Whew! Survived this day. Made a full table top full of sugar cookies. They are iced and sprinkled. I made the biggest mess in my kitchen today and it is almost cleaned up. The floor has been scrubbed and vacuumed, the center island is clean, and the chairs have been desprinkled. Still need to do a second load of dishes and clean out the sinks and then my kitchen will be back in order. Always glad to get the sugar cookies made. Ellexia vacuumed the sprinkles up for me – she likes to vacuum.
Made a pan of peanut butter bars this morning. Still need to get a batch of fudge made but needed to wait until the grandkids went home to make that. The kiddos just left so next on my list is my second attempt at fudge. Trusting this batch will come out OK.
Tim brought the grandkids out this morning around 11:00. They had spaghetti and meat balls for lunch. Both snacked on Christmas cookies and peanut butter balls all afternoon. Two cans of Pringles disappeared too. It was fun having them here today.
Tagen carried up the tubs that had the Christmas trees in them and Ellexia carried up the boxes of ornaments. I put the trees together and then they each took a tree to decorate. I had to finish each of them as they both crapped out on me. Both trees are up and almost finished. Need to find the tree toppers and tree skirts and they will be done. Glad that job is done. I appreciated the help and motivation the kiddos provided me today to get the trees up.
I needed to fill the chicken water can today. I thought I had it on right but when I picked it up I spilled three gallons of water all over. It is a heated watering can and I sometimes have the hardest time putting it back together correctly. Not sure what I do wrong. Some days it goes on easy as can be – other days I fight with it. At least it wasn’t freezing out today.
It was another beautiful day on the prairie with temperatures in the mid 50’s and no wind. I wasted another good hiking day by staying inside baking cookies. Maybe tomorrow I can get out and take a hike. My body feels a bit swollen and bloated today – thinking it is because I haven’t been out walking since Friday.
The fundraising dinner last night at Pioneer Bluffs went over well. I had fun serving and visiting with the other volunteers. I ate some of the food that was served – not sure it was all on plan as I felt a bit stuffed and bloated afterwards. The couple that prepared all the food sure worked hard to make it a nice evening for our guests. The guests enjoyed at least four different wines or liquors with dinner. They were all pretty happy and relaxed by the time they left.
I forgot to eat lunch until 3:00 this afternoon. I fixed the kiddos their lunch and then started rolling sugar cookies. It is going to take me a couple of days to get back on track with my eating plan. My body is feeling sluggish and a bit icky so will be glad to get back on track. It seems to be happiest when I eat my normal food.
Feels good to have gotten the sugar cookies made and the trees up. I feel much more ready for Christmas now. Still need to get some presents purchased, some cards sent out and a couple of packages mailed. I still have almost two weeks before most of the packages need to be purchased so have lots of time left.
Have two empty space days ahead of me. Should be able to finish the rest of my Christmas baking and get some packages ready to mail tomorrow. Nice to have some empty space again. Feels like it has been a long time since I had a nice stretch of empty space on my calendar. I need to slow down and allow all of me to come together. It has been a whirlwind of activity lately. I need to get regrounded and find my center and prepare myself for Winter Solstice. The light will start returning after Friday and the pace tends to pick up when that happens.
Grateful the sugar cookies are complete, grateful the grandkids came out today, and grateful the trees are up and decorated. Let the Christmas season begin!