It's Christmas time.....

4 Day weekend

I have been crazy busy since Wednesday and today is Saturday!  We had the annual Thanksgiving dinner for the daycare parents and this year there was 69 in attendance.  Then I cooked for an entire evening for our dinner.  Spent Thanksgiving cooking and eating and cleaning up.  Yesterday I put up all the Christmas decor and the tree.  Today I cleaned up the house, organized the toys and went to the movies.  I also took a much needed nap!  :) 

A four day weekend sure goes fast when you got shit to do!

You can choose to blame your circumstances on fate or bad luck or bad choices. Or you can fight back. Things aren’t always going to be fair in the real world. That’s just the way it is. But for the most part, you get what you give. Rest of your life is being shaped right now. With the dreams you chase, the choices you make, and the person you decide to be. The rest of your life is a long time. And the rest of your life starts right now

The Turkey Aside

Thanksgiving is behind us and with it, all the crazy crap that goes with it!  Our menu was basic for the most part.  Ham, Potatoes stuffing, broccoli rice... some vegan dishes...We added other things as we do every year to mix it up a little... but the big thing I added this year was the turkey.  I haven't had a turkey in years and I haven't cooked one even longer then that.

First off there was no tag on the Turkey... so I tell Ben to weight it on the bathroom scales.  But they don't have scales so he has to call his neighbor to borrow his.  That's not an awkward conversation.  We guessed 10... it  was 14lbs! 

Katie comes over to teach me how to boil eggs in the pressure cooker.  It makes crazy noises and I thought it would explode egg all over the ceiling and wake up Dennis but it actually boiled the eggs in 6 minutes and they were so easy to peel. 

In the middle of making three separate desserts my mixer quit.  The motor actually freezes up and sounds like it's choking to death.  Katie had to bring me hers so I could finish them.

One of my burner dials was broken... cost $20 to buy a new one... 

I almost forgot to make the stuffing and the rolls! 

We were suppose to eat at 1 but didn't eat until 2...  and the grand kids where all over the house and the living room looked like it threw up toys! 

On the Plus side ... My kitchen is so big that at one point 5 of us where in here cooking at the same time and never bumped into each other or got in each others way.

And I got to eat Turkey this Thanksgiving!

Decisions ... Decisions!

The Christmas tree needs it's own space and my job is to figure out where that's going to be.  Every year it's been in a different spot.  Dennis likes it in the living room so you can see it from our big window... but that's where the kids play so I feel like  we are sitting ourselves up for failure putting it in there plus... there is a strong possibility that it wouldn't survive until Christmas. 

I like it in the family room where we can enjoy it every evening while we watch TV or eat dinner.  I work for hours on it and I feel like we would get more use of it,  if it is in the family room.  Every space will require a rearrangement of the room... which  I don't mind, but I don't want to do it more then once. 

Then there is all the other things I decorate with...  the nativity scene, the wreaths, the snowmen!  I think I needed a bigger house!

Work is good for the soul

First time I sat down this weekend was 8:30 tonight! Got a lot done... house cleaned, sheets changed, laundry done, thanksgiving shopping done, classroom ready, a little grandbabies birthday celebrated, went to el RENO to visit my mom... cooked super... I’m done!! I need another day to rest before this next busy week!

My Dramatic Husband

Dennis and I have not been feeling well off and on all week. One day I’m trying to take care of him and the next day he is taking care of me... this was our conversation today...

Me: My eyes are burning!

Dennis: MY eyes have been burning today too!
Then after a ‘pregnant pause’ he added: I think someone is trying to kills us!

And I’m the thespian???!!

Dennis and I have not been feeling well off and on all week.  One day I’m trying to take care of him and the next day he is taking care of me... thus was our conversation today...

Me:  My eyes are burning!

Dennis: MY eyes have been burning today too!

Then after a ‘pregnant pause’ he added: I think someone is trying to kills us!  

And I’m the thespian???!!

Weekend is over... let’s recap

This was a busy weekend for me.  Preparing for the holiday, finishing up the last classroom of the school building... this weekend needs a third day!

Shots on Tuesday and Thursday meant driving to the city each day,  still working to 6 each night.  

Saturday was full of chores.  

You work to build a life .... yet you stay so busy you have no life. Lol  maybe this is what they mean when the say “on the rat wheel”!!

All this for one picture!

If you know me you know I like pictures. I like to take them, I like to scrap them, I like to frame them.  They are my trophies of my life.  We got our family pictures taken on October 20, first time we were able to get all of us together for a professional family photos in 23 years. Of course it was windy because the original date we had picked out that Tanner couldn’t make it to was perfect LOL. 

Considering the wind, they all turned out pretty good. I really just wanted a big family picture so I could put it on my wall. Little did I know that I was going to have to spend two hours or more to completely rearranging my family wall. I had to take every single picture down ...every nail out ...go buy two new frames ...figure out what to do with three pictures that I didn’t use and find a better picture of Evelyn!  It was worth it!  My wall looks great! 

Gearing up for the holidays!

I love it when my family gets together for the holidays.  We're 17 strong and loud!  I have music theatre children in the family... they have learned to project their voices.... so no matter what room they are in, or even if they are outside... we hear them loud and clear!

I love it!

Dennis?  Not so much!

He is never to sure once the loudness starts and  the kids are asking 30 questions and all fighting over the same toy.  He looks defeated when people make messes and then walk into another room and make another mess.

The door opens and closes so many times and he thinks I have cooked too much food and just knows he will have to eat leftovers for 3 weeks. We are several families coming together for one meal and the time is always an issue for someone.

I miss having Thanksgiving  at Aunt Sandy's and Uncle Genes.  When all I did was made a couple dishes to bring to the party!  It was the best holiday then.  Eating food, visiting with family, riding 4 wheelers and going to the movies.  Then I would come home and decorate for Christmas while Dennis went to work and the kids played.

I am working hard on making it a fun holiday here too... but it's a lot of work!  I just keep telling myself that I have a 4 day weekend to recuperate!  (the only one I have all year)  And Decorate for Christmas.... so there's that....

Road Trips

Last Sunday, Dennis and I went to one of our granddaughters birthday parties.  You really learn a lot about a person on a road trip.  For instants... while trying to load the address of our destination in the road maps we were talking about which way to head out of town.  All Roads lead to Rome after all.  I thought we should go one way, but he thought we should go another.  He said.. well... I go
both ways. 

Really.........

That's something I didn't know about!  25 years with somebody....... ya think you know a person.

He quickly corrected me with a stern look.

After we pick up Matthew and Cole, I break out the snacks.  No road trip is complete without snacks.  About 30 minutes into the trip, Dennis spots a bug in the car and automatically starts in about all the gnats we have had (2 months ago) and seems to fall into some type of PTSD from the memory and then tells me it's all my fault we have bugs cause I shop at Sprouts!

WTF!!??

His theory is... everything that comes from Sprouts brings gnats to the house...He kills the ONE bug in the car and continues to eat the snacks.

Besides his taste in music on our road trips, this man surprises me daily!