Crunch Time

'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house.....Goodness what a mess! It's been a crazy week at work. I have a ton of things to do, well, not a ton, but a sizable amount, and I'm worried sick that everything will not get accomplished. See, these things on my legal pad size list are things that need to be done so that I can enjoy my vacation after Christmas. It's mainly holiday stuff and cleaning the house, but time and energy seen to consume me and at times it seems that all of both is lost!
I had a pretty good day yesterday and got a big surprise at work. It was nearing the end of our work day and everyone started to gather around me. I told them to get back to work, and they handed me a Christmas card. When I opened it up, there was a gift certificate inside for a massage! Yes, you heard it, a massage! One half hour of complete and total relaxation in a room where my cell phone is not allowed and I can relax and get all of the kinks worked out! WooHoo! A good friend of mine also gave me a gift card to visit Old Navy! I am talking sheer heaven on earth! A massage and shopping, who could ask for anything more? I have decided that I am so fortunate to have such good people working for me. Each of them have their quirks and things don't always go as well as I would like them to because as you know, when you get a bunch of women together things can get a little crazy at times, but most of the time, things are upbeat and fun and the best thing about my job is that I don't have to work nights and weekends, and the job is challenging and it seems that there is always some sort of learning process that is involved.
So, today I am going to play Santa, in a secret sort of way. I hope that it will make some people feel good and appreciated. Nothing is wrapped, but I don't think that should matter too much.
I bought a hat several weeks ago on sale! It's awesome! I am starting to like hats a lot, especially in the winter time. I will have to do a Hat blog! My favorite is still my Elmer Fudd Hat!
Megan, I don't know if there will be many gingersnaps left by the time that you arrive! They sure are good with my morning coffee!

Worse than a child!

As Christmas is only 1 week away I find myself as anxious as a child awaiting Santa's arrival, but not specifically for the gifts that I will receive, but for the gifts that I have chosen for my beloved family this year! My heart is racing due to the anticipation of said event. My heart is racing because of the plans that I have to do some nice things for neighbors and friends. Santa will come to our house this year on Christmas Eve, which he hasn't done for quite some time. This will be Pete's last big Christmas, as next year, he will no longer be a teenager, so Santa will visit one last time with a surprise! That is, if aforementioned teenager hasn't snooped! I have baking to do, gingersnaps for Megan mainly, and some new recipes that I would like to try! I am going to force myself to get all of it done too!

On one last note, please read my friend's blog! Her name is Beverly and she is travelling through Southeast Asia! Her stories and pictures really hit home as to how fortunate we are to live in such a great country. You can find the link on my sidebar! It has become an adventure to me just to read her stories and see how other people live.

Request

At the request of the Carbonara clan I guess that I should update. Things have been a little bit crazy and busy here and it has made me ever so lazy too! What with work, trying to get the Christmas shopping done, making lists and checking them twice, I have not been sleep deprived at the end of the day! Matter of fact, trips to the Land of Nod have been quite early and very satisfying!
It's hard for me not to be sentimental at this time of year, what with being away from my family back home in Idaho and with Megan and John and the cutest little punks ever being in South Carolina. I miss Mother's cooking and all of the family card games and such that seemed to always coincide with the holidays. I miss seeing the wonder in the punks eyes every time that they walk into our house gazing at the Christmas tree and wondering what is in each and every package and if they will be the recipient of the "great big huge" one! I miss my teenage girls singing the "Loose Panties" Christmas song! It won't be too long until Megan and John and the punks arrive for Christmas and I have a list a mile long of things that need to be accomplished beforehand, will they get done? I seriously doubt it! I will be taking a vacation day this Friday and maybe some of those things will be done, but if there is a good "doorbuster" somewhere, that will take first priority! More later! VC

I GUESS

It will be a little bit longer, between work, dental work, a freaking cold and other things where in the heck does all of the time go??? I promise pictures and a real post next time, maybe, if I'm feeling adventurous, a "word of the day"!

Good Heavens!

Has it been that long?

Inquiring mind wants to know!

Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with a narcissistic, chauvinistic, sociopathic, controlling individual? The person in question is no one that any of you would have any direct contact with, but I really need some advice here! Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Things going OK here! This week has seemed to drag like crazy.

Our Wes lost 2 teeth in one day. He actually lost one at school and then pulled the other when he got home from school. The tooth fairy probably didn't have to pay double though because he really LOST the first one at school. On Saturday, Will is going to be 5 years old! Can you believe it? Wow, seems like the days just drag sometimes, but time is actually flying!

On haitus I guess

Haven't blogged in a while, I guess because I was very nervous about our trip to Mississippi and the onset of Hurricane Gustav! Maybe I must explain that I am pretty much terrified of water, having been through a flood once in my life, so it made the trip a little more nerve racking than it should have been. The Husband's parents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, so it was pretty much a requirement to be in attendance. The only family member that wasn't able to attend was Pete and I missed him a whole bunch. Things were going well, except for the heat and the tv station set to updates of Gustav. I didn't need a reminder. The party went well, we got to see the grandbabies, as John and Megan also travelled from South Carolina to be there. Now I want your opinion! Who could not LOVE this face?


Or this face?
Or this face?

It was so good to see all of the kids and have at least a couple of days with them. Of course, I don't need to remind you about Gustav! There was a mandatory evacuation for Jackson County Mississippi issued on Saturday. Well, the party still remained to be considered. Husband's mother was very intent on having said gathering! Well, to stay married for 50 years is a real milestone and does call for a celebration. In the back of my mind all I could think was Gustav, Gustav, Gustav. Same weekend as Katrina hit 3 years ago. Oh, lord, what had I gotten myself into? Well, needless to say, the party took place and was very nice. Here's a picture of the cake.

That's their wedding picture on top of the cake!

Here's the happy couple cutting the cake!

All in all we had a real nice time. Megan, John and kids left Saturday night after we had all eaten way too much seafood, potatoes, coleslaw, ribs, hush puppies, and biscuits. They couldn't find a motel room until they were almost to Birmingham. We left Sunday morning after Husband helped his Dad board up the house. Traffic was horrible. I have never seen so many cars with Louisiana plates in all of my life. I don't blame them though, I would have skedaddled! Sometimes we were going 20 miles and hour, and then up to 50 miles an hour. It was a long drive and we were exhausted by the time that we arrived at our front porch.

Now it's back to the same old daily grind! I will say though, that there's no place that I would probably rather be than HOME. It's nice to visit different places and see new things, but home is the best place of all.