Christmas is over - thank goodness!

*whew* Thank goodness that's over! 

Christmas IS my favorite time of year.  It is an amazing opportunity to rest, recharge and reconnect with family and friends.  It is a time to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  It is a time to enjoy good food, the cutest decorations of the year and PRESENTS!  *giggle*  (sorry, channeling my inner 9-year old)

Monday we go back to work; the kids are back Wednesday.  On one hand, I'm ready to go back.  The kids are getting stir crazy with only boring mommy & daddy for entertainment.  And mommy needs something to do all day but pick up KIX cereal and bananas off the floor. 

On the other hand, I love being home.  This is the only time of year I see so much of everybody.  During our regularly scheduled craziness, there just isn't time to sit on the couch and watch a movie together, or play a playstation game together unless we schedule it. 

Munchkin is sitting on the couch, practicing her cursive in a notebook.  She's ready to go back too.  She's excited and curious to meet her new math/homeroom teacher.  She's been reading like a true crazy-viller. 

Princess Crybaby is currently wearing her coat.  Not that we're leaving; she just wants to wear it.  She's got her cup in her hand and she's dragging her ride-on whateveritscalled around.  We should have gotten her a wagon. 

Coach is playing his online game.  He's like a level 75 super-hunter.  I am a wimpy little level 22 (almost 23). 

And yours truly is sitting on the couch, touching her blog for the first time since...well, before Christmas.

So, while I'm glad the cooking, endless cleaning (because you never know who's coming over) and wrapping and cleaning up presents is over, it's been simply heavenly to rest and recharge. 

Tonight is New Year's Eve.  As a family, we are setting goals tonight.  Wellness, family time, and whatever else we think of.  More on that later. 

For now, toodles!

Corley Christmas Card

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Christmas Card

From our Family to yours, Have a Blessed Christmas

fridaynightgirl & Princess Crybaby

Somebody's got a little time on their hands...

Wonder how much they spent on this study?

Ho, Ho... *yawn*

We've dragged the boxes down and are preparing to embark on that great undertaking called decorating for the Holidays.

Now that I've got everything down, I find that it's the time of day when I am tired and don't particularly want to delve into the boxes - even though I'm excited about decorating this year.

I've pulled all of the autumn decorations down and cleared counter spaces and table tops. And that's as much as I'm going to do tonight.

*yawn*

Thanksgiving was great. We still have LOTS of ham and dressing left over and that's terrific. More for left overs. Yes, we passed on the turkey and made ham instead. Now, before you have a kitten, hear the logic. Mom likes dark meat, I like white. Neither of us eat a lot of meat, preferring instead to eat oodles of dressing. So, why buy a turkey which is going to be WAY too much meat when I can buy a little spiral sliced ham and be happy? DUH. *grin*

Folks, I am beat. Tomorrow, we'll decorate. Tomorrow, we're also going to work on Munchkin's letter to Santa.

Until then, good night.

Finished....FINALLY!!

The last of my Christmas shopping is done! I made one last little purchase today and I'm done!! WHEE!!

Munchkin is tucked in bed for her afternoon nap and I'm going to play a little playstation.

I have this fantasy about J showing up on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I'm pretty sure it's just that but I don't want to pester him about it, just in case. I know my brother talks about his wife (the one that is my carbon copy) and how she always ruins his "best" surprises because she needs to know all of the details. Lord, that sounds familiar. *grin*

Anyway, day before yesterday, Mom and I went to town for the day. We saw the Nativity Story. OH MY GOODNESS, it was WONDERFUL. IF you haven't seen it, please do - it is the most magnificent representation of the Christmas story I've ever seen. The level of detail the filmmakers included was marvelous. The dialogue is straight out of Luke's Gospel. Simply beautiful. Many came out of the theatre a little quieter and certainly more in the true spirit of the season. I said to one red-eyed woman, "now we can have Christmas."

Also while we were in the mall, we walked through Macy's as I was still searching for the "perfect" gift for J. I suggested some warm pajama pants but, thinking aloud, mentioned that I thought that might be interpreted by some to be inappropriate. Mother just looked at me and, in a move straight out of Star Wars said, "these are not the drawers you're looking for." Thank you, Obi-wan Kenobi. *gigglesnort*

So, we are just relaxing today - building up our strength for tomorrow.

ugh...finally

When the big day arrives and you are too tired to care...that's me. *grin* Actually, I'm so excited about today being the last day of work for 2006 that I can hardly see straight.

I still have enough to do that I'll have to come in at least one day during the break to finish it all up. Oh well. I'll be in jeans or, better yet, my wind pants and tennis shoes. YES!

Tomorrow, I'm taking Munchkin to school and then going home and getting back into bed. *evil laugh* I LOVE IT! Actually, who am I kidding? I'll have been up and dressed and outside already. I'll probably end up on the couch getting in my dose of Ratchet & Clank for the day. I just love that game.

Anyhoo. I can't really say that I won't be working as I have a postcard to put together and a little work on the website to do over the holiday. But, for the most part, I'm finished. *whew*

Work on memorizing lines for the show is coming along. It's rather remarkable, actually. I found memorizing the lines for King & I terribly tedious and difficult as it was an exercise in certain futility. Paige was no more going to be sick or otherwise out of commission during that show. I was simply there as insurance. It was a great opportunity to learn the workings of the show, don't get me wrong but still.... The difference, though, between learning lines in that script versus this one is amazing! I'm hearing the scenes in my head and am remembering more and more in between readings - I'm hardly even trying and the lines seem to just stick! *grin*

Well, I'm going to try and put the postcard together in the couple of hours I have left at work. *sigh*

Only Funny since 2002

I ran across this article this morning and thought I'd share.

The first time I ever saw it, I didn't believe that the kid who stuck his tongue on the flag pole was really stuck. Much to my chagrin, it was. You see, I went into the kitchen that night, after the house was quiet and tried my little experiment on the freezer door where the ice cube trays sat. Of course it stuck. Fortunately, I learned that lesson without too much bloodshed. And, to date, you (my dear blogger friends) are one of the first people I've ever told that story to. Don't you feel special? Ah, youth.

I never liked this movie until I became a parent. It would come on every Christmas and I would immediately change the channel. Partly because of the freezer door incident but also, I think, because I just didn't get it. From a child's standpoint, I'd never asked for anything as stupid as a BB gun (leave that to my brother) and I probably would have thought bunny pj's were pretty cute - hey, I am a girl! I certainly didn't understand why his father would put that awful lamp in the window and why those Elves at the department store were so mean. I just didn't get it.

Until I became a parent. Suddenly, this movie became the funniest movie EVER. The transformation is really quite unexplainable. But I love this movie. I can't wait to watch it. In fact, I may watch it tonight. In between updating a blog template. *grin*

I think I've recovered from my sore stomach so I am headed to French Quarter for lunch. Yum.

Ok, so I'm a pushover

We're decorating for Christmas next weekend. K is having a get-together and I thought that the very least I could do was offer a cute holiday house. Actually, it really isn't for K at all, if I'm honest with myself.

I have this thing about first impressions. Most of these people will be people with whom I interact at work; volunteers, friends, and even (maybe) some board members - most of whom have never seen my house. *gulp*

Because I am such a public person during the week, I am intensely private at home. I love opening my home but it is always a very planned affair. So, I was surprised when K told me she'd booked a jewelry party and planned to invite all of these people. *grin* Have I mentioned how I am with surprises? Not to say that this won't be fun but I am still adjusting to sharing my space with another human and I still like to call the shots around the house. Have I also mentioned that I'm rather possessive? *giggle*

Now, I have a verycute little house. It's a "charmer" as the real estate ads might say. The rooms are all painted in very cheerful colors and the closeness makes it cozy. The house is not the problem. Ok, let me explain.

When I was married, we had a gorgeous house. It was big, new and most of the furniture was brand spankin' new. What wasn't new was beautiful so nobody noticed anyway. My ex had (has) fabulous taste in home decor and we always had lots and lots of fun decorating. Needless to say, I never worried about having guests because I lived in a showplace. Being an at-home mommy, the house was immaculate. (yes, even with a very young child at home)

Now is quite a different story. When I left, I left it all - he bought most of it anyway, so I didn't feel like I should take it. So, putting a house together has been a piece at a time. I've got my bedroom and Munchkin's room the way I want it but my living room is still pieced together with furniture that doesn't all match and a sofa that has seen better days. I have a beautiful pedastal dining room table but mix and match chairs. Some would say that the mix and match is oh so shabby chic but I just see it as a project unfinished and, for an uber-perfectionist like myself, that just IRKS me.

I guess it's a pride thing. I don't make the money I need to have extra left over to make improvements to the house (like the floors) or make big purchases like six matching dining room chairs and a new sofa (actually, I want a loveseat and big chair).

Not to mention that I'm working full-time so the house is NOWHERE near as clean as I kept it when I wasn't working. There is always laundry to do or floors to sweep or trash that needs to be taken out. *sigh*

So, to compensate, I will decorate for Christmas and keep everyone, as much as possible in the kitchen. *grin* It's the cutest room in the house, anyway.

All that aside, I'm really stoked about getting the Christmas stuff down! *giggle* I'll post pictures when I'm done.