My, aren’t I focused this morning? With one cup of coffee under my belt, my brain’s still fluttering here and there. But hey. It’s my musing day, so I’ll just go with the muse. (How very Greek of me!)

Anyway. So in my house, Christmas prep is in full swing. Were it up to my daughter, we would have been decorating a month ago, but I held her off until last week. =) Decorating, baking, holiday preparation is in that category of things I hate to get started on but love to have done. And which tend to engross me once I’m started. Baking gingerbread cookies the other night led to chocolate chip yesterday, and if I weren’t out of sugar and a few other crucial ingredients, I might just go for type 3 today. There’s just something about seeing those beautiful lights sparkling on the tree in my living room that makes me want to break out in song and fill the house with the smells of baking.

And I’m terribly excited to be going to a fancy Christmas party this weekend. I have NEVER had cause to get all dressed up for a Christmas party, so this is fun. And my friend the hostess actually put it together just for a chance to get all fancy schmancy, so it should be extra fun because of its fun-seeking origins. I found an awesome little black dress with a cream sash and some sparkle where strap meets bodice, and the perfect silver shoes. I am not a shoe fiend, but I loooooooove those shoes! As does my hubby, miraculously. So yay! Exciting!

On to the final installment of my subject line. A friend of mine from one of my writing loops got an ARC of Stray Drop and just finished it yesterday. Earlier this week I got an update from Goodreads where she had posted a halfway-through review that was GLOWING, which made my day. Her full reaction was even better. It so, so warms my heart to hear that I actually pulled off what I wanted to in this book. So thanks, Dina!!

Speaking of which, you have a few more days to comment on Tuesday’s WordVessel post for a chance to win. I believe the drawing’s on Saturday. There’ll also be an interview and giveaway on Stephanie Morrill‘s site next week, and I think I’m going to have another title contest on Monday with a copy as one of the prizes. Although y’all should really go buy a gazillion copies for everyone you know too . . . 😉