Saved By The Office

I guess I could post something while I'm sitting here staring at the computer. Staring at the computer and typing one handed while poor Abbey sits on my lap and screams. Her 3 day fever is down right now thanks to the Tylneol, but she's screaming at the top of her lungs and punching herself in the mouth. Which leads me to believe this is all teething related. She won't even take her soother.

Man. This kid can scream.

Noah was never like this. Not even close. We just looked in his mouth one day and saw a bunch of teeth. So this is all pretty new to me. And it sucks. Especially since her tooth count is currently 2. Two little tiny teeth and a whole mouth to go.

Sigh.

I just phoned Jonathan so he could take part in her screaming. He told me to play The Office theme song. It's Abbey's favourite thing in the world. And it worked. She now only screams every 30 seconds when the song ends. Somebody needs to loop this onto a DVD for me.

Seriously.

Christmas Rambling

That was a nice break. Long enough to almost make me miss posting everyday. ALMOST. But I do miss all the regular posting from everybody else.

Nothing much exciting has happened around here in the last week or so. We finally have snow which has done wonders for my Christmas spirit. There's not a lot of snow, which suits me just fine. All I needed was a nice white blanket to cover all the disgusting brown. And as it was falling, I filled my mp3 player with lots of Christmas tunes. So now those play in my kitchen while I'm puttering around in there. And when I get sick of that, I turn on the Christmas music station on the satellite.

The decorating is done. Which for us means the tree is up. I don't have a lot of decorations to work with. I'm always too broke around Christmas to justify buying more. And my Christmas projects are coming along slowly. I don't know why I do this to myself every year. But they're started and it's too late to stop now. Now I just need to start thinking about Christmas baking. I'm not planning on doing a lot (I never PLAN on doing a lot), but I am in a cookie exchange next week so I have to at least do that. I still haven't decided what to make. It's a toss up between Christmas (sugar) cookies and chocolate macaroons. I'm planning on making batches of both anyways, it's just deciding which one I want to do lots of. Probably the macaroons. They're WAY less time consuming. But more finicky. Decisions, decisions.

Apart from all that, I guess all I have left to do is wrap the presents. And stay warm. Because it's FREEZING out there.

That's All Folks

I think that technically I completed NaBloPoMo. If you count them, I do have a post for everyday in November. 30 days, 30 posts. So there.

And now I'm glad it's over. I always have trouble finishing the month. At the beginning it's fun because everybody's doing it and you've got all these ideas for posts. But by the end it's just irritating.

I almost put up the Christmas tree yesterday. Almost. Jonathan said that if I was going to, it had to be done by game time. And since I spent most of the morning putting in my Epicure order (biggest order I've ever had, by the way) there wasn't a lot of time for all the decorating. It's a lot of work fluffing out all those branches. So I'll leave it till next weekend.

I also managed to finish my Christmas shopping. Every single last bit of it. I'm just waiting for a few more things to come in the mail. Now I just have to stop myself from purchasing last minute add ons. I totally recommend online shopping though. At least 50% of my shopping this year was done online. Probably more.

Well, you guys. It's been fun. But I can't say I'm going to miss the required daily post. Good thing it's only once a year.

The Weekend

Well. It's the weekend again. Man, the weeks sure fly by. And since it's the weekend that means we're going to the city. To shop. On a Saturday.

Normally it isn't too bad, but since Christmas is just around the corner, any major store in Saskatoon is a dangerous place to be. And we have to go to Costco today. I'm seriously scared for my sanity. I've also asked my mom to watch the kids for a few hours so I can finish my Christmas shopping and Jonathan can start his. That means the mall. Plus we still need to do our regular errands. That means Wal-Mart.

I better start getting ready. This is going to take a bit of mental preparedness.

It's Just Today

Yes. I'm a cheater.

If you have been paying close attention (and I think some of you have), then you will have noticed that my posts have not been appearing when they should. Shame on me.

But they're still here. So whatever.

There's still no snow. But we made paper snowflakes yesterday, so I guess that counts for something. And the tree will go up next weekend regardless if there's any snow on the ground.

Sigh.

Does anybody else find Christmas EXTREMELY stressful?

I do.

It's not like it used to be.

I wish all I had to do was wait patiently for it to show up and then try to control those butterflies in my stomach. Now there's gifts to budget for and buy. Food to plan, shop for and make. Get-togethers to organize, coordinate and attend. And we're expected to do all this with a smile on our face. Oh right. Don't forget that you have to make everybody in your life happy at the same time. Now doesn't that sound like fun?

Maybe the real reason I'm not feeling Christmasy is that there's no Christmasy feeling left in me. Maybe there's just been too many gifts. Too much food. Too many gatherings. Too much family.

Every year Jonathan and I say we're going to simplify and every year we get sucked back into it. It's exhausting.

Next year I think we'll just take the kids and go rent a cabin somewhere for the week. No obligations. No running around. Just us.

Because it's starting to feel like the whole point of Christmas is floating further and further out of my grasp. I think my priorities aren't quite in order and I really need to do something about it before I have a melt down. Probably sooner rather than later since it technically isn't even December yet.

And just to clarify, I know there are lots of family who read this blog and are probably thinking I'm talking about you. But I'm not. I'm really not. Nobody's said anything or done anything. This is just how I'm feeling today. I'll get over it. Hopefully.

Bring It On

I can't do it. I can't get into Christmas mode. Jonathan suggested putting up the tree this weekend and I balked at it. It's not even December! And there's no snow!

Snow is the key for me. The instant those small white puffs start to fall and stick to the ground, I'm ready. On comes the Christmas music. Out comes the decorations. I felt super Christmay back in October when we got all that snow. I had the Christmas music on and was making my shopping list. But then it melted and there went my Christmas ambitions.

Now Christmas is officially a month away and it still feels like forever. I've been meaning to start Christmas baking and crafts with the kids but just can't bring myself to do it. There are some houses around here all decorated with lights and trees in the windows and it just looks absurd to me.

I think it's because I've been a Saskatchewanian all my life (except for 4 years spent in B.C.) and I do NOT remember ever entering into December without snow on the ground. And these temperatures are crazy! I'm still running around outside in my bunny hug.

So, I think what I'm trying to say is: I'm ready. I've loved these mild temperatures and dry highways, but I'm ready. Bring on the snow. Because at this rate, we're going to wake up Christmas morning in a tree-less, cookie-less, Christmasy-less house. And what fun would that be.

Short but sweet

The Epicure party went smashingly. I thought I made too much food, but I guess it was yummy because it all managed to disappear.

I'd write more about it but I've just been told to turn the computer off and go to bed. I think that's a good idea.