Let the Holidays Begin!

Yesterday was the Festival of Trees. I've been going to that for about 12 years. I may have missed a few but for the most part it has become my annual start of the holidays. I think Kyra was about 3 when we first started going. It seemed back then that there were more interesting trees and more games for the kids to play but it still is a great way to put me in the mood for the holidays. This year Kyra's musical group from high school sang. I think she performed one other time with girls chorale too but I could be mistaken. And if going and seeing all the beautifully decorated trees didn't put me in the mood, then the snow we woke up to yesterday morning sure did. It was one of those 1 inch snowfalls that are just perfect. Not too much to cause any problems and just enough to make everything white. And the best part - it shouldn't last too long because it is supposed to be about 40 degrees today. It could do that routine all winter. Yeah right!

I definitely had a play day yesterday. I spent most of the morning doing computer things and blog reading. Very productive don't you think? I called Amy about 10:30 to tell her I had signed up for another online journaling class and she invited me (or did I invite myself) to go thrift shopping and to Hobby Lobby. Anything to get out of doing this den clean out. So we went and did that. She's on the hunt for vintage ornaments and Kyra just likes thrift shoppping. I used to love to go to thrift stores with Glenna and I'm glad that Amy and Kyra are doing that now so I have someone to go with when the mood hits. It's like looking at my life in things. All the styles that have come and gone in decorating. Gives pause to what I buy now because I know at some point it will be in the thrift stores with people saying "Can you believe we had that in our house?" We definitely are a disposable society. Don't need it now so get rid of it and get something new and improved later. No wonder we're in a declining economy. We used to have the same toaster forever. If it broke we took it apart and made it work again. Now they make things so we can't do that and we have to buy a new one. Or they come out with new and more exciting colors so we want that new color.

By the time I got home yesterday I was in major pain. I don't know if I did something in the morning when I was slipping on the snow at a thrift store or if walking at the Festival in new shoes did it but my hip was really acting up. I'm sure at some point I will probably need a hip replacement. It's been a problem clear back to when I was pregnant with Amy. I remember always getting a catch in the hip. Two years ago I know I either pulled it out of the socket (thanks PT person for telling me that could have happened) or strained the muscles but whatever happened it took a year to get better. I've had twinges since but nothing like last night. I hope that with babying it for a few days and taking some pain meds it will go back to the way it was, virtually pain free. That should really give me incentive to lose weight.

Well today we need to run some errands. I invited Scott's for brunch if they wanted. So we'll do that and then go to Sam's and Target and maybe Michaels. Oh and if we did World Market that would be good too. And then I need to work more on this den. I wish I had room to take everything out and start over. I'd keep all the same furniture but try and figure out how to get more storage in here. It's a great little room for keeping all my projects and such but it's such a little room with such a little closet and I have too much stuff. And no, I don't think I can get rid of my stuff. I have plans for all that stuff. Of course I might have to live another 50 years and retire tomorrow to get it all done, but that's beside the point.

Off to stare at my piles in the den.

TTFN