'Tis the Season to Be Busy

Do you make lists? I do. And then each day I get to check things off. 

Last week it was decorating. Check. Then we had a weekend away. Check.

This week it's cookie baking. I got one fussy kind done on Monday along with printing our Christmas letter and picking up the photo cards from Costco.

On Tuesday we had our annual Christmas field trip with some of the teacher friends we have breakfast with on Fridays. Our first stop was Larsen's Danish Bakery in Ballard. There we bought our Kringle to take home and a delicious goodie to have with coffee right there. My BIG almond croissant was delish!

Next stop, also in Ballard, was the Scandinavian Specialty Shop. Yah, Ballard is the berg in Seattle where all the Scandinavians settled to carry on their fishing lifestyle. The Viking blood is being diluted by yuppies these days, but there is still plenty of Nordic influence to charm us Norwegian/Swedish heritage folk. 

Anyway, Jan and Colleen are always members of the field trip team. 

 This was Dede's first tine to join us. She is Norwegian and traveled to Norway on a cruise for the first time last summer. She is 92.

We all enjoyed looking at everything, and we all bought things too. It was hard to get Dede out of the shop, but we had an agenda. 

Next stop, just north of Ballard, was Swanson's nursery. Tom and I were there recently and I posted about it then, so I only took a photo of the reindeer. Everyone else was busy filling their shopping baskets with Christmas treasures. 

We were now running way behind time according to my schedule, but it didn't matter. Dede was having so much fun shopping in places she had never been before. We did finally drag her out and we went to lunch at a new plane called Aurora Borealis, because it was on Aurora Avenue and near our final stop. 

Our final stop was Sky Nursery, which as a great Christmas shop.  "I've never seen anything like it!" Dede exclaimed.  I was just so tickled at how much she was enjoying everything. Assisting her when she needed it was a pleasure. 

We had a gift card, so we bought a few more ornaments. Yes, I know, we don't need anymore ornaments, but, you know.....
There was so much to choose from.

Because we took our time, we had to fight traffic getting back through Seattle at rush hour, but it was worth it. 

Back home, after a light supper, we sat down and got all our our cards addressed and ready to send out. Check.

Today, Wednesday, I baked all day. Tom went to the dentist first thing this morning, but when he got back her helped.  Two more fussy cookies done: Apricot Foldovers and Hazelnut Crescents. Check and check.

More baking tomorrow. And a haircut. Every day has a list.