The good news is, I'm steadily throwing on more weight in Body Pump and getting better at Pilates and yoga. The bad news is the calf is still not healed. It is getting better, though and one of these days it will be fully healed. Next week will be another opportunity to test it and my fingers and toes are crossed it will hold up to a mile or two.
At the risk of sounding like a rank amateur compared to my hard-charging Christmas-shopping friends, our tree goes up later this week - yes, just three weeks before Christmas. We are planning our third annual family outing to a local tree farm on Saturday morning.
For those who think it's de rigueur to have your tree up for at least a full month or more, it's not. Nearly three decades of tree decorating tells me that a 3-week run is plenty long. No other holiday gets to take over my entire house or dominate our schedule for weeks on end. After the trees go up (yes, plural - a UT tree goes up in the bonus room and a small one in the kitchen), it will be time for a baking/candy making marathon next week. My tentative plans include these family favorite cookies:
- Grandma's Date Pinwheels
- Cherry-filled Thumbprints
- Iced Sugar Cookies
- Gwen's Gingersnaps
- Almond Crescents
- Homemade Peppermint Patties
- Toffee
- Pretzel Turtles
- Fudge
- Black Walnut Divinity
- Cookie Truffles (Oreo and maybe gingersnap or Nutter-Butters with white icing)
And a new recipe to make it an even dozen; or two new ones to make it a baker's dozen. I'm not sure what the new additions will be yet, but every year I like to try at least a few new treats. No, we won't eat all these confections all by ourselves. I will send a platter with Mr. Official for his co-workers and take some to neighbors and friends. Once the cookies and candies are done, it will be time to wrap up the Christmas shopping; it has to be done before December 18, since that's a very special date for Mr. Official and me.
Happy sprinting,
