It was a short break or so it seemed. I had five days and the kids had nine days away from school. The time went quickly as it always does when you are busy. As a family, we packed it full: Thanksgiving Day and dinner, cooking, wreaths, wreaths (did I really include it twice?), a little shopping, a high school football game, and some Christmas decorating in the yard. Now we go back for the final weeks before Christmas Break. This time will go quickly, too. It is not the quantity of time you have but what you do with it; as Goethe pointed out – man has time to accomplish what he feels is important. So, when I get back to work I need to reset and look at different priorities.

The Tigers were victorious 28-17. But it was a hard fought battle and the outcome was not clear until the fourth quarter. William, Olivia, and I had a great time. It was cold, but we were bundled up and never really felt the chill.

The wreath sales went well and Sunday was a good day for sales, it was the warmest day of the three-day weekend and many folks had the mindset to decorate outside. The troop has another weekend of sales coming up and hopefully all of the inventory will be sold.

I spent much of Sunday afternoon outside finishing last minute details in the yard: covering furniture, moving the birdbath in, cleaning the odd piles of leaves, and decorating for Christmas. I strung a garland of lights along the deck railing brightening the look from the kitchen window. The backyard neighbor decorated one of their pines in colored lights and it is a delight to look at from our vantage point. In front, Beth has been working on her tree and will try to finish it today. It looks good as it is, but she is not satisfied. The inside tree will go up next weekend and soon it will feel like Christmas. The weather looks to change by the end of the coming week with a chance of snow ahead. So far this season, I have seen sleet and a flurry, but no snow, yet. I know it is coming!

Our break is done and it is time to get back to the business of school and learning during the day and with family and homework by night with the weekends divided between both. Today is the sixty-second day of the school year and we are beginning our study of the USA, Canada, and Mexico in geography and we are in the throes of mysteries and Sherlock Holmes in Language Arts. It is gonna be a great day, no matter how you count it; it is all about Making the Days Count.