It's Christmas Time at Our House

December.

Shopping. Baking. Decorating. Wrapping. Stressing. Spending. Preparing. Listing. Shipping. Singing.

Cards - check
Tree - check
Gifts - check
Cookies - check
Wrapping - check

Sanity - gone
Bank account - empty
House - wrecked
Kitchen - disaster
Diet - fail

Did we decide to vacation the first week of December? Yes. Was that a good idea? Maybe not.

Did we decide to redo our siding, windows, and doors in November? Yes. Was that a good idea? Probably not.

My rendition of this awesome song:

The Truth About Santa?

Spoiler Alert!! If you are under the age of 10 or believe in Santa Claus do not read any further!

This past Christmas has been filled with wonderful memories, sad happenings, and uneasiness.  You see, I'm the mother of a two year old who is terrified of Santa Claus.

When I was a kid, believing in Santa and seeing his gifts was magical for me.  I don't remember being afraid of him unless I blocked that memory out completely.  What I do remember vividly was waking up on Christmas morning early, walking down the stairs and getting that first glimpse of the tree full of presents and the stockings jam packed.  It was so magical the room seemed to sparkle.  I can still see this picture as if I'm looking at it right now.  The way Santa left me everything I always wanted and more so beautifully around the tree was mesmerizing.

Being the only little cousin at the time, my older cousins helped preserve the truth about Santa for a while concocting stories up  whenever I was in doubt.  When the real truth about Santa being my parents was revealed, I think I was relieved because all of my friends had already learned the real fate of Santa.

I was so looking forward to being Santa to my children and making the room sparkle like my mom did for all those years.  I couldn't wait to buy the gifts, find my hiding spots, have special tags made up from Santa, and start traditions that would make lifelong memories.

For Lyla's first Christmas, we went to the town of Bethlehem in CT where they have a big Christmas fair complete with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  As a baby, she had no idea what was going on but sat right on Santa's lap, giggled, laughed, and had a blast.

The following year, we weren't so lucky.  She cried at the mere sight of Santa.  Still too little to understand who Santa was or what he did, we didn't start any traditions just yet.  And I refused to force her to sit on Santa's lap screaming and crying.  Just walking by him at the mall, she would suction on to my legs so afraid of that man with the big white beard.

I was so looking forward to this year.  At 2 1/2, Lyla is a pretty smart kid and I figured it was a good age to start our traditions; from Elf on the Shelf, to visiting Santa, to leaving cookies and milk, and experiencing the magic of Christmas morning.

But the same thing happened this year.  Lyla was so afraid of Santa.  I asked her if she wanted to see him at the mall and she vehemently shook her head no and almost cried.  She told me she didn't want to see Santa and under no circumstance was he to come to our house!

I brought her to the mall a few times but she told me she did not want to sit on his lap or even see him.  I let her know that Santa was a nice man.  I told her he would bring presents if she was a good girl.  It didn't matter.  I refused to do this to my child so we avoided Santa.

As Christmas was nearing closer and closer, I kept reminding Lyla that Santa was going to come to our house and bring presents.  But it made her very uneasy and she didn't want him to come.  I started thinking about these Santa fables we tell our children and all the wonderful Santa memories I had growing up.  Is it worth it to keep lying to my child who obviously is nervous or should I just be honest and tell her the truth.  Should I tell my little girl the truth about Santa so she isn't afraid but risk missing the magical experience?

If you think about it logically, we teach our children to not talk to strangers.  We tell them to stay close to us and hold our hands so they are safe.  Every day we instill in them our values hoping they will grow up well and be good people; no cheating, no stealing, no lying.

But every year, on a very commercialized religious holiday, we expect our children to forget all those rules.  We tell them this strange man all dressed up in a red suit and fake beard is nice.  We allow them to sit on his lap and lie to them saying he will bring the things he wants if they behave.  All the magic and hype is a lie.  It's the truth and yeah the truth sounds pretty sucky.

In all honestly I really feel like being honest with my child and making sure she feels safe knowing no fictional man named Santa will break into our house.  But is it worth it?  Taking away a potentially magical experience that lives on in my memories for life?  I guess I'm not sure.  I will decide next year and if she is still frightened of Santa, I may just tell her the truth.

So We Bought a Tree...

Christmas would not be the same without another Christmas tree saga story...

So I present to you another fun Christmas tree shopping saga story with the Ford family.

We finally found the tree farm we liked but I decided to make us buy local instead.  There is a farm down the road from our house that sells trees and it's pretty small.  But I felt it would be nice to support them.  Trees were $35 for anyone we wanted.

Happily we got out of the car, found the tree pretty fast, and Lyla didn't cry!  She had fun actually as opposed to last year!

We threw the tree on the roof and made the 10 minute drive home.  The tree sat outside for a day until we had the time to put it in the house.  Upon grabbing it the next day with the first time without gloves, I realized our mistake.  We had bought the prickly tree!  I could not touch it without gloves on.  It hurt like a beotch!  After putting the tree in the stand I donned my gloves to start putting lights on it.  Well it started falling over.  We tried our best to fix the tree but to no avail could we get it straight so we ended up with a crooked tree.  Oh well!

After spending the day struggling with the prickly branches, wearing gloves, and trying my best to decorate the crooked tree, my hands and arms were red with rash and itchy.  It was good times, let me tell you.  I thought I was going to lose my mind with the itching!

So we ended up with a prickly, crooked yet pretty tree.  Can't wait to see what happens next year.  And I have to remember to actually touch the tree before we buy it next time!

CD Case Calendars for Sale!

I've made my annual CD Case calendar and they are for sale on Etsy.  My readers get 15% off!

Use TRD2011 for the discount!  Check out my shop and get your calendar in time for Christmas.  Might I add it makes a great gift!!


A few teaser photos...

Yet Another Christmas Tree Story

I swear, I'm never going to have a normal Christmas tree shopping experience.  Ever.

Here I was so excited.  But I think I got myself too excited that I set myself up for disappointment.  So here is what happened (and believe me, I am not exaggerating in the least, I wish I were).

Shopping was just okay yesterday. Lyla decided to be kind of bratty so that sucked.  By the time we got in the car to go home and get Jared to make the tree shopping trip, it was pretty much nap time.  I had to get home and switch cars and install the car seat in the other car so I begged Lyla the whole way home to not fall asleep. Mind you I had told Jared that I should probably take the car we were taking to the tree farm in the morning so if Lyla fell asleep we would be fine to just switch cars and all would be well.  He didn't care about my over-extensive planning and wouldn't let me take the car as it was not "ready".  Whatever the hell that means.

Lyla was barely awake when we got home and I brought her in to have a sandwich (since she had rejected the lunch at the mall I'd given her.)  After I wiped the peanut butter from everywhere, we got in the car - me uber excited - and took off to Rhode Island.

Five minutes later, Lyla was screaming in the car.  We put on some music for her and tried to soothe her to sleep to no avail.  She never had problems sleeping in the car but decided today would be it.  The more she screamed, the more tired she became, the less excited I got, and more tense the trip became.  About 30 minutes later she was fast asleep and 20 minutes later, we were there.  But the husband decided to go to the wrong parking lot, get out, and ask a question.  Lyla immediately woke up and upon realizing she wasn't getting out of the car, the screaming commenced again.  I felt like the worst mother ever.

We pulled into the tree lot, The Farmer's Daughter in Rhode Island and I got excited again.  This was the tree farm we meant to go to last year (sigh).  I bundled Lyla up, Jared grabbed his camera and we tried to make our way.  Lyla began to cry again.  She was so tired and so cranky she just cried and cried.  We started walking, figured out the dealio, and Lyla became normal again.  She was walking on her own and following me to the field that is until she tripped and fell and the crying commenced again.  Lyla is such a girly girl that if she falls, she can't get up on her own cause that entail her to touch the ground and get dirty - oy vey...

Anyways we didn't go too far out and Jared found one he liked.  Unable to find one better in that immediate location we settled on it.  Some nice lady offered to take our photo; securing the one and only family photo of us in 6 months.  The one and only photo I was dying to have for use of our Christmas card but there was none available.  I can't even discuss my Christmas card debacle right now for fear of tears.

ANYWAYS, we got nice photo and Jared tried to take one of me and Lyla and she cried and screamed some more.  At that point, I was like, Jared, cut down the God damn tree and let's get the hell out of here! I was tired, cranky, and so disappointed at how the day was going.

Our lovely photos...

We got our tree bailed and on the car and then the fighting started again getting Lyla into the car seat.  We drove back over to the shop to pick out a wreath and I let Lyla loose to explore. She loved looking at all the trees they had decorated and was working on all her vocabulary.  That is until she had a temper tantrum not getting her way and we had to take off sans wreath.

Again, the screaming started.  The whole. Way. Home.  The only thing that stopped the crying was singing Jingle Bells - which we did about 700 times.  

Fast forward to today and I finally got to put the tree up. Jared brought it in and I was going to decorate with Lyla.  I couldn't get the tree straight and Jared said it looked fine. So we left it.  I started putting on the lights while we jammed to some Christmas music.  As soon as I plugged it in, of course, half of them are dead. I know, I should have tested them, but I forgot a few strands.  UGH!  I was so pissed and Jared insisted on fixing it. I bet him that I could go to the store, buy new ones, and get back before he could fix it.  But he got all flustered and couldn't fix them.  So off I went to Wal-Mart to buy all new lights.  $50 later, (wtf!), I had 7 strands of LED, energy star lights.  

It took me forever to get all the lights off. I threw them off the tree, stomped around like a baby all frustrated at the entanglements while crying how this is SUPPOSED to be so much fun!  Lyla and Jared were just watching me be a madwoman.

Finally I got the new lights on and we started to decorate.  Lyla immediately broke one of my favorite ornaments as she dropped a toy on it.  But whatever.  She could care less about the tree and was just wandering around the house wondering what the heck was going on.  I put her to bed and kept decorating; trying my hardest to enjoy it.  When dinner was ready, I sat down and looked at the tree from afar.  But instead of saying "beautiful" to myself, I was depressed.  It was crooked, totally full of holes, and the 7 strands of lights was not enough.  My tree sucked.  I started crying over dinner (for a number of reasons, not only tree issues) and Jared thought me a freak.  

So now I'm here blogging at 10pm at night when I'm supposed to be: A. finishing the tree, B. decorating the house.  C. catching up with work, D. finishing a project and E. sleeping.

What a weekend.  Next year we may just buy a fake...

Tomorrow and a tree!

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you're only a day away!

That's right, I can't wait for tomorrow!  I've zero time to blog, write, do anything lately.  Between work, Christmas stuff, etc I can't even keep my head a float.  But I have something to look forward to and that's tomorrow!

First off, in the morning my sister and mom are meeting us girls (me and Lyla) to shop!  I  LOVE shopping with my fashionista sister.  I  only will buy clothes for myself if she says it's okay.  I trust her more than myself.  So I may be able to get myself something.  The best part is the mall has a new play area for kids that Lyla loves.  Bribery has never been so easy!  If we need a stroller break we have a place to run around.

Then for lunch, we're going to the new wings place (mom and Jodie don't know this yet but we are!)  I love wings and I can't wait to have me some, yum!

And then we go home, pick up daddy and it's time!  Time for us to get the Griswold Ford family Christmas tree!  Now we've had a lot of obnoxious fun times getting our tree in the past.  There always seems to be a story.  Case and point:

2009

2007

Last year I didn't even have the heart to write about our debacle.  About how we were so excited to go to a new farm to get our tree and when we got there it was SO ghetto.  There were about 5 trees to chose from so  I complained; cause I'm way good at that.  We finally found one that was nice.  It was kind of bare but had a lot of charm.  We got it tied on the roof and then took a scenic drive and saw this gorgeous tree farm and farm stand with hot cider.  Jared says, oh that's the tree farm I meant to go to.  I forgot the name.  Duh!  We stopped for hot cider and had some major tree envy but kept our original pick but it was pretty funny.

That tree ended being the best tree we ever had actually.  It didn't shed at all and stayed gorgeous the whole month. 

But this year we will be going to the nice tree farm and I'm psyched!  Tree shopping is the most fun thing to do at Christmas time.  And I get ultra corny taking photos and having "family" moments.  Jared thinks I'm queer.  But whatever!  I'm SO excited, can you tell?  I hope that this year we have a smooth experience.  And by the way, my tree is going to look better than all of yours, sorry about that in advance.

A Big Fat Fail

It's November 29 and usually by this time I have:

1. Christmas cards done, addressed, stamped, and ready to be mailed (complete with newsletter).
2. CD Case calendar's printed, cut, and wrapped.
3. All my Christmas gifts bought, wrapped, and labeled.
4. Decorations brought out around the house.

I have NONE of these things done and I'm starting to panic.  God grant me more time!

Quality Street - A Perfect Marriage, the End of Diets, & the Beginning of Holiday Gorging

It has begun.

Quality Street chocolates are now available at your local BJs.  (or if you're desperate Amazon.com)

My British husband, of course, introduced me to Quality Street chocolates, made by Nestle.  I took an immediate loving to them and they have become a basic staple around the holidays at our house and here's why:

A Perfect Marriage

Those sweet chocolates come in many different flavors.  I myself go for the logs and the pennies (aka as the toffee/chocolate bar and toffee bite - see below).  I LOVE them so much.  They call my name (like now) and are beg me to eat them (I can hear them, I swear).

Jared loves the strawberry cream and the orange cream (gag me!).  So we're never fighting for the ones we like best!  It seriously creates the perfect marriage.  And when the container is half empty with only the coconut ones and solid chocolate ones, we both will eat whatever just to have one last bite of the magnificent taste.

The End of Diets

The day Quality Street chocolates are brought home, it is the end of any dieting.  Like I said, they haunt you and call to you all day long.  My mouth is watering just knowing they are in the other room.  Diet, screw you.  We'll talk again on January 1 provided all these chocolates are gone.

The Beginning of Holiday Gorging

Most importantly, Quality Street signifies it's Christmas time. You can only see them in the store right before Christmas and you have to stock up because they go fast!  The first year we saw them at BJs, Jared bought 2 jars and the next week they were all out!  The following year we never went into BJs in time and got none!  So I spent over $30 on Amazon to have them overnight us some - thank God!  Last year, Jared spotted them shrink wrapped on a crate at the top of the aisle at BJs.  Not even out yet!  So, yes, he did go to the front and ask them to get him two containers down.  Which they did and took forever!  But we got them!

Once Quality Street is in the house, they don't last long.  I will sit on the couch every night and gorge until I want to puke. I just can't stop.  I wonder what they put in them...

The SAHM

Jared and I got into a heated discussion last night. It all started out when he found out a girl we know is pregnant through Facebook with baby #5 (wowsas!  but congrats!).  So anyways we got to talking about how we would never have five children and if we did I couldn't work.  Which then led to Jared saying I'd never be happy as a stay at home mom (SAHM).  Which led to me arguing with him about how I'd love that more than anything.

I know many people who are SAHMs.  I envy them, I really do.  Jared feels that the tradition of the SAHM is an old one and doesn't agree with it necessarily.  He feels women shouldn't be expected to stay home with the kids and not work.  He also feels women shouldn't be expected to the be the cook, cleaner, etc.  We're in 2011, he says and that practice is ancient and inappropriate for this day and age.  I totally agree.  However the big difference is sometimes women have a choice and sometimes not. 

I don't have a choice.  I have a good job and am the bread winner for our household - since Jared works for a non profit and the money there is less than desirable.  So even if I wanted to stay home and not work, I couldn't.

But even if Jared made enough for us to live off of, would I be happy leaving my job and being a SAHM?  Yes! I would!  Jared disagreed saying I would be bored and have nothing to do.  I disagree.  Yes I'd be busy but I'd have more time to myself, more time with my daughter, and more time to write.  

Jared, like most men, thinks about success and success to them equals career success.  Jared wants to be successful in his job but feels if I didn't have a "real" job I wouldn't be successful.  Men just don't get it - and I'm terribly generalizing here so my apologies!  But being a mom is a "real" job and if you stay home and raise your kids right, educate them, love them, etc, you are the most successful person you could be.  If you are a brain surgeon, yes successful; but if you are a mom and your child grows into a good person, you are just as successful in my eyes.

I have always thought this and always will.  SAHMs are heroic, they are amazing, and they are selfless (and for the record, I'm talking about moms who stay at home and take care of their kids on their own). And for the record, I am kind of a SAHM because I work at home and watch Lyla the same time. I have two full time jobs at the same time.  Even though it's tough, I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

There is a huge difference between men stereotyping women to only be good for cooking, cleaning, watching kids, etc and women wanting to take care of their families in that way.  I guess Jared just doesn't understand that some women enjoy this or have no choice. It's not ancient practice, it just is.

Are you a SAHM?  What do you think?

Black Friday, the day for freaks

As a side note, my wrist is fine.  Painful but not abnormal and I'm hoping the surgery was successful and I can be back to my old self soon!


---

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Really.  I love the food, the meaning of it, and being with family.  It's the one holiday I think everything should be shut, no one should be working, and everyone should be reflecting about how lucky they are to be alive.  

Of course Thanksgiving is overshadowed by Christmas.  Each year Christmas starts earlier and earlier.  Stores bombard us with decor and music before Halloween even hits.  Actually long before in some cases.  Buy a fake tree, buy your decorations, but most importantly, buy your gifts!  It's as if the store walls are screaming at us to buy gifts.

I can't really say much about this because I love Christmas as much as the rest. You could hear me singing jingle bells to Lyla in September and my iPod has been full of Christmas music all year long.  But the fact is, to me Christmas is not about gifts (don't sigh or roll your eyes, I am not a perfect saint, although some like to think it and I don't correct them...).  Christmas is about family and being thankful.  Just like every other holiday.  And to many people, it's about faith and celebrating their faith and the love they have for God.  That is why we call it Christmas after all.  We are celebrating the day Christ was born; whether you believe in it or not.  

So just in case you skipped my last paragraph because there were words like saint, God, and Christ, let me recap.  Christmas is not a day to give presents, it's a day to celebrate your faith and to be with family.

Every year I think about this and every year, I still go overboard with gifts.  But not this year.  I have already received the best gift I'll ever get; she has blue eyes and smiles whenever she sees me.  So I have no need for anything more.  Our whole family will be together on Christmas, and that is our gift to them; being together.  Of course I'll get a couple small things for our parents and my siblings, but that's it.  I don't want to raise Lyla thinking that Christmas = presents.  We already have enough kids out there like that.

Now this whole issue "gets my back up" (to quote my husband's favorite phrase).  Especially when we discuss the topic of so-called Black Friday.  Can I just say before I continue that the moron who created this phrase is severely demented.  Think about it, people.  Black anything means not good. I think immediately of the "black plague".  Is black Friday something I want to be involved with when I think of the plague?  Not really...  So stores harass you with stupid flyers, crazy commercials, and supposedly ridiculous sales; not to mention the fact they open at midnight on Thanksgiving night or something crazy like that.  

So not only are you forgetting about Thanksgiving in August because of the early Christmas stuff in stores, but you're also not even really celebrating it as you start planning your Black Friday shopping agenda which starts before your turkey is even digested.  All I have to say is we need to give Thanksgiving some more love and no matter the state of the economy, Black Friday really is dumb.  

All you whackados who show up to stores at God awful hours of the night and morning to secure the hard to get toy, get that silly sale price, and compete with everyone else and their mother to get that lat stupid thing, shame on you!  Enjoy Thanksgiving people, realize that Christmas is not about gifts, and teach the stupid stores a lesson by not shopping on Black Friday.

Now, I must close this argument with an anecdote.  We are BJs wholesale club members.  We got the stupid Black Friday flyer and Jared pointed something out.  I have been wanting to buy a treadmill for ages but refuse to pay thousands for one and refuse to buy one used that is crap.  So in other words I'll never find one...  But anyways in the BJs flyer they have a really nice treadmill on sale for half price; and you have to get up at 2:30am and buy it online.  Here is where I'm going to call myself a big fat hypocrite as I will be setting my alarm for 2:26am on Thursday night so I can finally get the treadmill I've always wanted.  Just remember people, it is not a Christmas gift though!

Christmas Fun and the Garden Gnome does Quebec

My Christmas and New Year's was lovely.  I have many good stories and photos but wanted to share my Christmas fun through photos.  Hope you enjoy!

Jessie's famous Mince Pies!  I made a couple dozen of these little pies - a British delight.  I don't really like them myself but the family does for sure.  They sure did look pretty though all decked out for Christmas.

Lebkuchen.  These Austrian cookies adorned themselves nicely in our cake display on the kitchen counter.  Being Austrian, my mother in law really enjoyed these.  I was not brave enough to try them!

I got this beautiful book mark with my name on it as one of my gifts.  Just had to share it!  Definitely one of my favorites.

So I bought this union jack thong as a joke for Jared a few years ago (no, he never put it on.. :) ).  I thought it would be funny to leave it in the dresser drawer of the spare bedroom for my in laws to find.  The next morning, it was hanging on our doorknob.  They were laughing, embarrassed that they accidentally came across Jared's underwear.  It was really funny.  I ended up hanging it on the tree in the end just for fun.

The dining room is set and the first course has been served (muscles) for Christmas Eve.  I of course am not doing seafood these days...

We could always find Sooty under the tree sleeping peacefully.

Here is our chef, Jared, cooking up some delicious schnitzel.  We thought it would be funny and a good photo opp to have him put on his union jack apron and chef's hat.

It's Christmas morning and I'm wearing my new black beret hat.  I just love it!

Had to take a belly shot from a seated position.

Talk about glutenous.  We had more desserts than we knew what to do with on Christmas Day.

Boxing Day was celebrated with our families at the Boston Pops Holiday show at Symphony Hall.  We had so much fun and the show was amazing.

Everyone (my in laws and Jared) but me enjoying the hot tub.

The garden gnome does Quebec City (honestly, don't I look like the garden gnome?)  We spent three days including New Year's Eve in this cold, beautiful city.  Really, it was that cold.  But we had a blast!

Here we are freezing our tushes off on the ferry in Quebec.

A nice image of the Frontenac hotel from the riverbank.

Jared and his mom.

Quebec City is just a little slice of Europe right in our backyard.  It's a gorgeous, quaint city and I recommend everyone see it.

Every picture of us taken on New Year's Eve came out blurry sadly.  But in case you can't see I'm wearing a little black dress with a big old bump!

Yay, Happy New Year!  We spent the evening at the Frontenac Hotel at their cocktail party.  They had a great 80s band rocking, food, and drinks.  It was a lot of fun!

Happy New Year!

Then comes the best thing ever!  I found my dill pickle chips in Canada!  The one and only chips I have been craving for ages are now mine!  Yay for dill pickle chips!

25th Day of Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you've enjoyed reading some of my wonderful Christmas memories.  I had a lot of fun remembering them and writing them.  Today I'm not going to write about a memory but instead I'm out making them.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.  Peace. Love. Happiness.

Lots of love,
Jessie

25 Days of Christmas Memories - Day 24

This year I've decided to write a special Christmas memory for the 25 days of Christmas. Each day until Christmas day, I will share a funny Christmas moment, memorable gift exchange, and my happy moments with family.  I hope you enjoy! (honestly I can't believe I've actually made it this far!)

24th Day of Christmas

I love animals.  Okay, I'll be honest, I've always loved dogs but hated cats.  Dogs were so fun to play with and I felt cats were dirty and walked on kitchen counters (gross!).  I never liked cats (which Jared reminds me daily as I hug and kiss my cats non stop... but we'll get to that).

When I was born until I was around five we had this massive Samoyed named Sadie.  Every picture of me as kid was with Sadie.  She was a beautiful dog.  My parents even breded and sold a bunch of her puppies.  When we moved back to CT, my parents left her with my aunt because they couldn't take her.  I loved Sadie and remember her well.

Ever since then, my mother has been adamant about no pets in her house.  She is a neat freak and hates to vacuum up pet hair non stop.  We begged and pleaded with her all the time, even my dad, but she never gave in.  Then when I was 15, my parents went out a few weeks before Christmas to do some Christmas shopping and I was left to watch my siblings.  When my parents returned we were in for a big surprise. My mom came through the door first and then my dad followed with something stuffed in the front of his shirt.  He told me to get my brother and sister and when we all gathered, he let out a tiny, border collie mix puppy.   This puppy was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I couldn't believe my mother had given in and we were finally getting a dog.

We spent hours petting him and arguing over a name.  We got down to two names:  Sebastian and Nile.  We did a family vote and all the girls voted for Sebastian and won.  We called him Sebby/Sebster.  Sebby was the coolest dog.  He shit all over the house (really pissing my mother off until he was finally house broken).  He didn't chew things and loved to play.  We all loved him so much.  He was one of the best Christmas presents ever.

Sebster has had a good run.  Now he's just over 13 years old and struggling.  We know it's only time before we have to let Sebby go.  Sadly as that may be, it's not fair for him to be in pain.  We love Sebby, our best dog/Christmas present and always will.

Sebster

I would really love a dog for our home.  In fact it was a topic of argument for years.  I've come to the fact that we don't have the time right now for a dog to give him/her the time they deserve.  Plus with our two cats, they would probably run away and never come back.

Two cats?  Yes we do have two cats.  When I met Jared he had a cat, Smudge.  She was just left outside and had no home. Full of ticks, Jared took her in and she had him whipped in no time.  I didn't mind Smudge.  In fact, I really grew to love her despite my desire to never own a cat.  After arguing so much about a dog, I thought, let's get a kitten together instead.  Knowing how much easier it would be to add a cat to our home, we went to a shelter and picked up Sooty.  We love Sooty like he's our baby, literally.  In fact, I think I love that cat too much!  But he's too freaking cute not to!  Plus our cats are well behaved (no counter walking), we vacuum and dust all the time so no cat smells or hair is lingering, and basically they are great pets!

Some day I'll get my dog but for now I'm happy with my two kitties - even though I did hate cats back in the day...

25 Days of Christmas Memories - Day 23

This year I've decided to write a special Christmas memory for the 25 days of Christmas. Each day until Christmas day, I will share a funny Christmas moment, memorable gift exchange, and my happy moments with family.  I hope you enjoy!

23rd Day of Christmas

Growing up we didn't do much on New Year's Day.  It was the last day of vacation before we headed back to reality.  So on New Year's Day one year, my aunt invited us over to her house to hang out with my cousins.  We rarely went over there so I was very excited.  We got to their house and my cousin Chad took us for a walk to the pond down the road to play on.  We didn't have any ice skates so we all just ran around the ice for a while.  It was so much fun!

Chad is over six feet tall and has very long legs.  He would spread his legs and we would slide underneath them.  We were all having a blast with this and I had gone through myself numerous times.  Then the last time I slid under his legs, my head went back too far and I whacked the back of my head on the ice.  I blacked out for a few minutes and awoke with a head ache.  My cousins rushed me back to their house where I proceeded to throw up a few times.  Concerned I may have a concussion, my mom was called and off to the ER we went.  I did end up having a concussion and having to stay the night in the hospital.  Luckily things were okay and I ended up fine.  I like to blame that concussion if I ever am feeling stupid.  Boy was that a way to ruin a fun day playing!

25 Days of Christmas Memories - Day 22

This year I've decided to write a special Christmas memory for the 25 days of Christmas. Each day until Christmas day, I will share a funny Christmas moment, memorable gift exchange, and my happy moments with family.  I hope you enjoy!

22nd Day of Christmas

I just had to write about this because it is too funny.  This memory is from Saturday and had to be written about.

Jared's parents are arriving tonight for the holidays.  Because Jared loves to cook, he plans out all the meals in advance, creates this insane shopping list, and we prepare as much as we can beforehand.  We had been meaning to go to the grocery store all last week but have been too tired or busy for it.  Finally on Saturday morning, we decided it was time to do our big shop.  We got up early and were out the door at 7:30 in the morning.

Now to set the scene, I must also note that where we live in Connecticut, there supposedly was going to be this gigantic blizzard on Saturday night.  Now here in Connecticut if the weatherman even says the word snow, everyone and their mother runs to the grocery store to stock up on food for a month, buy shovels, and make sure they have enough bottled water to keep them alive for weeks.  I think it's hysterical.  There is no way we'll ever have so much snow that we won't be able to leave our houses for days upon days.  There are such a thing as snow plows that we do pay for people!  In any event, the entire state was freaking out (my mother included).  People were canceling their plans before a snowflake fell.  I knew the grocery store was going to be crazy but I didn't expect it to be too busy when we got there so early.  I was mistaken.  The roads in town were cluttered.  People really were freaking out.

When we got to the store, the parking lot was packed.  We immediately regretted not going to the store the night before.  We parked in the last row, grabbed our reusable bags and took the plunge into the madness both shaking our heads in regret.  When we got in the store, we found it insane.  There were lines all the way down aisles, traffic jams with carts, and whole sections of food already sold out.  It was laughable how crazy some people are when they expect snow.  We busied our way getting everything on the list as fast as humanly possible.  When our cart was full and all things were checked off the list, we gloomily started towards the registers to find our place in line.  Of course the store only had like six registers open which was very annoying so the lines were out of control.  I made my way down to the end of the bank to the self check out lines.  Honestly I hate self check out lines unless I have one or two items.  I don't get a paycheck from the store, so why should I struggle to do it myself?

The lines at self check out were not as long so we decided to brave it.  After about 15 minutes in line, we got our turn.  We strategically planned the best way to do things the fastest; Jared would scan and I would bag.  We got going and were flying through it like it was our jobs.  I secretly thought the grocery store execs were looking out over the store wanting to promote us as employees of the month - if we had worked there of course.

Things were great, items bagged, and just one more thing to scan - then everything went down hill.  Try to picture the most packed grocery store you can, lines up the whazoo, and mass chaos everywhere.  Our register line had picked up since we got there so there were at least a dozen impatient and irrational people waiting behind us. All of which should have been grateful at our top speed check out soirée.  Jared got to the last item and bam the machine froze.  He tried to get it going but it was hopeless.  I ran over to the woman to ask her to come help when she got a chance as I heard all the patrons behind us groaning (you know like when you get someone in front of you haggling every price or buying things without the price tag - takes forever!).

The lady came over a few minutes later to find a frozen machine.  She then had to go get a supervisor to look at it.  One look at it and she said, sorry, it's frozen, we'll have to check you out again.  She put up the "closed" sign in front the person behind us.  Jared was humiliated thinking it was his fault - even though it wasn't.  I was aggravated with just the thought of unpacking our 10 bags and repacking them.  Then when all seemed hopeless and miserable about the situation, one scrooge lady who was behind us gives Jared a death stare and says, "Thanks dude".  Our jaws dropped as she stomped off to another lane eyes still blazing with rage and hatred at the two schmucks who "broke" her lane.  Jared was flabbergasted as was I.  He looked over at her saying, like it's my fault.  Then just for good measure yells, "well Merry Christmas to you!".

We just stood there frozen laughing and unable to believe the nerve of that woman.  The store clerk also was shocked.  She brought us over to a closed register and got us checked out in no time - of course us both getting evil stares from everyone waiting in long lines.  It was truly awkward. After unpacking 10 bags, getting them rescanned, and packing them back up, we made our way out still in shock over that rude woman.  When we got to where she was, Jared was going to say something stupid but she looked away, obviously in embarrassment of her actions.

I definitely would classify this as one of the most all time craziest shopping experiences.  Tis the season...

25 Days of Christmas Memories - Day 21

This year I've decided to write a special Christmas memory for the 25 days of Christmas. Each day until Christmas day, I will share a funny Christmas moment, memorable gift exchange, and my happy moments with family.  I hope you enjoy!

21st Day of Christmas

No matter my age, every Christmas morning I lived at home, I woke up at the crack of dawn to do gifts.  My parents were not a fan of this and my siblings as they grew older got even more annoyed. I didn't care though!  Christmas morning at my mom and dad's was magical.  I would wake up around five or six, would run down the stairs, and go to the living room.  Surrounding the tree were tons of gifts, stuffed stockings, and presents galore.  The entire room seemed to sparkle with the gifts.  I can't even describe it but it was spectacular.  I can see it in my mind when I close my eyes.  The combination of the tree overlooking so many wrapped presents took my breath away each time.  I didn't want it to ever go away so I could stare at it for ages.  It was just beautiful.

Every Christmas, my mom would say we're not going crazy on gifts this year but each year there are more than the year before.  We were definitely spoiled and still are.  After we'd do our gifts, dad would make pancakes or cinnamon rolls.  Then we'd lounge around for an hour rehashing the gifts we got and talking together.  Eventually we'd have to get ready for our Christmas day company.  I loved Christmas mornings at my parent's home and look forward to making my own traditions with my kids some day soon.