Making Time

The death of the mom at the kids' school has really made me think about a few things. Priorities, family, friends, etc. I've found myself making time for things I've been meaning to do for awhile now.

Yesterday, I had breakfast with a mom from the school and our church. She graduated from the Air Force Academy, which made me think of talented paranormal romance writer Susan Grant, and is in the National Guard now. We'd only been trying to get together for a year. I'm glad we finally found a time that worked for both of us.

This morning, I met my Sunday night co-teacher at a place called Cafe Sip and Play. It's a coffee house with a huge play area for kids. We have been trying to meet for two years. Scary that it's taken us this long. She's a talented artist who does projects for craft magazines and catalogs so it was interesting hearing about her deadlines and projects. The play area is so great, we didn't hear from either of our kids for over an hour. We could see them though, but they didn't even look our way the entire time.

When we got home this afternoon after a run to get all the stuff needed for the various class parties tomorrow, we found a plate of holiday goodies at our front door. Neighbors (and another family from the kids' school) had left them for us. It just put a huge smile on all of our faces and was just what I needed after a day of running errands and shopping!

I have been making significant progress on my To Do list. The final two packages got mailed this morning. I only have a few more cards to send out. All of the teacher gifts are tagged and ready to go for the last day of school. And the kids just finished putting a candy cane with a Christmas pencil for their classmates.

The only way I've managed to do all this is to continue my break from writing. With hubby on the other side of the world and a lot of things still needing to be sorted out in my head, I figured I earned another week. One week for each book I wrote this year. Sounded good to me. And yes, I can pretty much justify anything if I think about it for a while. But the book still is percolating and not ready for paper. The ending has been coming to me, but I haven't a clue to who these people (Prince Hottie and his Princess Nobody) are yet or where to open the story.

Hubby will be spending his Friday in Jerusalem and flying home on Saturday. My goal is to have the house all cleaned up and completely ready for Christmas by his return. I also want to put a good dent into my holiday baking tomorrow.

For those who really know me well, you can stop laughing now. It is possible. After all, I did manage to finally put away a months worth of laundry. Okay, my stuff is still in a pile, but everyone else's is where it should be. But I will admit, I'll have help with the house on Saturday morning. I know what I am capable of and want I'm not!

Are you ready for the holidays? If not, what's left on your To Do list.