My first 4 days away from work.

I've kept myself super busy in the last 4 days that I've not been working (Fri, Mon, Tue, and today).

After stocking the pantry with baking necessities on Friday afternoon, I set to work in the kitchen whipping up pumpkin cookies with homemade caramel icing, cathedral windows (a holiday must), and pumpkin chocolate chip bread. In an attempt to try out some new hot drink recipes, I also put together traditional chai (a recipe from some international students and from scratch, of course) as well as a crock pot pumpkin spice latte.

Sunday we celebrated Christmas with Kyle's family, which was really fun and oh-my-the-food. We ate all day long and had a great time with the kiddos and the rest of the family.

Monday was a girls' afternoon for me. I had two friends over for some more time of food consumption and chatting and we ended up watching a chick flick. It was awesome.

Because I had made all the goodies on Friday, I set the cookies, windows, and bread out, along with a fresh batch of pumpkin spice lattes. We ended up with chips and dip, more holiday cookies, homemade appetizer meatballs, and a fruit plate with homemade fruit dip. Wow. It was incredible.

The spread.

In the midst of all of this, I've been de-junking. I accumulate a lot of junk; I can't lie. But then I go through times like this week, when I can't stand it and must throw things out (or give to Good Will or to friends and family or something). I found tons of random things, some of them gross (a previously used soap tray from college), some of them ridiculous (an IU poncho), and some of them hilarious (an old discman with three sets of earphones). I had to rearrange a closet because of something I purchased recently and needed space to store, so my closet is now in order. I bought a few smallish bins in which to store seasonal shoes, and moved a small dresser around to make the space. That closet is now Quincy's favorite place to hide.

In spite of the copious amounts of delectable foods we've consumed, we also have had to eat normal meals, so I threw together a fantastic recipe of crock pot chicken stoganoff pot pie. It IS as good as it sounds. I think I'll be making my cousin Alaina's bean soup at some point this week or next.

Because of all of the cooking, I find I have piles of dishes to do every day, which is my new least favorite chore. But, I guess when it means there are freshly baked goods around, I'll put up with it. Yesterday I made pumpkin spice muffins--one of my favorite muffin recipes from growing up. I think they are divine, and I even halved the oil and added as much apple sauce, so they are healthier!

Today I'm hoping to use up the last of the pumpkin (I bought HUGE cans of it around Thanksgiving and never used them) to make pumpkin pancakes (again, from Alaina), which I will freeze and use for lunches in January. Awesome idea, if I do say so myself.

Oh, and today I made curtains. Nothing fancy, in fact, they might be more embarrassing than anything, but I really wanted a half-curtain in the kitchen. All we had were very ugly valances from the previous owners. I bought some material on clearance last winter, but it ended up being not very much of it, so I put the project aside. Today, I decided to try it anyway. It worked. For the most part. Emily had the brilliant idea of making an edge around the panels to help use up more space, and I may yet do that. I just couldn't bring myself to try the calculations and stuff. I'm really bad at that.

I'll end the week on a high note tomorrow. We'll be having our own little Christmas celebration tomorrow or Friday morning, but then tomorrow afternoon I have a massage scheduled. I can't wait. I have the best massage therapist.

I hope all of you (whoever you are) have a wonderful Christmas. I hope it reminds you that, even when we're busy, we have a great reason for living: faith, hope, and love. There is nothing without these three!