Life Lately | November 23, 2020

Hey guys - happy Thanksgiving week! I'm a little out of sorts I guess, because it just doesn't seem like the end of November to me. Actually, it feels a heck of a lot more like December. Seems to me like more folks than usual are pulling out the Christmas goodies early to eke out some cheer in a wonky year. I always wait until after Thanksgiving to get into Christmas because otherwise it just doesn't feel special to me, but to each their own! I am thinking about bringing a small tree in from the garage today just to get some twinkle lights in here. 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'll be putting on the show single-handedly this year, which feels like a lot of responsibility for a gal who is generally not trusted with much more than bringing a veggie tray or the drinks. I can cook and actually, I enjoy it very much, but I think old habits die hard and I haven't earned a promotion in the holiday food department since I was 19 and "Ryan's new girlfriend who still lives with her family." 

But our family's matriarch is perched up on her couch with a broken leg and since it's just Duke, Ryan and I, along with my mother and father-in-law, I'm the last lady standing, so we're giving 2020 another opportunity to traumatize us all. Full disclosure, I've never roasted a turkey before, but I mean, how different can it be from a chicken? I do that every Sunday. In any case, Google will be there by my side. 

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Puzzling

So we discussed puzzles here recently, yeah? I got way into them maybe a month or so ago, and recently graduated from 500 pieces to my first 1,000. It took so much longer than I thought it would and things got a little FTS near the end. I've got a couple of Christmas puzzles that were delivered this week, and I am excited to figure out if 1,000 piece puzzles just very nearly offer my breaking point, or if this one was just particularly annoying. 

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Rug Problems. Lol. 

In other news, I bought a rug to cover a space between our living and dining rooms. It's a high traffic area that's gotten the crap beaten out of it by dog toe nails and Duke dragging various pieces of furniture from room to room. We had our floors refinished maybe a year and a half ago, and it's a true bummer how scratched up that particular spot has gotten. I wanted to get the same rug that I have in the other rooms, but it's out of stock and so I got something I hoped would be in the same color family instead. It's not a perfect color match, and I'm not super sold on it, but I haven't thought of a better alternative, so at least I don't have to see the scratches. 

Real serious problems over here, obviously. 

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The Beginnings of Christmas

We got a catalog in the mail from Target a few weeks ago, and Duke has been studying it ever since. There are circles around everything he finds interesting, and star stickers on the truly special stuff. This Christmas feels so exciting for all of us. He's big enough to have some memories under his belt and knows what to expect, so this season has so much potential for that childhood Christmas magic. Believing in Santa is such a special pocket of life. 

Have you started holiday shopping yet? I was feeling very smug about the "headstart" I had in October, but now that a few weeks have passed without any further advancement, I'm shifting back a few levels, maybe to on-pace, but quickly falling into get-it-together territory. 

I guess I'm honestly not even sure we'll be spending Christmas with anyone other than our immediate family, so maybe it's not that big of a deal? 

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A bike with a real throttle, Mom!

In other news, we got Duke a "bike with a real throttle, Mom!" It was supposed to be a Christmas present, but Ryan wanted to give it to Duke while it was still warm and dry enough to play with it outside. "Otherwise," he said, "he'll have to ride it inside the house." Which given the bikes that have come to live in my dining room, I'm not inclined to test his resolve, but if you want my unsolicited opinion, I think he just wanted to give it to Duke while it's still warm and dry enough for Ryan to ride one of his dirtbikes alongside his son. 

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Halloween

Last thing, because we might as well just cover every holiday here - I don't think I ever posted pictures from Halloween! It was such a nice day -- warm and sunny - and since it was on a Saturday, our town had trunk-or-treating at 3pm, which was just perfect. Duke helped me glue a zillion googly eyes to a black sweat-shirt and I hot glued socks filled with stuffing to some yarn and tied them to the sleeves. Pretty simple and he's still wearing it around the house, so I'm satisfied with my DIY job. 

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Happy Monday guys. Cheers to a short week - hallelujah!