Visitors.

We are down to 15 days til Christmas, and once again in a year where we are hoping for a White Christmas because, I say again, this is Minnesota. But apparently the chances are only 75%, not absolutely guaranteed, so there you go. Fingers crossed.

We have been out enjoying the warmth while it lasts. Fisher was out in short sleeves this morning playing baseball and football for a full hour before school - 41 degrees.

And last week we got to have our dearest friends for almost 24 hours, which is not nearly enough for how seldom we see them, but was oh so wonderful. This shot of Catie and I was taken outside of Surly Brewing Co, where the food was divine and even I had a beer.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. First of December. Holy cow.

2. Instead of counting days til Christmas like my children, I'm counting number of days left of school. This is the official number of days I have to get my holiday s--t together.

3. Kids get two full weeks for Christmas again this year! I cannot express the glee that is not picking them up everyday in the freezing cold for two whole weeks.

4. We got snow! Yesterday, maybe, maaaaaaybe, four inches. Probably three. Enough for a snow man and snow bags to go to school. Enough to have already lost one glove. Guess which Killins.

4. What I look forward to most at the holidays is my husband taking lots of time off work and hanging out with me! Sometimes we go on dates like to coffee or lunch (or both!), and I know he looks forward to going to the store with me.

5. Tonight's dinner was Lentil Chili from The Detoxinista's cookbook. So good. She's got one of those reputations for being dependable, as in nothing of hers is ever short of scrumptious.

6. I just love all of the holiday gift guides that pour out of websites and magazines this time of year. I hardly ever buy anything from any of them, but they are just fun. I get ideas.

7. Alla and I swapped books over the Thanksgiving break. Well, what I mean by that is I came home from the library with two books I personally intended to read, and she selected her favorite and proceeded to read it, and then we swapped. Our fiction book, The War That Saved My Life, was amazing. The other, our non-fiction book, Most Dangerous, is so far very interesting, and since Alla chose that one first, she has already given it 4.5 stars.

8. I had so many books I still wanted to read this year, but for the love, this year is only 30 more days, so I may have to amend that, unless I can read all the books on my list in that week after Christmas when the world finally slows down and I envision winter walks and lazy days with books and coffee and snowmen on the lawn. Oh please let that all happen.

9. I got my first real winter run in yesterday after the snow was done, and it was lovely - snow everywhere, about thirty, not windy. If every winter run could be like that I would be so very grateful.

10. Ron has started Percy Jackson with the kids after trudging through the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Everyone seems to love this.