Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind the past few months, so December has crept up on me and now I need to get in the spirit of the season.  This weekend allowed me to get started on just that.
Saturday my workplace held their Children's Christmas party.  I had the pleasure of taking my nephew Jack.  He's just 1 1/2 so sort of knows what's going on, but not really.  He did not Santa and kept pointing at him and saying his name, but when it came time for a picture with Santa he was not very pleased.  I am hoping to get some pictures from work as I did not get the chance to take my camera out of my bag.  There were bouncy castles but Jack was too scared to go in.  He had fun just wandering from room to room and me following him.  He thought it was great fun.  I on the other hand got tuckered out.  We got ostriches that were stuffed in front of us and Jack got a great little butterfly that you press various parts on it and it plays music and/or lights up.  Julia (she organized the whole thing) even put aside a present for Ryan, who couldn't make it as he was spending the weekend with his grandparents.

When I got home I decided to start with the Christmas decorations and pulled the Christmas Tree out of the basement.  I have placed it in a slightly different location this year, but I forgot how big it was.  We had to rearrange the dining room table so it could fit.  After all of that I was a bit tuckered out and Raju was not feeling well, so neither of us wanted to cook.  We decided to check out the newly renovated Joy Bistro instead.  I had the prix fixe menu.  I started off with a shrimp salad, had rack of lamb with curried lentils and apple chutney for my main and finished it off with vanilla creme brulee and a shortbread cookie for dessert.  It was quite delicious.  Raju had his usual lobster and shrimp mac and cheese.
Today Diana and I carried on our tradition of attending the One of A Kind Craft Show.  Last year we drove and discovered it was the best thing ever.  Who cares if parking is $15.  It's well worth it.  We left our coats in the car, got there right as it opened and managed to get through half of the vendors before it got busy.  We had a couple of larger purchases and it was easy to just get back to the parking lot, put them in the car and return home.  Once I dropped Di off I headed to the grocery store.  I need to pick up baking supplies for the Christmas season.  I figure this week, I will start making my cookie dough and freezing what I can until I am ready for them.

Back at home I began my foray into soups.  In our last fruit and veggie box we had received a butternut squash and a recipe to make butternut squash soup.  The only extra ingredient I needed to get was celery.  I was surprised at how easy it was.  The hardest part was chopping all the vegetables.  I'm even pleased with how it turned out.  I don't normally like soup, but this was alright (if I do say so myself).   For dinner I stuck with simple chicken breasts with mushrooms.
What's left to do for the season?  1)  Write and mail Christmas Cards (this I usually have done by December 1st - running a bit late this year) 2)  Christmas Baking - decide on the cookies and other treats to make and make them 3)  Finish decorating the house 4) Finish shopping for Christmas Gifts and wrap them 5)  Spend time with friends and family over the holiday season.