Those 4 Weeks

It is Christmas time! How I love Christmas time. Before I had kids, I used to get so annoyed at radio stations that switched to all Christmas music for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now I am loving it! I jam out every time I am in the car. Before you have kids, the "mood" of Christmas is created for you. Once you become Mommy, you have the responsibility to create that "mood." Music gets me in the mood.

Speaking of the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the time has flown by! My parents flew up to New York for Thanksgiving weekend. Because they arrived late afternoon on Thanksgiving, I made the entire meal by myself. Can I brag? It was delicious!!! The turkey was a bit dry, but everything else was great. Nothing came from a box - it was all homemade from scratch. What is so funny to me is that it was last Thanksgiving that really set me on a path of cooking from scratch. Leigh, one of my best friends, and her family came up for Thanksgiving, and she and I made the meal together. I realized that it was not that hard. Since then, I have been a cooking machine!
Ok, so back to my weekend with my parents. My mom had hopes of doing major things like heading into NYC, but my dad just wanted to chill. He won. We piddled around the nearby area and really got to enjoy being together. The night before my parents left, we put up and decorated the tree together.

Then we worked on that "perfect" Christmas card picture. My mom helped me decorate the house for Christmas, too. I loved having my parents here. It made me a little sad that we live so far away, but I enjoyed the time for what it was.


We also got to host our annual Christmas party open to the entire church. Our house is smaller than the one we were in last year, so I was a bit nervous, but it all worked out. The party was a drop in, but once people got here, no one seemed willing to leave. That was fine by me - the more the merrier! We probably had about 80 people in all, which is not bad turnout. That is half our church!

Amidst holiday chaos, I am in the final weeks of marathon training. I have my second 20 mile run this weekend before I start tapering for the big day. That basically means the two weeks before Christmas will be made up of shorter runs, preparing my body to run the full 26 on January 9th. I am still very nervous, but I am getting more an more excited! My nerves are more about bathroom issues and what could go wrong. I know I have put in the hours training, so I am excited to put it to the test!

Now we are preparing to leave for Tennessee. All fifteen of us will be under one roof this year. I am so excited!!! Have a safe and merry Christmas!