December Juggling

 After all the things I talked about yesterday, almost none of them worked out like we thought.  

We did end up going to the nursery event, and it was so much fun.  It would have been so easy to NOT go, and I would have been more than fine with it, but we fortified ourselves with Starbucks and headed to Issaquah, which is just time for half a cup of a tall peppermint-mocha drink with just half the peppermint and mocha shots, or whatever they call the way they make them.  I never go there on my own, so it's always a treat.

The girls got peppermint steamers, and Emily and I got the above.  I got a cheese Danish because it was the first thing on the menu, and there was no reason not to.  Someone got a grilled cheese, another a cranberry something, and everyone was merry and full of sugar by the time we got there.  

We had wanted to get an earlier start, but we didn't, and the parking lots seemed full, but we lucked up and got a place a few steps from the door.  Thanks goodness, because the weather was not cooperating with us or the nursery.  

I seem to have taken my quota of pictures when we first walked in because there was a hummingbird that kept our interest for a while.  It seemed to fly along beside us.  I can't think of a better place to be than a nursery and greenhouse on a day yesterday.

I'm hoping Emily took more pictures but probably not.  She xeroed in on a beautiful table of red and white cyclamen and grabbed a red one.  I think this is what she's holding in the picture here.  I meant to get one too, but I got distracted and never did.  She and the girls picked out a wreath, and we looked around a bit before going into the Holiday Shop.

You can see Emily's cyclamen in front of her and the table of them behind the girls.  

I think I just couldn't decide on a white one or a red one, and I am still fighting to keep my plants I brought inside happy at home.  I want another Lenten rose, but I think I'll wait on plants I can't take care of until the holidays are over.

It seems the style lately is oversized everything, and the bells and acorns and pinecones are beautiful but not for me.  It would so overwhelm my little space.

And no more pictures from me that trip.  I took the girls into the shop where we immediately found a replica of Woodrow to hang on the tree.  We loved looking at all the things, but I feel like I can't let down my guard with either me or the girls on knocking one of those delicate ornaments off the tree or dropping something.  They're so good about not touching, but sometimes you just have to.  

I learned they like dragonflies so have ordered them a little dragonfly ornament that's not $30 and more their size.  The highlight of that part of the trip seeing a CAT!  Imagine that.  A pretty manx who followed us around and didn't have to worry about getting her tail stepped on.  I love these girls and their enthusiasm and ability to get joy from every single thing. I had mentioned at one point that I didn't need any more ornaments for my little tree but I would like to get some of the little bottle brush trees that I seem to have collected over several years.  They spent a lot of time bring me sample for my approval (unbreakable - whew), and we finally decideone just the perfect color of dusty pink to go with my tree bows.  

This is the picture I took last night. The new tree is on the right.  It really doesn't matter that the people in the scene are sometimes bigger than the houses and there's a random plaid box in the midst of it all.  As long as you get a happy feeling when you look at it!  

And this is the pictures I took just now.  So much has happened.

The fluffy yellow tail in the window doesn't mean Bowie was responsible for the state of the tree table.  I saw Layla tiptoeing through the landscape gingerly, thinking no one would notice her.  

When we left, we considered going by Michael's for ribbon but Saturday, pouring rain, warm home..... and our gifts will remain ribbonless for a while.

There was talk of my going over and watching Christmas in Connecticut with the family.  The girls love the old movies.  The grownups too.  But I didn't end up going since it was dark and raining and warm at home.  Maybe next time.  Gray had had a soccer game where she "played hard and got a killer goal."  

It was a good day.  

I'm up fairly early on Sunday morning working on my book list for the year.  I've been invited to eat lunch with sweet neighbors that I haven't seen in a while.  I have one gift wrapped and one in a bag.  I have a long way to go, but I'm going to enjoy every day for the rest of this year except maybe the 16th when I have to see two doctors.  Sometimes enjoyable, sometimes not.  We'll see.