Reading: Vinegar Hill, by A. Manette Ansay, which I finished this weekend. It's about a woman who struggles to cope when circumstances force her family to move in with her husband's rigid, intolerant parents. Although the book was supposed to be set in 1972, there was no real sense of the time period. The in-laws are one-dimensional villains, and the main character is too passive to be interesting. This one of the few Oprah picks I have read. I hope most of her choices are better.

Grateful for: The recent stretch of warm weather we had, which unfortunately has ended. We're back into winter cold again.

Catching Up

I ended up taking an unplanned hiatus from writing over the past few days. The post-Thanksgiving long weekend flew by because I was trying to complete twenty hours of work in three days. Thus I had two very late nights on Friday night and Sunday. Fortunately, I did manage to finish the work and get the jobs turned in to the Press on Monday, which means I will get paid this week, which means the check I write for Daniel's tuition for this month won't bounce. Woo hoo. It's pretty scary, this adventure of living from one check to the next. I just wish we had more of a cushion. Right now, each one of our sons has more money in savings and CDs than Tab and I do.

Tab's major accomplishment this weekend was his shopping adventure on Friday, when he got up at 5:30 to take advantage of Christmas sales. On the day after Thanksgiving many stores offer early bird specials, with some items discounted as much as 50 percent between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Last year Tab found some terrific bargains and completed nearly all our Christmas shopping for the boys on that one day. I'm glad he's such a dedicated shopper because it means that I don't have to be. I don't like shopping very much, and I especially hate dealing with the crowds. On Friday morning, I heard Tab leave the room, and then I happily fell back asleep for another few hours.

Our boys gave us an unexpected but much appreciated gift on Saturday morning: a few extra hours to sleep in. The three of them got themselves up and dressed and then watched PBS and played quietly (amazing, that!) until Tab and I woke up at 9:30. I can't remember the last time I slept so late. It was all the more delightful because Friday night had been one of my very late nights.

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur of work interspersed with trips to the playground to take advantage of the warmer weather.

And now here we are on the fast track to Christmas. When I was a kid, the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas was endless; now it passes in the blink of Rudolph's red nose. I'm already starting to get anxious thinking about everything that needs to happen between now and then.

previous       index       e-mail me       next