Simple Woman's Daybook

For Nov. 14, 2010

Outside my window... The weather is actually pretty warm for November. The sun is shining and there is a gentle (warm!) breeze. I don't think we'll have too many of these days left, so they are a special blessing on a Sunday when I can send everyone outside -- including the dog.

I am thinking... that I can't believe November is half over and the girls' birthday is next weekend and then it's Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then a brand new year. I'm trying really hard to hang on to the days, but they seem to slip through the fingers like sand and, you know, I'm not a big fan of sand.

I am thankful ... for friendships that sustain me in this very busy life I have.

From the kitchen... the prep for Cream of Broccoli soup that I'll make later this afternoon. I make a lowfat version with fat-free half and half that really tastes like the "real" thing. It's a favorite even when it's a warmer-than-normal day in November.

I am wearing... blue leggings, pink shirt, wine colored bigshirt, black shoes (yes I'm wearing shoes because I'm about to go OUTSIDE once the girls and Rob get back from the bike path!)

I am creating... lists for Christmas gifts and baking and Thanksgiving trips, Nutcracker rehearsals etc. etc. etc. Believe me I would have preferred to write "the great American novel" but it ain't happening.

I am going ... to take a cruise with Rob and the girls to take a look at some houses (not to buy) and then stop at Dunkin' for an Iced Decaf.

I am reading... Martha Stewart's Living magazine. Lots of good holiday ideas that I won't do in there.

I am hoping... to get 7 hours of sleep every night this week. Every. Single. Night.

I am hearing... my friend Jeff (Wagenheim)'s Sunday radio show, Country, Blues & Bluegrass on WMUA in Northhampton on Sundays, 1-3 p.m. I'm so happy that I get to livestream it and that he has his kids do little bits of the show.

Around the house... well, I cleaned off the kitchen island this morning. And it was clean until at least lunchtime!

One of my favorite things... Stark. Raving. Mad. Mommy. a blog written by an old friend of mine. She was funny 25 years ago and she's even funnier now. In between the hilarity she blogs honestly about parenting a couple of special needs children, too.

A few plans for the week ahead... Hannah's drama class presentation, brownies, piano lessons, dance class observation, Nutcracker rehearsals -- pretty much the standard although I am thinking of getting my hair cut if time allows. Which it probably won't.

A picture I am sharing... My dear friend Amy and I took a Moms Only trip to Valley Forge on Monday and it was a fab time. Here she is one of those little huts and I just told her there was a ghost to her right, kind of in the corner. You can see the energy from the ghost sort of in Amy's hand. It looks like it could be the movement from her hand, but the same glow would have been on her arm or wrist. Sometimes ghosts sort of "glow" around people, and that's what's happening here. This is the only ghost picture I got though, because the place that is really haunted (Washington's Headquarters' attic) I wouldn't get close enough to shoot. Because I'm really a big chicken when it comes to these ghost things.