All that is left...

is to ring in the New Year. We anticipate, we participate and then we undecorate. It was a nice Christmas but over much too quickly.


Here are highlights from our Christmas card photo shoot. Remember, I told you. They were less than ideal. The lighting was bad. The resolution was fuzzy but you get what you pay :-) and in this case it was a do-it-yourself operation!

I'll be back soon.

And then there was Mario...

in handcuffs. WOW. I watched the, what I am sure is to become a holiday classis, "Christmas in Handcuffs" last night while wrapping gifts until 1:00 a.m. (I'm still not done - those darn curling ribbon bows). Let me just say that My Marvelous Mario has redeemed himself after that whole beauty pagent circuit fiasco. He was cute, he was charming, he was entertaining, he was in a blindfold and handcuffs! Is there anymore to discuss? It's the Christmas present that just keeps on giving :-) So as skeptical as I was about the entire affair I was pleasantly surprised about what a cute little movie it was. Well except the main chicks extremely bad hair at the beginning - very disturbing :-)

I am ready to start celebrating. Presents are wrapped (well almost), cookies are baked, cards are sent, shopping is done. Now all that is left is the good spirits and good cheer!

Here is wishing you and yours the very merriest of Christmas's and great kindness and blessings in the new year!

TTFN!

Mighty Spouse saves the day...

who knew he was such a keeper. The HotY proved his worth once again by taping Christmas in Handcuffs. I still haven't had a chance to review but believe me you will know when I have.

Baking, Shopping, Wrapping and Paryting this weekend. Crazy Crazy Crazy. And you know what - the week is going to pass by in the blink of an eye and we will just be left with dingy snow and cold weather for the next three months. No pretty lights or festive decorations to brighten the day. SIGH - Christmas let-down. I'm already dreading it. But I've got to ignore it - this is the week. The final countdown!

We took the kids' Christmas picture last night. 74 pictures and the one that we got is not the greatest either. I've got a non-smiler, a fidgeter and a poser. The odds were not good. But I found one that should work. I'm picking up the results tonight - we'll see how it turns out. If you get one of these pictures I just want you to keep one thing in mind - 74 pictures and this one was the BEST - just keep it all in perspective :-)

Okay gotta go - on-line last minute shopping to take care of :-)

TTFN - and Merry Christmas to you and yours if I don't make it back this way before the big event!

I don't know how to tell you this...

BUT I missed Christmas in Handcuffs. I don't know how it happened. I mean sure I missed one episode of Mario Dancing with the Stars and I missed that Miss America (but caught it as an encore due to the info from Deb) but Christmas in Handcuffs? How does a person forget something like that. It makes me hang my head in shame - I've failed my magnificent Mario... :-)

TTFN

It's happening again...

Christmas is fast approaching and I'm not ready. I thought I might be ahead this year - but I was wrong. Yesterday I was at a party and they had one of those count down to Christmas signs and at first when I looked at it I was thinking that it was December 17th. I panicked. December 17th? How did that happen? Where was I? You mean we celebrated the HotY's birthday and I don't even remember? WOW that hasn't happened since I was 21! Seriously, for a minute there I was truly wondering where the heck the time went and just where was I? Then I saw it - I realized the error of my ways - it was NOT December 17th - there were 17 days left until Christmas. I felt so much better, I just bought myself 10 more days!

Anyway, I might not post much between now and Christmas - but don't give up on me. Don't forget about me. Don't stop checking in on me. I'll be back really. Besides have you seen the previews for Christmas In Handcuffs? That movie is just begging for my commentary :-) I can only imagine the quality cinematography (really, Mario, shirtless - need I say more?) and riveting storyline...

TTFN

Well, yes...

yes, I am still crabby for those of you who have been wondering. Last night was beyond fabulous and the fun just keeps coming :-) Okay, well maybe I am dwelling on it but it's my blog and I can do what I want!

We got more snow last night. I had to take the girls to dance and it was NASTY! If they hadn't missed last week they would have missed last night. That will teach me for being a lazy mom.

Oh and before I move on please tell me why kids want to eat snow. It's dirty and who knows where it has been before it floats to the ground and I don't even want to think of what happens to it once it hits the ground. Holy Bananas! I hope I instilled the fear of snow into them about this - GERMS - snow is FULL of GERMS! Anyway, I digress.

After dance we went to McDonald's. I know but it was snowing and the HotY was in the Big City for the day so we were at loose ends - I wasn't cooking if I didn't have to. Soooo anyway, got McD's and headed for home with every other insane person on the road. Once home we got stuck in the driveway, almost took out the neighbor's nieces' car who insists in parking in the street directly below our driveway, and finally spun our way up the drive after coming at it from the other direction. Man I was happy. So as we are getting out of the van I drop the bag with the fries - of course. I few hit the ground but I'm not sure how many as the dog was all over them before I even had a chance to look. If I was happy before I was practically giddy now. After supper, since it was snowy and I was in such a delightful mood we made peanut butter star cookies. A fun family event. I was hoping to share some of the cookies with co-workers but that won't be happening. This particular batch of cookies will not be consumed by anyone outside of the family. There was mandatory hand washing before beginning but that was not a deterrent to the licking, smelling, rolling, worm cookie making and tasting that went on during the process. Do you see why I am not sharing? Isn't it bad enough that someone out there had to buy that poor apple bearing the Syd lick of approval? You know in thinking this over I may be blowing that snow eating thing out of proportion considering the other things I have to worry about (did I ever tell you that Syd picked up a jelly bean from the floor of a big box retailer and ATE IT - do you see the pattern here? - Let me give you a hint - starts with an "S" ends with GERMS in the mouth).

So maybe you can understand why I may be a little crabby. MY CHILDREN ARE OUT OF CONTROL and it's all their dad's fault...

I'm CRABBY...

I’m in a bad mood a crabby, don’t talk to me, nothing can go right today mood. Really. I’m not sure what exactly happened. I was running behind, I had a bunch of stuff to drop off at the post office, the bag the packages were in had a hole in it, my pop tart, that staple of the all-American breakfast, was smashed, and it’s cold and snowy and icy. AND despite the ice and snow SOMEONE pulled out right in front of me and then proceeded to drive 10 mph. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR double GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. So do you see where I am at?
(Maija, I just want you to know that I know it is warm in AZ and I know your pool is filled and at just the right temperature so I’m coming to visit – as soon as I can get a plane out of this frozen tundra!)

So I’m going to try to get over it. I’m going to try to make the rest of the day better than the start. I’m going to try to smile – I can’t promise I’ll mean it but I’ll try!

Have a GREAT day everyone! Mine’s been fabulous so far :-)

Oh and here are four of the reasons for the post office drop-off.




I was part of an ornament exchange hosted by the FABULOUS Deb Damboise. It is hard to tell from the pictures but these are beaded, dangley ornaments. I have these all over my tree and I love them. So shimmery and shiny and glittery. I'm thinking of putting some of these in my Etsy Shop but I'm not sure how much to charge. They are VERY time intensive! Anyone have any suggestions?