This is a bowl I painted for Bex and Jeremy. Bex commissioned me to paint it and probably thought she was going to pay for it, but they just got engaged and I was going to give it to them as an engagement present. I’ve had it all wrapped carefully in bubble wrap and sitting in a box for the past week, just waiting for me to make another batch of apricot cookies so I could include a few of those in the box. Last night I baked, so tonight I thought I’d finish getting the package ready to mail.

When I picked up the box, one of the flaps caught on something, and before I could stop it the box tipped sideways and the bowl flipped out and landed upside-down on the hardwood floor. I held my breath as I picked it up, not sure what I’d find, because I’ve dropped pottery before from greater heights with no harm done. But this time it was broken into many pieces plus dozens of chips and a fine layer of dust. It wasn’t even superglueable.

I’m sorry, Bex and Jeremy. It’s going to be a little while longer before I can ship your bowl to you. *Sigh.*

This sort of sums up my week, actually. I’m not sure which is worse: going into the holiday season with a cold, or thinking right up till the afternoon of Christmas Eve that I was going to have a healthy, snot-free Christmas for once and then getting knocked FLAT by a cold. I was over the worst of it by the end of Christmas Day, but I’m still coughing and sleeping more than normal and feeling worn-down. Annalie was sick all this week, too. It was pretty much a bummer. Bah humbug.

The good news is, it’s almost the weekend. And Troy has leave all next week. So at least I’ll be able to catch up on my 7 Days posts, and go paint another bowl soon.

Helloooo! I think this is the first time in a year I’m genuinely excited about 7 Days. And (touch/knock on wood) it’s December and I’m not sick. It’s probably because I caved and got a flu shot this year. I was so sick all last fall and winter, and I didn’t want to repeat that.

So. Let’s do this thing!

I saw these jumbo ornaments hanging outside Trader Joe’s last week and instantly made a mental note to use them for a self-portrait. It was rather windy so it was tricky to get a shot that wasn’t blurry. But I persevered.

What Annalie had to say about her Day 1 photo, “secret surprise”:

Some of you looking at this photo are going to get a special surprise from us in the mail, so I can’t tell you what I’m mailing. But have you ever seen anybody mail a jar before? We mailed Easter eggs once, and my mom mailed a small package of jelly beans!

See the series 13 ounces or less at giverslog for more about this. I’ll blog the jars eventually, once they’ve reached their recipients.

This morning we went to the post office and the grocery store. We’ve been spending quite a few mornings running errands lately, doing Christmas-related things. Elliora and Annalie have both been troupers, taking multiple trips to the grocery store, post office, and Target in stride, with only the rare hunger- or exhaustion-induced tantrum. Now that Elliora is older and walking, she and Annalie have a lot of fun with each other and keeping each other entertained during otherwise dull moments. Apparently having a sister is awesome.

I was talking to Troy last night about how life just feels so…relentless lately. Of course having a toddler in the house, even one who (touchwoodfingerscrossedtwirlaroundthreetimesandclucklikeachicken) is mostly sleeping through the night, is a lot of work. Troy is still working long hours. I’m still homeschooling Annalie. And it’s the holidays, which means extra items on everyone’s to-do list. Especially with the days getting dark so early, it seems like I am constantly running behind, that I never reach the end of my list.

Troy suggested that maybe right now, just for a little while, I need to cut back on one or two things. I agreed that sounded good in theory. Then I realized: I’m two weeks behind on Flickring photos (which I do mainly for the grandparents, so I’m feeling bad about that). I hadn’t blogged in eight days. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worked on any of the three big crocheting projects in progress. Aside from some Christmas treats, I’ve barely even cooked dinner in weeks.

Yes, I wrote backwards on my hand just to remind you. You’re welcome.

Now I’m thinking that part of my problem is that I have not been doing much of anything creative lately. Luckily, it’s almost time for 7 Days again. (Note that it starts in the middle of the week this time, this coming Wednesday, the 21st.) That always provides a much-needed jolt of creative energy, not to mention it’s like a quarterly reunion of old friends at this point.

Whatever. It’s life, sometimes it’s crazy, sometimes it’s CRAZY, and usually it’s fun. Christmas is only a week away, and (throwsaltovermyshoulderwishonastarwearsomegarlic) we’re all healthy. We’re not traveling this year so we’re avoiding that stress. Things will get better and I’ll crochet and blog and cook more again someday. This is only a season.

And hey, it’s a season with lots of pretty lights to enjoy.