Merry Christmas!

Odds and ends...

1. Here's a look at our basement (aka Christmas Central), taken about 10 minutes ago:



All of my gifts are wrapped, except for two - one of Hubby's gifts that is still at my mom's house, and one of my brother's gifts that I need to finish.

I love Christmas and I love wrapping presents, but I am tired. 47 gifts are in this picture, and this doesn't include:

* Gifts for my three best friends and their children (I gave those out over Thanksgiving weekend)
* The out-of-state gifts that were mailed earlier this month
* Gifts for my coworkers
* The containers of baked goods for my Papa and my Aunt that are in the fridge
* Hanukkah gifts (we exchanged with my MIL and dropped off gifts for my SIL and some friends earlier this month, and my other SIL, BIL and nephews aren't coming to visit until this weekend)
* Stocking stuffers for hubby and baby

2. Speaking of stocking stuffers, do you wrap them or just throw them into the stocking? Santa never wrapped them for us when I was growing up (and we don't wrap them now), but my brother's girlfriend wraps hers up for everyone. Just curious.

3. I cannot believe that I have to work tomorrow. At least I have the rest of the week off.

4. I really can't believe that I forgot to bake the Triple Chocolate Bliss cake for dessert tomorrow night - seriously, I just remembered. Guess that I will be waking up extra-early tomorrow to get that in the oven.

5. Sometimes there's a thin line between being honest and being mean. I had somebody say something rather negative about my baby over the weekend. It was a close family member (obviously...strangers wouldn't be that rude) - and I just didn't understand it. Why would you make comments about a 10-month-old? I know that it was probably a passive-agressive way of commenting on the parenting decisions that Hubby and I make, but haven't you ever heard of the adage, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"? I am faced with decisions every day that require me to say little white lies, where being 100 percent honest with someone would result in losing my job or hurting someone's feelings. It's so funny - I can take it if you criticize me, but if you say anything about the people I love - forget about it. I have a hard time forgiving and forgetting...

6. Speaking about the ones you love - hubby and I will be married for four years this week, if you can believe it. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to spend every day with the love of my life.

7. Laundry's finally done - maybe now I can go to bed.

(Edited to add: 8. Our McDonalds reopens tomorrow! It has been closed since September and even though we have two other ones in town, they aren't the same as our "usual" restaurant. Forget Christmas dinner, I want a cheeseburger!)

'Tis the season...

...to visit Santa!

Hubby and I took Harrison to the mall last Saturday to see the big guy. Harrison was a little hesitant at first (Santa can seem kinda scary, I guess), but he really ended up enjoying himself...

The Long Ride Home

So, I have been feeling under the weather all week (for whatever reason, I manage to catch every germ that daycare has to offer). Ear ache, cough, headache - you name it, I have it.

This morning, I decide to finally go to the doctor. But instead of swinging by in the morning on my way to work, I decide to go into the office and leave around lunchtime - then I could go to the doctor and work from home for the rest of the day.

Around 11:00, it starts to snow. By the time I leave at 12:30, a couple of inches have accumulated. No big deal - we live in upstate NY, we're used to the snow... right?

Two hours later, I finally make it to the doctor's office (typically, a 15-minute trip). In defense of my fellow upstate NYers, the highway was closed due to a non-weather related fatality, snd the roads were very bad.

At this point, I am tired (and hungry, considering the fact that the only thing I had all day was an iced tea) but I decided to see the doctor anyway.

Diagnosis? Some sort of virus. I have a prescription to alleviate some of the symptoms and need to get myself to an emergency room if I feel worse, but that's it.

Amount of time taken for said diagnosis? An hour and a half. Bleh.

I pulled into my driveway at 4:45 today - what a wasted day. Although the snow makes everything look so beautiful.

(On a sidenote, hubby was clearing snow with the snowblower tonight and Harrison and I were watching him from the window, waving. Hubby decided to be funny and pointed the chute toward the house so the snow would hit the window. Instead, Harrison burst into tears. Poor hubby - he felt so bad.)