'Tis the Season

Isn't this snowman adorable?

We had rain all day and now the temperature is dropping quickly, which could make the morning commute tomorrow a touch unpleasant. MNDOT (Minnesota Department of Transportation) promises they are ready with salt and sand trucks. I believe them, and thank every one of the men and women who keep the roads in the best driving conditions possible.

Along with the winter roads comes the Christmas Holiday Season. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now behind us—I didn’t venture into the crowds on Friday. I stayed home with the baby while the girls went shopping. (Grandma privileges!) I did catch a couple good online deals today. The majority of my shopping is done, and I’m extremely thankful for that. This week I’ll start to pull out the Christmas boxes, but we won’t get the tree for a couple of weeks yet. With the wood heat they dry out quickly. We are ‘real’ tree people, and over the years, I’ve tried many different ‘tricks’ to keep trees fresh, drilling a hole and putting a straw in the base, putting aspirin, sugar, or corn syrup in the water, etc. etc. In the end, besides cutting the base again once we get home, and a tree stand that holds at least a gallon of water, I’ve found nothing really makes a difference.

If any of you have a tried and true system, please share it!

I’ve started a new book, set in a gold mining town in Colorado. It’s going well, to the point I was up much too late last night. It was hard to get up and head out to the day job this morning. Of course, the long, relaxing weekend may have attributed to that as well.

As the calendar turns to the last month of the year, I hope you all have time to enjoy the excitement and blessings of the season.