Seven Quick Takes--Post Turkey

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Happy Post-Thanksgiving! I hope you had a lovely Turkey Day!

Patty certainly had a good day.

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We had Buca di Beppo. They had the normal menu (well, a smaller menu, as is usual these days) an then Thanksgiving meal which was very good. I really liked the stuffing, which had Italian sausage in it—WINNER. It was a little different than regular stuffing (or dressing, as some of you say), but I really liked it!

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OK time for business!

OK first: my ebook, Catholic 101, is on sale for FOUR DOLLARS. If you are a blog subscriber, you get even MORE off with your special coupon code! So if you aren’t a subscriber, sign up now and get the code!

This book is based on my experiences as a first grade CCD—as I was teaching the kids things, I noticed that parents and other adults didn’t know the stuff I was teaching the kids! So I decided to write an ebook about it.

The ebook is gift-able—you can email it to people!—printable, and also readable on any screen.

The sale runs through next Friday (Dec. 4), at midnight. You don't need a code or anything. Just go buy it. :)

Second, Ave Maria Press’s Black Friday deal is on. Using the code BLACK20 to get 30% off and FREE SHIPPING PLUS an Advent booklet (while supplies last) for free! You can get Living Memento Mori here.

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I got my first Christmas gift today from Tiff (aka Billy’s mom)—three books that I will probably spend the rest of the day devouring. That and also digging out in Orchard House—it’s a disaster. One of the biggest issues with not going out to shop is that I get so many BOXES AND BAGS delivered on a weekly basis. So they pile up fully quickly! So today I’ll be making several trips to the bulk trash and trash compactor.

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Normally I put my tree up tomorrow during the OSU/ Michigan game. But….that game is now next week, so my schedule is all off. :) So I might not get the tree up until next week but it’s all good, right? I would like to get the nativity set out this weekend.

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In what has become a Thanksgiving tradition, I watched Miracle on 34th Street (the original) last night while I worked on my Find Your Fade Shawl. It’s actually quite a lovely tradition, if I do say so myself.

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And speaking of knitting, this weekend I will start picking up the stitches for the cardigan collar! Wish me luck. :)

Daybook No. 113

Outside my window::

Grey and cloudy. This is helped by my tree, which is glowing in the corner, and the Joy candle I have lit on my counter. I don't mind rainy days and this is a good day to get things done after the holiday weekend. SO much goodness happened, which I'll be writing about below--but suffice to say, I don't mind a rainy day today!

Wearing::

a Pure Barre sweatshirt, Athleta workout capris, and....flats. Yeah. This outfit is AWESOME, right? :) I'm going to be working out shortly, and since I'm hanging out around the house, does it matter what I wear? Well, OK, probably. But  don't care. :) 

In the CD player::

Renee Fleming's Christmas in New York, alternating with Part I of Messiah. And yes, Adele 25 is sitting on my counter, waiting to be heard.

Reading::

Cinder (again), and my crazy stack of Advent devotionals: 

Come, Lord Jesus is my FAVORITE devotional for this time of year. SO much wisdom, so much to pray about. 

Writing::

NaNo is over and I'm not even going to ouch Tempest until January. It is, though, tentatively the first book of a trilogy, so I've done some note taking and brief preliminary planning about those two books. I'm not pressuring myself to write anything substantial in those for awhile, and I'm sort of afraid to until I do Tempest edits. Suffice to say I have a vague idea of the content of those books, but that's all it is right now--a vague idea.

Also working on the new Catholicism series I talked about yesterday.  While I teach first graders, don't think I'm going to use first grade vocabulary and write like you are first graders, lovely readers. We'll use "big people" words and concepts. 

Tidying Up: 

I think I have just about reached the "click point" the book talk about--where you know how much of a thing you need. and you enjoy having. There are a few more books and movies that can go (this is like the fourth round of purging in that area), but I think I'm at the point of saturation. Yay! I didn't think I'd get here when I first started, to be honest. 

The second part of the book talks about finding places for everything. This is another hard thing for me because I have things that I need (like, Duct Tape), but where does it go? (It's too big for the junk drawer, it doesn't fit in the tool box, etc.) So that's what I'll be working on next. 

Since I've decorated for Christmas, there is some chaos around here, because I have to move furniture to put up my tree. But it's all good. 

Thanksgiving::

I had a great holiday. Did you? I hope you did. Thanksgiving day was in the high sixties here, so we got to hang out on the deck and enjoy the warmth before dinner!

And yes, that's my sister, who came up from Houston to surprise me! She's here until tomorrow. We've had a LOT of fun while she's been here--she helped me decorate my tree, we went to the Penguins/Jackets game with our brother, and we all (us siblings) had a great meal last night at The Barn, one of our favorite local restaurants. Since Mel lives in Texas now, I don't get to see her nearly as often as I used to, and it's always fun when she comes up! 

I also had a great day with my friend Sarah (who made that GORGEOUS wreath two photos up). We had lunch and talked on a rainy Saturday while her husband watched the OSU/Michigan game with some of our friends. She's another friend I almost never get to see, and not nearly as much as I'd like. 

What was the best part of your Thanksgiving Weekend?