A Third of the Way into December!

Cranberry Sauce Swirls
(sorry the picture is so dark)

First of all, how can we be one third of the way into December?!  Next thing you know, half the month will be gone!

Late last night, I decided to bake, partly because it was so cold in the house and I thought having the oven on for a bit would warm up the house a bit.  I had bought a packet of refrigerated puff pastry dough some time ago.  I was going to make curry puffs, but, it was too hot to bake at the time and so, the pastry stayed in the fridge all this time.  Yesterday, I rolled it out, spread the last big of cranberry sauce that was leftover from Thanksgiving over the rolled out dough, sprinkled a little more sugar and some pieces of pecan over the cranberry sauce, rolled up the dough, again, to form a sort of pastry Swiss roll, and sliced it, more or less evenly into nine slices.  I placed each slice in a muffin tray (lined the cups with pieces of parchment, and baked the pastry at 400F for 15 minutes.  They would be good with a little powdered/icing sugar glaze drizzled on them, but, I didn't need the extra sugar, so, I've been eating them as they are.  

I went to bed at 4:00 a.m. and woke up once at 7:30 a.m., then, again, at 10:00 a.m.  I turned off the porch lights, opened the drapes as there was bright sunshine, fed Dancer and Mama Cat, and then, I'm afraid, I went back to sleep!  I only woke up when Dancer came to see if there would be a second breakfast and my daughter called to check if I was feeling OK, since I had not replied to her morning text!  I really, really need to work on my sleep schedule!

Once I was up, I fed Dancer again, had a cup of tea, said my morning prayers, opened the windows to get some fresh air in (it was warmer outside than inside the house, where it was 60F), and walked for 15 minutes.  I also went to the side of the house to check on the back of the chimney to see if I could see any openings where an animal could have entered the attic space, but, other than some wasp nests under the eaves, I didn't notice anything.  I will ask M to knock down the wasp nests on one of his future visits - they all looked empty and old.  I haven't heard any noises up there since Thursday night, so, I hope whatever got in managed to get out, again!

Today, I washed the dust sheets on the family room sofas, dried them, and covered the sofas, again.  That was the only housework I did today!  Plus cleaning Dancer's litter box, of course.

Brunch, eaten around 4:00 p.m., was a slice of bacon, a scrambled egg, and a potato made into hash browns.  I had a glass of cranberry juice with it.  Later, I had two of the cranberry swirls.  I didn't feel very hungry for dinner, so I just had some crackers and some fruit.  There's soup if I want something else, later.

Although there was sunshine in the morning, it became rather cloudy in the afternoon and the afternoon high of 73F was very fleeting.  By around 7:00 p.m., I was feeling very cold.  I was dressed in a long sleeved knit top, a wool sweater, and another wool cardigan over that, a scarf, sweatpants, and two pairs of socks (a pair of regular socks and a pair of my knitted wool socks over that).  I suppose I could have worn a knit hat and my fingerless mittens, but, instead, I turned the heater on!  The thermostat was set at 70F.  Then, once the house warmed up to 70F (in the living room area; about 66F in the family room) and the heater went off, I turned it off.  My gas bill for the last billing period, from mid-October to mid-November, was $30.83.  According to the most recent bill tracker notification, received December 8, my current bill stands at $101.45 for the first 20 days of this billing period with 11 days remaining; they estimate my bill will be $150.15 (I love how they can estimate it to the penny!)  I'm currently budgeting $200 per month for gas, but, I can go above that if I need to. 

Former neighbor T called in the evening and I had a nice chat with her.  She said she's doing okay.

Today, I am grateful for:

- A relaxed day
- A working heater and other appliances
- Warm clothes
- Phone calls and emails from friends and former neighbors
- Internet services

Today's joyful activity was playing some games online.  My Advent calendar has a peg solitaire game that I am trying to play.  I might have to resort to online tutorials in order to play this game!

Plans for tomorrow include picking up Dancer's prescription (and maybe a visit to the doughnut shop?) and doing a meal plan.  Also, start doing a little deep cleaning before decorating for Christmas.  

How was your Sunday?  What are your plans for the coming week?