Cleanup

The weekend is over and I am wondering why I didn't clean on Sunday when I had a whole day to dedicate to it (I am really wondering why I didn't take care of that leftover green bean casserole I made Christmas Eve, don't judge please). It took me about an hour to finish the dishes...and I have a dishwasher! I started putting away Christmas decorations earlier today and may even finish putting away the tree ornaments (minus one, don't ever move something by tossing it toward a Christmas tree, things get broke).

I can't wait to reclaim my house, about as much as I can anyway. It seems like now that we have Amelia, it is her house and a very pink one at that. I look forward to a day when I don't have frosting, cake mixes, candy coating, containers and junk food lying around my house. It may take until Valentine's day but that day will come and I will miss the junk food. My scale will rejoice. So far since Thanksgiving I have gained 3 pounds. I wished I could have been better but it isn't SO bad if you consider every weekend plus the work week I have been surrounded by junk food.

Now, time to take it back off plus another 10-15 lbs. As soon as I get my house cleaned.

And just like that...

it is over. I know everyone feels this. 1/6th of our year is spent listening to Christmas music on the radio and seeing Christmas ads in the stores. I almost missed Halloween because of it. It is anticipated and talked about and shopped for and stressed over, then the day comes and it is magical but so busy that it is over almost as soon as it starts.

This year, we gave Amelia a Hello Kitty Karaoke machine among other things such as puzzles, books, a princess backpack and a couple DVD's. She had so much fun with it. She is quite the entertainer. I gave Mark a torque wrench and motorcycle lift which doesn't even compare to what he gave me.

He kept asking, "Do you wanna open your gift". Even the night before Christmas Eve. I kept telling him no. But he was really excited. I opened it and it was a diaper box packed with my old sweatshirts. I had something in mind that I thought it was but couldn't be sure. I got everything unpacked and there it was. My DSLR. The one thing I have been whining to have for about 2 1/2 years. My husband pretty much rocks.

Also, thank you to all my family and friends for everything you have given me. Not just the materialistic things.

Now, it is time to clean up the house because I am pretty sure that the man who delivered my groceries (yup, I am lazy today) was considering calling the hoarders show to see if they could get me on it because of all the boxes piled in the kitchen and goodies on the tables.

I will be putting pictures on here soon but right now I am a bit lazy.

Thankful

Why does it take a tragedy to remember to be thankful?

I started out this night frustrated. I ordered a specific gift and the company I ordered from sent the wrong thing. Not really cool. Especially considering what I ordered was discontinued and showed there were only 4 in stock when I ordered and now show none. I would rather they sent me an email saying they were sold out so I could find another gift instead of me paying them, them sending it now me having to deal with them.

Also, we bought Amelia a Hello Kitty Karaoke machine from Best Buy (shhhhhh, don't tell her). I wanted it before Christmas Eve so I spent the extra $11 on "expedited" shipping rather than free shipping that guaranteed it on Christmas Eve. I actually just wanted to make sure I had it for Christmas and felt that having it delivered standard was a bit of a gamble. I checked the tracking number this morning and it was rescheduled. I was pretty pissed. So I tried calling them earlier today and had some rude lady act dumb when I said "ka ro key" instead of "kay ree o key". Then I sat on hold. I didn't have time to hold much longer so I hung up and sent an email. They sent an automatic message back telling me to check their website for the answer or call them. I called again tonight and was disconnected when they tried to transfer me. So I called back and got another proper-pronunciation person who finally transferred me to the online orders division.

By this time I was mad and Best Buy was on my list, and I ain't talking the good one. As I was stewing in my anger, I was watching the news when a clip came on and said that two young children were killed in a city just a few hours away today. Kind of put my issues into perspective.

It reminded me of the Christmas of 1999 when we lost Candace and Tyler. The memories of that time started to come back and I cried. As soon as I started crying the nicest customer service rep got on the phone. By this point I felt stupid asking her to reimburse my shipping but she did and she was wonderful about it. I feel ridiculous that I am obsessing about gifts that were wrong or not delivered on time and not too far away from me there is a family with broken hearts that probably has presents under their tree. Presents they hoped would make their children so happy but now will never be opened. They would trade every Christmas gift just to have their babies back.

I thank God for my family and pray he keeps them safe. I wish it didn't take such a tragedy to make me remember why we celebrate. Wishing everyone a safe holiday.

Christmas 2 of 4

This weekend we had my family's Christmas. I took off early on Friday so I could get a few things made. Amelia took a nap after I came home so it was the perfect time to get my stuff done. I made chocolate covered PB ritz, thin mints, chocolate and white bark covered pretzels, round pretzels with peppermint kisses melted in them, peppermint bark and I think that is it. But I got a lot done. Then we went to see Santa. She refused to let go of me but when I told her that Santa gave her candy and she needed to thank him, she stopped whining, looked at Santa and in her sweetest voice said "Thank you, Santa." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she continued whining and clinging to me. At least she is polite.

The weekend went great. We played games and had a lot of fun. My dad was sick so he didn't have that much fun but the rest of us did.

We went shopping on Saturday and I picked up some pink shelves that are perfect for Amelia's room. Don't you love it when you come across things and it seems like fate that you did. That has been happening a lot for my choices for Amelia's room. I was showing my mom a different lamp and was in the process of telling her what I would with it when I turned the corner and found a lamp identical to the one I was describing. It was a $25 lamp on sale for $12.50 with a pull cord (which is what I wanted) and it turned out to be a perfect fit for her room. I set out without a real style and ended up with turquoise, black and bright pink throughout her room. She is only two so I am constantly in the process of cleaning it out and packing stuff away but it is slowly coming together and I love it more every time I find something like my lamp or my shelves. It will probably take awhile but I can't wait to see the final result.

Cheap Diapers

This morning I went to Sam's Club to pick up diapers. Normally they are like $39 but this morning after placing a box of diapers and a box of twice baked potatoes (cuz I am too lazy to make my own) the girl says $27.XX dollars. I figured I heard her wrong so I checked the card reader screen. Sure enough, I was being charged $16.XX for a normally $39 box of diapers. I was so excited I wanted to grab another box but I didn't dare say anything for fear it was a fluke and they would reverse it. (To answer your question mom, no, I don't feel guilty, sorry.) I couldn't stand it. The deal was too good. I recruited a co-worker/friend of mine to come with me on our morning break. The plan was that we would each grab a box, bring it up and I would scan mine and if it was $39 she would bring hers back. Well, I am not lucky enough for that to happen twice so she had to bring hers back. Did I mention she is a good friend?

On Saturday, Amelia and I made cookies. By the way, I am totally changing the subject. We made one of my favorites growing up. Sour cream cookies. My grandma always made them but never used a recipe. One year a very long time ago, I asked her to try make me a recipe. It never worked for me so I broke down and asked my mom for her recipe this year. That one works. They turned out great but Amelia kept "eating" the cookie dough. That pretty much just means that she tried to destroy the cookies by ripping the dough off of them and throwing it on the floor then declaring "I eat dough". I even let her put sprinkles on them. Turns out the sprinkles I let her use were watermelon flavored (eww). I now have new Christmas sprinkles. It was still fun and my floor is still sticky. The non-watermelon cookies taste good though. Totally bring me back to childhood.

An extra week, or not

Today I was doing math in my head. Normally it doesn't go so wrong but today it put me in a panic. Two weeks until Christmas. How much shopping do I have done? Pretty much none. Christmas decorations...none, unless you count the tree I put up at work. Then I realized, it is actually three weeks. At first I thought, 'whew, an extra week' but then I realized that the Christmas for which I have to do most of my shopping is in being celebrated in two weeks. Back to panic.

I am sitting watching Ghost Hunters while I stuff Christmas cards. Using a friend of mine's creative point of view, I created my own from my daughter's 2 year pics. They are pretty simple but I love them. I am excited for people to see them. See why I am in love?

This weekend we have a free weekend for the first time since I can't remember when. We have a surprise party for a friend to go to but that is all we have planned. I am looking forward to it. I may even decide to try my hand at my grandma's sour cream cookies because are the best cookies EVER. My mom used to tell me if I ate too many I would get a stomach ache. For the record, that never happened. I am getting hungry for them now so it would probably be a good idea to go to bed. Good night!