Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

1.04.2012

Holly Jolly!

Hey there, remember me?  I know it's been a long time.  I will have to do a more in-depth post later, but I've just got too much going on right now.

I was lucky enough to participate in the Holly Jolly Swap hosted by Ashley at Everyday AEM, Crystal at Coffee at Nordstrom, and Emily at In the Life of Emily.


My Secret Santa was the lovely Emily over at Trainin' to be a Texan.  Y'all, she is phenomenal.  Her cards and gifts were so perfect and she's a total sweetheart.  She's a newlywed and a preschool teacher.  She and I both love working with kids and are very involved in our churches.

Check out what she sent me!
1.  ADORABLE earrings!
2.  Sparkly nail polish
3.  Mr. & Mrs. Claus ornament frames
4.  Warm and beautiful pasmina/wrap/scarf
I love it all and I think this was such a cute idea!  Through the swap, I've discovered so many wonderful blogs.

Snuggles,
A

1.12.2011

Brrrrr, it's cold in here. There must be some Toros in the atmosphere.

Name the movie that quote is from and I'll give you $5.  Well, maybe not $5, but I'll give you a virtual high five and tell everyone how cool you are.

Let's do a recap of my past few weeks, shall we?  We shall.

December 23:  Daddy had knee and ankle surgery.  All went well, as planned, and he came home that night.  He's a terrible patient and refused to take his pain meds, which led to him being a pain in my ass.  Kinda.  He was alright except for his grumpy spells.  We also got a call that Granddaddy had been admitted to the hospital and wasn't doing very well.

December 24:  Christmas Eve!  I usually look forward to our church service, but this year left a lot to be desired.  Normally, everyone comes and it's a time of celebration and reconnection, as it should be.  This year, our minister decided to do a "drop-in" style "service."  This meant that you could drop in anytime within a 2-hour span, pray and meditate to yourself, and be served Communion.  The end.  There was no meaning, no joy, no hymns, no fellowship.  It didn't feel like Christmas and I didn't like it.  Bah humbug.  Also, my parents didn't put up a tree this year.  Daddy's surgery threw a wrench in things, so Mommy Dearest bought  fern-esque plant to take the place of a tree.  I bought lights because it looked too depressing without them.

Oh, Christmas tree fern?
December 25:  Merry Christmas!  Usually, my parents and I all gather in their living room (with the tree) to open presents and stockings together.  Things were different this year.  No stockings.  No tree.  Just a fern-y thing on the table in the den (near Daddy's recliner aka bed since surgery).  I had taken the time to wrap presents for my parents and brought everything into the den.  Mommy Dearest hands me a Rubbermaid tub with stuff in it.  That's how she gift-wrapped this year.  (To be fair, she'd been sick and dealing with Daddy as a "patient" so I wasn't expecting superb wrapping, but I was hoping for a notch above a clear plastic tub.)  I got some tops from Old Navy and TJ Maxx, monogrammed silver bracelet and necklace, some other pretty jewelry, a Michael Kors red peacoat, and some tools for my business (Copper Alley).  Now, it is our tradition to go to the movies on Christmas night and see a movie as a family.  (No, we aren't Jewish, but I almost was.)  This is the one time each year where we do this.  Daddy doesn't like movies much, but it's tradition.  This year, we left him at home since he was on crutches and it was snowing.

For the first time in 63 years, we had a white Christmas.
Mommy Dearest and I decided that we wanted to see "How Do You Know."  She's not the best or most confident driver at night or in bad weather, so she asked me to drive her 1992 Volvo.  We were about 2 miles from home (on the way to the movies) in the right lane.  An Expedition was a little ahead of us in the left lane.  All of a sudden, the Expedition's driver decided to turn right from the left lane with no signal and I knew it was going to be bad.  I attempted to swerve right into the parking lot beside me but I couldn't do it without hitting the telephone pole, so I hit the Expedition.  Totaled the Volvo.  Luckily, everyone was alright, but Mommy Dearest was not happy.  Merry Christmas...  We didn't ever see the movie.

Princess Fiona was fascinated to watch the snow fall.
Pretty kitty.
December 26-December 30:  This was a blur, so I'm not really sure.

December 31:  This happened. 

January 1-2:  This happened. 

January 3:  I returned to work and pretended to be normal.

On that Wednesday, I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck and stayed home from work.  I went to the doctor that night and was told I had a flu-like virus.  Awesome.  I stayed home from work on Thursday, too, because I still had a fever and felt awful.  I went back to work on Friday and resumed life as usual.  

In the wee hours of Monday morning, we were hit by Snowstorm 2011.  

This is what it looks like when it snows in the South.
The roads are dreadful and I hate having to drive to work.

That's all I have for you right now.  Leave me comments and tell me how awesome I am.  Or not.  But seriously, leave comments.  Please.  I like to know that I'm not just sending all of this out into the internet-space-land for no one to read.

Snowy snuggles,
A

12.22.2010

Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?

I have been extremely slack with posting lately.  Don't worry, you haven't missed much.  I've been working and making jewelry and babysitting and trying to stay well.  Daddy has bronchitis and Mommy Dearest has an upper respiratory infection.  I fear that I'm coming down with a deadly combination.  Stuffy head, sore throat, lots of snot, coughing, sneezing...awesomeness.

We celebrated the BFFAE's birthday on Friday.  I did my best to orchestrate a get together, but a big chunk of people couldn't make it.  It was lots of fun.  Two of our best friends from high school days came (M.Elmo an Vron).  We had about 12 in all.  Of the 12, four of us wore argyle sweaters.  We. Are. Old.  After a very long dinner, we went to another bar to listen to a live band.

Saturday, my family trekked down to Alabama for Christmas with Daddy's side of the family.  It was a slightly smaller gathering than normal...only 19 people.  We have moved away from giving gifts, so it was just an afternoon of food, games, and conversation.

Sunday, we had Christmas with Mommy Dearest's side of the family.  We had a huge spread for lunch.  You'd have thought it was Thanksgiving all over again!  There were about 27 people there.  Since Mommy Dearest is the baby of 9, there are 19 years difference in age between her and her her oldest sister.  My Aunt Joan (the oldest) passed away in January of 2008.  She has 2 sons, one of which has a daughter a few years older than me.  That being said, the other has a daughter that is 10 years old and her name is Skylar.  Skylar desperately wanted to learn how to play the piano/keyboard, but had never had a single music lesson.  I took it upon myself to Google some Christmas songs to teach her.  Bear in mind, I have not touched a piano since I quit lessons in the 7th grade.  I "relearned" how to read sheet music so that I could teach her some basic Christmas songs.  I numbered her fingers, and wrote down a string of numbers for her to play.  That was much easier than trying to teach her how to read music.  She successfully learned "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls."  Sweet kid.

I have way too much to do and literally no time in which to do it.  I haven't wrapped a single gift, and I'm still waiting for some to arrive via UPS.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute...

Daddy is having knee and ankle surgery on Thursday.  Yes, that would be December 23, two days before Christmas.  Thanks.  I will be spending my Christmas vacation playing nurse, all while trying to relax and not catch "the crud." I wonder how successful I will be...

The BFFAE and Mr. S flew out this morning, bound for Mexico for the holidays.  Bon Voyage!

A special thanks to S.E.Dubs for bringing me coffee and a muffin this morning.  That's probably the only reason I am still (barely) awake.

I'll post pictures and more stories later.  Right now, I'm trying extremely hard to not fall asleep on my keyboard.  Eyelids...heavy...

Snuggles,
A

11.11.2010

Call me Scrooge. I dare you.

They started playing Christmas music on the radio today.  I cannot handle this.  Please let me get through Thanksgiving, and then I will be in the spirit.  Seriously, on Black Friday, I will be buying Mimi's new Christmas album.  And probably these others.

Merry Chirstmas II You by Mariah Carey {here}
A Merry Little Christmas by Lady Antebellum 
The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection {here}

Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album
Glee:The Music, The Christmas Album {here}
Non-holiday snuggles, 
A
 
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