Christmas Ramble

Well... The Christmas letter is now written and somewhat printed. My printer ran out of ink... again... I've got the envelopes somewhat stamped and addressed. We're getting there! Last night my hubs picked up the pictures that I ordered Monday. It DOES help to tell which store to pick them up at, right? (He hates to be embarrassed... Hey Honey Sweetums!) He found them at the second store he had to go to.I dropped Meri off at school this morning and then had to come back for her piano books. As I walked through the house towards the piano, I realized that my house is in no way ready for a big Christmas weekend that starts already on Friday night. There has been so much to do, that housework has definitely taken a back seat. And Ellie (the Golden Retriever that is a complete idiot just so you don't get confused as to which one...) had pulled a rug out of her kennel and proceeded to tear it apart, strand by strand on the living room carpet.

We are so blessed.

The blow up nativity on the front yard must have another hole in it somewhere because the stable roof is just NOT staying up... And poor poor baby Jesus! Doesn't look like there's much room in the stable either... I always thought that this Joseph looked like Yosemite Sam or Yukon Cornelius. But Yosemite has such big eye brows, maybe he's closer to Yukon... You be the judge!

Little by little, the gifts that I ordered have been trickling in and sit on the futon behind me. If I get a break later during work, I'll wrap a few. I need to have a bunch wrapped by Friday night and whip up something for Robb's siblings and their spouses. What would you recommend? I was thinking of the canned cakes, but the only jars I have that are open mouth types are kind of small for this. I'd be basically giving them an unfrosted cupcake... Yum! sarcasm rocks!

I did see a recipe on Pinterest for Orange Creamsicle Fudge. hmmm.. Not sure if they'll like that. I'll have to try it out first, but if it's bad I won't give it out and if it's good, I probably won't give it out either... Well, if you guys don't help me, they'll probably get a can of cream of mushroom soup in a gift bag. Please help!

Last night Robb and I started watching the movie Bridesmaids. He had already seen it and just wanted me watch it for a couple funny parts. (I'm still waiting for them) But I wanted to watch it from the beginning. BIG mistake... I guess it's rated R. Yikes! I can normally handle cringe humor, but this takes the cake! In the first 15 minutes, I had already sucked all the air out of the room, like 10 separate times! And every 3 minutes, Robb would lean over and say quietly... "And Ruth Ann took Olivia to see this..." My sister and 14 year old niece. I need to call her today... Those were probably most of the times I gasped uncontrollably. Now I know what my mom felt like when we all went to see Full Metal Jacket at the theater. I'm forcing myself to watch more, but I sincerely do NOT recommend it. Definitely not for your kids! No matter what age! And I know which of you has probably seen three times already!!!

Anyway, today looks like it might be interesting at work! I got a big problem figured out yesterday and feel like I'm on a roll. I just might tackle that other problem that's been hounding me for a while. It's always nice when I can dig into programming code uninterrupted. Weeks that contain holidays are s.weet and quiet. I hope my attention problems don't pull me back to the internet every five minutes... But I know me...

Oh hey! Before I go. The kids had an ultrasound yesterday and they have them in 3D now! He's a fist sucker in one picture and an alien in another. I'm sure they'll perfect this technology someday. But it does make me anxious to meet him in person! And I just ran inside to see if the pictures got left in the dining room and they're not there... So you'll just have to live vicariously through me. He's a cutie! but a fist sucker.

Gotta run! Have an awesome day!