Snow and cold…

Every couple of days it seems like we’re in for more white stuff. Between that and the cold (I heard this morning our high temperatures about 15 degrees colder than normal), well I’m getting tired of winter already. Since winter doesn’t officially start until 12/22 that’s not a good thing.

I keep hearing the furnace kick in and I hate the thought of that. This house is heated by natural gas and the price is going up all the time. It’s hard for me to justify the costs when it’s just me. I’ve got the window plastic on but still the house seems drafty. The insulation I tried to put around the front door got damp with the fall rains and now it’s falling off. What’s that about best laid plans???

Christmas seems to be creeping up on me. Every time I think I’m doing all right getting things done I figure out that there’s some other things that I really need to get done. Right now the calendar is about finished. I’m doing some formatting and things on it now. The plan is to take it to the printer on Monday so it’ll be ready hopefully by the next weekend.

My Christmas cards are almost all out. Each time I think I’m done I seem to think of someone else I should send them to. I’ve been debating about sending them to closer family members or just waiting until Christmas when I see them.

Decorating – well the tiny tree is up, the stockings are up, and a few other things are ready. I’ll admit it – I spent more time decorating at the office than I have here at home. I tend to spend more time there so it seemed logical. The office is mostly done in blue and silver with a few poinsettas (which I understand are poisounous to cats so I can’t have them at my house – Buddy’s a plant chewer) and a small live fir tree. I’m hoping the tree will continue to grow and add some green to the office. I didn’t put any lights up at the office – sometimes people forget to shut them off and I don’t want to be responsible for a fire hazard.

Shopping – well I’m working on that. This bad weather has slowed me down from where I’d really rather be (which by the way is done if I had my choice!).

Baking – well, I guess I haven’t thought much about that. Since I’ll probably do veggies and fruit for the family Christmas eve dinner, I don’t do much for baking usually. I’ll cook when Matt and Christi are home but I’m not sure about baking. I did have a nice treat at work this past week. One woman took a ROLO candy, put it on a pretzel round, microwaved it to melt the candy and then put a green or red M&M on top. It was a very nice sweet/salty combination.

At work, the new employee seems to be doing quite well. She seems to be picking up things pretty well and is eager to learn.

We got word this week that Federal Government offices can be closed on Christmas Eve day since it falls on a Monday. There is some speculation that it also has to do with 2008 being an election year too. Either way – it’s much appreciated. There are some branches that are required to stay open but I think in the end that will primarily be security, safety, and basic service related. Although our branch hasn’t officially announced that they will allow the day off, we really anticipate that they will.

Other than that – well I think the theme song for right now for me is “I will survive!” :)

Best wishes for a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season!