Tuesday Tidbits

I love the month of December.  The days are getting shorter, calling us to center in and conserve energy.  There are holiday parties, good food and drinks, and lots of reasons to give to others.  It can be challenging to stay peaceful and sane amidst the commitments, the expectations, and the fast-paced nature of the season, but I'm thankful to not be traveling anywhere this year and I feel a sense of calm about staying in our own home for Christmas.  Here are a few tidbits about things keeping me busy this month!

 1.  Meeting Santa!
Ady is starting to get the whole "Santa thing" and is pretty excited when we talk about him and read books about Christmas.  Now that she's 2, everything is "mine," so once she got the hang of sitting on the lap of the big guy in red, she became very attached to "my Santa" and needed some help learning how to share him!

Ady and Santa
2.  Winter Knitting
I have two main projects this year -- a little vest with buttons for Ady, and a warm, chunky throw blanket for my mom.  My coworkers and I started a knitting group earlier this month and it has been fun to get together, drink wine, and work on yarn crafts.

Throw Blanket - with size 50 needles!

Toddler vest

 3.  Wine Cork Reindeer
I wanted to find a craft to do with my extra wine corks (I literally have dozens of them in vases), and I found this cute idea for little reindeer!  It ended up being more trouble than it was worth, and I had to buy some extra tools to cut the pins and glue the corks together, but they turned out pretty cute.


Assembling the reindeer

Gifts for my book club members




4.  Holiday Baking
I spent most of my Saturday in the kitchen making an assortment of goodies to bring to work (and sample at home, of course)!  I decided to stick with my favorites this year -- peppermint sugar cookies, Ricotta cheese cookies, molasses cookies, and chocolate pretzel bars!
5.  Snowshoeing
The Santa Fe Ski Basin has recorded 59" of snowfall already this year, which is way more than last year!  I contemplated getting Ady on skis this year, but I don't think she would get a lot out of it yet, so we're sticking with snowshoe hiking for now.
Kua enjoying a snowy hike on the Winsor Trail


 6.  Plaza Lights
Ady is embracing everything the season has to offer, from gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies to delivering presents and attending parties, and she loved seeing the bright lights on the trees at the Plaza!

Shiny!


 .   
7.  Running Streak
Today was Day 27 of the Holiday Running Streak, a challenge to run every day between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.  I haven't missed a day yet!  My goal is just to get out there and make running part of my daily routine, despite the many excuses this time of year. 
My girls keeping me company on a snowy run!

8. Winter Reads
Stay tuned later this month for my 2018 book list, but here are some of the titles on my list this month:
The Witch Elm, by Tana French
There There, by Tommy Orange
November Road, by Lou Berney
The Heart's Invisible Furies, by John Boyne
The Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Children of Jocasta, by Natalie Haynes
When Katie Met Cassidy, by Camille Perri


Happy Holidays!!



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