Reading ... in the Bible I read Esther.
In other books, I'm reading The Christmas Basket by Debbie Macomber. I find Christmas books are usually light little fluff reads. They're a good time, but quite forgettable.
I am also in the middle of doing a reread of a series that I already read twice before this year.
Steven is also doing a reread of one of his favorite series and it brought up a discussion on how we would rate books. After some debating we came to an agreement that the following star ratings is the most accurate way to sum up the books we read.
5 stars = perfection. Would not change a thing. Will definitely read again.
4 stars = loved, would read again
3 stars = don't regret. Had a good time, but it was forgettable and will not read again.
2 stars = did not like. Will not recommend.
1 star = loathed it.
Any books we abandon or can't make ourselves finish we will not rate.
But then there are some other books that don't fit into that basic 1 to 5 star rating system. We went ahead and added two more categories.
6 stars = that top tier feeling. The books that mean so much to you that the characters feel like close friends. They're everything. Multiple rereads will have you feeling the same things you felt the first, second, and third time you read them. They don't grow old.
0 stars = burn it, try to forget it ever existed. Only two books fit in this category for me. I couldn't burn them because I had borrowed them from the library, but I'm trying my best to forget they ever existed.
Writing ... addresses on the envelopes of the Christmas cards we are sending out. I've already sent the majority, but still have a few here waiting until tomorrow when I can pick up some stamps for mail sent outside of the United States.
Watching ... Sharon and Steven sledding. Sharon had the day off work yesterday and Steven convinced her to join him sledding. He didn't have to put forth much effort in the convincing part before she was bundling up and heading outside to join him.
Listening ... to the wind, and the sound of traffic passing the house. Both sound cold. The wind has a sharper whistling sound, and whatever they put on the road to treat it for ice and snow gives traffic a different sound that I associate with cold.
Baking ... I haven't baked anything this week, but I have some plans that I'm actually quite excited to try. I want to try making some new cookies that so far only exist in my head. I know baking is much more of a science than cooking, but I kind of understand it, and Rosie Mae is really good at creating new recipes so I'll have her check it before I waste ingredients. If I'm successful I'll share the recipe here on my blog, if not I'll only talk about the results in a future "Currently" post.
Cooking ... last evening I made glazed lamb meatballs and cauliflower sautéed in bacon drippings instead of butter. A salad would have been a lovely addition, but Aldi and Walmart lettuce were both rusty when I did our grocery run, so we are having a salad-less week.
Feeling ... somewhat cozy and festive. There's something about being in a warm house, with a lit Christmas tree while there's snow right outside the window that makes everything feel delightful.
Disliking ... Amazon. I do like Amazon to a certain extent, but it has been a headache this year. Completely losing a package. Resending the order in multiple packages one of which claims it should arrive by the 23rd when it was originally supposed to arrive towards the end of November. Another item arrived yesterday, but they sent the wrong thing so I have to deal with doing a return.
Loving ... peppermint tea. I'm not the biggest tea drinker, but I've recently been loving a daily cup or two of peppermint tea.
Playing ... I dug out most of our winter and Christmas themed games and brought them downstairs. We've only played one of them so far since sledding seems to have replaced board games for now.
One afternoon Tim and Rosie Mae stopped in after having had other errands in our area, They saw the stack of Christmas games, Santa's Workshop caught Tim's eye and he was immediately interested in playing. We've never played it before so the setup, reading the instructions, watching a video on gameplay all took some time, but once we got it figured out it was quite fun. Certainly a game that we'll be playing again and again. Especially during future Decembers.
Cleaning ... on the agenda for this afternoon. I want to do a deep clean and update to our medicine cabinet. The update will have to consist of simply a list of things we need to get to have the cabinet properly stocked. Hopefully we can get those items tomorrow.
I know there are some expired items in there, and other things that need to have their stock replenished. A recent injury reminded me of how important a properly stocked medicine cabinet is.
