Progress

Progress on several fronts in recent days. We have framed the walls in the basement kitchen, next step is framing a box around the heating duct that runs along one wall. All of the Christmas gifts that I ordered online have been delivered, whew! I really enjoyed shopping online, especially in comparison to fighting the crowds in town last night for the final few items. But there was some anxiety involved with shipping times of "2 to 3 weeks." Thankfully the actual times were on the very short side of that estimate. We cut our Christmas tree this morning. A nice cedar from the pasture - killed two birds with one stone, frugal tree and one less to mow around in the field. Now with all of my shopping done and the scent of cedar in the air, I am starting to get a little Christmas spirit. I may start decorating the tree this afternoon, and if I get really inspired, I'll manage to get a picture of the dogs in front of it and print my Christmas cards too. Although I am not complaining one bit, the weather is not helping to make it feel like Christmas. Today, the first official day of winter, the shortest day of the year, and just 4 days until Christmas, it is forecast to be 62 degrees with a good chance of a thunderstorm.