Thanksgiving - and Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving! This year, I made quiche, my favorite stuffing, cheesy mashed potatoes, caesar salad, and cherry pie. I took the easy route and bought pre-made crusts. (I also have various berries to make berry pie when the cherry one is gone - I didn't have enough pie pans to make it now. Mmmmm).

A friend of mine who was due last April said it was great to be pregnant this time of year because she (and now I) could freely partake in the holiday goodies and not feel too bad about it. I disagree. All my internal organs are being rammed upward, and digestion is slow. I'm now six hours post-meal and still feel a bit uncomfortable. And it wasn't like I stuffed myself as much as I have in the past either. On top of this, I have a nasty cold, rendering me constantly dehydrated, yet I can't fit any more water in my stomach without burping half of it up again. *sigh*

I feel as though I must revisit the Christmas subject. As I mentioned, I've been working on the decluttering - though there is still more to be done. I haven't even started on Marcus's stuff yet. I am really hoping that any relatives who would like to buy toys for him will search for things that are quality, long-lasting, made of renewable sources (i.e. little or no plastic), and not battery-operated. (You might have to look online for these things if there are no cool small toy stores nearby). I've developed an aversion to plastic, junky toys - even if they are educational ones. I bought him a Leapster for his birthday last January, and it has had problems (resetting, freezing up) practically since the beginning. These products just aren't built to last, and then you have a big wasteful thing going into the landfill.

Art/writing supplies are good, as he likes to draw and write (and paint, but that's dependent on being supervised). Things that encourage imagination, learning, and independence appeal to me. He needs to learn to do more on his own, especially since I'm going to have less time to spend with him come spring. More books are always good. He also likes age-appropriate activity books. He did some of these in Germany over the summer, with activities like matching pictures with their first letters, determining differences between two similar pictures, putting action pictures in order, etc.

For me...I'm drawing a blank (especially with a whiny Marcus repeatedly talking in my ear). I really don't need a lot of gifts. Edible stuff is always good (not that I need it, ha) - cookies, whoopies, See's chocolate (milk chocolate bordeaux and raspberry cremes are faves), and jelly fruit candies from Cranberry Sweets all sound good right now. I've held off buying handmade soaps for the most part, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like getting more of them (choice scents/ingredients: citrus fruits, coconut, mango, olive oil, shea butter, vanilla - I seem to like soaps that sound edible, LOL). If you're into gift cards: Starbucks, JCPenney (for maternity clothes) and Amazon are useful.

And for anyone who hasn't caught up on Facebook...I'm expecting a girl! It's sort of a foreign concept after raising a boy. ;)

Cheers - enjoy the leftovers!