whose cart is full of butter in preparation for those cookies.

Things I got Done (and others I did not).  I took a break from my big quilt for a few days. Because I travel at Christmas, we usually do the gift thing on New Year's eve when we return. This gives me a little more leeway and I needed time to think about some colors. On the other hand I got a lot of the shawl I'm gifting for Christmas knitted, did some non-blog related writing, pulled out Christmas decorations, finished a yoga mat bag, started updating my new bullet journal (I do quarterly journals), went through my clothes with an accent on a"capsule"wardrobe that works for me, and more. 

Plans for the coming week:  Besides baking (which I'm starting now so I can do at my leisure), and the continuation of the above creativity, I'm putting together gingerbread houses-lots of gingerbread houses. During the summer silent auction at my church, I offered up a kids gingerbread party. For the next week or so I'll slowly be putting together large graham cracker houses similar to the ones below, as well as making gingerbread men. I'll share more about how I do a gingerbread party (adults or kids) later. If I have time, I'll also be making lavender lotion bars for all the women in my various craft and book groups. If not, that will be next week's project!  

I found these houses here, and plan on using this pattern for my

And these bars will be the next week's project

And as always I'll be reading, enjoying my morning time, working out every day and earning money here and there and generally enjoying the day to day prior to hitting the road for holiday vacation time.

Oh, and my son just found out his restaurant is closing because they lost their lease. King Soopers owns the land, and they've decided they'd rather put up a gas station. But that my friends is another story, for another time.