Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My supervisor sent us all these lovely boxes of local-to-her chocolates for the holidays.

2. My dad cleared off the pool table this fall, so we got to play for the first time in several years. I lost every game.

3. Staying in Connecticut until Monday evening meant that our drive home was drama-free. Plus, I got to spend that much more time with my folks!

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

It’s been a lovely weekend, and I still have about 12 hours until I head back south. While I’m hoping to cram in a few hours of sleep and some last activities, like getting lights on the bottom quarter of my parents’ tree (we had to sort out why the tree was shorting out before I kept going) and helping them bring ornament boxes downstairs, we’re definitely in the home stretch of my time off.

I’ve seen my BFF, Karen.

My dad and I played pool. (I lost every game to him or Rudi.) We laughed a lot.

I’ve knit and read and watched Christmas movies in front of the fire.

I’ve cooked with Mum.

We’ve eaten a ton of food and danced to Christmas music.

And I’ve loved being with my family.

I’ve got the Virtual Advent Tour signups up.

So, Thanksgiving is over, December is practically upon us, and Christmas is now less than a month away. This means this weekend will be spent on several activities:

• Buying and putting up my parents’ Christmas trees
• Getting lights on the big tree, at the very least
• Posting Virtual Advent Tour signups (stop back tomorrow!)
• Figuring out our tree trimming party and getting invites out (we’re back to thinking just one day, but eight hours instead of four and with time blocks folks can sign up for)
• Baking with Mum
• Listening to Christmas tunes
• Playing pool
• Watching Christmas movies
• Finishing at least one of the three Christmas books I brought with me
• Knitting in front of the fire

What’s your weekend hold? Will it be busy or full of relaxation?

The apartment still looks like a tornado came through, but now you can add a couple bags of groceries, several bags of Christmas presents, and a full bag of produce from the garden. (Tomatoes, peppers, all the remaining basil (two types), Swiss chard, and a handful of tomatillos are in the bag (and then I added at least half a dozen ripe figs from the tree in the park)).

Admittedly, Mount Laundry is now looking more like Laundry Foothill, with three loads done since Rudi left. I’ve got at least three more to do before we head north for the holiday, but I should probably switch over to removing items from the Burrow, rather than just cleaning and rearranging them. (This would have been made easier had the recycling been picked up this week.) We have a new cat sitter coming by Monday evening, so I now definitely have a narrowing timetable for putting the worst of the situation to rights.

Tomorrow holds more than cleaning, though. Sarah and I are getting together in the afternoon for lunch†, and I’ll probably bike across town to get in a little more exercise and daylight and to count it as a Coffeeneuring ride.

But once the sun goes down, I’ll get to work righting the ship.

Honestly, this weekend needs to include hours of cleaning — the Burrow looks like a tornado ran through it — but I’m hoping that’s not everything it includes!

Here’s what else I’m hoping to get up to:

• Finding a pet sitter (I know, I know. I’ve sent an email and am waiting to hear back.)
• Spending time with my friend Sarah
• Checking in on the garden (It’s supposed to drop just below freezing overnight and I’d planned to get down there before the sun set today. When the options narrowed to find out how well tomatoes fare in a minor freeze or harvesting in an out-of-the-way corner of a park after dark, I opted to keep my fingers crossed. The internet tells me tomatoes that aren’t damp should be okay down to 28 degrees.)
• Going to the local bookstore’s member sale
• Cycling to two Coffeeneuring destinations
• Doing laundry
• Shopping at the farmers market
• Reading
• Knitting
• Doing some Christmas prep for parties, swaps, decorating, and the Virtual Advent Tour

What are you hoping to do this weekend?