A Day By Myself

Today I have the day off work and my husband is gone working. Because of my 11 hour work day yesterday, I allowed myself to sleep in. But now its time to get busy. On the list of things to do before I attend a meeting this evening:

1. empty dishwasher
2. finish Christmas cards...I only finished the A's and the B's....I see a hand cramp coming on
3. laundry?
4. find and organize all Christmas cookie recipes so my cousin and I can be efficient next week
5. straighten and clean (in theory...but Christmas cards come first!)
6. check out a new cookbook I got last night
7. catch up on DVR (as evidence of how long yesterday was: I didn't even stay up to watch Glee)

...I think that will keep me busy 'til I have to leave at 430....

Why Decorating Is Taking Us Three Days

Usually we get our tree and decorate our house the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This year, we are not only behind but we will not be going all out, like we would  normally do. The cause: I am working. Not only am I working, but Joe and I work opposite hours. This means that for five days in a row we are not at home or functional at the same time. Consequently, that leaves errands, unwinding, family and fun time to occur Sunday and Monday. We hope to have a decorated tree by the end of the night!

Here is a peek at the tree:

Today

I have committed to blogging every other day this month. But today is one of those days where NOTHING goes as planned. Consequently, there are no blogging ideas for today. I will come up with something awesome for Monday!

Get 'Er Done

Today is my day off from work. I know this isn't a big deal, because I work part time...but the fact that I am off work and have no other plans is HUGE!

I started off my morning by picking up a friend from Panama at O'Hare. Then I went on a shopping spree and finished all of our Christmas shopping. Now I am baking dessert for tonight and sticky rolls. Then, I am returning to have dinner with my friend before she leaves Chicago.

Now, if only I have the discipline to do laundry tonight.....

My Nativity Scene

My favorite Christmas decoration is my nativity scene. For many, many years, my Godmother would give me a single piece of the set at Christmas. One year it would be Joseph, the other a wise man, etc. Then, at my wedding shower she gave me the stable. I was near tears, it was so sentimental. So, while I love all parts of Christmas (especially baking and seeing all my family within two days), this has a special place in my heart.

Inspiration

I have this nasty addiction to celebrity "news" sites. Today on my daily website reading I came across two very inspiring stories. Because of my "coming out" as a survivor of OCD, I found these two girls inspirational. They both did a lot of work to end stigmas to their individual stories. Kayla spoke out about what it is like for her to be gay and Demi Lovato often speaks out about her struggle with eating disorders, self injury and bipolar disorder. To honor them, and to continue my campaign for ending stigmas, I would like to share some of their stories with you tonight. These girls are wiser and stronger then their age would suggest. I admire them both for their confidence in sharing their stories.

Kayla's story: http://perezitos.com/2011-12-04-brave-teen-kala-kearney-comes-out-to-students-at-high-school-assembly/?from=PH

Demi's story: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20550971,00.html

Destroying My Kitchen

Cooking is a HUGE stress reliever for me. Consequently I do a LOT of it. This week was no exception. I made prune cake, zucchini bread and 16 trays of cinnamon rolls. I'm usually not a baker, but this week seems to have changed that. Next week I'll probably make friend chicken and maybe Joe's dad's pork chops.

As one can imagine, spending this amount of time in the kitchen is bad if you like your pots, pans and bowls clean. So, Joe and I now call my cooking/baking marathons "destroying the kitchen." I believe my next big destroying will come when my cousin and I bake our Christmas cookies. And I can not wait!

The End Of NaBloPoMo

Today marks the end of November's NaBloPoMo. While there is another one for the month of December, I realize I do not have enough to say to write every day. However, I find this outlet for my creativity important to me, so I will be blogging every other day in December. Guess I'll see ya'll in two weeks....and I think it will be a recipe post!

Prune Cake

As part of my Julie and Julia vs Meg and Ree challenge, I made prune cake last night. Bad news? It took far too many bowls and pots. Good news? It tastes pretty yummy. My next recipe will likely be Maple Scones, I'm looking forward to that one.

3 Years With Joe

Today is our three year wedding anniversary. While we are not celebrating today, or on our nine years of togetherness anniversary, we did have some fun little dates yesterday. We got massages, went to the Museum of Science and Industry and got pizza from our favorite south side pizzeria. It was a low key celebration this year, but that's alright because we have far too many other things going on right now to use the time or money to celebrate in a fancier way. So, Happy Anniversary honey! I love you!