CHRISTMAS JOY

I have been busy being one of Santa's elves. Well, not really one of his official elves, but I feel like one of them and I love that feeling!

All of our out of state packages are on their way and on time! The rest of our Christmas shopping is just about done. I have some stocking stuffer shopping (for our boys and Bruce) to finish but our major shopping is all done.

Oh and here is some really great news! We were thrilled to get a call this week that we had been given a family to adopt for Christmas and I had fun choosing warm clothes for two sweet little boys. Bruce is going to go get them some Matchbox cars and books and pick up a commissary grocery card for their Christmas dinner. And we're going to try to find some Christmas feety-pajamas for them, too. We are so excited about bringing Christmas joy to a sweet military family. It really IS better to give than receive. Our military families sacrifice SO MUCH for all of US.

We got together with a group of friends last night at Flemings for appetizers and cocktails. It was so much fun. We got two booths in the bar area and enjoyed the most delicious array of tasty treats including Jumbo Lump Crabcakes (huge chunks of crab with only a light coating of breading with roasted red pepper and lime butter sauce), sweet chile calamari (oh my...again lightly breaded and served with strips of red pepper), fresh bread with butter and their famous spread. I had two glasses of a delightful Petite Sirah. The guys said that the Prime Burgers rocked too!

We're going to a Christmas Party on Saturday night with a huge group of high school friends. We are all bringing something to share--I am thinking a nice bowl of warm artichoke dip with tortilla chips or sourdough bread and a bottle of wine, of course!

Saturday, I'm co-hosting a cookie-exchange party with my momma. It will be a very festive event with lots of sweet girls! I love this time of year with all of the parties and events!

I baked my 3 dozen cookies last week at a girls' baking day at another friend's house! We mixed and baked and decorated from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Such a fun day together and a great way to knock out all of our Christmas baking! There were 6 of us and all brought an appetizer to share and we sipped champagne and giggled all day long.

Tonight, I must get my nails all prettied up again! It's a "me" night. Get in my jammies and some fuzzy socks, and settle in by the fire and probably catch a nostalgic Christmas movie on the TV while I do my nails.

So now you know what we've been up to this past week (or two). What have you been up to?

HUSTLE BUSTLE

I bet you all thought I lost my way to Blogville, didn't you? Not lost, just a few detours along the way.

Christmas is a little more than two weeks away. My to-do list is still full but we have made a good dent in our shopping. Every day is a busy one and we are looking forward to the parties and festivities coming up on our calendar.

Last weekend we got our tree and now, we have all of our outside lights and decorations up (Bruce gets all the credit for that! Thank you, baby!!), our Nativity scene is displayed, and we have our tree decorated, Liberty Falls Town set up and our home looks and smells like the Christmas season.

I saw my son and Navy boy, T off at the airport early yesterday morning to return to JAX. His two week visit flew by and as I stood out there in the chilly darkness curbside, hugging him good-bye, I fought back the tears I knew would come on my drive back home. I just hate the good-bye part of visits, don't you?

He made it safely back and today, he will begin his drive to VA to report to his new duty station and next adventure. I am happy that he will be near his friends, Bobby and Sarah again.

I have packages to mail out this week....which means I have to get busy wrapping! Tonight! And I must get my Christmas cards done too. My to-do list is much too long...where are elves when you need them?

MISSING MY HUBBY

It's been a bit of a long week without my hubby. He has been on travel with work...in Maine. It's cold in Maine. It's been cold here. But...it's COLD in Maine. I digress...

The first night, our dog, Kona was on hyper-alert...roaming through the house, prowling back and forth between our bedroom and the front door. Growling and occasionally letting out a bark. I wasn't too worried about there being any real threat. Getting past our 80 pound part Rottie-part German Shepherd-part Golden would be tough.

The second and third nights, she decided she could protect me best from Bruce's side of the bed. She stayed most of the night beside me and we both slept good.

Tonight, my daughter, M is coming over. It's a girls' night for us. I am making a Margherita Pizza and after dinner she's going to whip up some "pink stuff" for a potluck at her work tomorrow. What is "pink stuff", you ask? Pink stuff is the name my nephew D, gave the yummy pink gelatin salad his mama made every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I have no idea what the real name is. But it is soooo good. It is made with soft cream cheese, cottage cheese, strawberry Jello powder, Cool Whip and a large can of drained fruit cocktail.

M is going to spend the night tonight, too. She is on her way here from work. I have been home for awhile and I have a nice fire in the fireplace and I am sipping a glass of Maui Blanc (pineapple wine). The house is quiet except for the crackling of the fire.

So relaxing. Tomorrow is Friday. My hubby will be home. Life is good.

DISNEY DAY AND HOME AGAIN

We are back from Disneyland.

We had an amazing time wandering through the park and taking in all of the shops. We rode a few of the rides: Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, King Arthur's Carousel, Star Tours and Astro Orbitor. We tried to go on Indiana Jones...but it broke down (again, according to the girls in line ahead of us) while we were in line, so we missed that one. I figured it was better to miss the ride than get stuck on it.

We were not too concerned about getting on all of the rides, because we opted to buy an annual passport and go back again. It was a deal since my one-day pass and Bruce's free birthday pass counted toward the cost of our passports and being California residents, we could do the easy monthly payment plan on the balance after the deductions. We are thinking about going back while T is here visiting.

We stayed at the Doubletree and they have a Disney Welcome Center there. We stopped in on Thursday night after we'd checked into our room and had dinner. Joy, the "practically perfect" Disney Rep working there, gave us some good tips on where to go and what to see and tried to get us reservations at the Blue Bayou for dinner...apparently you have to call serveral days ahead of time to assure a reservation....oh well, live and learn!

We ended up heading out to Downtown Disney for dinner Friday night....went to Tortilla Jo's...and we got there before happy hour ended (5:00 pm--thank goodness we are used to eating dinner early!) Our waiter was very cool! He hooked us up with a free order of guacamole...so our dinner was comprised of two margaritas, guac, chips, salsa, and we each ordered a taco and shared a dish of ice cream for Bruce's birthday. We sat outside on the patio under a patio heater and had a great meal. We walked back into Disneyland for the evening and took the ART back to our hotel at 9:30 p.m.

I am starting to think about Thanksgiving, since it is just a short couple of weeks away. I will work on making my lists and getting organized so I will not be running around like a crazy woman that week!

Tomorrow, I start back on my early morning treadmill workouts. I took most of last week off. I had been feeling so tired last week, so I think a break was needed.

I got my CT scan and labwork results and everything is good! I was super pleased with my cholesterol numbers! They are all great! The benefits of eating good, healthy food and working out is showing! I still have a ways to go on the scale, but the results are already reflected in my health which is the best part.

Taking it easy at home today...we have a fire in the fireplace this morning...football on TV (we so love our Samsung flatscreen!) and still hanging out in my jammies.

FINALLY DONE BUT FUN TO COME

I have finally finished all of my medical "to-do's". I have had a mammogram, bone density scan, annual blood tests and finally my 'follow-up' CT scan--all within the last 7 days. whew! Plus an unscheduled crown replacement at my dentist's office today. It's all good.

Tonight I am just relaxing with a nice glass of red wine--Yellow Tail Shiraz. Ahhhh, so warm and delicious.

I have so much more to look forward to over the next month and a half. Disneyland is coming up later this week. Two days away and Disneyland celebrating my sexy hubby's birthday.

I am looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house with family. I am so happy that my son, T will be home on leave with me for Thanksgiving. I wish my daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughter could be here too. All the kiddos together makes me such a happy Momma (and Memaw).

December is a month full of fun events too, including a day of baking with my friends--Linda and Catherine (and a bunch of other girls); a cookie exchange party that my momma is hosting; and a festive, fun Christmas party at some friends' from Poway. Christmas Eve at my folks' house this year...dinner, gifts, Christmas Eve service and gift exhange afterwards. A warm holiday night with my family.

Details to follow...