Just Off

I had a lovely day planned and it went according to plan, but something was just off:(

Organization:

My day actually started at 3:30 when I was wide awake and booked tickets to visit my parents in the middle of nowhere this winter holiday. For the deal I got, I can afford to go to the middle of nowhere and do nothing for a week, though I am going to try and talk them into doing one thing while I’m there. We could go look around a nearby town or city, park, monument, trail, etc, just something so people don’t look at me weird when I go back home.

I decided to book this because I kept looking at tickets so I figured that meant I wanted to go. Hopefully my dad doesn’t drive me too crazy in seven days- maybe a miracle will occur. I just worry too much about what other people think of my decisions and I know I shouldn’t! I just have to focus on how restful and warm I will be there and I’ll get a little dose of my mom:)

Exercise:

After grabbing a few hours of sleep, I got up for my regular Sunday morning group run. It was a shorter one today as coffee and tea definitely seemed to be more important. Brenda wasn’t awake yet and Dennis has a chest cold so the forty minute run was just fine with all of us!

Shopping:

After a lovely cup of tea, I did make myself stop in and pick up a few things for the week. I decided to not buy much as I couldn’t remember what I had in the freezer and thought it would be better to just go back if I needed to!

Crafting:

I had decided today was the day to get ahead on some of the projects I have piled up. I started with sewing up Brady’s pants. Boy that kid can destroy a pant knee!! I hope the seaming doesn’t bother him too much as without using a patch, I didn’t really have any other options. I also got the rest of the curtains done for Liane’s camper. I’m really glad both of these things are out of my house! The only project I have left for other people are pillows for Brenda. I’ll have to get to them before Christmas.

Cooking:

I also got back to being organized and spent some time in the kitchen getting ready for the week. I made up a hash that I can cook an egg on top of each morning and be feeling very spoiled for my breakfasts. I also got my cereal portioned out for recess snack, and soup taken out of the freezer for lunches. Thankfully I also got the kitchen cleaned up after myself as that will also improve my week!

House:

I also got a ton of laundry done and all of my new clothes entered into my clothing app. I have a cleaned off bed, and a clean hallway which was lovely to walk into! Now I just need to go through my sweater cupboard and get it tidied up too! I swear the sweaters rearrange themselves!

Reading:

I finished my latest ARC that had to be done by November 30th. A Lot Like Christmas by Kait Nolan.

This is the story of the waitress Hannah Wheeler whom we have met in previous books. She is ready to re-enter life and fortuitously meets Ryan Malone, an army medic home on leave, at that very time!

I really enjoyed this book. I liked that Ryan developed over the course of the book. He starts out a man who has seen too much horror in his life and moves towards a man who remembers the good things he is fighting for.

I also like Hannah. She is multifaceted which made her much more realistic. When we start the book she is portrayed as a merry elf of a woman, but as we come to know her through the book, we find she has a backbone and has had her fair share of hardship. Her positivity is a choice, not naivety.

The story does go by very quickly! I didn’t want to do anything but read, and the quick timeline of a few weeks didn’t negatively affect the story. I liked how the ending was realistically portrayed as happening a year later.

This book also offers some humor in the form of the great uncle Percy. His timing is horrible, but led me to giggle several times:)

Finally, this book also communicated a great message. When Ryan is upset about something, Hannah encourages him to see that he was meant to be where he was. We can’t carry all the burdens or take all the blame for events.

I thank Kait Nolan for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book definitely keeps up the excellent Wishful series.

Knitting:

I also got some knitting done this evening, once I sat down. The bag I started last night is finished, except I’m blocking the handle so it hasn’t been attached yet. I will hopefully have a picture tomorrow, but surprisingly I’m really happy with it. It is the second project I’ve made from the knitting bags book I bought earlier this year:)

Movies:

I have to admit, I rewatched Christmas movies as I was knitting. I watched A Very Merry Mix Up with Alicia Witt. I enjoy her as an actress, but every movie seems to show her running and she looks really weird when she runs! I like this movie because it shows a family that is seriously into Christmas and making it fun!

I’m thinking I should come up with a list of Fun Christmas things to do for the month of December so I don’t become a Scrooge! It will have to wait until tomorrow though as I’m exhausted. Maybe that’s what threw off my day?

Have fun!

AJ