Life Is But A Dream

September 7...

Wow.

It's been a long time, my friends.

In my defense, we were technically on sabbatical/ holiday for five weeks, and there were a few weeks spent getting ready to be away/on sabbatical/holiday for five weeks.

Then there were several weeks when the Internet was down/resting, and I took it as a heavenly sign that I should likewise be down/resting from Internetal pursuits.

Then there were the weeks getting back up to speed after the sabbatical/holiday...

But really, there's no excuse for avoiding you. No reason I shouldn't have been keeping all y'all up to speed on the goings-on in The Field.

However;

I'm here now.

Autumn highlights:

A really good Spiritual Retreat at Pigeon Lake, 85 pounds of tomatoes off my vines, a whole bunch of jars of pickles and jam/jelly, a good "Family Circuit" trip (from home to Saskatoon, to Winnipeg, to Broadview to home), seeing where Thomas lives, seeing where Hillary lives, getting Micah installed at school, a really good Pastor's and Spouses Retreat in Banff, rearranging the house, a really good Older Folks Retreat (they call it "Alive", but it was called "50 plus"... draw your own conclusions), a fabulous visit to Wisconsin to meet the new granddaughter and reconnect with the daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.

And then we were home, and had barely turned around once before winter descended.

With a vengeance.

Which brings us to the 23 of November, staring Christmas in the face.

It will be a different Christmas for us this year- My Mom and Dad will be here for actual Christmas as well as half our offspring.  All our kids (and Grandkids!) will be home (albeit after Christmas, but home they will be) to celebrate the season. We're looking at a solid three weeks of company, with one night of everybody- overlap.

It will be good, but busy.

And there are only four weeks left to get the planning/preparing done.

I may of may not be here very much during Advent, as there are lists to be made, menus to be thought out, food prep to be done, gifts and program to be considered...

The beds are all made though, so that's one thing done!

My goal is to put in the hours before hand so that when my little Norah gets here I can read stories and play games... "if you want to, Nana"... (which was code for, "I really want you to"...)

In other news, although there is close to two feet of standing snow out back, I have towels hanging on the line to dry. The forecast is for sun, a little breeze and plus 4 degrees C. I am seizing the chance for one more load of fresh-air line-dried wash cloths and towels.

Now, I guess, back to reality.

There are lists to be made.