And so it begins

Tonight ABC will air "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", kicking off my end-of-year season of celebration. Like many people, the fall/Thanksgiving/Christmas season is my favorite, and I look forward to it all year. But the associated feelings of warmth and nostalgia cannot officially begin until Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Linus (my favorite) have made their broadcast appearance.

What am I looking forward to over the coming weeks??

- Trunk or Treat at church this Saturday. Pics of a cute little Trey-animal to come!

- Mini-reunion with my best girls from high school in two weeks.

- My mom recovering completely from her surgery. Thank you to everyone who prayed - she is doing well.

- Thanksgiving. Family togetherness, cool weather, and gravy. May there be plenty of gravy.

- Decorating, though I'm a little nervous about Trey and the decor. He's much more curious and harder to control this year.

- Watching my all-time favorite Christmas cartoons. My super-duper collection includes A Chipmunk Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas (you doubted?), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (with the mice). When I was a kid we had all of these plus a few more on one VHS tape, but I watched it so many times, it stopped working. Yay for DVDs.

- Two weeks off from work (built-in!) over Christmas, coinciding with Brandon's school break. Thank you, Lord, for giving me such a wonderful job!

- Living nativity at our church. I have always wanted to see one of these.

- Christmas Eve service at church. We have never done this before, and I am so excited for that time of re-focusing.

- Multiple Christmas celebrations with our large extended family. Honestly, I could care less about gifts as long as we can all be together.

It will be here before you know it. What a great time this is.