Christmas Time

Well after my last rant about Christmas I think it is only fair that I say some more upbeat things about it. It was quiet, for the most part. Some of Matt's friends popped in for a few minutes Christmas Eve and Casey's brother Shane and his girlfriend/soon to be wife, came over a little later. She is ready to pop with their first baby. She looks so cute. She is very slim all over and looks like she is hiding a basket ball under her shirt. The evening ended early. The food was good and their was plenty of leftovers for Christmas Day munching. As you know, Mom, that would be me, celebrates Christmas much like Megan celebrates her birthday. It's a lengthy process, often encompassing weeks prior to the actual event. And this year was no different. As Christmas grew closer and closer, my pile of items that were purchased for me or my use became larger and larger until it occurred to me that to wrap them would have made the "piles" of gifts uneven, so I chose to open them early. ;-). But I am enjoying my pressure cooker, my fancy bowels, my huge counter top roaster oven, my new silverware, my foot massager, AND my very very cool Sharp steamer with the long handles with it's little body on wheels that I can now drag around, as well as my 4 new The Sims 2 game additions that did actually get wrapped and put under the tree.

William gave everyone specially chosen DVDs. I got seasons 1,2 and 3 of Seventh Heaven. Very cool. Daddy got season 3 of Star Gate SG!. David got a movie I can't remember and Matt got another movie he liked. He put a lot of thought into it and wrapped them all himself.

David gave us all Christmas Stockings disguised as Zip-Loc bags chocked full of our favorite candy. That was a wonderful gift from him. I'm still enjoying that one. He knows what I like.

Lyndsey gave me an adorable birdhouse and Daddy a really neat set of DVDs of History's Days that shook the World. William got a DVD of Dark Wing Duck. I forget what she gave David.

Daddy had some ink prints of his home town that we have been carrying around with us for years. They are quite lovely and have just been stacked in our closets. So this year I framed them for him with a pretty matting. They really turned out nice. He was very surprised and needless to say never would have guessed what they were. He thought they were pictures of the children. Fooled him.

All in all it was a good holiday. Christmas day was very quiet. Mom stayed in bed and recuperated from the preceding month refusing to do anything for anyone, but was up the following day.

That Time of the Year

Well of course everything is going to breakdown at Christmas time. What better way to SPEND the Yule Tide than to spend massive amounts of money repairing and replacing things around the house. Like having to replace the furnace and air conditioner. Then having a crack in the pipe of the main water line into the house and digging a hole in the front yard. My oven has been broken for months and it's been getting more and more difficult to make meals so we are going to need to replace it soon too. And of course your father's car has broken down with what is an expensive repair. So even though we have successfully kept the Grinch at bay so far this year, it is getting harder and harder to keep a smile on our faces with all this crashing down on us right now. But we have a nice Christmas tree and presents under it and your father is on vacation for 3 1/2 weeks. A first for him. But I think he is enjoying it. We go out to breakfast a lot and I'm loving that. Lyndsey and Casey are here for the holidays and I'm glad for that. I wish I had some grandbabies here to cuddle and love on for the holidays. Maybe next year. I have lovely grandpuppies. They are sweet, but somehow not quite the same.

Here are pictures of a Platter I had made that didn't turn out quite how we would have liked. I love the picture and everything about it except the crack down the center. She did a wonderful job on the painting of it. But it cracked in the kiln. She didn't charge me for it because of the crack, so we will try again next year. And maybe I'll spell Matthew's name right the next time.

William Still Working Hard

William has lost 31 pounds so far. He really does work hard at it. He is very focused about it. I so proud of him.