Only 6 days until Christmas!! Holy Moly, time is flying. *sips lemon water* So Scribblings, how is your preparations for Christmas going? Myself I’m nearly done with buying and wrapping presents for my Brother Sean—He pays me to shop and wrap for him—and I’m just now starting on preparing my own presents for people.
*Looks at mountain of shirts and paintings.* It’s a lot but thankfully I work well under pressure! And our family isn’t that big, only 12 or so.
I just have to pop into the store for 4 things and then I’m set!
My mom always instilled in us that giving was the priority of the season. Even as kids she had us either save up some of our allowance for gifts for family—yes including our aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.— so we could get something little from the $ tree or we saved up some money to make something for them!
Personally I will be doing the same with my children as it really made me loooove giving gifts and it forced me to consider it all year long! Was I going to save half of my allowance/money I earned to give gifts better than dollar tree that year? Or was I going to put in the time and effort to think up paintings, jewelry, photos, or craft ish things?
Either way it was great and with the guidance of adults our gifts were usually good. Sometimes though it was a crap year and it was “Oh thank you . . . I appreciate the thought.” Sentiments at our homemade/cheap gifts.
A bit ago I dehydrated cranberries! I used Trim Healthy Mama’s recipe in their Trim Healthy Future book and they turned out great 
. I’ve been putting them in my yogurt bowls along with some granola and frozen wild blueberries. Yum .
Our kitten Midnight is doing well!!
It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a black cat. Our first ever cat was a black and white one with minty green eyes. We named her Peppermint and she was by far the best cat in my memory.
Midnight has recovered from her traumatic experience and has mastered climbing the stairs up the porch! She’s a fast little kit!
Her only scar from the dogs is a small crimp in the tip of her tail. It adds character, I say. 
Last week I spent a day with my Cousin Macie! We had a fun time full of painting ghosties and playing Stardew Valley on the Switch! Macie is honestly one of my favorite people and any time spent with her becomes a treasured memory.
(Oh! Stardew Valley is a cozy farming simulation game. Perfect for people who don’t want to spend much money—it’s $15–and don’t want to be intimidated by over the top graphics. Simplicity is the vibe with Stardew.)
I should do a blog post on Cozy Games. . . Hmmm. *scribbles note down*
Welp! That’s all for me! I hope that you’re last minute preparations aren’t as frenzied as mine! And I hope that your Christmas is a great one. Next Monday I’ll go into detail on our Christmas traditions! They’re honestly so much fun and bring the focus onto Jesus and Family and Giving and yeah, it’s unique and great.
‘Till next we meet!
~Tiffany Michele
