Christmas Morning

Paul and I decided to save a few bucks this year and not exchange gifts, so the only one in our household opening presents on Christmas morning was you-know-who. We get her the same thing every year, which is a stocking full of treats and her favorite toy wrapped up and put under the tree. Her favorite is what I call the "big fuzzy ball" because that's exactly what it is. They carry them at PetCo for $9.99. She plays and plays with it until she wears it out. She'll eventually unstuff
it, but she'll continue to carry around the empty shell all year. Here is a video of her "opening" her gift. It's in black and white because I accidentally changed the setting on the camera and couldn't change it back while recording.

Friday's Feast...a Day Late and a Few Dollars Short

Appetizer
Name 2 things you would like to accomplish in 2008.

1. Lose weight.
2. Get organized.
   

Soup
With which cartoon character do you share personality traits?

Marge Simpson

Salad
What time of day (or night) were you born?

Around 7:36 a.m.

Main Course
Tell us something special about your hometown.

Home of the Rockford Peaches, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team.

Dessert
If you could receive a letter from anyone in the world, who would you want to get one from?

The president of our credit card company stating that we have won some sort of credit lottery and that our balance has been paid in full.

Gift In A Jar

Here is another of handmade gifts that I made to exchange with Paul's family. This is a jarful of the ingredients for German chocolate cookies. All they have to do is add two eggs and a half cup of oil to these ingredients, form the dough into balls, and bake. I found the recipe in a blog post by Nancy at Paper Smiles. I made a sample batch to make sure it made a good cookie. We both really liked them. I took a plate of the cookies with on Christmas Eve, and they were a big hit...especially with Paul's uncle, whose favorite cake is German chocolate.

Sorry the picture isn't the best. I was practically finishing them up and packing them in the gift bags on the way out the door. I had a lot of fun putting this together, and I hope to be able to do more of these "gifts in a jar" in the future.

Tree Farm Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures I took during our visit to the tree farm. It was super cold that day, so I didn't spend a lot of time outside taking pictures...it's hard to get a good picture wearing gloves.

These first three are of a few of the goldens that that live on the farm.


These next two are of the reindeers, Dusty and Clarice . Don't ask me which is which. I'm going to assume the bigger one is Dusty. He must be Dasher's understudy, huh? I couldn't help but say "Helllo Claricccce" through the fence (think Silence of the Lambs). I imagine she gets pretty sick of hearing that.



They have a family of llamas, but I can't remember their names.


This is Cowboy the donkey. I think he liked Abby (whose head you see in the foreground).



They had a lot of wood carvings for sale...check out this welcome sign.


How about this purple tree...

Then of course, is my favorite of all...the pile o' puppies!


Here is a blurry picture of Santa sitting all by himself in the corner because all the kids are watching the puppies. Poor guy. I guess we know how he rates when compared to golden retriever puppies!

Deck the Halls

Well, I have to say that today was much better than the last few days have been for me. I was able to relax a little and lie on the couch and nap while Paul watched football. Paul received a gift certificate to Granite City for Christmas from his boss, so we went out to dinner and then finished up some grocery shopping. When we got home I started working on the gifts for his family. We get together with his aunt, uncle, and his cousin and his family, and us ladies decided to keep it simple this year and not go out and spend a lot of money that none of us have. We decided to each make a little handmade something or other, be it treats or whatever. I've been seeing a lot of these rolled paper ornaments recently and thought that it was a neat idea...simple yet pretty...so I decided to give it a try.

I went to Hobby Lobby Saturday and bought two boxes of medium-sized clear ornaments (four per box). I bought some paper that I liked but soon realized that double-sided paper works better because you can see both sides, and so I dug through my collection and found a few sheets in colors that I thought Carol and Krista would like. This was so simple it's not even funny. Once again, Paul was a huge help and helped me finish them up. I cut the paper and we both rolled and stuffed.

I started with a 12x12 sheet of paper and cut it in half to make it 6x12. I then cut 1/2-inch strips, rolled the strips around a pencil, and dropped them into the ornament. I added a loop of ribbon to the top to hang it by, and that's it! You can't get much easier than that. It takes about 3/4 of the whole 12x12 sheet to fill each ornament. Here are a couple of pictures of all of them sitting in their boxes.



We both really like how these turned out and want to do some for our tree next year. I honestly didn't know if Paul would like them or not, and he didn't have a clue what I was planning on making, but he surprised me and really liked them...either that or he's just afraid to say anything different for fear of sending me into a state of last-minute panic. Poor guy.

Putting Things Into Perspective

I'm tired. For some reason Wednesday was particularly hectic for me. I worked all day, and the few seconds of spare time I had during the day were spent making a list of all the stuff that I still needed to do a home. I stopped on the way home to pick up a couple of boxes to mail some gifts in, and I had to get them to the post office that night in order for them to get where they were going by Christmas. I got home at about 6 p.m. and the post office closed at 7. I had one hour and the stuff I had to put in the boxes to mail still wasn't wrapped. I taped up the boxes, wrapped the gifts, and got them put in the boxes. Of course, one of them wouldn't fit in the size boxes I bought. I went searching through the house looking for a box that would work. I finally found one, got everything taped up, threw everything in the cart and raced to the post office. Fortunately for me, the post office is only a few blocks away and I made it there at about 6:50. I sent the packages on their way, bought a book of stamps, and headed home to address the cards we spent the last two nights working on. As I'm sitting there looking up addresses, signing the cards, addressing the envelopes, etc. I was hit with the feeling of being totally overwhelmed. All I could think was how I couldn't wait for Christmas to be over with and how I just wanted to crawl under a rock and sleep until December 26th. I was upset, angry, frustrated, irritated, and tired. Why? Why am I letting things get to me this year? That's a good question, but I don't know the answer.

During our conversations at break and lunch at work, we've been talking a lot about perspective. One of my coworkers has a sister-in-law that was just diagnosed with lymphoma. Another coworker's cousin just choked to death. We all know quite a few people who have lost loved ones this year. Yet here were are complaining about all the work we have to do, the gifts we have to buy, the cards we have to mail, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Why am I letting myself get all upset over stuff that doesn't really matter or the stuff of which I have no control? Is any of it important? The only thing I have any control over is my reaction to all of this, and I need to start looking at things differently. The only thing that is of real importance is my own physical and mental health and that of the people I love. No one in my family has cancer...no one is on their death bed...everyone has a roof over their head and food to eat. Is it going to be the end of the world if they don't get their gift on time or their Christmas card is late? Since when did I become Martha Stewart anyway? Is the health care system in American going to deteriorate if one of our doctors has to wait an extra day or two to get their dictation back? The answer is no. It's all in how I look at it. I can be happy that we have our health and are basically happy or I can freak out. I'm tired of freaking out. I need a break from all the worrying, and poor Paul needs a break from it, as he has patiently listened to me rant about everything over and over again and that isn't fair to him. It puts stress on him because there is nothing he can do to help me, as it is all in my attitude about everything.

Why am I saying all this? I don't know...I just really feel the need to put things in perspective. I'm going to go to bed now. I'm going to get up in the morning and make sugar cookie dough so I can frost cookies tomorrow night with my great-nieces and great-nephew. It's a tradition that I have been doing every year (except for the year I broke my knee). This year I wasn't going to do it. I was going to call my niece and say I just can't do it this year...I don't have time...I'm too tired, etc. However, I heard through the family grapevine how much the kids were looking forward to it and my heart just sank. I can't do that to them. I want them to grow up with memories of frosting sugar cookies with Aunt Monica every year. That is what is important. No matter what direction they take in their life...those kinds of memories are what it is all about.

A hundred years from now
It will not matter
What my bank account was,
The sort of house I lived in
Or the kind of car I drove
But the world may be different
Because I was important
In the life of a child

Catching Up

At work our previous boss would never let us decorate the department for Christmas unless it was inside our own cubicles. That, of course, did nothing for moral. This year was a whole different story. We didn't get crazy or anything, but we did put up a few decorations, which really helped to raise our spirits...especially with all the extra time we're putting in. I thought I would share a picture of our pretty little tree. Isn't it cute?

______________________________________________________

I haven't had a chance to do last Friday's Feast or this Tuesday's Ten on Tuesday, so here goes...

Appetizer
Make up a word and give us its definition.

Gooberiest - Adjective - The most goober-like of all.

I'm always calling Abby a goober and the other day after returning from our trip to the tree farm, I told her she was the "gooberiest" dog I've ever known.

Soup
What is currently your favorite song?

Right now it's "Home" by Christ Daughtry...even though it is highly overplayed.

Salad
What’s at the top of your Christmas wish list this year?

Health and happiness.

Main Course
Name a scent that reminds you of someone special in your life.

Deb used to wear Calvin Klein's Obsession for Women many years ago (probably when I was in my very early teens), and I could always smell it wafting into my bedroom from hers. I haven't smelled it in a while, but I know it would make me think of her.

Dessert
Who is someone on television that you feel probably shouldn’t be, and why?

Hands down that would have to be Howard Stern. He's offensive and disgusting.

10 New Year's Resolutions

Every year I say I'm not going to make any resolutions because I'll just break them anyway. Even though I say that, I still kind of do make them because I look January 1st as a fresh beginning. I hate it when people ask me what my new year's resolution is. What do you think it is...it's the obvious and the same thing every year...the same one that everyone else makes.

1. Lose weight (duh).
2. Gain control of our finances.
3. Walk Abby more.
4. Become more organized.
5. Pay the bills on time.
6. Drink more water.
7. Not let things get to me so much.
8. Get more sleep.
9. Get birthday cards in the mail on time.
10. Stop procrastinating.
    

Sneak Peek

I truly feel like I have been working in Santa's workshop for the last two evenings. Paul and I have been cutting and inking and stamping and taping and tying like crazy. Our cards are finally done. I'm hoping to get the out-of-town ones out in the mail tomorrow and the in-town ones out by Thursday. I still need to sign them and address all the envelopes! Paul helped with both the designing of and the making of our cards this year! I don't know if I could have done it without him!! He did such a good job...and I think he enjoyed it too (even though he would never admit it)!

Anyway...here are a couple of sneak peeks...



That's as big of a peek as you're going to get!

Snow Friend

I was so surprised when I brought in my mail today because I received this gorgeous snowman Christmas card from Gail at A Dragonfly Garden. Gail and I have been commenting back and forth on each others blogs for a while now. She always leaves me the sweetest comments that always make my day. I know from reading her post about making her Christmas cards that she didn't make too many this year, as she hasn't been feeling too good after her back surgery a while back. I feel so honored to have received one of her beautiful creations! The pictures don't do this card justice...it's so sparkly and her coloring job is fantastic!



Thanks so much, Gail! I love it!!

What a Week!

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days! I'm definitely feeling the crunch of Christmas. All this overtime I'm working is really cutting into my free time, and any free time I have to normally post and stamp and such is being taking up by holiday preparations. We had our department Christmas party for work on Thursday and had a potluck and gift exchange, so I spent a lot of time preparing the food to bring to that...mini ham and turkey sandwiches plus some of mom's caramel corn that she gave me a lesson on how to make Wednesday evening. Saturday evening was the college's holiday party and we had some of my coworkers over for games after the party. Can you guess what we were doing from the time I left work on Saturday until we left for the party...cleaning!!! The house was a disaster, but we managed to whip it into shape. Paul has been amazingly helpful to me...from helping make those mini sandwiches to helping to clean!

There is still so much to do! I can't believe Christmas is a week from tomorrow! We haven't even made our Christmas cards yet!!!! We do have it designed (Paul even helped with that this year!!). We were going to work on them tonight, but we had a pretty full day today. We sat down to eat tonight and decided to watch a movie that Paul had bought while we were out shopping. He bought a collection of the Fantastic Four movies. He has been wanting me to watch them for the longest time, so I gave in tonight and we watched the first one. It was good, but I was so tired that I really struggled to stay awake through it all and as soon as the credits rolled I was out like a light and didn't wake up until 2:30 a.m. I would still be sleeping if Abby didn't have to go outside. Paul fell asleep on the other couch, and she woke him up too. So much for working on the Christmas cards. Now that is on the docket for tonight. We're keeping them fairly simple this year, so hopefully with the two of us working on them it will go quickly.

Anyway, I have quite a few pictures to post, and I hope I will get a chance to over the next couple of days. Today was an interesting day. I feel like I've been from one extreme to the other. Last weekend we went out to the tree farm because I've been wanting to go each year but something always comes up. I took some pictures of the animals, but it was getting dark so they didn't turn out very well. Today we decided to go back and take Abby. This place is VERY dog friendly...as they have 13 golden retrievers living on the property! Yes...you read that right...13 golden retrievers!!! Their cafe even has a section where you can sit with your dog. Last week when we went, we only saw two of the dogs. This week there were probably 6 or 7 roaming around. I swear, I could sit there forever by the fire just watching them mingle with the people. Oh, and check this out...this is what we were sitting by...

One of the goldens had puppies not that long ago. Is that not he cutest thing you have ever seen???!!!! When we sat down to eat, they were playing with each other and frolicking around their pen. By the time I got up to take a picture, they had conked out in one big pile.

This place to me is like heaven on earth. After that, we came home and rested for about 10 minutes and then headed off to visit what I like to refer to as hell on earth. That would be Walmart at Christmastime. That's what I mean when I say I feel like I have been from one extreme to the other.

Well, I have to go. My alarm is going to be going off in 1-1/2 hours, so I better get to bed...and I still have to peruse the Stampin' Up catalog so I can email mom with what I want to order because I promised her I would do that this weekend. Like I said, I have more pictures to post, and I will do that as soon as I can!

Ten on Tuesday

10 Things You Want For Christmas

I have to admit that I don't like this subject. I'm not comfortable with making a list of things I want. While I would like to just play along, I'm sitting here thinking about stuff that I would like to have, and I just can't bring myself to do it. Doing that seems so materialistic, and this holiday is so materialized...or maybe commercialized is a better word...as it is. With that being said, I am still going to make a list. Here is my list of what I really want.

1-8. I want my family and friends to be happy and healthy.
9. I want a golden retriever puppy.
10. I want the snow and freezing rain to go away for the rest of the season. I can tell you that one thing I don't want is a white Christmas because at this point I've had enough!

That's it...that's my list. That's all I really want.

To elaborate a little more on #10, today was a horrible day to have to leave the house. Monday afternoon one of my coworkers as she was leaving mentioned how she heard that they are already advising people not to be on the roads on Tuesday if they didn't have to...an ice storm was on its way. So of course, here's me...Miss Worrier...I tossed and turned all night worrying about it. Why couldn't this happen on Sunday when we don't have to be anywhere?? I woke up to a conversation between the radio DJs about how bad it is...how the side roads are "extremely dangerous." That's just great. I called my boss on her cell phone and said, "Where you at?" She said, "I'm at work." Of course you are. I knew she would be 'cause she's just like me. One other thing that I definitely inherited from my father is his work ethic. Under most circumstances, unless I'm so sick I can't move, I go to work. Last year I went to work in probably one of the worst snow storms this area has seen in a while. I admit it...I'm stupid. Anyway, given the fact that I shattered my kneecap falling on pavement that was just barely wet, I wasn't looking forward to walking across an icy parking lot. My boss told me that it was completely up to me if I wanted to try to make it in. I made an executive decision that I was just not even going to try and told her that I would see her on Wednesday, and she was perfectly fine with this.

Fast forward a few minutes later as visions of all the tapes piled up on my desk that need to be transcribed are dancing through my head. We're so extremely busy that I've been working a ton of extra overtime and we're just barely keeping up. We cannot afford for me to miss a whole day. To top it all off, Paul wanted to go into work and I told him that if I'm not going, he's not going. Then I started feeling guilty about that because I know he's busy at work too. I turned on the TV to see what was going on. First they said that we hadn't seen anything yet and the ice storm was just getting started. Then as the minutes ticked by the temperature slowly started rising and the freezing rain turned into just rain. The questions started flying... "Is it really that bad?" "Is it worth the risk." "What's the worst that can happen if you miss a day?" There was much inner turmoil and much outer turmoil, as I was definitely driving Paul crazy and I think he wanted to go to work just to get the heck away from me...and I don't blame him.

So...that was our morning. What do you think happened?

Yes...we both went to work. How sad is that? We waited until about 11 a.m. Paul had found out that the main roads were fine. I decided to end the inner turmoil and just go already! We both made it into work fine. My boss was surprised but delighted to see me, and I told her I'm leaving before it gets dark! Of course then I couldn't concentrate on my work and kept thinking, "Did I make the right decision? What if it does get worse and I can't make it home?" Ugh!!! Finally I just had to say enough is enough and let it go because I was seriously wearing myself out!

As it turns out, we both made it home safe and sound and the ice storm is hopefully letting up. I will resume my regular hours tomorrow...with overtime, of course. Although...I better check the weather before I lie down.

As I was waiting for Paul to get home, I was looking out the front window because Abby was barking at something, and I noticed how pretty the tree looked coated in ice in the light of the street light across the street. I tried to get a picture of it, but I'm still not 100 percent sure how to operate this camera of ours, and so the pictures didn't turn out quite the way I would have liked. Here is probably the best one I was able to get. It's blurry, but you get the idea...


Stay warm!

Where's The Snowball?

This never ceases to amuse me...

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What was the last game you purchased?

A dice game called Don't You Forget It.

Soup
Name something in which you don’t believe.

Anything I read in the Enquirer.

Salad
If you could choose a celebrity to be your boss, who would you pick?

Rachael Ray

Main Course
What was a lesson you had to learn the hard way?

To tell the people you love that you love them before it's too late.

Dessert
Describe your idea of the perfect relaxation room.

I don't know if this would be considered a room, but what sounds nice to me is a huge porch with a rocking chair, a table next to it piled high with magazines, a tall glass of lemonade with clear ice cubes, and Abby lying at my feet on a warm spring day. Oh yeah...and Paul inside the house doing the dishes.

I've been Elfed!!!

I checked my email quickly before I left for work this morning just to see what was there, but I didn't read any of it. I noticed I had an email from Lisa that said something about elfs. As soon as I got to work and signed on my computer, Barry IM'd me asking, "Did you get Lisa's email?" He gave me all kinds of directions like, "Wait for it to load." "You might have to copy and past the URL." That got me thinking something must be up and this must be one interesting email.

Oh yeah...it was one interesting email alright. LOL LOL LOL
I swear I was laughing so hard I'm still crying! Who comes up with this stuff...and why couldn't I have found this first!!

If you want to see it, click here...I've Been Elfed.

Oh yeah...just one question, Lisa...Paul wants to know why he got the boobs and not Abby.