I Did a Crazy Thing...Who Am I?

Happy November my friends!

Well...I did a crazy thing over the weekend; something I've never, ever done before...

I put up my Christmas tree on November 1st. Who am I?

I had no intention of doing this and usually won't even think about putting anything Christmasy up until after Thanksgiving, but I saw Shug's post last week and it made me think that life needs all the sparkly, fun things it can get, so why not?

I've always loved the lights on the tree, especially in the early morning hours, and after the year we've had, I just thought that it's really ok to do things that make you smile, feel joy, enjoy your home and if that's a tree covered in twinkly lights, then so be it. 

I won't be adding any Christmas ornaments until after Thanksgiving, but for the next few weeks, I get to enjoy the lights. 

And, in other news...

Half of my kids made it home from Tennessee. They all went to Franklin for vacation. Collin and Morgan made it home, but Ted and Alex are still there for the rest of this week. The last time we all vacationed as a family, it was in Franklin and it was so much fun! We love Franklin, but who doesn't?

On Saturday we got to see Collin and Asa. Collin needed some help with changing a filter in his car, so Asa hung out with me for a while. As you can see, he got right to work redecorating the place 😂

He's precious, so who cares? I was cooking some supper and he was having a great time playing and watching choo-choos on tv. 

Collin hung out for a bit and we had some good talks until it was time for him to get home. Afterwards David and I settled in for some supper and tv until bedtime. It was a good day and so good to have my kids home again.

Sunday we stayed home from church. Sometimes you just need an extra day to rest and be together. I did the weekly grocery shopping, trying to take advantage of the good sale Kroger had going on. I was able to stock up on some things.

I like to get a head start on the week, so we are prepared for lunches and dinner on work days. Even though I don't go back until Thursday, David needs lunch items starting on Monday and the kids are coming for dinner Monday night. 

David helped a neighbor move some furniture and I spent some time organizing the kitchen and pantry. There were things that had been bugging me lately, such as the food cabinets, pantry and the coffee cabinet. I was able to organize, straighten items and put things in containers, which allowed a lot of packaging to be thrown away. 

We have garbage valet here at the apartment, which just means that we put the garbage outside the door and they come pick it up every evening, Sunday thru Thursday. So it was the perfect time to clean and organize and get rid of boxes and packages from these areas. 

Later we got a FaceTime call from Ted and the kids, which was really great. We had not talked to our babies all week. Of course, talking by phone is always an experience when there are that many 😅 They will be home by Friday and we will scoop them up at some point and get all the hugs and plenty of conversations. 

Today I will be preparing for family dinner tonight, getting the food ready and cleaning. I have a lot of projects on the list, so I'll work on some of those. I'm reading a good book right now and will want to get a few chapters of that in for the day. I'm also trying to put together a photo album from my birthday a few weeks ago, so maybe I'll spend some time on that, as well. 

I always savor these days before going back to work. I love my job, but I love being home even more. 

Well, that's all the excitement for now 😅 It's time to get the day started.

I hope your day is full of blessings and all the things that mean something to you. Put up the tree if you have to! String some twinkly lights, eat the dessert, clean the pantry and enjoy your life. Every day is a gift from God.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!