December 2

It was a much earlier start than normal today because I wanted to finish the months-long saga of the flu shots. I think we've gotten them in 6 different places now. Our goal was to be the first people in the door at the Health Department this morning. And we were. But it still took 45 minutes until we were seen and a further 20 minutes or so before we had the shots and were out of there! 

But then we were home and back to school and studying music history (Stravinsky) and science (primates) and our regular subjects. All the while I was hand-stitching holly ornaments for sale. 

Lunch was our usual -- look in the fridge and see what jumps out. I think I ate the last of the quinoa pilaf from Thanksgiving. The boys ate plates of mounded mashed potatoes and green beans. :) 

After our rest time I had an hour for sewing. I had decided I wouldn't attempt any sewn Christmas gifts this year -- but somehow birthday gifts and every other kind of gift or product has crept on my list. But I do enjoy it. :) And now that I've learned a bit more about interfacing, I really am enjoying sewing so much more.

Tuesday afternoons is piano lesson day for the boys. Laura and I are the driving/shopping buddies. We dropped the boys off and went to pick Rachel up at school, drop her home, run to do two errands, and make it back to the piano teacher's within 1.5 hours. Sometimes its a bit of a white-knuckle race. 

I turned the last of our Thanksgiving weekend leftovers into pasta and taco meat for dinner and dumped all the leftover fresh veggies into a salad which David kept picking black olives out of with his fingers all through dinner. We did discuss a gift exchange at dinner. I figure it is high time the children start learning the responsibility and joy of giving Christmas presents and so this year I am assigning them each a sibling to buy something for with their own money. I also interrogated them as to their favorite holiday treat so that I don't spend all my energies on baking things that don't mean as much to them as perhaps things I have forgotten.

We left all the dishes and drove the 5 minutes over to Bible study after dinner and when we got back it was time for the kids to do their evening chores and for me to finish the sewing project I had started earlier.