Some months you feel like you get ahead….others you don’t. This month I feel like I got way WAY ahead! Fall decided to postpone winter slightly, and with Jason’s help our yard is 98% ready for winter (as Jason knows 98% is an arbitrary number that only gets infinitely close to 100% as I discover more projects). After raking on 3 separate occasions most of the leaves are cleaned up, or at least cleaned up enough that I’m not motivated to rake again. The garden and flowerbeds are cleaned out, and the fish have been happily swimming in their winter home in the basement for at least a month. Yesterday we went over to Jason’s aunt Katherine’s house and dug out a patch of lily of the valley she wanted to rid herself of. They were grown in super-thick so there was plenty to dig out. We transplanted/spread the rhizomes out behind our pond where nothing else will grow–due to shade and two pine trees–in the hopes that next spring we’ll have beautiful, fragrant lily of the valley and not such a miserable eye-sore.
I’ve also gotten a head-start on my Christmas cards and gifts this month. You may be rolling your eyes, but when you are trying to make stuff by hand it’s good to get a really REALLY early head start. This year I’m hoping to learn from last year’s mistakes, namely being hunched over my craft table the entire week before Christmas. As you may have already seen on my facebook page, Kiki continues to be oh-so-helpful.
That being said, I’m really excited for the holiday season again this year. I caught myself humming along to the Christmas music in a store the other day and was slightly irritated when I realized it was barely Halloween. Today I stopped by one of my favorite craft stores and found that they are clearancing Thanksgiving decorations already! Gah! We’re not even there yet. Which brings us to holiday pet peeve #384…why is some of the Christmas stuff already marked 50% off?!! Just tell me the price you want me to buy it for instead of tricking me into thinking I’m getting a good deal. Do you really expect me to believe this is a great deal when it’s still a good 6 weeks til Christmas? (Don’t even get me started on Kohls…)
Work is still work. I’m still looking for options and waiting for updates. Some things in life move slower than you hope.
I started running. I’m not a runner. When I say “I’m not a runner” I mean it will take me upwards of a month to be able to run a continuous mile. A girl at work told me the other day she is “not a runner”, and followed it up with “I ran a mile the other night, and signed up for a half marathon in the spring”. She had a baby 3 months ago. I wanted to smack her. Let’s emphasize I’m not a runner. The first couple of times out my lungs burned so bad I thought I’d have to crawl back to the house. The next couple trips out were better, but they couldn’t have gotten much worse. Finally I had an occasion where I felt like my lungs were actually participating. I think I’ve developed upwards of 2 aerobic muscle fibers. Then the weather went bad and I headed to the gym where I was reminded of the crazy gym people. That’s been going well. I feel like I’m getting better. It’s amazing what 10 years will do to your fitness level…not to mention grad school and spending your summer with a bum wheel in a walking boot. So running is going well. Once I can run my first 10-minute mile I may start working on a second one, and with any luck maybe I can run a 5k in the spring. (1/2 marathon…psshhhh). (To all my runner-friends: I love you guys. I am envious….always have been, probably always will be.)
Today I earned bonus wife-points by completing a cooking extravaganza. Jason said I will get an honorable mention in his blog this month and I think I may hold him to that. It was one of those days you either needed to nap or bake. Once my nap concluded (shortly after my breakfast cereal was finished) I got started on the cooking and baking. If I was a little more motivated there would still be pumpkin chocolate chip cookies this evening…but my body says I’m about worn out with laundry yet to fold. It reminds me again that our upright freezer was one of the best purchases we’ve made since the wedding, having it stocked with lunches makes my insides happy.
Happy early Turkey-day. I hope you all have many things to be very thankful for this year.
I think those are my thoughts for the month.
Congrats to Jason and Ashley who welcomed Emma into the world today.
Happy birthday to ex-roomie Leah…who accidentally received a birthday card from me a month early, but remains my friend. 🙂
I look forward to seeing all of you soon. Maybe wander out to Utah sometime. The weather is looking promising for skiers this year, and we’re just a short jump from some pretty big mountains. 🙂 If you see my folks, ask them if they’ve bought their plane tickets to come visit at Christmas…I’m trying to convince them to make a holiday visit this year, Jason has said he’d pull out the crying card if need be.
Take Care!
S.~