Sitting at my desk

Bryan and Grace just left for the valley. He had some vacation he had to burn, so he went down to hang out at his parents a little earlier. I'm leaving tomorrow evening. Today we had a delayed opening at NAU so I was able to wrap all of my presents before coming in which was really nice and with all of the snow days (2 full on days and one at 3 p.m.) I was able to get most of my christmas knitting done. I still wanted to do about 15 more knitting projects, but I got all of the presents done except for Bryan's which is now becoming a just because I love you and you already got too much stuff for christmas anyways present. Tonight I'm going to clean the house and pack without the distractions of dog and husband.

I'm also thinking I may finish reading the books I got from the library and working on my sweater. I finished one bookthat I wouldn't recomend to anyone called Fleece Navidad. It was a murder mystery centered around a yarn shop in Colorado. The plot was pretty perdictable and the characters weren't very engaging...but they did have recipies in the back so I may try out their gingersnaps.

Tonight's selection is by Anne Rice and is about how she came back to christianity. I thought it was fitting for the season and I love her style so hopefully it will be good. I'm also listening to Giving by Bill Clinton which is good and also fits the season, but makes me feel like I am not doing enough for others. It also makes me think that I should try and work with my family to start up a family foundation. I know my dad is worried about the economy right now, but with my mom retiring next year it might be good timing.

At work I'm listening to Reading Lolita in Tehran. This definately does not fit the season, but I feel so literatary deprived during the semester it's nice to be overloaded for a bit. Bryan was amazed at how excited I was to go to the library last thursday. I kept telling him, "I really love to read!" and "I'm so excited about getting to read!" He told me I sound like a reading rainbow commerical. That made me realize that I really should try and do some volunteer work with the library. I have been giving a love of reading and I've always wanted to pass that on to others. I guess that's why I keep wanting to get Grace to do the paws to read program. I think she'd enjoy it and if we can help someone overcome reading issues then we've done some good.

I guess my theme for this week is giving back and making time for doing what you love. So as we go into this Holiday Season remember that and be safe. Love you all-Amanda