Two weeks and going strong

Mums are amazingly hardy; they survive even the incredible level of neglect I can inflict on flowers. These were a hostess thank you a friend brought to our card night two weeks ago tonight. They were plunked in the vase, then left strictly alone. The color is unusual; it seems to be a typical rusty orange, but there is a little pink peeping out in places as well.

Not much on tap for the weekend, other than a possible visit to a potluck. With an ever-lingering cold and a persistent low-grade fever, I'm not sure I really should stay at the dinner; it's for a friend who has just started chemo. About all she can tolerate to eat is soup, so we are bringing our specialties for both dinner and a freezer-stocking for her. I'm thinking pumpkin soup: seasonal, well-freezing, full of pumpkin, carrots and tomatoes.

Back in April, I bought a close-out copy of Marcia Ramsland's Simplify Your Holidays. The one thing I'd like to do this weekend is sketch out my plan for the next eight weeks (yes, it really is only eight weeks to Christmas). It's not that I do so much, but that I've not done some things the last few years because I didn't take the time to plan ahead, then ran out of steam when it was time to do them.

Christmas cards were ordered last month (CBD has great deals on them still); the Christmas stamps were purchased today. The gift list is filling out nicely, particularly as I'd like to make a few things. I've just ordered tickets for a friend and I for a performance of the Messiah at the Basilica, though it's rather late in the season. Chris Tomlin is coming to a local church much earlier in December; need to think about that concert as well.