We keep truckin’ through the holiday season

This week was the “easiest” of the Advent activity weeks. I sat here trying to remember what we did for on Saturday and just could not remember for a solid five minutes. It turns out the activity I had planned was not available (I thought a festival was going on, but I missed it by a day) so we made peppermint fudge and wrote letters to Santa (Henry did, with my help, but Spencer refused … I’m not sure what to do with that) and went to an ugly sweater party (in cheesy Christmas t-shirts). Sunday was making Christmas candy day, but after my toffee exploded on my kitchen I was pretty much done with that.

Monday – read a Christmas book (Spencer read Charlie Brown’s Christmas and Twas the Night Before Christmas to his brother and I melted a little)

Tuesday – have gingerbread pancakes for dinner (admit it, I’m a genius. Paired with goat cheese scrambled eggs, bacon and French 75s)

Wednesday – have a Christmas treat – this worked out perfectly because Influenster sent a bag of candy cane Hershey kisses that came in the mail Wednesday.They were well received.

Thursday – watch a Christmas movie. We watched The Santa Clause, which takes me directly to my brother’s childhood because he was so obsessed with that movie that we watched it several times a week for years, sometimes several times in the same day.

So tonight/tomorrow is a big one. We try to do one special thing a season. Usually, we go to Rockapella but this year we decided against it because the kids fell asleep last year and I’m not super happy that they moved it from Tampa Theatre (even though the new location is also gorgeous). But we’ve decided to take the kids instead to ICE at the Gaylord Palms. I’m excited; I’ve never been. We’ve got a hotel in town for the night, and tomorrow we’ll see the Christmas lights and the carolers at Disney/Epcot, and meet up with Tara and Jen and all the internet children. This weekend is going to rock.

In other, not Christmas news … nope, I don’t have any non-Christmas news, I don’t think. We are consumed. My cousin is graduating college and we’ve got his grad party on Sunday, and also I’m a walking Target advert today and I’ve not been so comfortable at work in maybe my life. Although slightly weirded out because I do not leave the house in non-pants. These are definitely non-pants.

Gifting

In the past, we’ve never gone overboard for Christmas. Part of it is that the rest of the family way over spoils the kids, and another part is that I remember the years that my parents went crazy overboard even though we were struggling to pay bills and pressure just trickles down to the kids. I was told very young that there was no Santa because there wasn’t money for a big Christmas and my mom didn’t want me to think I had been bad. I think the way I grew up makes me a terrible gift receiver – I never know exactly how to react and I’ve never been able to really enjoy presents. I want my kids to enjoy what they get with the buoyancy of childhood.

All of that lead-up is to say, I think we may have  overdone things a little this year.

Joint gift:

WiiU

We’d been thinking about this for a year, and the moment we decided, our eight-year-old Wii started giving us trouble. Perfect timing.

Also for both, Disney Hidden Pictures board game

Spencer (6.5)

Jeans

Blue Fedora (still trying to properly replace the ones that got stolen last year)

2 Movies (Transformers and Goonies)

Oblivion for PS3 (he wanted Skyrim, but I felt Oblivion was less people-violent)

Star Wars legos

Basket ball

Henry (4)

Shoes (not yet purchased)

Blue fedora (same aside as Spencer’s)

2 movies (Space Jam and the original Willy Wonka)

Funky Barn for WiiU

Tinker Toys

Philbin the teddy bear

Soccer ball

I think I need to get Spencer one more thing? I really like things to be equal, but I don’t even know if they honestly notice things like that – especially since all the grandparent gifts will be added to the mix before they open a thing. We’ll see.

Henry picked out Maleficent for Spencer, which was on his Christmas list, and Spencer hasn’t done his shopping for his brother yet. I had also gotten H a scooter but my mom is going to give that to him from her, and I talked my MIL into getting Spencer roller skates. I don’t know what else they are getting from extended family. 

I am SO EXCITED.

Christmas is all around us

**edit - can we just pretend this was posted on Friday, as it was typed? Yeah, there we go. Today's Friday. You're welcome.

This morning the boys were up before 5am. I couldn’t move for the first wake up – C went in and talked to them, ostensibly to get them to go to sleep again, but a little after five I jolted awake to them singing 12 Days of Christmas at the top of their lungs. I went in and they were lying in Spencer’s bed together with his side light on and the nursery rhyme book open (12 Days is in there).

There were very many more wake ups before I finally dragged myself out of bed for work, but nothing like that pre-dawn blood pumping, right?

We’ve been working on the Advent calendar (is it still an Advent calendar if you don’t celebrate it like Advent? I don’t know). Anyhow, 25 days of Christmas. It took me until the end of day 2 to fill all the slots and there’s a TBD somewhere in the teens, but otherwise it’s pretty good. Of course, now that the kids aren’t on me to fill the little slots constantly, they are fighting me over the planned activities (and believe me, I’m way light on the “activity” portion of this whole ordeal. Day one (and every Monday thereafter) is “read a Christmas book”, so we read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Day two, have a holiday treat (that’s also scattered throughout). Day three, make snowflakes (this took an embarrassing amount of time doing incorrectly before I sucked it up and looked up directions online. I apparently did not retain this from my childhood.)

Day four, see the Christmas light show at The Shops at Wiregrass and take a train ride.

Tonight is Day five (and nearly every Friday thereafter), watch a Christmas movie. I bought the 1996 version of Miracle on 34^th Street, and I hope to even sit down and watch too; I love that movie. The kids do movie night every Friday but I rarely sit and watch with them (although also I usually dislike the movie being watched) so I’m going to try to slow myself down today. I can start going a hundred miles an hour again tomorrow, right?

Here’s my favorite Christmas song, for your enjoyment:

Books I read: November

Early in the year, I was on pace to read 169 books, and then by later in the year I was on pace for 161. I don’t think I’ll get to 160, frankly, but I don’t care. I have had so much fun reading this year. Sometimes maybe I was reading too much but such fun. With the holiday season, reading isn’t really a priority so while I’m pretty sure I’ll get to 150, any more than that is up in the air.

53. Broken Harbor - Tana French

54. Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

55. The Dream Thieves - Maggie Stiefvater

new

83. The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult This was not at all what I was expecting, with the Nazi/WWII tie in, but it was good. Jodi’s books are always solid.

84. I'll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson It took a lot to get into this book, but it was worth it. Good.

85. The Evolution of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin I loved this whole series.

86. We Were Liars - E Lockhart I started this book at 2am and finished at 4am, on a very bad day. I thought it was good. Fairly light read, and I guessed the twist pretty early, but then I second guessed myself the whole time.

87. We Are Not Ourselves - Matthew Thomas Hated. I read 125 pages of 495, confirmed with Elizabeth that the rest was just as depressing as the first quarter and then I moved on. Happily.

88. Mortal Heart - Robin LaFevers Good end to a great trilogy. I liked the first two better, but it was really good. Different.

89. In the Blood - Lisa Unger This was recommended to me by a friend reading it for her book club. It had that Gone Girl psychological thriller feel. Pretty good.

90. Wool - Hugh Howley This was super good.

I’m not entirely sure where the last week has gone, but it has included a lot of falling asleep early and/or staying up too late reading or watching DVR shows and then getting creeped out by the quiet house and having spooky dreams.

I’m hoping to get some real work done this morning and then get out to start my holiday weekend, but it’s also end of month so we’ll see how that goes. I’m having lunch with my best friend from high school today, as he’s in town from Switzerland, where he now lives. I’m feeling very non-jet setter about this, although I know it will be fine. I probably shouldn’t tell him I still don’t have a passport, right?

I did some major toy-thinning this weekend while watching Christmas movies. I was feeling anxious and bad about it, but today is now Wednesday and they haven’t noticed that more than half their bins are empty so I’m done worrying about it. I was having some anxiety about All of this went to Goodwill. How do you note that on the blank receipt they give you?

Sunday we had our last hurrah of summer and I blew up the pool for the kids and the neighbor boy. It’s a good thing I did it then because it’s rainy and super gross and then I assume after that it will be cold. You know, Florida cold, but cold.

 

Spencer found a fleur de lis pendant somewhere, God knows where, but he decided to make me a necklace with it. I gave him a length of ribbon, but that was not good enough for him – he wanted to make a paper chain for it. He had vision. It …. Well, I’m surprised it held the pendant. He was super excited and wanted me to wear it to the grocery store this weekend, and then wanted me to wear it to work. I made it to the car, but did you know that paper necklaces are itchy? Yeah, me either.

Once I get through this workday, I will have Thanksgiving sides to make: cranberry sauce (Henry’s insistence, he’s currently obsessed w/ cranberries), sausage stuffing (C’s insistence, his favorite part of thanksgiving dinner), and green beans (my assigned side to make). We’re having pizza for dinner, and there will be wine and a fire and happy holidays, folks. This is my happy place.

At least it's not snow.

Dude, I know I’m going to hear it from the rest of the country but IT’S COLD. No, it’s not snowing. But 39 degrees when I get up and we have old windows and C closed the vent in the bathroom when it was still AC weather means never getting out of the shower ever.

I’m going to the opening night showing of Mockingjay (part 1, don’t get me started) with some girlfriends and I’m so nervous I’m going to fall asleep. Tuesday night I was asleep by 8:30! I plan on having a coffee before I go, but even that is a little weird because the group is exclusively LDS friends (apparently I now know nearly the entire local ward) and I am not LDS. I feel weird drinking coffee or wine around them even though they don’t care. I WILL have coffee so I don’t feel like sleeping, but I’ll feel weird about it. (Specifically, I’ll be having a nonfat dirty chai latte with a pump of gingerbread, thank you Starbucks.)

Today is feeling exhausting all bright and early today, because there is SO. MUCH. To do after work today. It’s Family Reading night at the school, which we always go to so that’s exciting. I’m hoping to only have my two kids, but we’ll see. Remember that third boy I was always taking with us last year? Yeah, that’s the friend that just moved in next door.

So home, dinner (TJ’s chile lime chickenburgers and tater tots and grapes, I’m not looking fancy), Family reading night, home, bedtime things for the boys, coffee, movie. No one’s expecting me to be worth anything tomorrow morning, right? Ha. 

And I will call this post Prosecco and the Christmas tree.

I did it! I got the tree out of the attic. This was my number one goal yesterday, and I did it.

 (I’m sorry, it was in my head and now it’s in yours.)

The problem with getting the tree out of the attic is that the attic door is a standard size, and my nine-foot prelit Christmas tree, even in the bag all wrapped up and tied tight, does not FIT through said door. My husband hates to deal with getting anything in or out of the attic so I mostly try to handle it myself unless I absolutely can’t (I absolutely could not get the tree up there last year). So I wriggled and yanked and got it down.

Then came the part where I addressed the reason for getting the tree down at this particular time, which is that last year there was a portion of the tree that got blinky/sometimes was lit and sometimes not and I could not be bothered to figure it out. I was afraid if I waited until I was ready to do all the decorating I would get irritated again and not do it. So. I armed myself with a glass of wine and two child sized chairs (one for my butt and one for my wine) and I sat down and worked on the tree. I thought maybe a bulb was burned out, but that didn't account for why it was sometimes lit and sometimes not. Also, if it was on the ground and I leaned on it, the lights came one. Obviously it was a loose bulb rather than a burned out one. 

It took me awhile. There was a point in time where I tried to decide if I really cared that much, and another point in time where I was just going to go buy a short string of lights to put in that spot. Half a string of lights.

I persevered and finally, when all hope was lost, I found the offending bulb (well, maybe bulbs. It was one branch that was an issue. I couldn't narrow it down further than that) and fixed it (I hope, at least for now it is). And woohoo! I have a working Christmas tree again! It's very fulfilling.