‘Tis the season for twinkle lights, the smell of melting butter, and the crinkle of wrapping paper. I am not necessarily feeling the holiday spirit, but I am hoping this is one time that faking it until you make it actually works. As a result, I trimmed the tree while Jim hung the lights outside. UPS, USPS, and FedEx are making regular stops at my house to deliver even more packages. I am stockpiling butter, flour, and sugar to prepare for all the baking I plan to do next week. I ordered my holiday cards later than I planned, but I received them yesterday. Now all I need to do is address the envelopes and add any notes I want to write. Best of all, we received our first snowstorm of the season Friday night. Nothing puts me into a holiday mood like snow on the ground, even as I know the chances of it lasting through Christmas are pretty much zero percent.
The last few weeks were quiet. Outside of work, Jim did take a quick trip to Pittsburgh to help his oldest brother finish working on what will eventually become built-ins. The basic structure is currently in my basement in pieces while Jim paints, stains, and finishes them for installation. Other than that, I’ve been staying busy reading, writing reviews, cleaning, wrapping presents, cooking, baking, and binge-watching pretty much every episode of Great British Bake-off that exists on Netflix. Holly is by far the busiest with school, dance, and work, but even she is finding a lot more ways to unwind and relax than she did a year ago. Funny how that happens when there is nowhere to go, and you can’t hang out with a large group of friends.
Yes, we remain pretty much on lockdown. When you can’t change other people’s behavior, all you can do is to protect yourself. Because it seems that Wisconsin citizens do not like wearing masks and certainly have no interest in remaining at home, we do. All three of us stay at home as much as possible. If we have to run errands, only one of us does so. We are following the same guidelines and precautions as we did this spring in hopes that we continue to remain healthy. We also do so knowing that the three of us are going to be among the last citizens to receive the vaccine once it becomes available to the general public. An ounce of prevention and all that.
How are your holiday preparations going? Have you started baking yet? What is your favorite holiday goodie? What cookie or baked good do I absolutely need to try to make this year?
I don’t know about you, but even though I know that nothing is going to change on January 1, 2021, but there is something about this time of year and the upcoming New Year holiday that does fill me with more hope than I have had in a long time. It feels good to have hope, doesn’t it?
I hope that you are all healthy and happy and enjoying the holiday season so far. And if you want a holiday card from me, just drop me a note and let me know!
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