I’m glad my post yesterday struck a chord with so many of you. And it’s nice to remember to slow down and enjoy the season. But still – it’s a busy time of year and while we are enjoying we also have to prepare. And in the spirit I have to admit that my to-do list is about to explode and it’s sort of all I can think about these days. And so, while I’m still focusing on what matters, I’m also going to unload on all of you. Here are 10 Things On My To-Do List Right Now.

1. Order Christmas cards. At least we finally got the photo done over the weekend!
2. Mail the Dansko clogs I sold on eBay.
3. Make an appointment for an oil change. Of course my car hit the 7500 mile mark at the busiest time of year. Of course it did.
4. Prepare the Library and COA Budgets for 2015. Good times right there.
5. Prepare for the Kiwanis monthly business meeting. Lots to talk about after our successful Christmas on the Common weekend.
6. Squats, Push Ups and a Plank. Every day.
7. Finish Christmas shopping. I only have a couple of things left to buy but I’ll feel better when it’s done.
8. Wrap gifts. I generally don’t wrap until everything is purchased.
9. Pick out a Christmas tree. You would think, given that we sell these, that this would be a no-brainer. And yet, it’s not done.
10. Bake cookies. This will be done over the upcoming weekend.

I think writing this all out actually made me feel worse but I’m hoping that reading all of your to-do lists will make me feel better! Don’t forget to add your link below and if you want to receive the Ten on Tuesday email then click here to sign up.

Thursday night was the annual tree lighting on our town common. This event is put on by my Kiwanis Club - we decorate the common with garland and bows and lights, we serve free hot apple cider and apple crisp, we arrange for entertainment and we find sponsors and I, as president of the club get to MC the evening. I thought I’d share with you one portion of my speech that I think we all need to keep in mind over the next two weeks.

As President of the Kiwanis Club of East Bridgewater, I want to welcome all of you to our annual tree lighting event on the town common. We are so glad you are here to kick off the Christmas season in East Bridgewater!

I just have a few words I want to share before we get on with tonight’s program. I know how hard it is make time to attend an event like this. We all lead incredibly busy lives, particularly so during the month of December. We have jobs to go to and children to care for. We have meals to prepare and friends and family to entertain. We have shopping to finish and packages to wrap and so much more that our heads swim when we think of all the things on our to-do lists. But tonight, for just this little while, I am asking you to put those things aside. Instead of wondering what you are going to buy for that last person on your Christmas list, I want you to focus on how beautiful our town common looks during this season. Instead of planning when you are going to bake Christmas cookies, I want you to listen to the voices of children raised in song. And instead of wondering where all the money for the gifts and the food is going to come from, I want you to think about how wonderful it is to be part of this community tonight. There is nothing like the spirit of the season to make us all open our eyes a little wider and take in the magic – the magic of lights and music, the magic of beautifully decorated trees -  the magic of Christmas.

I think that last November photo deserves it’s own post because it’s a special one. Those are my mom’s vintage Christmas ornaments in a cranberry crate. I got the idea from my friend Anne last year and I just love the way they look.

This weekend will be a busy one full of holiday merrymaking and I plan on enjoying every bit of it. I hope you all have great things planned, too!

It’s December and that means it’s time to review the month of November in photos.

I just love the diary of my life that this creates each month. We started with Thanksgiving and ended with Christmas and there sure was a lot of good in between: birthday parties and delicious food, pretty decorations, leaves, scenery, time in a tipi and a couple of throwback Thursdays.

November was a great month!

One of the things I love about knitting is the ability to create something useful. Sure, a lace shawl is beautiful but it’s sort of a frivolity. Socks, though? Totally useful. Mittens, hats, scarves? Couldn’t live without ‘em in New England in the winter time. But perhaps the most useful handknit item of all?

The dishcloth.

Now, I know that some of you would never stoop so low as to knit dishcloths. And some of you loathe knitting with cotton yarn. But when you look in your kitchen basket and the dishcloths there are ragged and unraveling, faded and shrunken, well, you break out the Sugar ‘n Cream and you get cranking.

The Ballband Dishcloth Pattern is my favorite one ever. It’s entertaining enough to keep me amused but mindless enough that I can knit it anywhere.

And it’s pretty, especially in bright solid colors like these.

I can’t decide which is my favorite!