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Week 48 started with an adventure to the northern reaches of our state. Okay, not too far north but, certainly far enough!Clinton was our destination with a quick stop in Pennington along the way. The Mistletoe Quilt Shop Hop was going on for the entire month of November, but as of this date in November, I had only visited one shop. We had a wonderful day. We visited two quilt shops and spend some time at the Clinton Dickens Festival.
Getting back into the swing of school since my accident has been difficult. Five day weeks are really tiring and I find that I stress about it so much that I have difficulty sleeping - not a good combination. I try to find the time to relax, a hot cup of Christmas Tea always helps!
This week, the week right after Thanksgiving, is usually the week of my holiday party. This year we canceled the party due to the accident. I was happy that my sister brought my nieces over to put the ornaments on the tree. We giggled and laughed and decorated. The tree looked terrific after they left, I had just a few ornaments to add to the top before the star could be placed on top!
As always, my weeks begin on Saturday, for this year at least! This Saturday, the beginning of week 49, was a stay at home day. I just love those! It all started with a live chat on Saturday to finish up Ali Edwards' One Little Word class over at Big Picture Classes.
Some decorating and some organizing and then a trip to the Dickens' Festival in Medford. It felt good to be outside for a bit, but then it got really cold and we had to call it a night. However first, a trip to Starbucks and then home! Sunday brought more of the same on the home front, cleaning and organizing. You would think that the house would be in great order but, unfortunately, it is not! Monday brought another trip to the burn center in the fog. It was very hard to see as we negotiated the bridge. Thankfully, by the time we headed home, most of the fog had lifted.
Conferences at school were the story of this week. Monday I was at school until 9:30. Tuesday, conferences were in the afternoon. We took in an early movie and then discovered that Michael Buble would be on tv. I love the picture I took of the tv with Oscar the Grouch holding Michael's Christmas CD.
Wednesday a half day of school and evening conferences again. Thursday we needed to stop at the doctor's office after conferences so we made a quick stop in Haddonfield. I just love the way the town is decorated for the holiday. Friday brought our annual holiday trip to New York. We took the train into Penn Station and met the rest of the family at the Hilton before heading to Macy's for a visit with Santa. Dinner at Patsy's rounded out the night!The year is just about complete. I am so thrilled that I was able to keep up with Project Life this year and I cannot wait to continue the journey into 2012. I have my binder nearly set up and I will share that before the first of the new year.
There are a few projects that I would like to undertake in the upcoming year. I need to think it through and decide which will be the most meaningful before I make any commitments!
The scheduling of our activities for this week allowed us to really accomplish quite a bit. On the fourth day of Christmas, the 28th, we ventured across the bridge, via the high speed line.
Our first stop, the Constitution Center at 5th and Arch. I really enjoyed Fighting for Democracy which will be there until the 16th of January in case you get a chance to visit. Then it was off to Reading Terminal for a quick bite.
It was a beautifully chilly night in the city. We shivered our way up Market Street to Macy's, hoping to catch the holiday light show with music supplied by the Wanamaker Organ. We were not disappointed. The crowd was not overwhelming and the show itself was special. I just loved being able to see a Philadelphia holiday tradition.
There was only one more sight on my list. Rittenhouse Square. We had walked along the perimeter the evening we visited the Curtis Institute and I was anxious to actually see the lights and the numerous holiday trees up close. I just love twinkling white lights and they made the square look like a fairy land. I am so glad we took the time to enjoy the sights and sounds of the holiday in Philadelphia. This has truly been a relaxing and enjoyable winter break!
On the third day of Christmas my true love and I bought season tickets to the Ritz Theater. We are so excited! The first show is Cats and we will see that sometime in February. This year they are also doing The Children's Hour and South Pacific, to name a couple of my favorites from the line-up.
Next on our agenda was a trip to Barnes and Noble. We love to hang out in bookstores and we have not had the opportunity since Mark moved East in October. We grabbed a couple of lattes at Starbucks and settled in for a couple of hours of book perusing. Good fun!
A quick stop at the China Pearl for dinner was the perfect ending to a perfect outing. Our meal was delicious and I know that we will be stopping by again for dinner in the not to distant future.
Our evening ended with a movie, "Sherlock Holmes." I am so glad that we saw it in the theater. I just love Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law together. Good fun.
We are really enjoying our time off. I am so glad that we created an agenda for these days so that there is a healthy balance of work and relaxation, as well as time to create. Everyday should allow for a bit of creativity, we are going to work on that into the coming year!
In an attempt to make sure that we take advantage of my time off, we created a schedule for this week. Monday, the second day of Christmas, was set aside for individual choice. I chose to scrapbook.
My current projects include finishing up our Project Life for Twenty Eleven, finishing up my December Daily and setting up next year's Project Life album. Cindy joined me and I made great progress on all of my projects.
Mark chose to spend a part of the day writing and then, a part of his day was spent with a friend visiting our area from Seattle.
All in all, a great day where everyone got to do just what they wanted. A very lovely second day of Christmas!
This is my week to catch up. Most of my pages for my Project Life were completed in a timely manner, but since the accident I have gotten a bit behind. Catching up, mainly do to the fact that I need to hand write many of my entries, has been slow. November 12th through November 18th, otherwise known as Week 46, was another full week here at our house. To begin with, the week began with Mark and I in Albuquerque visiting his step-mom.
Saturday we explored Old City Albuquerque. We sampled local cuisine, shopped for holiday gifts and just enjoyed taking in the sights. Lots of photographs. Lots of walking.
Sunday, an early flight home. Did the laundry, watched football and did a bit of schoolwork before calling it a day. I included one of our room keys into one of the smaller pockets, after this photo was taken, and also included a postcard from my sister's family that was in the mailbox when we arrived home.The right hand side of the spread features photos from an ordinary sort of week. Postal love, evening tea and photos from a trip to our town center. I just love that Project Life fosters the gathering of everyday memorabilia and events. The bits and pieces of our lives that would otherwise be lost in the shuffle are now preserved in this one album. When I scrapbook photos, I have found myself referring back to my Project Life album just to help me remember the events and stories more accurately.
Week 47, otherwise known as the week of Thanksgiving. Another very full week which started on Saturday with the setting up of the spare bedroom.
Autumn chores included the raking of the leaves, some cleaning and organizing inside and out. Monday saw us back at Crozer for my first visit in two weeks. Mark and I took close-ups of my hands to show the progress of the healing and we spent some time photographing the Christmas decorations that were being put up. I included a 6 x 12 page protector, with an additional 6 photos, that sits between the two spreads for this week.
Cranberries boiling on the stove, one of my favorite fall images. The shot in the lower left hand corner is of the sky over Route 70 as we stopped at the Green Top Market, Mark's favorite pie shop, on Black Friday. The sky was gorgeous, changing from blue to pink and purple. I'm not sure that the photo really captures it!
Two different versions of the spread show both sides of the six photo insert.
Tonight, as I type this, I am actually working on setting up my Project Life Album for 2012. I am excited for the new year and new possibilities. I am so looking forward to working on Project Life in the upcoming year. Here's a sneak peak of what's in process...
I want to remember:
Waking up beside my husband,
Seeing Jason on the couch as I headed downstairs,
My kids making sure everyone was in their "right" spot,
Jason making breakfast,
Jessie enjoying her old room,
Enjoying our time together,
just us four.
Christmas Eve, for us, is all about gathering with family.
Mark, the kids and I headed over to my mom's late in the afternoon to start the process of getting dinner ready while the rest of the family was out at church. Lasagna is our traditional meal and we brought the traditional dessert, Buche de Noel. Yum.
After dinner we exchange gifts and just enjoy each other's company.
The evening is an early one, which is good because I still had my santa responsibilities to attend to at home. Jess and I watched the Polar Express while I finished wrapping. Jess helped by putting tags and bows on the packages that is until she realized that some of the gifts were for her. I loved that she posted on Facebook about our silliness!
Before bed, we lit our bayberry candles to ensure good luck in the coming year. Exhausted, we settled into our beds for the last sleep before Christmas, feeling particularly blessed.
Today was all about the winding down of preparations and the gearing up for the celebrating.
Today there are only two sleeps until Christmas.
Today I woke up with a very sore throat.
Today Mark ordered the Buche de Noel.
Today I finally went to my local mall and found some gifts that I have searched for high and low.
Today was the last day of school before the holiday.
Today I made Turkey Divan for dinner.
Today Mark picked up some last minute gift certificates for me.
Today I wrote our holiday letter.
Today, although it is almost tomorrow, I still have so much to do!
And, in spite of my lengthy to-do list, I am feeling relaxed and calm.
Today, I am grateful for that.
