Regression Night

I spent my evening reading books by Judy Blume, Kevin Henkes and Mercy Mayer.  I got to revisit characters I loved when I was little, like Lilly and Little Critter, all in the name of grad school.  After I got out of the shower I turned on the tv and found Space Jam playing on encore.  Tonight has been a top night!

Holiday Rules

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and, given my recent absence, a happy November, in general.

I love almost everything about Thanksgiving and Christmas. I don't love the crowds in stores and I don't love the heavy commercialization of Christmas that has pretty much stomped out all that Thanksgiving stands for, but I'm a fan of everything else.

Weirdly, I have a lot of rules for myself when it comes to Christmas and the holidays. 

1.  I always adopt two Angels from the Salvation Army Angel Tree.  And I always adopt one boy and one girl.  And I always get them the toy of their  choice and a couple outfits.  Sorry kids who want bikes and video games, someone else will have to pick you.  I just can't afford it.  But Barbies and Cars?  I'm all over that!

2.  The only Christmas shopping I allow myself to do before Thanksgiving is Angel Tree shopping.  Why?  Because I refuse to deal with toy aisles when I get too much closer to Christmas.  Also, the deadline for having gifts purchased, wrapped and back at the tree is December 11, which doesn't give me a lot of time after Thanksgiving to get it all done.

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3.  I love peppermint mochas, but I cannot allow myself to order one before Thanksgiving.  It feels too much like I'm cheating on pumpkin spice lattes.  I expressed to Paul the other night how much I wanted a peppermint mocha and how bummed I was that I couldn't have one.  He didn't quite understand my plight.

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4.  I love gravy on dressing, preferably when combined with mashed potatoes and turkey.  But the ONLY time of the year when I can eat this is Thanksgiving.  Otherwise it just tastes wrong, delicious, but wrong. 

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5.  Christmas music must not purposefully be played until after Thanksgiving.  Though I'm not going to lie, I cheated on this one this year.  I caved to the pressure of every store I've walked into since Halloween and listened to some Christmas tunes a few days before Thanksgiving.  But I didn't enjoy it as much because it's just wrong.

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6.  Christmas decorations do NOT go up until the month of December.  I don't care if the mall was decorated a week after Halloween.  I don't care if Thanksgiving is over, so now I'm "allowed" to do it.  I will decorate in December, like the good lord intended.

Do you have any weird rules that you can't let yourself break?  And what's your favorite seasonal coffee?

I'm Still Here

I'm still here, but life has been pretty boring lately.  The last few weeks have been filled with work, the gym, homework, church-searching and relaxing in what little time is left.  I haven't been doing any crafting at all.  I've just been on a search the perfect Christmas wreath project.  Which I haven't found yet.  I promise I'll be back as soon as things get more exciting!