Heading into Winter

We’ve been living in the “shadow lands” for weeks now. Short gray days and long dark nights. And that’s just fall.

Which is why I am have been looking forward to the winter solstice.

Because: more daylight.

Random thought. Even though Jesus was most likely NOT born on December 25, I think it’s appropriate we celebrate His coming as the Light of the World at this time of year. The lights might be my very favorite part of Christmas.

With fall wrapping up it’s time to look back at my Fall 2017 To-Do List and see what I accomplished:

Fall Activities

• Decorate for fall.
  • I did. Just a little. Mostly at the print shop. Not much at home, because I’m rarely home these days.

• Celebrate Rebecca’s birthday.
  • We had a fun family dinner at McKenzie River Pizza Company. With Rebecca being such a fan of all-things-western we enjoyed sharing Cowboy Nachos, the Rancher pizza, and the Stockman pizza.

• Go on at least one more camping trip.
  • Our last camping trip of the year was the last weekend of September to Steamboat Rock State Park in Washington near Grand Coulee Dam.

• Finish two crocheted blankets I’ve been working on this summer.
  • Done. And done.

• Put zipper in sweater I crocheted last spring.
  • I did not yet do that. I keep forgetting about it. I need to do that soon so I can wear that sweater this winter.
• Make scarf out of the beautiful yarn my friend Heather brought me from Scotland.
  • Sorta. I found a lovely lacey pattern and crocheted as much as I could before the yarn ran out. It was hard to estimate how far the yarn would go. I need to unravel it and find a pattern that can be for any amount of yarn. I should’ve done that to start with.
• Arrange a reading nook in our bedroom.
  • Got that done, but haven’t really used it much.
• Do some plan-ahead freezer-cooking.
  • Not as much as I would like. I hope to do more of that in January.
• Take a trip to the coast.
  • We got that in!

• Celebrate our anniversary.
  • That’s what the trip to the coast was about.
• Celebrate my birthday.
  • We had a fun little day trip for my birthday and then we tried a new-to-us restaurant, Cosmic Cowboy. Not sure what it has to do with cowboys, but the food was delicious. I even indulged in huckleberry cheesecake.

• Celebrate Thanksgiving.
  • We celebrated quietly at home with just our family. We tried our hands at smoking a turkey and were very pleased with the results.

• Blog at least twice a week.
  • Um. Nope. I keep thinking things will slow down a little at the print shop. Maybe they will after the holidays.

Winter Plans

• Celebrate Christmas with family.
• Cross-country road trip.
• Take at least one non-credit class through the community college.
• Complete a software training course online  for Adobe Illustrated.
• Crochet a scrap-yarn blanket.
• Buy fresh flowers in a futile attempt to hurry spring along.
• Work on meal planning and freezing cooking.
• Blog twice a week. (I guess we’ll see if that’s entirely too ambitious.)

I’m linking up with Leslie and others at Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After with my “winter bucket list.” What’s on your calendar for this winter?