I’m hoping to get some serious holiday cheer going on via baking over the next week – do you realize that it’s only two weeks until Christmas??? – and that meant getting organized and doing some shopping. I picked a host of cookie-and-sweets recipes and put together a master list and ventured forth, mask and hand sanitizer at the ready.
While out, it made sense to get as much holiday food shopping done as I could – I know we’ll need more produce and such before Christmas, but I wanted the cupboards as stocked as I could get them. That meant going to more than one store, so I decided to just make that my day, rather than overscheduling as I so often do. While out, I picked up a number of items for the Reverse Advent Calendar box – today I added corn.
My “Diva drill” for today was a strange one – let someone else do something nice for you! A lovely lady came to pick up a painting I had done for her, but so help me, I wound up with more gifts than she did! Homemade eggnog, two pieces of “so-good-I’d-cut-you-to-get-more” homemade baklava, and an ornament made from an okra pod with cotton boll wings! (I’m calling her “Ruth Okra Ginsburg.”) ‘Tis the season, I know, but so many of us aren’t very good at all at graciously accepting gifts – try it. When someone compliments your earrings, or clothes, or lipstick, accept it with poise. When someone offers to make you soup or eggnog, say “yes.” When a friend offers to pick up the tab at your coffee get-together, let her. Remember, we take care of ourselves to be better able to take care of others – sometimes we need taking care of, too, and when the Universe is giving you a gift, it’s only polite to accept, after all.
From the bookshelf and “holiday prep” go together tonight – I have a copy of In the Dark Streets Shineth by David McCullough, the renowned historian. This book deals with the Christmas 1941 meeting between FDR and Churchill, just after the devastation of Pearl Harbor. I’m very much looking forward to reading it.
This weekend will (hopefully) involve tree trimming and baking – come back tomorrow and see what’s going on!
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