Ahhhhh... A Sigh of Relief

Whew... I think that we made it. Doug is "home for the holidays". His job is really taking a toll on him. The pressure, stress... I feel bad for him. He's had enough of it and told a few folks so. You know that it is bad for him to spout off. Not too much ruffles his feathers. Of course, they wanted him to work next week - he told them no way. Thank you, Doug! Well, enough of that. We won't waste any more time talking about that...

More importantly, Dean, Mendi and Anzie are in town!! Yeah! They arrived very early yesterday morning. The kids and I got to spend some quality time with Mendi and Anzie yesterday. We all had a blast. Oh, how I wish they lived closer to us. It is just so much fun to watch Amanda, James and Anzie play together. I know that they will be great buddies through the years...

The gingerbread house is really coming along. The roof is complete, as is the front of the house. We have a Starburst sidewalk, too. I need to finish the back and two sides of the house... just can't decide how to do it yet. We have two kinds of cookie dough in the fridge. I would love to get those baked today. One kind is the Christmas cut-out kind... the other is a spiral cookie (a recipe that I found in a book from the library). We're also planning on making chocolate no-bake cookies and maybe some cranberry cookies. Doug needs to fire up the Buckeye production as well.

I still have a couple of little things to shop for before the big morning... but, for the most part things are under control. Now, we can just sit back and have FUN!!

Winter Storm Warning!

Ooooh Yeah, Baby! A winter storm warning has just been issued for our area. This should be good... Hopefully, we'll be able to get in swimming lessons and my hair appointment before it gets too bad tomorrow. I'm really glad that this is going to fall on a weekend... Doug will be here to enjoy it and play with the kids and Shasta in the snow. It would be nice if we could get out and do a final bit of Christmas shopping tonight. The kids also need some snow boots. I bet that the stores will be nuts with everyone stocking up on milk and bread.

The kids (Shasta included) and I went up to have lunch with Doug today. It was fun. We went to McD's... where else? Afterwards, we stopped in to say a quick hello to Grumpa at his work. He was surprised to see us. Grandma didn't want our germs, so we didn't stop to see her.

Holiday Eating Tips

This advice from my neighbor was in the inbox this morning. It is very funny... I think that I will try to live by it this Christmas season. Life is too short not to. Enjoy!

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy . Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Yeah, yeah... I'm still around

I'm still here. I'm not sure why I haven't blogged for awhile. I've been busy... but, that is really not a news flash. I'm always busy. We are in pretty good shape for Christmas. Most of the buying and wrapping has been done. There are a few people out there who insist on asking for gift cards and/or cash for gifts. I am not a fan of this (except in a few rare cases). I guess that I should look at it as being easier on us... but, to me it takes the fun out of "gift giving".

The weather here has been strange. We had about four or so inches of snow on the ground about a week ago. Yesterday it was in the fifties most of the day... Today it has been sunny but a bit cooler. I like snow on the ground for Christmas... but that is about it. All other days of the year, I would prefer to be on the beach or to at least have beachlike weather.

Our computer died a couple of weeks ago. Doug resurrected it... and managed to save all of our pictures. Whew! What a techno-geek hero!! That is one downside of digital photography... if you don't do your backups regularly... which we hadn't. I think that our last backup was about one year ago. Suffice it to say that we are all backed up now.

I'm suffering not only from my monthly swing of moods right now, but also my seasonal issues. I don't know why, but I get a bit depressed around Christmas and New Year's. It's not really because of the stress of shopping and get-togethers. I truly enjoy those things. I think that it is just a "marker" of another year gone by... the kids are another year older... you know? Sure, those things actually happen on our birthdays, but in a season where it really is about the kids, I think that it just hits me that we don't have too many times to celebrate all together while they are so young and precious...

Shasta and Mallory are doing good. What sweeties... Shasta got to visit with Santa at Petco the other day. If our scanner gets reconnected to the computer soon, I will scan the picture in and post it. The kids and I were in the pic with her... very cute!

Gotta go for now... Shasta is clanking her empty water bowl. Oops.