On a Monday

Today Monday 18 December!

The weather..... It's a blustery, windy and rainy day.  Some areas of our state have severe flooding. The temp is weirdly mild.  It does not feel like December nor that winter will be here on Thursday!

What I'm wearing....black  tech leggings, multicolored socks, grey RWC education alumni hiking shirt; silver hoop earrings

I am Thinking....about the weekly agenda/events 

On my reading pile....I finished After the Forest and The Art of Neighboring; I'm almost done with Joyce Meyer's devotional book Overcoming Every Problem.  I will be starting (after Christmas) Fervent by Priscilla Shirer and I'm about a third of the way in in a mystery thriller novel called The Woman on the Inside.   I am reading through The Christmas Code, an advent devotional and finishing up an online devotional Emmanuel. 

On my TV.....I've been watching the first half hour of The Today Show most mornings the last couple of weeks;  Dave and I received one of my all time fave movies, Dead Poet's Society on Saturday from my sister Jill and her husband Mike so we watched that last evening.  I'm also finishing up Season 2 of This is Us on Hulu and once a month my oldest daughter and I get together to watch another episode of The Handmaid's Tale as we LOVED the book. We are almost done with Season 4 I believe. We won't get together again until at least mid-January.  My youngest daughter came over this past week and we watched our all time fave Christmas movie:  Miracle on 34th Street (the original version). 

Favorite blog post last week (mine or other)....hm......I would have to say this one:  Mountain Top Spice I enjoy her photos of life in a vastly different state from New York!! 

Something fun to share....

 Cinnamon French Toast Latte
a special birthday treat from my youngest daughter
at our new coffee and cocktails place near where she lives

Blog hopping ( or newly discovered blog)..this is not a new to me blog. I've been following Barbara for several years now. She is a good thought provoking writer and this one this past week really spoke to me. 

On the menu for this week....Tonight for dinner, Dave will have the slow cooked bbq pulled pork I've had simmering in the slow cooker all day; I'll have a vegan fish sandwich or taco.  We will also have vegetarian baked beans and a tossed salad. Tomorrow I plan on making my 3 Bean chili with honey cornbread and raw broccoli and red peppers on the side; Wednesday we are celebrating our youngest girl's 25th birthday (she turns 25 on the 21st but is going out with friends that evening) and she has requested my veggie (vegan) pot pie and vegan chocolate crinkle cookies.  For Dave and Courtney (who is coming over when she gets out of work) I'll have little chicken mini pot pies.  We will also have beets on the side. Thursday is soup and sandwiches early because we have to be at church by 6:15 for our dress rehearsal for Xmas Eve. Friday will be either vegan burgers and roasted sweet potato "fries" OR homemade veggie pizza.  I haven't decided yet. And Saturday will be whatever  choice I don't end up making on Friday.  Sunday is Christmas Eve and because Dave, Courtney and I are all in the Choir, the church will have a catered dinner for us around 1 pm.  Our services are 2, 3:30 and 5 so we will grab  food inbetween the services and quickly eat and brush our teeth before the next performance. It's a crazy but fun time. I'll probably throw together some Italian bean soup that morning in the slow cooker so that after the service, when Claire joins us at home with Courtney, we have the option of eating another  late day meal while we do our traditional Xmas Eve things. 

On my to do list....I'm writing this up at about 5 pm Monday so earlier in the day I had major cleaning of the master bath; I paid a couple bills; checked and answered emails; went to my chiropractic appointment; went food shopping; dashed to Courtney's workplace to pick up something from her she needed me to do; did 2 HiiT workouts via You Tube silver sneakers videos.  The rest of the week is:  a trip to return books to the library; a trip to the dollar store for paper products; a trip to the park with my friend whom I hike with; baking 2 more kinds of  cookies plus my orange chocolate fudge. I also have some cleaning to do upstairs (vaccum carpets; send out a birthday card to a friend; organize my desk. 

Looking forward to this week.... our "baby's" 25th birthday celebration; our Christmas Eve Choir dress rehearsal; Christmas Eve! 

Looking around the house....All of the gifts Dave and I bought are wrapped and a few are under the tree; Claire brought over the gifts she bought and they're under the tree; the stockings are filled with little goodies; laundry is caught up; and former lesson plans that I kept are now in the hands of a young mom I know who is going to homeschool her preK daughter. 

From the camera....here is a pic of the front of our house at about 4 pm today: 

still no snow.......
18 December

On my prayer list.....the upcoming Christmas Eve service; my friend's daughter Leah; my friend Diane; my friend Cindy and her husband Jay; our nation

Bible verse, Devotional....from Isaiah.....

HAPPY MONDAY, EVERYONE!!!  Have a blessed week.