Really. It’s 53°! I know this is not cold & completely normal for the last days of November in lands that actually expect a change in weather through the seasons. But this is Phoenix, for heaven’s sake. Stinky hot, sweaty humid Phoenix. Thanksgiving seems to have been the turning point. The temperature dropped & the clouds rolled in. I do love gloomy days though, & the absence of the sun is making for a nice wintery feel.

Anthony scaled the roof last night to hang the Christmas lights. Speaking of which, there is a new company, one of many I suppose, that you can pay to string your holiday lights. Something like $2.50 a foot. Are they kidding? I think it’s kind of sad. Hanging Christmas lights is an important part of Christmas preparation! Whether you’re the one slinking across the rooftop taking direction so each tiny bulb lays just right, or the one with feet on the ground, pointing & yelling, this step in holiday decor should not be missed. We have a bit more to add in the way of lights & I am still in search of those old bluky plastic light-up lawn ornaments. New fangled blow up giants will not reign at our house.

Wintery pictures!!!

Amid last Christmas’s flurry on the way to Pinetop.

Sophia as Santa

Tonight I am hoping to finish up the doll these belong to. Crafting has been at a standstill since last week, & I must get back into the groove! Have a cozy Tuesday.

I am feeling badly about not posting a Thanksgiving note. Things have been so so busy here, & the only dears reading this, I’ve personally sent wishes to anyhow. Thank you for reading. : ) I was so looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving at our new house, so new that it’s not even finished yet. I always do this…get overambitious & my mind thinks I can somehow emotionally & physically handle more than is logically possible. Then I inevitably let myself down.

Wednesday morning was spent paying through the nose to get our washing machine working so we could once again have running water (although I was silently hoping the plumbers would let us down & Thanksgiving would have to be moved across the street to my parent’s). That afternoon was spent enduring grocery store havoc, wasting half an hour in search of cinnamon sticks (not found) & in the evening my in-laws arrived. Thanksgiving eve was full of pie baking for me & sink plumbing for them. They really are stupendous people. The pie finished up at 1 am with a break for The Turkey Dance somewhere in between. All I wanted to do by Thursday morning was watch the parade in bed. But alas, television we have not. I had given up on the idea that everything would get accomplished, that our house would be fully furnished & decorated, that I’d have the table settings just as I’d imagined…I’d settled on ‘the probable’ days before.

And so Thanksgiving came & our guests slowly drifted in. The rest of my husband’s family, my parents’ many brothers & sisters & their families. I think we had around 30 people in the house. As I took my designated hostess station at the stove next to my mother, I glanced outside & into the family room & realized just how blessed I am, how blessed we all are. Three separate families, some from out of town, some from across the country, all together to share the day with each other. My dad & uncles outside laughing with my father-in-law, Anthony’s grandma in discussion with Aunt Becky. Uncle Jimmy mixing his famous Bloody Marys & sending them off to new & old takers. And of course the newest tiny addition to the family, our little nephew V. It was truly an amazing experience, & so touching.

We have been renovating for months & as much as I complain & grow impatient that the house isn’t complete yet (& I’ve learned that it never will be fully complete), that day was the greatest reward we could have hoped for. It made our house a home. I hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving, & have a hearty Christmas season to come, full of the things that really matter.