Thursday Miscellany

* I love my quiet mornings. I do the same thing every single morning: make coffee, eat a banana, spend a little devotional time, watch the sunrise, read what's happening on Facebook, drink coffee, scan a few blogs. The cat usually curls up at my feet and snores. December is even better, because I have the Christmas tree lights and the fireplace to heighten the utter joy of a quiet morning.

* I get a little grumpy when I don't get my morning routine, but that's rare. I just really need 30 minutes or so of alone time before someone starts talking to me.

* Every year our American Heritage Girls troop sells citrus for our one big fundraiser. Yesterday the semi-truck from Florida delivered the fruit, I (along with a few others) spent the day unloading boxes of citrus and then loading them into people's trunks. I seriously was ready for bed by 6 p.m. This morning, my arms are actually sore. I need to start strength training again!

* Speaking of exercise, Randy and I are still running together 2-3 times each week. We ran 5Ks in October, November, and December and have another in mind to run in late January. I am really proud of us, plus we get 45 minutes of conversation, without interruption, 2-3 times each week.

* Speaking of citrus, we now have boxes of grapefruit and naval oranges and YUM! I love grapefruit so much. When I was in college, I ate grapefruit every single day, and I don't think I ever got sick. Plus, I was really skinny.

* We only have two days of school left before our Christmas break starts. Tomorrow we are headed to Chattanooga to the Challenger Mission Center, for the culmination of a 10-week Voyage to Mars class. I dreamed about it all night—that I forgot the list of kids and their jobs, that someone forgot to come, that we got the time wrong, etc.

* What I really, really want to do is work on our office more. I have the walls and trim finished, so I actually am getting really close. Here's a preview:

Yes, I know it's a fuzzy picture that doesn't represent what is really happening in there. But here is what the room looked like just a few weeks ago. I really want to paint the desk, so that I can bring the sewing machine over, so that I can sew curtains for the window and for the cabinets, so that I can finish deciding on my color scheme, so that I can buy a chair, etc. BUT I am determined to get this pit of a house cleaned up and finish putting up the Christmas decor first.

* Speaking of Christmas decorations, I have to say this. While I enjoy and am jealous of all of these beautifully decorated homes on various Christmas Tour of Homes dealies all over the blogworld (like this one at the Nester), my question is: where do these people put their children? All of these houses are so lovely and neat and so...sterile looking. Are the kids allowed to move the carefully arranged 12-candle greenery thingy on the coffee table so that they can spread out their Lego guys? Where are the Lego guys that should be dangling off the mantel on a string? And where are all the messy, gluey ornaments that the kids made? And where is the RED, for Pete's sake? Why does everyone use white and blue? Obviously, I do obsessively view the houses on the tours and I "pin" a lot of ideas on Pinterest. But I have to admit: I breathe a huge sigh of happiness when I come across a really tacky house on the tours: one that uses red, green, fake snow, ugly Santas, and stockings that don't match. I would feel at home there.

* And now, my quiet time is over. I have muffins to make and dishes to wash, counters to clear and laundry to fold, and those sweet children to teach.