christmas preparations

We've had a busy couple days here, as usual. Yesterday Celia and I went to her music class in the morning, and when we got home my parents had arrived for a visit. Pita was very happy to see them. I was happy to have time to vacuum the house :D. During her nap I went out to a Hannaford store that we usually don't shop at, to get a few vegan things I can't find elsewhere. I got Earth Balance sticks, some Gardein "chicken" tenders for Celia to try, and found a vegan palm oil shortening that I might try in some Christmas cookies. I'm impressed that the Gardein tenders don't have a bunch of junky ingredients. Some of the fake meat stuff out there isn't too healthy. I should really just start shopping at that store because they have an amazing natural foods section, but I would have to "learn" a new store. It's so much easier (especially with a small child in tow) when you know the layout of a store and exactly where everything is.

This morning I got out for a 5 mile run. I've been slacking on running in the last week because I've been taking time to do Christmas stuff- would rather take a little time now and then just enjoy all of December. Cold weather running is not my favorite thing, but if I get out first thing in the morning it's not so bad. When I got back from my run Chris had taken Celia out for some mystery Christmas shopping, so I did some yard work and had a shower.

During Pita's nap I started some Christmas decorating! We'll be gone for part of Thanksgiving weekend, so I decided to get started. It's nice to have a full month with the decorations up and I don't really like having them up after Christmas. So, most things came out today and we'll have to decide when to put up the tree.

I put everything up while Celia was asleep, and when she came downstairs she immediately noticed everything. She walked around pointing to everything that was new, saying "This? This, Mummy?" wanting to know what it all was. Wonder how she'll react to the tree!