We Are Decking Our Halls...Part One!

The bins have been pulled from the crawl space. I actually went in there and did the pushing...Den did the lifting and stacking. There are about a million bins...give or take a few.

The mantle is done. Everything that Lucy attacks has to go way high up there.



This is my Norwegian forest...all of my reindeer are missing antlers because Lucy steals them. Snowmen are missing arms, too.


Fave front door Santa...


Quilt I made...


Lucy killing Santa...


Half of the bins have not been opened yet but we are tired...plus we found my boot bin!

Tomorrow wreaths on doors and candles in the windows. Tree later in the week...

Christmas is hard work! Ho! Ho! Ho!

Books!

I have just completed two very serious somewhat similar books in a row...similar in that there was a ton of storytelling in each...folklore kind of storytelling. They were both so good. Little Wolves...sad, serious, thought provoking...an utterly amazing book.








Both books involved tragic events...both were so sad...both were intense...both were tremendous.
Little Wolves should not have appealed to me at all...it had kittens, coyotes, cows, a mother kitty, pigs, even a sad bull and every time one of them was mentioned...especially the kittens...I had to stop and literally pray that they would be ok...I cannot read sad animal books.
But Little Wolves was an amazing book. It literally knocked my reading sox off. But I have to step away from these tortured souls for a bit...I need happy...or at least vamp happy dystopian fantasy YA tortured souls kind of happy...whew!

So I am reading this...and I can not put it down...and it is not happy or vampy or werewolfie or fantasy...it's sort of Girl With A dragon Tattoo ish...and Jo Nesbo-ish
and Ann Holt-ish and that other author whose series is on BBC...that flawed Norwegian detective that the English actor plays...of course you know who I am talking about!



It's so good!

Sort of rainy here today...all three of us had a late night...Bronco football was on...
We were still playing with Lucy at midnight! She is grumpy this morning and chooses not to be disturbed! Lol!




Tonight's dinner is very Italian...it's the Italian version of shrimp and grits...meatballs and sauce over polenta...it's so good...and I have everything already made ( thank you Country Butcher ) except the polenta...you put polenta in a bowl and then sauce and meatballs and really good freshly grated cheese over it...yum! And you get to eat it with a spoon...a big spoon!




Happy Friday!

Where Did My Ho Ho Ho Go?

Ok...let's see...in spite of declaring on Monday that it was the opening of my official holiday season...I have not done one thing...oh...yeah...except...read, get a pedicure, made a hair appointment , made my detailed Christmas list including websites, sizes, colors and alternate colors for Santa and sort of cleaned. Ho!

Den has been away and all of the Christmas bins are in the crawl space in the basement. You have to use a small ladder to crawl into the crawl space, then turn on the light, then pray there are no spiders and then try to drag each bin down...they are heavy, fragile, and it is a two man/one cat operation. One girl / one cat doesn't work...at all...I tried it...

And...here's the thing...we swear every time we go down there that we had no clue our house was ever supposed to have a crawl space! We didn't even know what it was...it looks like an open window in our real basement. When we finally looked in it...we were in shock! A huge empty short ceiling space...totally freaked us out...we actually wanted them to fix it...hah!

So...until the week end...or until I conquer my fear of being alone in the crawl space...or until Lucy can hold a ladder...this is the most decorating I have done... Lucy did help with this one...graciously but not merrily!




Happy Thursday!

Finished!!!

My " in a nutshell" summary...

A terrible terrible crime occurs...and the result is what you would expect...the lives of everyone involved are forever changed.

My thoughts after reading this book...

For me...my own personal reading experience with this book was a gripping and serious one. It takes place on a reservation. A horrible crime is committed against Joe's mother Geraldine. She turns inward...she is not the mother and wife she was before this atrocity occurred. Joe is 13. It is the beginning of summer and he finds himself alone. His father is a judge but everything in the lives of this family just stops. Geraldine stays in her room, his father sleeps alone and the life Joe knew is gone. He has time to think and his thoughts turn to finding out what happened to his mother. Joe needs to find out who did this to his mother in the worst way.

Ok...that is sort of the point of the story but the beauty of the book is in following the lives of everyone else involved in this drama. Life on the reservation is the same yet different. Stories abound, lives are intertwined and Joe is always listening and watching and reaching for clues...for answers that are sometimes within his grasp...sometimes completely out of his hands.

The story has an amazing ending...one that I thought might happen but was still totally surprised by.

What I loved about this book...

This author is just a true storyteller. I was lost in her words and stories about life on this reservation. At times I was just praying for Joe and his dad and mom. His dad tried so hard to try to maintain his family. His mom was so sorrowful in her misery. Her life stopped the moment this act occurred. Joe's summer...was one sort of difficult event after another.

What I did not love...

Hmmm...the perpetrator/bad guy...it was sad to see such fierce evil.

Final thoughts...

I found this to be a book that begins strong and stayed strong all the way through until the end. It is a mystery unravelling but it is so much more. Be prepared for lots of characters and stories that sort of both shock and captivate.


With that done...Happy Wednesday!

I need a cookie!

A Very Busy Day...Similar To The Richard Scarry Books!

I love those books by Richard Scarry with titles like...









This is what I am doing with my day...reading this.


Then I am finishing my Christmas List for Santa...lol. This list must contain websites, sizes, colors and alternates...it is exhausting!



Thank goodness I finished and loved this book...loved the way the author talks to the reader...the author shares his worries and concerns about the book with the reader and just causes the entire experience to be an amazing amount of fun. I loved it! It's sort of magic and fantasy without any magic and fantasy!



The next time you see me...I will have finished The Round House and be halfway finished with Turtle Bay...then a breather until Dec.12th! Loving my schedule...the question is for how long?

Still Humming She's Gone...But It's Back To Books!

I have to read these this week...I promised...








But in between I am reading this...so good...love the kid who never takes his scarf off...I love brother sister books where the siblings are odd, quirky and spunky!




Off to clean and organize...make soup and cornbread...I need order in my life to function! Well...soon I will clean and organize...right now Lucy and I are sipping coffee and reading stuff...I have all day long to get this house in order!
Happy Monday!

Sara Smiles And So Do I!

Back from the Borgata and Hall and Oates...so much fun! Events occurred as follows...

Left our house around 4 ish to drive to AC...got there around 5:15.

Checked in...paid the outrageous Borgata room rate plus a $150.00 security deposit..refunded if we don't party hard and rip the room apart. Oh me oh my!

Keep in mind the world of casinos is a world foreign to us...we go to Atlantic City for the Borgata's concerts.

Tried to find a penny slot machine free of smoke...we played with ten dollars and kept winning and winning and winning...when we cashed in we realized we won 60 cents!

Had an amazing dinner at Izakya...our favorite restaurant there...Japanese...small bites..wonderful.

Went back to our room to brush our teeth and change for the concert.

At about this time Den started complaining about the loud voices in the room next door. Well...he complained about them as soon as we got to our room but I am trying to be kind.

Concert was awesome...fun...yummy...Daryll Hall sings better than ever. John Oates is a munchkin...cute and tiny!

Had a quick drink after the concert then headed back to our room...voices still coming from the room next door...just a bit louder...maybe more people? Den grumbling more...but the voices couldn't be heard with the TV on...Den grumbling that sleep will be impossible. He swears he was up all night...I didn't hear a thing and slept like a baby. Concerts and casinos are exhausting!

Left at around 9...got our deposit back...lol...drove home to a disgruntled Lucy...we left her in charge since we were not even gone a day!

Her face asks us...

how on earth could the two of you leave me alone in this house without entertainment for barely a day? What were you thinking? Concert? Bah...humbug!




Happy Sunday!