I am just about finished with my Christmas decorating.
Yesterday I decorated each of the bedrooms, the living room, dining room and kitchen. It was 6 at night and I was putting up the lights in the bay window in the living room and the windows in the dining room.
Today I will put up the lights on the French doors in the kitchen. I have left that until today as I will also be changing the curtains on the doors - so I will take off the current curtains, put up the lights and then put up the winter curtains. It will all be finished except for the tree which I will not do until close to Christmas as I will be doing it with Callum this year.
I was thoroughly exhausted last night as it was just not decorating for Christmas; but, also putting away all the fall and Thanksgiving decorations. Well now a month to enjoy it.
Last night I began decorating the house for Christmas. I am a little behind because Callum spent Thanksgiving night into yesterday at my house; but, I will take him any day over decorating.
The bathrooms are done as are the spare bedrooms. Today I will tackle the downstairs and putting up the Christmas lights in each of the major windows. I normally do not put up a Christmas tree or at least I have not for the 10 years I have lived in Peekskill because I normally did not spend Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my own house; but, this year I will. I have ordered a small 3 foot real tree that will already come in a stand. I am going to purchase Peanuts (Charlie Brown & characters) and then I will have Callum come over to help decorate it. I would like to think of it as a new tradition that we will start together.
I will get the house totally completed by Sunday and then will be able to enjoy the soft glow of the season.
I am not a proponent of Black Friday - even more so as it no longer begins on Friday; but, on Thanksgiving Day - Thursday.
Is anything really worth interrupting your dinner and time with your family to stand in line in the cold; and, by the way in New York it was sleeting and snowing. I have never stood in line for hours, nor gotten up at the crack of dawn to shop. I do not like crowds and no sale is worth being crushed, jostled and fighting over an item.
Remember what the season is supposed to be about - giving thanks and what is truly important in life - and that isn't the latest gizmo.
Today is Thanksgiving - a day for family, friends, food, football and the Macy's Day parade.
All of these which I enjoy. Although my family is small - I am thankful for them and how close some of us have become over the past few years. I have wonderful friends and although I may not speak or see some of them in many years - we can all pick up where we left off. They are always in my thoughts and prayers and I am forever grateful that I have them.
Today as you sit around the table - think of those people and the things for which you are grateful and give thanks.
Maybe I am a purist at heart; but, I do not believe in Christmas lights being up before Thanksgiving.
I have no issues with putting up your lights and Christmas decorations on the Friday after Thanksgiving; but, I am a staunch believer in NOT before. It is the same way that I feel regarding the stores being open on Thanksgiving day to do your Christmas shopping and starting Black Friday a little earlier. Why can't we celebrate this traditional American holiday with what it is meant; family, friends and food.
Enough of life is "rushed" - slow down and savor the day.
I know that it sometimes gets out of hand my being organized, making lists and recording conversations.
But now more than ever all that diligence has paid off. I have had to speak with nurses, doctors, case workers, etc. and it has been good that I have dated and recorded everything I have done, conversations that have occurred and all my documentation.
Is it a lot of work to be this way - YES - but, this time it has been well worth it.
I cannot see to stop feeling and being tired - when will I get my energy back?
I am still not sleeping well and I am awake by 5 or 5:30 each morning; but, at some point in the afternoon I get extremely tired and have little to no energy left to get anything done. Or I have the opposite effect and will be busy all day working out, doing errands, cleaning, cooking, etc. and then my body is so overstimulated that I cannot fall asleep.
I wish I could turn my mind off - stop thinking, running scenes through my head - if I could make my mind blank maybe then I could sleep uninterrupted.
The last couple of months have been difficult and the last few weeks have been horrible.
I am now focusing on myself and how I can get better. The time for me to decompress, to de-stress, get my blood pressure back to normal and to try and get some rest and sleep. I need to get rid of the large bags under my eyes and to feel happy and worthy again.
My first step is to workout and get some anger, aggressiveness out through various workouts. It began on Thursday with kickboxing and imagining who I would hit or kick in my own defense. I then took a Zumba class on Friday - this is an aggressive class and I was so happy that I made it through the hour. Yesterday I did aqua aerobics and today I will do another Zumba class.
To try to ground myself and to reduce the stress on Monday I will take the gentle Yoga class - I am hoping that the focus on me will get me back to my state of normalcy.
I began baking on Thursday - this will continue through the New Year.
My friend Linda's birthday was on Thursday and I was meeting her for coffee and to take a Zumba class on Friday. We are going out to celebrate her birthday; but, I know that she loves pumpkin so I made her two loaves of pumpkin bread with a crumb topping. I hope that she enjoys it.
I will bake again for Thanksgiving - more pumpkin bread, a pumpkin crumb cake and an apple cobbler. Hopefully my family will enjoy it.
Is it cheating or being smart? I bought turnips and sweet potatoes that were already peeled and cut.
Not only that but I also bought peeled garlic cloves and celery and onions that were already diced. I know I paid extra money for the convenience; but, that is exactly what I wanted was the convenience and the saving of not having to do it myself.
I will still be peeling and cutting potatoes for the mashed potatoes and apples for the apple cobbler - I am making fresh cranberry sauce and not buying the canned type. I am also making two desserts; the apple cobbler and a pumpkin crumb cake and that is not counting the pumpkin bread and fresh Puerto Rican eggnog.
I think I am entitled to a few shortcuts - and I certainly appreciate the person who did all the peeling and dicing.
Today was another productive day and the word was "organization".
It was time to get the car its routine service maintenance and get it ready for winter, thank goodness I had a 15% coupon as it actually cost me less than it would have. The cars have been rotated, there are new windshield wipers and de-icer fluid and it had the oil changed. All good.
I bought all the non-perishables for Thanksgiving dinner and marked them off my grocery list. But, I also cleaned and organized each of my kitchen cabinets - something that probably rarely gets done in any household. Lastly I did a load of laundry.
So I am really proud of myself that I have taken the time to do this and now today I will begin my exercise program. This will help me physically and mentally.
Yesterday was a productive day - on something I haven't done in over a year; but, felt good.
By 11AM I had washed and dried towels, had breakfast, read the newspapers and cleaned out two linen closets, re-arranged them and decided what gets donated and what gets thrown out. It had been over a year since the linen closet had been cleaned and organized and I am glad I did it because it certainly stopped me from buying more items.
I found at least 5 shower gels and 10 body lotions - full bottles, 3 sticks of deodorant 3 boxes of band aids and several boxes of Q-tips. I think I have all the toiletries I need for at least a year.
Then I typed up my Thanksgiving dinner menu and put together my grocery list. Now I am reviewing what gets made 1 or 2 days before Thanksgiving and what waits until the day.
I will start pulling out all the serving platters and bowls and labeling them as I saw done on the Food Network's The Kitchen. I want to enjoy this holiday with my family.
I am keeping busy and trying to take care of myself at the same time, organizing and being organized helps.
Yesterday I had Optimum come to my house and change out my cable boxes to a multi-room cable box.
I will now be able to record up to 5 shows at once and see a 6th show - not something I could do before. Lately, I have had to watch shows on demand and determine if I had seen something or not.
This will not only let me record all my shows, see them from the living room or bedroom; but, is also saving me $12.00 per month!!
On Friday morning we had the first snow of the season in the Hudson Valley. Oy Vey - what is this winter going to be like!!??
Last night or rather at 1AM in the morning we are due to have snow, freezing rain and ice - it will certainly be cold enough for there to be enough precipitation in the air to freeze and make driving the hills of the Hudson Valley dangerous.
I am still unsure what the weather will be like this winter - one version says worse than last year and another states that it will be mild. So far I would say it will be worse.
I don't think there is anything I can do about it - but, be mindful and prepared.
I need to review my Thanksgiving dinner menu and then put together my grocery list.
Ideally I would like to see what I can buy now which may be on sale and what needs to wait until a day or two before Thanksgiving to purchase. Since it has been over 40 years since I have cooked Thanksgiving dinner I would like to put together a calendar of what I can do on the Tuesday (like set the table), what can be done on Wednesday (like the pumpkin bread and coquito) and what time I will need to begin cooking on Thanksgiving day which will depend upon what time we eat dinner.
Lately unless I write everything down I do not seem to remember much - so I am not leaving anything to chance.
My nephew Gerard turns 39 on Monday; but, due to his job schedule we celebrated it last night.
He had a choice of going out to dinner or my cooking him whatever he wanted, he chose for me to cook for him pastelon. Pastelon is a Puerto Rican dish that is made with ripe plantain bananas and ground meat and layered like a lasagna. I made salad to the meal and birthday cake was a carrot cake from my bakery, Homestyle Desserts - which in my opinion makes the best carrot cake.
The focus of making his birthday dinner and knowing that Callum would be spending the night was a remedy I wanted to calm me and ground me - though it helped a little - it didn't totally do the trick.
I need to get my emotions back under control and I am hoping that cooking, focusing on my small family and working out will have that effect.
It has been over 42 years since I have cooked a Thanksgiving dinner - and I need to do so this year.
Luckily there will only probably 5 or 6 of us for dinner and only 4 of us who will eat turkey; therefore, I will make a turkey breast instead of an entire turkey. Also, Carrie has offered to make the vegetables leaving me to focus on mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn bread, stuffing and desserts.
I need to finalize everything, get my grocery list together and then put together my timeline for cooking everything.
I started getting myself set by ordering my turkey breast yesterday at the grocery store. It is an 8 pound turkey breast which I will pick up the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I have an Ina Gartner recipe for it and I am actually looking forward to making it.
There is a first for everything and this will be my first and a start to a new tradition in our family.
Well there was no way I could wait any longer and yesterday afternoon I weatherproofed my kitchen French doors.
This has been the third year that I have done it and I am unsure as to whether it really works or not; but, my thoughts are there is no harm in trying. At least today it wasn't windy or cold and I could easily do it by myself. Okay my expression of easily is that I need to use my ladder, duct tape and scissors - an hour later the film is on. Now I need to put my portable shovel and ice scrapers in the car.
Here's hoping it will not be a harsh winter; but, with the temperature supposed to be only 39 next Tuesday - I don't think we should be too optimistic.
Yesterday was Veteran's Day - but, did we truly observe this day and honor these individuals.
My town did nothing to celebrate the day that we have designated for those men and women who ensure that we have the freedom and liberties of living in a democratic society.
Instead what I saw yesterday were lines of people at stores taking advantage of the numerous store sales. When did this country decide to take every opportunity to have a sale? It has been Labor Day, Election Day and now Veteran's Day sales - each of these days has a deeper meaning to it.
Can we turn back the clock on certain things - and this would be one of them - celebrate the day for what it is and not another capitalistic opportunity.
Finally the weight has been lifted.
For several weeks now I have felt a heaviness on my shoulders and a sadness regarding the things I do. It is not a feeling that I ever enjoy as I tend to be a happy, optimistic, glass is half full individual.
Yesterday I was able to lift that weight off my shoulders and begin to take care of myself again.
I am not a "me" person; but, yesterday and today - that is who I have to think of.
My astrological sign is a Leo; in fact, I once had my astrology read and it turns out I am a double Leo which means all those traits come en masse.
I am generous to a fault; and, lately to a detriment to myself. But one thing I pride myself is in my principles, my ethics and in doing what is right. That is something I have to do now. I went to Catholic school and as a good Catholic school girl we were taught that we always say yes, do what is right and do not make waves.
Well I have to make waves - I need to keep my integrity.
All I can say is "Thank God" for the Geek Squad.
I needed to print an unbelievable amount of paperwork yesterday and my printer decided to not work properly. After I went out and bought 3 reams of paper and 2 sets of black and colored ink.
I was on the phone with the Geek Squad three times - I have no idea why some documents would just hang my printer and I could not even remove them from the queue. I was not a happy person.
Finally the last technician who had been my first technician stayed on line with me until I had printed everything.
I literally printed and collated for 10 hours - but, at least I got it all done and organized.
It is only November 8th and already all the weathermen have stated that horrible phrase, "polar vortex".
Last night on my way home even with a wool jacket and my raincoat I could feel all the wind and cold around my arms and chest. Thankfully, today I will be stopping by the cleaners to pick up my winter coats. Out now come the turtlenecks and my wool socks - I personally think it is too early to deal with this weather; why doesn't Mother Nature feel that way?
My advice - keep warm, think comfort food and how about some hot chocolate?!
Yesterday was a dreary day and all was gray.
It didn't help that I was in Manhattan and walking throughout the city wishing I had longer legs so as to be able to traverse the corners without getting my shoes and feet wet. The other was to watch out for the umbrellas - don't want to get an eye poked out by someone who is not looking to see who is in their radius.
Thankfully it should be finished by today - and maybe this afternoon the sun will come out.
It just gets dark too early!!
Since we changed our clocks back on Saturday at 2AM - the sun now sets before 5PM each evening. I have noticed that the sky is brighter when I leave for the office in the morning; but, I find it depressing for it to be dark in the evening.
I am definitely a sun worshiper - love the warmth and enjoy light. All of these items are not available towards the end of fall and as we move into winter.
I have a few throws around various rooms to be able to wrap up and all the lights are turned on - this will be my state of being until around March.
Despite what the temperature is outside or in my house I cannot get my body warm enough.
This has never happened to me before. Yes, I have gone through many things in my life; and, I am again at this time and it is not pleasant. But never before have I been chilled to the bone like I am now.
Yesterday afternoon I had the space heater on in the living room and it is set at 75 degrees and only 2 feet from my body and yet I am freezing. I know that this is the way my body is reacting to the stress that I am going through - still not something I am enjoying.
I am keeping it together for the time being and just bundling up.
I am looking forward to voting today and for this day to be over; but, maybe not for the reason you expect.
I am tired of the endless phone calls, my mailbox full of election pamphlets, the tiresome television commercials and people knocking on my door asking me who I am going to vote for or telling me what they stand for.
I can get all that information on my own by reading, understanding the issues and where each candidate stands on it and what they have done while in term.
If this bombardment has just been for a mid year election, can you imagine what we will live through for 16 months until election day 2016??!!
I believe in giving each holiday its due course, so I was majorly disappointed yesterday when I was watching a TV show and heard Christmas songs.
Did I remove my Halloween decor on November 1st - absolutely. In fact, after the last Trick or Treater I changed the flag and my front door decor. On Saturday late afternoon away went the witches, ghosts and other Halloween items and out came my pilgrims, Indians and turkeys.
Throw pillows were changed, table runner, kitchen towels and pot holders now all sport the Thanksgiving theme. This will stay up until the day after Thanksgiving so this can be enjoyed.
Don't rush the one of the few holidays that every American can identify with and enjoy.
Yesterday was November 1st and already I heard two countdowns.
The first one was for Thanksgiving - yes here in about another 3 1/2 weeks. Then the next thing was that there were 8 shopping weekends until Christmas - none of which pertain to me since all my shopping is all done.
So I am not trying to scare you; but, beware that perhaps the retail industry is by already starting the countdown.
Lately I take any opportunity to be grateful for some happy, peaceful moments in my life and today, Saturday is one of them.
Last night Carrie and Callum spent the night at my house - it was great to have the company and spend the time together. This morning after breakfast I will have the opportunity to do my outing with Callum and hit all the stores that he likes.
For me it is the simple things that make me happy and love those around me.
