All I want for Christmas

This retirement gig is great; I think this is the most relaxed I've ever been the week prior to Christmas.  The gifts are purchased, wrapped, and tucked away. Christmas cards were mailed a couple of weeks ago, and I'm hearing from recipients they've been received.  The tree has been up and decorated for several weeks. One of my favorite things in the morning is to sit in the peace of my home with just the Christmas lights on the tree.  It's a time for quiet reflection with a cup of coffee to start my day in a gentle way.

I've finished baking too, with another batch of gingerbread cake and shortbread.  Between what I've given to friends and what we've eaten, we were out of both!  I made my first (and last) batch of peppermint bark.  It's the last because of the mess I made making it.  I dropped the hot bowl of chocolate into the tray, it splashed up resulting in a mess on me, the counter and even the floor!  I did successfully make a batch of caramel popcorn...I'm not good with a candy thermometer (can't read the numbers) but I found a recipe that didn't require one.  With peanuts and M&M's mixed in, it's delicious.  The one annoyance is that the recipes are always so large, I actually quartered this one and ended up with a decent sized container.  Since I was feeling ambitious I also made a favorite of my daughter's, toffee caramel bar.  We have lots of treats now!

My brother and his family will be here on Sunday for our annual Christmas get together.  They're going to a movie with P's sister, to celebrate Li's birthday and will make a brief stop here prior to attending the movie.  It's the one day that their children are available.  K and his girlfriend S both work, and daughter L is involved in basketball, band, volunteer work and highschool homework.  

After the stitch and make on Wednesday I stopped by the grocery to pick up a few items for munchies.  I'm sure they'll not need much but it wouldn't Christmas if the table wasn't groaning.  I already had pepperoni, salami, cheese and crackers as well as baking, so I picked up a bag of mandarin oranges and a veggie tray to add to the snacks.  

Wednesday morning, I had breakfast with C and another previous co-worker, D.  It's the first time in a year since we've met so there was lots to catch up on.  Some good, D's daughter has made him a grandpa this year, some bad, as he had to put his dog to sleep due to illness.  We all agreed we'd try to get together again in March.  After breakfast I headed off to the thrift stores to see what I could find in the sewing/crafting areas.  

 I picked up this crochet thread for $3.99, when a new ball at Walmart would be $4 (plus taxes) on it's own.  The second was a great deal, a Debbie Mumm cross-stitch kit for $3.99.  Similar kits are selling on E-Bay for $20-$40US!  I'll tuck it away for another day.

From Value Village I headed to the Salvation Army store.  There was nothing in the crafting section so I wandered through the housewares.  I found eight of these small luncheon plates, for $.99 each, as well as a stocking hanger for Eli.  When I got to the till I learned that all the Christmas were on sale for 50% off.  Total cost for the plates and the hanger was $4.45!  Just as well I didn't know as I probably would have bought more.  The plates will come in handy with company but I already have a set of four place settings for our family Christmas.

Since I'm having company I've made a bit more effort with the house cleaning. While I did the regular stuff, washing floors, vacuuming, bathrooms, laundry, and cleaning cat litter, I spent time putting things back to where they belong.  I have a habit of bringing stuff from my craft room to the living room.  Several balls of yarn, a bag of fibre stuffing, books, pens, recycling, and cat toys were all gathered up and put away.  I also cleaned up some leftover fingerprints from Eli's last visit that I've somehow overlooked!  Apparently he was painting with blueberries on the window looking into the sunroom.  In my defence the garbage can sits in front of that window so I didn't initially see it.  Surprise!

Speaking of Eli, while he and his mom were at the indoor park on Monday, the furnace and hot water heater were installed.  She did have to keep him out of the house for another hour and a bit, so they wandered the grocery store and picked up something to eat at A&W on their way home.  Today, the flooring will be delivered as it needs to acclimate for 48 hours.  The flooring company has a worker who will install it while over Christmas.  When she gets home on the 26th, the job should be complete!  She's definitely looking forward to that.  

I'll wrap this post up with a couple of photos of my neighbour's lights from last night.  As it gets closer to Christmas the traffic on our cul de sac increases exponentially.  He does a wonderful job of the lights and music, and outside the house is a large Candy cane where visitors can make a donation to charity.  

As tomorrow will be busy, I'll post this early.  Have a great weekend everyone!