Yesterday I ventured out to do some last minute christmas buying (though, I hadn't even been shopping yet, and technically, it wasn't "last" minute) and some much needed grocery shopping (a family can only take so much pasta and spaghetti sauce in a week). The kids and I hopped in the minivan (courtesy of my brother who went to FL for Christmas) and off we went. Kohl's wasn't bad at all. Nor was the 2nd place we stopped (can't quite say as I know Ed will read this before Christmas. Hi my sweet!) We made a quick trip home to drop Sam off and Alina and I cruised the back roads to Meijer. I should've known it was going to be crazy when I had to go down three rows of parking spaces before finding an open one. My 2nd clue as to the craziness was when we walked into the store and you couldn't see down the aisle that had all the checkout lanes. The lines were backed up into the clothes department. But we continued on. We needed the essentials (milk, fruit, veggies, ice cream) to get through another week or so (especially now with Sam home...he's a non-stop eating machine. I tell him no so many times in the day that he can't have a snack as he just ate an hour ago. Boys).

We got all the shopping done and of course, stopped at all the free sample places so Alina could get nourished. One of the samples, I thought, was cheese. Like the kind you squirt out of the can. When I went up, the nice lady said, "would you like to try a pancake?" Turned out to be pre-made pancake mix that you squirt out of a bottle (like ready whip) onto your skillet. And viola! Pancakes! and the kicker was that it was organic. Interesting.

So onto the checkout lane we went. I have never. Ever. Seen such craziness. You couldn't walk down the checkout aisle to find the shortest line. I had to weave through the jewelry, clothes, and lingerie before finding the "shortest" line. I called Ed and said, "I'm at Meijer and there's, oh, 10 people in front of me". His response, "see you in an hour". He was pretty darn close. 40 minutes later I paid. We talked to the people in front of us. The lady in line next to us was a mom of one of Sam's classmates from Kindergarten last year (and who lives two streets away). Alina was a HUGE trooper. And it was interesting watching people. No one was stressed out, going crazy or getting upset because everyone had to stand in line forever. And ever.

The next time I think I'll be standing in line for 40 minutes, I won't buy ice cream. And will I stock up on perishables if I somehow know that we'll lose power in a wind storm for half the night (with it being in the 50's) and half of the next day? No. probably not (but the upside to that is, the temperature plummeted down to 1 degree with the wind chill in a matter of hours, so it stayed chilly enough in here to keep the food from going bad!).

Nothing good can come of eating only 2 cookies the entire day.
And that being at 5:45 tonight.
Oh! And some sweettarts.
yeah..real good.
no lectures needed. I know. i know.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Sunday our tree finally went up. Had to finish painting the living room before the tree could go up. One more project completed.


Our mirrored wall around the fireplace was nice until it was covered with fingerprints (which took about 2 seconds after we moved in). I hardly wash the windows, so the mirrors never got cleaned. So what do you do with something so breakable? Why break it of course!





After the first break, we found this absolutely adorable shade of brown paneling underneath.








Now, no memories of mirrors or fingerprints.









So with that done (and the green wall you can see the reflection of in the 1st picture now matches the rest of the room), the tree could finally go up!

Sunday the four of us fluffed branches and got them all in place. I put the lights up. And that's how the tree sat until last night. Ed works late on Wednesday's, so I gave the option to the kids of either decorating cookies or the christmas tree. Christmas tree was the unanimous vote (cookies are tonight's project).

This year I took a different approach to decorating the tree. I sat on the floor and was in charge of all the hooks. I let the two of them put the ornaments up with no help from me. So the top 1/4 of the tree was bare. :) They did a fantastic job and I had to let go of my left-braininess and not make everything look symmetrical. I kept telling myself (amidst breathing exercises) that it was OK to have three pink balls all in a row or a large section of bare branches. It was difficult, but I survived. After they went to bed, the few ornaments that fell off, I put up top.

This morning I put the tree back in place and added the final touch: Henreitta (she's our angel). I think this is the longest we'll have had our tree up since we've lived in this house.

JOY!

Last night when the decorations were being brought out, Alina found the box that houses our stocking holders. Since the stocking holders are porcelain, we've stuffed shredded paper around them to keep them from injury. I pulled the stocking holdings out and Alina started throwing the shredded paper in the air.

"I'm spreading JOY!" she said. I gave her a few throws and then asked her to put clean it up and put it away.

Today a package came in the mail and sure enough, crinkle paper was in the box. She asked if she could play with the joy. How can one say no to that?
So out came all the blue crinkle paper. She danced through the house singing, "JOY! JOY! I'm spreading JOY!" while throwing bunches of paper into the air.


She's not liking that she has to clean her joy up, now that it's all out of the box.

jobs

The other evening, while sitting outside chatting with a fellow stay at home mom, the conversation of jobs came up. What kind of jobs would we enjoy having? What kind would we be qualified for with not being out in the work place for several years?

When I crawled into bed that night I came up with a list of job titles that she and I would qualify for.

Negotiator
Baker
Chef
Counselor
Maid
Window washer
Seamstress
Vacuuming service
Laundry mat supervisor
Dish washer
Bus boy
Chauffeur
Librarian
Nurse
Garbage woman (has anyone actually seen a garbage women?)
24/7 on call person
Professional "why" answerer
Fashion designer
Dancer
Musician
Answering service
Customer service representative


I'm sure there are a ton I'm forgetting but my answering service needs to kick in as my "mom. mom. mom? mom! MOOOOMMMM!!!!" phone is ringing.

Answer

The answer to the below post is....

Here

oooooo the anticipation!

It's here! Burning a hole in the counter. The answer. In an hour and a half Ed will be home to tear it open.

Waiting....waiting....

double take

Today I (along with the rest of the company) received an e-mail from the president (of the company that is...not the United States). Thankfully it was a good news e-mail. This year there was going to be no Christmas bonus due to where the company was financially, but after speaking with the Board of Directors (one of which started the company) they agreed to give all full time employees a Christmas bonus this year. I was filled with gratitude b/c one of those full time employees is Ed. What a huge, huge blessing this is.

Ed kept IM'ing me asking if I had read the e-mail and when I was finally able to he said, "He (the president) came up to my desk and handed me a piece of paper saying that 'this one got stuck'". It was a 2nd check bonus check. In my name. For half the amount of the full time employees bonus'. When Ed told me that, I stood here dumbfounded in unbelief and my eyes filled up with tears. One check was a surprise, but two was a shock. How grateful and humbling this is, at this time in our lives. And how so very thankful we are. Beyond words thankful.