A thing you probably know about me is that I am a control freak, and I say that lovingly to myself because joking about being a control freak is better than fully succumbing to real anxiety. Even though I was fully aware that today was Saturday, I was left with the lingering effects of having been confused all week. The weekend was wide open, but I knew the following week and weekend would be busy, and my natural response to impending stress is to plan.

This is to say: I wrote out the entire proposed Advent calendar for December. This is a tradition our family has held on to since inception, so the real complication of the task is just making everything fit. I hand draw the calendar because I never have ink for our printer, and by the time I made all the boxes, I felt better and I was giddy to fill them out.

The weekend weather felt more like the end of summer than the start of winter. We enjoyed meals on the deck in the sunshine and kept the house open during the day. It was the last day of the year to eat dinner in the light.