Whew, I gotta sit down

Yes, I know. There are no Thanksgiving pictures or stories up yet. Neither are there the same for the work holiday party. Tis the season to not blog, apparently.

Tis the season to chase groundhog sized squirrels out of the suet we get for our birdies. I've already chased them out of there several times and decided it was time to put the dog out to go potty and help deter the fatties. I felt bad when I heard a mad scrabbling under the grill cover and some tiny, cinnamon colored birds took off. Sorry, guys. The friendly beast won't even notice you, so eat all you want. And peck the squirrels as you please!

Tis the season for getting every school test in before the Christmas break. Liam has a book talk on Flush by Carl Hiaasen and a math test today. Carrie has a math test today, as well. Damon? Well, Damon's job today is to bring home all his lost and found in addition to bringing home everything he wore TO school today. He's missing one glove (because I found the other one in the lost and found at school yesterday) and one hat (which he wore yesterday). He came home without his mittens yesterday afternoon and Liam found them in the driveway when he went out to fetch the mail. The kid is a PigPen of belongings these days...

Tis the season to finally box up the warm weather clothes. Three weeks ago I was hanging out laundry while wearing my tank top. I prefer that. This Arctic Blast stuff is, one again, less than desirable.

Tis the season to bring out all the remaining Christmas decorations that haven't been up since Christmas in July. Don't judge. It finally happened. I was so far behind that I came out ahead. It can be done, people!

Tis the season to bake. Or, I would, if I could find my kitchen. The table (and floor) are strewn with math practice papers, Christmas decorations, cookbooks, gum wrappers, receipts waiting to be entered, and a stray nail polish bottle. Not to mention the remains of a tortilla Carrie started munching on several days ago. And Liam's dessert wrapper from last night. And Liam's breakfast dishes. And, lo and behold, my unfinished mug of coffee!

Don't get me started on the contents of the kitchen sink or the kitchen counter. Let's just say there's crock pot innards involved. Maybe I will go ahead and bake and clean up the mess all at once...

Home group is tonight, so I've already tidied the Old Lady Room which included vacuuming up popcorn of which I did not participate in the partaking. Hmmm. There are also colorful throws and pillows on the couch, awaiting our guests. There is a red fleece with snowflakes festooning it somewhere in this house, or maybe the playhouse, that I can not find to save my life. Don't feel sorry for me- we have others in spades- I feel a bit embarrassed to be searching for one when we have a ridiculous amount of others. 

Feeling a little convicted here, so I may or may not come back to that later, but we'll move on for now.

I am not cleaning this kitchen table by myself, so I'll move on there, too. 

Still no squirrels. Triskal can stay out a few more minutes.

Thanks to PaPa and Grandmama for cleaning out their attic and bestowing excess Christmas decorations on us. In one of the boxes I discovered, to my great delight, a set of the NOEL elves which never spell out NOEL in our family. My grandparents had a set that somehow ended up spelling everything possible but NOEL when we visited. When we called them to let them know we'd made it home safe, someone would mention in a faux-perplexed voice, "I don't understand how those crazy elves are spelling LEON. I know when I put them out they said NOEL..."

I put mine up as high as I could, spelling LEON, with a random plastic elf I found tucked arm-in-arm with the N elf. Our elves on the shelf are better than yours.

Tis the season for heat, thankfully, and that is another blog post not done yet. Yoiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. We've been cozy inside while it's been in the 20's outside. Thank you, Lord, for holding off on the horrid chilliness while we were dependent on only our fireplace. The 70 degree days were definitely a gift, and I'd take them any day of the week. Any week. 

Tis the season for Christmas music. Dada has created a Pentatonix holiday station on Pandora and he enjoys it, loudly, as often as he's home. I'm warming up to all the Christmas everythings, but continue to play non-holiday music when it's my turn to choose. I won't tell what's blasting right now while I'm cleaning (and taking a break from cleaning)... but it rhymes with Fit Pull. Don't judge. It's excellent cleaning music. "Fiiiiiiiiiirebaaaaaall!"

Tis the season for germs. Damon has had a cough for about 6 weeks and only now has a full-blown cold. Judging by his holiday zest, it isn't slowing him down much, but his poor little nose is red like Rudolph and we're going through tissues like nobody's business. I'm choosing to be thankful that he's using the tissues instead of his arms and sleeves. Upon entering the elementary school office yesterday, I heard the secretary mention they'd sent nine kids home with fevers before lunch the day before. Wash those hands.

Tis time to get back to work. Have a wonderful weekend! Be safe if you are anywhere that it's supposed to storm and that white scourge comes down from the sky. Stay warm!