It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The countdown to Christmas here has begun.  I went to the grocery store this afternoon and got 90% of what was on my list.  I worked on my Christmas cards at church and mailed 90% of them.  And just ordered another box because I don't have enough. 

I have one more pile to wrap, I have a list of rooms to clean in order so that children aren't following behind me. I need to make a prep and oven schedule for Sunday morning. I need to recount chairs and refrigerator items. 

I am coming down with a cold. 

Perhaps planning an out of town Christmas weekend the week before was not the wisest choice. And we also have tickets to see Beauty and the Beast on Saturday afternoon.  Poor time management, Mimi. 

I am thinking our Christmas getaway will make a lovely post in January, LOL. 

In the midst of being overwhelmed, I did work today in our charity office.  I had one out of town client who is in her 70's and is leaving a domestic situation. We are assisting her with the security deposit to move into a senior apartment in our area, on her own, on January 5. I had another client in his 70's (I remember him in high school as a popular football player, he did not recognize me as a mousy freshman), who was getting his utilities shut off on Monday due to some medical situations with him and his wife, as well as some money management issues. I was able to call the utility company and pay the shut off as well as a month ahead so hopefully they can get it together.  And my last client was a young mother and father. They lost one apartment and have been staying on couches of friends. They have two small children.  They were able to move into  an apartment October 1. Her job has cut back her hours and she could pay everything this month (December) except rent.  We were able to pay her entire rent for December. She has a job interview tomorrow for a better paying job with more hours, she is applying for Metro housing in hopes of lowering her rent and really seems like they are trying.  

It made me feel good to be able to help all three clients. And it made me feel guilty that I have spent a lot of money on cards and stamps. And it made me feel guilty that after finishing phone calls to landlords and utility companies, I was able to go to the grocery store and buy whatever I wanted without worrying about the cost (okay, I was at Aldi and I was buying breakfast food). But I wasn't using my calculator to pay for it.  

Sometimes I get in my head with a real boo-hoo mood about life and stress and crap and who knows what else.  But the real truth is that I have it pretty darn good.  I was able to fool around with finances the past four years and make extra interest on investments which went toward the bathroom.  I had enough in my secret bank account (the envelope in my underwear drawer) to pay for my Christmas weekend.  And I have been able to stock up for the next four years so we can ride out whatever silly financial decisions our country makes (hopefully). 

And if I didn't spend enough at the grocery store (the total seemed lower than I was expecting), the pizza places open at noon and we can get delivery.  

Merry Christmas!  (luckily I just received a case of kleenex too). 

Countdown

It's not the countdown to Christmas - that is a weekend away at my house. It is the countdown to our Christmas Adventure at the Christmas Hotel. 

These are not my photos. I have borrowed them from the "Christmas Hotel"s website. 

Again this year I am using my side gig monies to treat my family to a fancy weekend in the middle of Christmas Craziness.

Because I am extra crazy, this year my posse contains two daughters, one daughter in-law, one teen granddaughter, one preteen grandson and six more grandchildren aged ten and under. Yes, a party of twelve. 

Although I plan to force them to sit through one performance of each entertainment offered, the majority of the group will be spending our time at the pool, burning off the wiggles.

I did sign up those under 12 for a workshop at a nearby Lowe's to build some kind of wooden snowflake.  Two of the ladies are going to be doing the painting with a twist (spoiler: the twist is the wine). 

On Saturday night we are having a formal Christmas Dinner in the fancy pants restaurant.

Not only is everyone bringing a fancy outfit (I have sequins), but I have also purchased several accessories like sequin bow ties and special Christmas neckties.  We have reindeer antlers and Christmas tree sunglasses, too. 

Fortunately the restaurant also has a children's menu with chicken fingers, pizza and grilled cheese options. 

I have been staying up late all week, purchasing, packing, planning every minute, organizing, making travel arrangements and generally obsessing over every detail. 

The clock is now at 18 hours and 14 minutes until check-in.  Dinner reservations have been made for both nights, Christmas PJs and packets of hot cocoa have been packed. 

Now it's off to bed on Hotel Eve. But not before I google the menu and figure out what I am ordering from these photos! 

The Christmas Doll House

I may be behind on decorating my house for Christmas, but I did get the dollhouse decorated on time! My granddaughter checks to make sure the elves are on the job after Thanksgiving- and they were! 

First, a word on the dollhouse. It was built in the late 1970's by my father in-law as a gift for my sister in-law. She allowed her young daughter to play with it, hence the missing bannisters. She had invited my son over, when he first bought his house, to go through her garage furniture before donating it and offered him the house if any of his friends had children.  He remembered his grampa had made it and brought it here. This did not make her happy. 

Regardless. I will say that taking photos made me notice the general shabbiness and I really need to make time for another remodeling project (after he finishes the bathroom). 

Here are some reindeer reading maps and watching the weather channel.  

These elves are all Hallmark ornaments from the 90's. I got them on eBay when things were inexpensive on eBay. 

There are two kitchen areas. Because I like kitchen accessories. 

And the last room. 

And that's it for the dollhouse. Santa needs an upgrade!

The dollhouse lives in my bedroom, on top of my double dresser. I ordered it with no mirror when I had the Amish build it with this in mind. It is almost four feet wide. 

And . . . . I put up the tree! I stayed up very late on Sunday and just made up my mind to do it. And . . . . . because I am even crazier than you can imagine, I put up a second tree. 

You may remember my husband found 7 trees in storage.  I told him to put the others back.  There can be too much of a good thing.  

Still no Tree

 Still haven't put up a tree. I think it is a mental block. It seems I can find all kinds of stuff to do instead. I did order photo Christmas cards. They are still sitting at Walgreens. 

Meanwhile we spent 2 1/2 hours with a cable television technician in my living room on Friday because my husband has to be able to watch local weather at 5 a.m. and the nearest city to the west of us doesn't have the capability to stream. At the end of the afternoon I never thought would end, the technician decided the issue was our 8 month old giant television and recommending brands I should buy my husband for Christmas. He did leave a new cable box. We waited about 20 minutes, plugged in the new box ourselves and the television and cable is working just fine.  They eliminated all local offices so in order to trade in a box on our own, we would need to drive an hour one way. Next time we will drive an hour one way, get a new box, go out for lunch and drive home.  Or cancel cable. 

I saw our local Mexican restaurant was decorated for Christmas. Hello Saturday.  

So I suggested we take me out to dinner. 

Yes I am drinking a margarita. He is drinking Pepsi, yet took this photo. 

Mr. Merry having a fabulous time. Actually, he was. We were "early birds" and he was able to order off the lunch menu. His favorite is Huevos Rancheros with their homemade tortillas served separately so he can make them himself. He just looks cranky. 

Talked him into going through our fairgrounds which is about a block from our house. The Jaycees had set up drive-thru displays with help from area businesses, churches, civic groups and schools. It is free, but they did take donations for some adopted families for Christmas. It was very cold so no one left their cars. 

Often displays have costumed characters. But it was cold. 

I think the FFA built the this house this year. 

All photos are taken through car windows. 

I'm thinking this was from a local ATV dealer. 

Our favorite was the high school choir singing Christmas carols.  The acoustics in the pavilion were incredible and you could hear them from the turnaround before you reached them. And their voices blended so beautifully. 

And our second favorite. The city got a new garbage truck. 

You may remember the town's Halloween decorating contest. Well, we aren't having a Christmas contest because people need no encouragement to over decorate.  

Here is a house that I took 25 pictures of as the colors and shapes change to match the Christmas music. We have at least four houses in town that have set up these elaborate computer displays.   

The next series of photos are one house. I will tell you the story after the photos. 

So. This family has a company that made septic systems. Then the dad (older than me) invented some kind of free standing system that can operate anywhere. And somehow some sheik or dictator or king in a middle eastern/African country found about about them and that they can operate in a desert surrounded by nothing and now the family owned company and the family has millions and millions of dollars.  And they hire a company to come every year and decorate their house.  

Obviously the whole town is aglow. We seem to have lots of money for electric bills! I will say there is a high fatality rate for the blowups due to high winds. 

I will be back with my completed dollhouse photos in my next post.  Hope your holiday preparations are progressing! 

December 5th and I am already behind

Another photo heavy post.  We don't have a tree up yet. I have to confess that my husband asked me which tree I wanted him to bring in. I made the mistake of asking how many trees are in the shed. The answer was seven. So all seven are on the back porch and I am overwhelmed. So instead .  .  . 

I wanted to decorate this doorway and I have been pricing garlands at various stores and websites. And it was getting crazy. I was at the home improvement store one day and they had fake pine garlands for 7.99 each. The doorway only needed two.  Then I went to the dollar store and they had the ornament garlands for $5.  I bought four.  So the total cost of the doorway was only $36.  One garland at the craft store was $40 and even on sale, I would have had to buy several. I think this was a win. My only regret once it was up (of course) was that I should have put it on the other side of the doorway where people will be sitting for Christmas so it could be a backdrop. Next year. 

I started a dumb tradition of framing the grandkids Christmas photos and this is where I am at this point. I should have started with wallet photos . . . 

I had picked a date for our family Christmas about six weeks ago but three different grandchildren now have sports tournaments that Saturday so my Christmas has moved to Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. so everyone can quickly eat breakfast, open a stocking and leave for more sports events.  I am done being bitter, but I did pout for twenty four hours.  The kids have reached the teenage stage and coaches are not family friendly when scheduling and penalize them for not attending. So whatever. 

Our stinking schools had another two hour delay for a teachers meeting (following a five day weekend for Thanksgiving) but it did give me a contractor for two hours to set up the village for me. 

I have also decorated the 3 story dollhouse in my bedroom, but this is another dollhouse I picked up two years ago for no reason and this year it is decorated for Christmas too. Amazing what I will do so I don't have to deal with the trees. 

We did brave the frigid temperatures and go to the city's tree lighting. I wore heavy socks and my fake ugg boots. As my toes froze I remembered that in the winter I should wear my insulated boots that were home in the closet. 

Five out of my ten frozen grandchildren joined me. 

There were celebrities

Cute store windows

Bounce houses, food trucks and s'more stations. Also activities inside stores. 

Actually a larger crowd than it looks like in my photos. 

Yep, back at the home improvement store. 

Flooring.  In order to get the necessary pieces to go with the flooring I ended up completely organizing the bins and shelves of accessory pieces to find the last one that was listed in inventory and that they could not order in since it was listed in inventory. My husband found it over in ceramic tile.  It was a long afternoon. I think we were there close to three hours. 

And - in case you missed it, I starred in a Hallmark movie. 

Everyone thinks that Donna Kelce, the football mom, is my doppelganger. As I joke, I changed my facebook photo to a photo of Donna Kelce. Everyone "liked" it and did not notice it wasn't me.  So I am now assuming her identity.  

I don't know where I think I am going to find time for this, but I ordered Christmas cards today. 

I took the high road and ordered grandchild vs my true holiday feelings.