December Already!

2008 seems to have just flown by. There were times when it felt like it was ever so SLOWLY creeping (like when I was overdue!), but overall I feel like the year is gone and WHAT have I done??

Holiday
Thanksgiving in the Gollihugh home was very quiet and much like any other day of the week. We did school stuff with Ria (and Kat to a lesser extent). The turkey was still defrosting (finally done now) and Jessie had to work, which is why I didn't pull the turkey out until the night before. Bummer. Yes, I know.

I spent much of the day, between dealing with the older girls and Tea, making a Pumpkin Pie. That was my one food from "tradition" for the day. I was determined that we should have pumpkin pie. That's really strange, if you know me, because Pumpkin Pie is totally NOT a favorite of mine. I found a recipe, though, that I was excited to make and taste. It involved sour cream and beaten egg whites folded in. As it happens, the pie is AWESOME! It's not heavy and dense and I didn't use as much spice as the recipe calls for, so it was just right. :) I'm actually planning to make another one... it's THAT good!

The Piano
It is a joy to have a piano in my home! I feel so happy about it each time I see it, which is quite often. The fact that I've wished for a piano as long as I can remember (and I've been actively striving to bring one to my home for more than a year) is probably the reason the thing gives me so much pleasure. I've practiced on it each day and I feel my form and dexterity is improving rapidly. It's so exciting! I just have to work on theory a lot more (like memorizing treble clef lines and spaces so that I don't have to think about it when trying to play something). I know it's a process and I'm happy to be patient with myself because I'm just so happy to hope that I might play our FHE songs!!!

It is getting a good deal of use, in general. Ria and Kat want to play it quite often. Ria has had practice time on it and Kat plays on it as much as possible. :) The picture of the piano I shared was actually one of the two original Craigslist pictures... so the piano isn't in my home in the picture. Just in case you were wondering... I don't have any window sills high enough to be above the piano in the main part of my home. ;)

I mentioned that it's sort of fragile. It doesn't just look that way. I don't know how to describe it for non LDS, but I would very much like to have a solid piano more like the pianos in the church buildings. There are pianos (like Mary Kay's) that have the shorter back (like mine), but are also very solid. I don't know brands and stuff... and really couldn't discern from the picture that mine was NOT that kind. I'm still happy with it, but worried that the kiddos will be the death of it sooner than if it was of the more solid variety. :) All will be well. We're getting good use of it already!

Callings
I guess is was inevitable. When you receive a calling there is, in the call, the knowledge that there will be a release from it at some point. I'm pretty bummed because I am starting to feel more normal again and I was looking forward to getting back into full swing with my calling. As Primary Secretary there are a BUNCH of balls to keep in the air and I'd dropped all but the most important (actual roll taking) during the course of my pregnancy.

Believe it or not, (and I think it's totally due to the help my Mom offered during her visit) I'm feeling quite good about the balancing act of Mommy-hood with the new addition. Of course, it's also helped by the fact that Tea is just AWESOME! But my house is really quite together. I have some laundry to fold, but not a TON. The dishes are almost completely caught up (and that's with a NON-functioning dishwasher... AGAIN!). The floors have been swept almost daily since my Mom left (by me because I'm feeling SUPER paranoid about crumbs left out for the darn mouse... have I told you about the mouse? ARGGGHH!). I've done Math class, Reading class, Writing class, and Piano practice with Ria most days (Jess does Reading class with her pretty regularly) AND I've actually made full-on meals about half the week. The rest of the week we have sandwiches, mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, and things like that. So, it just feels REALLY sad to me that I don't have the secretary work to do that I was expecting to get back into fully! I'm sure there's a good reason that I should not be doing it... I know the sister who will be doing it needs the responsibility of it. *sigh* ahwell

So, that's what's new here.

Maybe I'll get into the writing that I really SHOULD do....

I need to finish crocheting Tea's items and a couple of other things....

Plenty to do...

Always plenty to do.