Seriously, how is it that I’m at home all day doing stuff, but the days STILL don’t seem long enough to do everything I want need to do? In addition, days go so much quicker when you’re doing stuff at home rather than being in an office. I try not to sleep in too late–I have my alarm set for 10:30am, the absolute latest I am allowed to sleep. I usually get up before then and turn the alarm off.

Maybe it’s because it’s the holiday season, it just seems like there is so much to do. Well, at least I’ve put the tree up. Funny story, that. I’ve had a tree since 2006. I got it from the free table at Zaner-Bloser. It was probably an old tree then. Crooked and threadbare, but those of you who were around then, know how much I was struggling financially. My priorities were not about getting a super amazing Christmas tree, so I made my free one work.

The free tree in 2006. Totally crooked.

You can really see how bare it is here:

The free tree… and Aidan. This picture is from 2007. I can’t believe how different Aidan looks compared to then!

I put the tree up last week and just let it sit there bare. I was unhappy with it, but I figured that I’d work with it once the decorations were on it. I put the decorations on it and I was WAY MORE unhappy with it. I HATED it suddenly. I couldn’t get it to fake being straight anymore, you could see right through the thing, and then… and then… it started pitching forward. I would try to sit it up, but it began pitching forward more and more. Adam said it was fine, but I knew, in my gut, that it wasn’t. But I went back to playing Cafe World anyway. And then it happened.

Fortunately, I only lost three ornaments, and none of them were ones I were particularly attached to, but I am a little bit sad about the Harry Potter one. My Disneyland 2009 one and the golden banana ornaments were OK, and that’s all that mattered. Adam and I went out that night and I got a new tree from Target. Pre-lit, six feet, good times. Here she is:

A tree that’s straight and full! I love it! So do the cats. They keep lying under it. I wonder what they’ll do when/if I put presents under it?

I also got one of those Holiday Sugar Cookie kits. It’s by Krusteaz, and it has cookie mix (enough for 5 and a half dozen… I’ll be making the half batch TYVM), cookie cutters, sprinkles, icing mix, and food coloring. Not bad for $7.50, I say. I had a hard time finding a kit. Lots to make gingerbread houses, but not to make cookies. My mom had gotten one years ago; I guess they were more abundant then. I thought I was going to have to resort to those Pillsbury cookies with the designs already in the cookie! The box is SUPER heavy! I’m going to make them with Aidan when he gets here. YAY!

The holiday stuff is coming along. Christmas shopping is just about done, the annual newsletter is done and sent (it’s a PDF so if you’re interested, comment with your email address and if I know you, I’ll send you a copy), my Rebecca doll is in her Hanukkah dress, and the lights are in the window. Here is what else I need to do within the next week:

01. Task I’d rather not discuss online.
02. Make doctor appointment.
03. Go to doctor (this ties in with #2).
04. Order “baby” honey ham (unfortunately, not Honey Baked–the store is too far away–but there is a Honey Bear Ham place right around the corner that has super Yelp reviews, so I’m going to go with them!).
05. Clean Aidan’s room. (It’s mostly done, but I need to do a bit of rearranging and such. His room turns into a storage room when he’s gone, and I like to make it look like a bedroom when he’s here.)
06. Plan Christmas menu.
07. Plan Hanukkah menu? (Will ask Adam if he wants something special.)
08. Address and mail out holiday/Christmas cards.
09. Finish Christmas shopping.
10. Wrap presents (before December 19)
11. Mail packages (before December 15)

Saturday, we took a trip to Naperville. YAY Naperville! We did some shopping and ate dinner and went to MEIJER which is always a treat for me because I freaking love that store. Adam looked and looked and looked for a decent pair of boots. I didn’t realize guys had it so hard when it came to buying winter boots, because women’s stores are exploding with the things. He found a pair at Meijer. MEIJER. See why I love that store? They have everything!

After Naperville, we went to The Book Cellar to see a bunch of Debs talk about writing and being authors and stuff like that. Such a good time. You know me, the author fangirl, right? Saundra Mitchell, Aprilynne Pike, Cynthea Liu, Lara Zielin, Darcy Vance, and Kristina Springer were there. It was fun to finally meet these people who’s LJs/Facebooks/Tweets I’d been reading for months and years. And most of them recognized ME. We also had dinner with Tara O’Shea (who incidentally knows Seanan McGuire) and Amy Vincent. That was loads and loads of fun.

Being around authors always makes me think hard about writing. When it comes down to it, I choke. A LOT. I remember what it was like when I was writing ONLY YOURS. I got so much joy out of writing that book. I mean, it was just… every moment I wasn’t writing–I was ACHING to be writing. I didn’t choke back then, I just wrote. I’m trying to figure out how to get back there. In the meantime, I do the force myself to write at least 100 words if I do open the manuscript. 100 words is not a lot, and usually I end up doing ten times that once I get going. I love books, I love reading. I love that world. I want to be a part of it in someway. I know that’s where I belong. Even if I end up a copy editor for YA novels (OH PLEASE GOD THAT WOULD BE SO AWESOME), I would still be in that world.

Is it weird to be nearly 35 and still finding oneself?

I can’t believe it’s already after 1am. *sigh* Remember what I said about the days going too fast? Apparently the nights do as well. ‘Til next time.

P.S. I miss Lucy. A lot.

P.S.S. Does anyone remember this song?
Snowflakes falling all over town, slipping, sliding, everybody rushin’ ‘round. There’s an icy chill in the air, telling us that winter’s really here. Oh! I’m so glad that winter is here. Grab your sled and let out a happy cheer because it’s snowing, blowing, all through the day. Winter winds will surely blow all your cares away.

It popped into my head when Adam and I were driving around Naperville. I learned it in fourth grade for the Christmas program. Back then, they still called it a Christmas program. Oh, the olden days. Anyway, a quick Google search showed me that many people seemed to have learned that song when they were in fourth grade. I can still hear Mr. Zarlino teaching it to us during choir practice….

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)