Friday Ramblings

* Little by little, the kids and I have been putting up all of our Christmas decorations. You know what was really fun? Finding things in the giant storage tub that I bought last year during the great post-holiday sales. I found new lights, candles, a cookie platter, a tree topper, and lots of plates, napkins, cups and cookie tins. That was so smart of me! I need to remember to surprise myself again next year.

* Also, Laurel took pictures last year of where we had all our decorations. She is so smart. So this year, instead of wondering where we put this candle and that teapot, we just looked at iPhoto. We're so savvy around here. Does everyone do that? Did it just take me 20 years to figure that one out?

* I made my first batch of Christmas cookies last night: jam diagonals, our absolute favorite.

* One more Christmas-related item. I love what we did with our big collage frame in the dining room. Normally it has my own seasonal nature photographs in it, but yesterday we put Christmas cards in it and it looks fabulous. A few of the cards are ones my Aunt Ann painted and the others are just ones we've liked and kept around. And my smart girl already took a picture of the, um, picture so that we know what to do next year.

* I figured out our annual "how much debt did we pay off this year" accounting a few nights ago. We always do it on Nov. 30 since we began Dave Ramsey a few years ago. We were happy to see that, in spite of college tuition kicking in this year, we paid off over $11K in debt!

* And that's about all I have to say. I am on a mission to finish cleaning and decorating today. I have one of those days ahead that involves watching friends' kids, shuttling my own kids here and there, and hopefully getting to spend a little time with my parents. I'm not seeing too much book-learning in today's forecast.