A Few Christmas Questions

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? A bit of both. It depends on what I'm wrapping

2. Real tree or Artificial? I love real trees! But I hate the mess, and the last one we had totally dried out before Christmas and was a disappointment. So I got a great deal last year on a pre-lit one.

3. When do you put up the tree? If we're traveling for Thanksgiving, right after we get back. We're putting it up today!

4. Do you like eggnog? I really like eggnog. But I'm the only one in the house, and I only like it once in a while, so I usually end up throwing some out.

5. Favorite gift received as a child? My Little Ponies, Cabbage Patch Kids. And the year we got our tent beds, that was pretty cool!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad

8. Easiest person to buy for? Will, followed by my Mom

9. Do you have a nativity scene? I actually have a few of them, mostly received as gifts.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmm......perfume. I like to pick my own, and this scent was atrocious.

11. Favorite Chirstmas Movie? National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!!!

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? If I see something that strikes me as a great Christmas gift, I buy it anytime during the year and put it away. But I start in mid-November for the most part.

13 Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I have and would again...if I thought the recipient would like it or have a use for it more than I did.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas cookies, and cocoa!

15. Lights on the tree? Lots of lights, color or white. Doesn't matter to me.

16. Favorite Christmas song? I like most of them, but the silly kids' ones are the best.

17 . Travel at Christmas or stay home? Since Will was born we stay home on Christmas Day. Travel to Philly the week after if possible.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. (Yes, I had to sing the song in order to remember!!)

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? I like both. Right now we have an angel

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Always one on Christmas Eve!

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Grumpy shoppers. They're the biggest reason why I'll never work retail again!

22. Do you have an ornament theme or color? Not really.

23 . Favorite for Christmas dinner? I love roast beef for Christmas Dinner. To this day, I still miss my grandfather's famous Roast Beef!

24. . What do you want for Christmas this year? tangible: A new iPod, craft supplies. Intangible: experiencing Christmas through Will's eyes!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

Brian came home last week and told me about this a capella group that he heard on the radio. This is footage from when these guys were in college in the late nineties. It was so popular last year that the guys reunited and cut a Christmas album. This really got me more in the holiday spirit, enjoy!!

Puddle Duck

It rained all day today. Most of the day, it was the kind of rain that you don't even want to go out to your car. But, since I still had to go to work, after breakfast I bundled Will and I in our raincoats and headed out. While I was putting down our stuff in the car (Why does it feel like everywhere we go we have enough stuff to move in??) Will ran around the car. Then, I realized what he had been doing--jumping in the puddles! He was soaked to the waist, shoes, jeans, socks....oh no! He was so happy and proud of himself that I couldn't stay mad for long. We ducked quickly into the house to get more clothes and another pair of shoes, and I stripped him and put him in dry clothes when we got to the daycare. He threw a fit over his socks, he wanted to keep the wet white ones instead of the navy blue ones. And guess what--the shoes I grabbed didn't fit! So Will spent the day in dry warm socks while his shoes dried. What a day! And when I got there to take him home....you guessed it. My puddle duck wanted to play in the puddles again!

We're celebrating another milestone this weekend....Will's going into a toddler bed!

Evening of Giving

Tonight I'm doing something that's become a little tradition for me. I'm going to the Evening of Giving at the local mall.

What's that, you say? Well, the Mall stays open past normal closing hours on a Sunday, and you buy tickets to shop then and receive special discounts. There are some holiday treats and entertainment as well. It's always the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and I usually take care of a big chunk of shopping. Plus, it gives me some time out with one of my girlfriends, to do girl things!

I used to buy the tickets from the shelter where we got our dog, Joey. I emailed them a couple of weeks though, to see if they were selling tickets and I got a response that they hadn't been invited to participate this year! I was so bummed...I liked the fact that I could shop and donate to the shelter at the same time. So instead, I will collect some supplies from their Wishlist and donate them.

Happy Beginning of the Holidays, Everyone!

New Classics Book Challenge: "Angela's Ashes"

My fifth choice for the New Classics Book Challenge was Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.

What a sad story!! I could not believe the things that Mr. McCourt has lived through. An alcoholic father, extreme poverty, three siblings dying from hunger and disease...it was very sad. I rooted for him when he took the ship to America at nineteen. I saw that there was a sequel called 'Tis, I might read it later on to see how life panned out in America and if his family followed him there later on.

This took me a while to read, I had to renew it twice at the library and that's not like me! I have one book left to complete The Challenge by January 31st, I haven't yet picked one out. I've checked to see if my library has a couple of them, but they don't!! So stay tuned.

Two Birds, One Stone

I've mentioned that I want to learn to sew, FINALLY. I've had a machine for like 5 years and I don't even know how to thread the thing. (though I'm told by a fellow Crafty Mama that there's a diagram on the machine to thread it.....shows how observant I am!!) Well, I've picked my first project. I am participating in an ornament swap with my knitting group. Since I'm still a very green knitter, I'm cross-stitching a snowman ornament for the swap. And I'm going to finish it myself by making it into a mini-pillow! The stitching is almost done, so I have to get some Christmas-y fabric over the weekend for the backside of the ornament and some fiberfill.

That's a pretty small project though, and probably won't take too long. I was at a meeting on Tuesday night for an association of churches that we presented our WomenAid group to. (This association was pretty neat, it's all of the area churches working together in one group to support one another, run a food pantry, and a slew of other things. It's great to see different faiths working together like that, and they were very welcoming!!) During a break, we were talking to a woman who runs a local chapter of ConKerr Cancer. They make pillowcases for kids with cancer to brighten their days in the hospital. What a great idea! I brought home a brochure to check it out. I figure, pillowcases can't be all that hard to make. They're all straight seams, and except for the corners it looks fairly simple. So after the holidays, I'm going to get some fun, bright fabric and give it a whirl! Check out their website if you get a chance: ConKerr Cancer.

Blog Survey...Thanks Karen!

1. What is your funniest childhood story?
Let's see. What about the time that my friend Nicole and I painted our fingernails with permanent marker? Or when I sat in my desk drawer and catapulted the black and white TV on top? I know! My brother and I got caught stealing the neighbor's Christmas lights. That's a pretty funny story....now!!

2. What would your dream dress look like if you could design it?
Hmmmm. I loved my commencement ball dress from nine years ago. It was gold and cream and a ballgown, that reminded me of Belle in "Beauty and The Beast." I'll never get rid of that dress, even if I don't fit in it!


3. What weird habit does your hubby have?
He always sneezes two or three times right before he falls asleep. Always!

4. How many cookbooks are in your kitchen?
I keep all of my cookbooks in the family room. I have a whole lot, and I'm currently trying to go through some of them to see if I want to make anything in them. And if I don't....it's time for it to go!

5. Granny panties or loyal Victoria Secret girl?
I'm somewhere in the middle. Not quite granny....but not really cool Victoria's Secret ALL the time!

6. My favorite memory from 2008 so far is...
our family vacation in North Carolina. Seeing my parents play with Will and watching Will really experience the beach.

7. I secretly...
enjoy cheesy sitcoms, the cheesier the better.

8. I could really go for...
someone else to make dinner....I just don't feel like it tonight!

9. We are going to have a big snow storm and you will find me...
hopefully snowed in with the world stopped for just a little while.

10. I knew he was the one...
.....when he came home from a long deployment and I loved him even more! I got that feeling again when our son was born, and watched him become a totally hands-on dad.