blessed

Wow!

This week I felt like I was on a see saw ~ lots of ups and downs.

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Not that I am any busier than anybody else, I just {thought} this was going to be the week when I baked, wrapped, cleaned, organized…

There was lots of stress and anxiety and LOTS of back & forth this week, but the highs definitely outweighed the lows.

Like when I took my first solo trip to {Justice} to procure a few items on Elliott’s Christmas list ~ uh, that place is insane…a peace sign and glitter EXPLOSION up in there. But I had fun browsing {alone!!} and finding some cute starter stuff for her. She’s going to die when she sees a half dozen Justice boxes under the tree ~ I asked the lady for separate boxes to spread out the smiles on Christmas morning.

Or when I put another Pinterest recipe to the test and realized the cuteness factor way outweighs the easiness factor…wait, super cute AND easy? L.O.V.E. **Note: I tried a new variety of Hershey’s kiss tonight…the cookies n cream. Don’t know that I even knew those existed, but they caught my eye at Target today so I grabbed ’em. They DO NOT need a full 6 minutes in the oven, though! Maybe more like 4.5 to 5 minutes because they certainly lost their shape and started to ooze after 6 minutes, but still worked out just fine. I am addicted to making these and am going to try the chocolate ones with mint truffle inside next!

Then there was the Christmas Pot Luck at church which I SO needed on Wednesday night! Loved chatting with and getting to know my sweet RCIA sponsor better and sampling the oodles of home cooked dishes.

Today’s highs take the cake though…I was out on errand duty EARLY and went through the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf drive-thru before I hit I-5. As I was in the long line waiting to pay, I decided that I was going to pay for the woman’s order behind me. When I got to the window I told the guy and he said, “Uh, her total is $15-something…she has three large coffee beverages.” I told him to go ahead…and he asked me if I was sure and I said, “Yes, I just want to spread some Christmas cheer.” and his reply was, “Let’s do this!”. I have no idea what her reaction was, but it was fun and I drove off with a big smile.

Then, my friend, Vicki, and I decided to go in together and do some Blessed to Bless bags {this was one of the things on my [2011 holiday to-do list]}. We both shopped for about six items, split them up and filled our gallon ziplocs. All I need to do is print off a little card to slip inside and they will be ready to load into the car and share with those in need.

Here are the items that we included:

Beanie

Gloves

Trial size lotion

Carmex lip balm

Granola bar

Mandarin orange cup w/ a plastic spoon wrapped in a napkin

2 Slim Jim meat sticks

6 Ricola cough lozenges

2 Wisp toothbrushes {disposable}

Trial size toothpaste

Mini hand sanitizer

Several Wet Ones

Juicy Juice juice box

We bought eight of each item so that will give us both 4 bags each…just the right amount to get us hooked and want to make more, I’m sure.

Awesome stuff right there.

Here is an example of another Blessed To Bless bag:

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There were a couple more {highs} this week, but I am going to have to keep those under wraps for a bit, but CANNOT wait to share.

The only way that I have been getting through each day is drawing up a list of what MUST {no ifs, ands or buts} get done THAT particular day. I simply have not been able to think ahead at all! This has been working for me so I will keep it up since the next 8 days aren’t looking any less hectic.

In the words of the CB&TL barista, “Let’s do this!”.

Bring on the week before Christmas.

One day at a time, please.