A Very Blustery Day

Where to begin? As I'm sure some of you know, our little Valley was hit quite hard with a bad winter storm this week. Griffin was up in the middle of the night, and I went out to go to the bathroom, only to discover water pouring, dripping, seeping, and streaming into the front half of our house. Several towels and many buckets later, after rearranging some furniture and possessions, we went back to bed. In the morning, we discovered a large piece of our roof had blown off in the wind. Hmmmm...

Several days later, we are still waiting for the insurance adjuster to come around (they've been a little busy, to say the least!) but we have mostly managed to deal with it ourselves. It's been an extra busy, extra stressful, extra expensive week, though (to say the least!)

Luckily, I had gotten some Christmas baking done the day before!

And Griffin had a great time splashing in all the (outdoor) puddles.

I can't even believe that Christmas Eve is only a week away. I don't think I'm ever actually ready, but this year we are further behind than usual. It's so easy to let this season get stressful, and I just have to keep reminding myself that most of it is extraneous to what's really important. We have our tree, we have some small gifts under it, but mostly we have each other's company, with a roof (mostly) over our heads, and a fire in the hearth. There will be good food, and there will be family, and everything else is just a bonus. (so... if you're a family member who is waiting for a Christmas package in the mail, I apologize in advance - look for it some time in the new year, I expect!)