December

The first part of December was a blur. We returned from the West Coast on December 1st, and I immediately jumped into prepping for the Salem High School Holiday Fair - on Dec. 12 - that benefits the school's music and drama programs. Although turn-out was only so-so, I had a lot of fun, chatting with my booth neighbors, listening to the music groups perform, and having a couple friends drop by.


The weekend before Christmas, we got about 16 inches of snow in 2 days - perfect for cozying up inside and crafting in the sun room, with a nice view of the winter wonderland. Here, I'm working on a monogrammed pillowcase for Caden's friend, Mabel, who invited him to her princess birthday party (and the party did go on, despite the weather!).

The second half of December was, for once, extremely slow-paced and relaxing. Even though I almost dreaded Christmas without family, I ended up realizing why some people purposely stay home at Christmas and why my mom always said she loved the days right after Christmas (I never understood that as a kid!). We spent our week's vacation (Caden had a week off of daycare, so we mostly both stayed home) doing 1 work task (making a poster for a meeting, reviewing a manuscript, etc.) and 1 home task (cleaning, organizing, filing, etc.) and working out at the YMCA every day. We spent the rest of the time doing whatever the heck we wanted: watching movies, playing games (a friend loaned us Blokus, which we played almost daily for a week), sewing, reading, etc. It was great, and it took about the whole week for us to finally feel relaxed!

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Here's a shot of the most beautifully wrapped Christmas present, from my college friend, Martha. The wrapping cloth doubles as a table linen and is reversible for use in multiple seasons. She even safety-pinned on a little linen gift tag! Inside was a pattern and (robot) fabric to make Caden a little apron for helping out in the kitchen. A fun project for the New Year!

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!!