Okay, so I didn't get those pics posted today. Maybe tomorrow. Today I was still working steadily on orders and calling local customers about pick-up and delivery appointments.

Why is it when you are so busy you barely have time to breathe, your mind goes wild with new ideas? Why does this always happen when the holiday is just around the corner and there's no time to make the items, let alone market them? I've been making lots of little notes that I hope still sound great next Fall when I start gearing up for the holidays of 2010. (There have been a few years along the way when I never found those notes again!)

In between new ideas, I've been struggling with the list of what I need to get made for our own gift-giving, the mounds of candy I still need to make, the cards that need to be addressed, the decorating to be done (I'm determined to get my window wreaths up tomorrow) and the long list of routine household chores that need to be taken care of in the next few days - just as soon as I get through all this painting and sewing.

Just to test how much I really can accomplish, The Big Guy had an eye doctor's appointment today which required him to be chauffered as his eyes would be dialated. So I had a forced break this afternoon while we took care of that. It was like a mini-vacation. I had an hour to sit and read while he was with the doctor. Then, we went out to dinner. I came home feeling rejuvenated and was able to finish base-coating the piece of children's furniture I was working on. It's ready for me to do the detail work in the morning.

Tomorrow, I'll have another forced break as we have plans to have dinner with friends, weather permitting. While we're not expecting anything like our Midwest friends and family are planning, we do have some frozen mess due to start in the early evening. I've made no secret here or anywhere else that I am NOT a winter person! If it's cold and wet, I try to hibernate. That is actually one of the best things about not working outside the home these last few years. I go out in it when forced but am not happy about it.

We've been lucky in our end of the world and have had two really easy winters but I believe the Weather Gods probably have a surprise in store for us this year. Last year was colder than normal but much drier so we had very little messy weather to deal with. In fact, all of the snow-driving I did last year, I did while on vacation. We hit snow on two out of three of our trips to the Midwest, a lot of snow on a weekend visit to the Pennsylvania mountains in November and even on our South Carolina winter getaway last year. The coldest weather we experienced last winter was in Tennessee, of all places!

We got our first dusting of snow this past Saturday. This seems to be the weekend that opens our snow season around here. It has snowed on that weekend for 6 out of the last 9 years! Not usually amounting to much but enough to wake us up and shout, "Winter is coming!"

I saw a plaque last week that I plan to make for myself this year. It state's my sentiments eactly - "Winter can't last forever!" I already feel that way.

Stay warm and dry y'all! (And think 80 degrees and sunny!)