Merry Christmas

I can't believe it's Christmas.  I really can't.  It flew by so fast this year.  I will miss our Christmas tree, which has already been disposed of because it was one giant piece of kindling and we won't be home over the weekend.  I will miss the ten million lights(roughly) Joe put up outside.  I will miss the excitement of choosing(and making) and giving gifts. I love to give gifts!

I won't miss the stress.  Christmas stressed me out this year. I am feeling so run down because of it.

In fact I am headed to bed shortly after posting this, before 9:00 p.m.  The last week's stress has caught up with me.

We are headed out bright and early tomorrow morning for San Francisco.  Joe is bringing the laptop but I am not going to be touching it.  I need some time to unwind and just relax without checking FB or pinterest or blogs.   I am going to unplug for a few days.

I wish all of my friends(in real life and virtual) a very Merry Christmas.  And Happy Chanukah for my Jewish friends as well.

May this season fill you with Peace and Joy.

You Might have a Migraine if..........

You post the same thing twice and you don't even realize it.  I posted almost the exact same thing about my Christmas tree in my Thanksgiving post and then again in my last post.  Sorry about that.  My last post was brought to you in a migraine induced haze.

The good news is the migraine is gone.  Finally. It took 10 days and much pain medication(including two shots at the doctor's office on Friday, both in the butt-OW!).  But it's gone.

Thank.  Goodness. I only get migraines that bad four or five times a year.  I was having severe pain in my neck and upper back with this one and the doctor determined yesterday that it was actually a tension headache that morphed into a migraine(with blurred vision and sensitivity to light for extra fun).  Yay  me for being such an anxiety ridden spaz that I am causing myself headaches.  I must learn to chill.  Geez.

I chose our ornament for this year at Disneyland.  It's WALL-E and Eve.  So cute.  You can see a little bit in this picture how dead our Christmas tree is. It actually has a brown tint to it.  It is definitely coming down before we leave on Friday. It's a major fire hazard at this point.

We had our staff Christmas party last night at the Chart House in Dana Point.  We had fun.  I had a little too much fun.  That's all I'm going to say about that.  :)

My boss got me a pair of slippers that light up so you can see your way in the dark.  He bought them as a joke.  We had a lot of fun with them last night.   I wore them for the remainder of the night. They were a big hit at the bar we went to afterwards.  I am hoping I left my actual shoes in my co-worker's car because they were nowhere to be found when I got home and they were brand new.  I told you I had a little too much fun!

I didn't get to do a lot of crafting this year for Christmas presents.  Lisa bought all of the materials to hand pour some candles and we forgot to make them at Thanksgiving so she made some for me and had them shipped.

They came today .  She did a really great job because they look professional and smell so good.

 I decided to fancy them up a little with some vintage like stickers and some pearls I picked up at Michael's a while back for another project.  I'm happy with the way they turned out.

  I think a lot of people skipped sending Christmas cards this year because I sent out 65 and only received about 20 back so far. It bums me out because I LOVE Christmas cards.  I keep each and every one from year's past.  It's fun to go back and look at them.  I saw on Pinterest how to make them into books, like small scrapbooks.  If I'm feeling ambitious I might try it.  I have boxes and boxes of old cards people have sent me, for all occasions.

I still have a few things to buy and I haven't started wrapping yet.

Now we are coming into the home stretch for Christmas.  I work four days next week and then we head up to Lisa's early on the 23rd.  It's going to be a quick trip again for sure but I know we will have a good time.

7 more days!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me..........

A migraine that  lasted seven days.  That actually fits into the song if you sing it.  Heh.

O.K. maybe my true love didn't give it to me, but I still have it and I am over it.  Sigh.



Do you know there are only 11 days until Christmas?

11 days people!!

I am terribly behind.  I swear it was Thanksgiving and then I blinked my eyes and we had only 11 days left until Christmas.

 I was so on top of things at the beginning of December.  I had my cards finished by Thanksgiving.  I had my tree up on the first of December.

Then for some reason things came to a screeching halt and nothing more got done after that.

I still have most of my shopping to do.  I shop very little as it is so the fact that I have still have so much to do is a bit daunting.

I hope to get a lot done this coming weekend.  I better, because it's the last weekend before Christmas(!)

We decided on a real tree this year.  I had forgotten how nice it is to have a real tree.  The house smells so good!  Instead of lugging all of my decorations out of storage this year I bought a couple of packages of plastic ornaments at Target and used those.  I went with a silver and blue color scheme and I love the way it turned out.  So pretty and only cost me about 15 bucks!

That tree is totally dead now.  One of the hazards of getting your tree on the first of December.  It might have to come down before we go to my sister's.

Let's see, what else have I been up to?

We went to Disneyland.  I love Disneyland at Christmas time.  So beautiful.

My sister's cat came to live with us for awhile.  She is funny.   I'm not sure Gizmo agrees with the being funny part, unless she considers being smacked in the face with a claw every time she walks by funny.  And I'm pretty sure she doesn't.  We are still in the transition stage there.

She really knows how to party.

Joe put a few(cough) lights on outside our apartment.

He may have gone a little overboard with the lights.  I'm pretty sure our neighbors think we are nuts. I love it.  It makes me happy to come home and see them.

Sorry so blurry.  These are all cell phone pics. Santa is bringing me a new camera for Christmas.  Either that or Joe is buying me one for my birthday(which is in 3 weeks!)  Either way I am getting a new camera.  LOL.

I only get a few days off for Christmas this year(which is nice because I won't have a bunch of time off unpaid) but it means a very quick trip up North to see Lisa and the kids.  Very quick.  We thought about staying home this year but I have never missed one of the kid's Christmases and I'm just not quite ready to start.  We will re-evaluate next year when Christmas doesn't fall on a weekend.

That's what I have been up to.  

How about you?  Are you ready for Christmas/Chanukah, or are you feeling the crunch like I am?

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was lovely.  It was low key, which was something I needed.  We hung around the house. Lisa's friends cooked dinner(and it was probably one of the most delicious Thanksgiving meals we have ever had).  We went to Half Moon Bay one day and the weather was beautiful.  Half Moon Bay is one of my fav places. We cut down our own Christmas tree(for Lisa).  We ate too much and spent time together and overall had a wonderful time.

The only thing I would have changed was the drive home.  Suckage.  We left too late.  Won't be doing that again.

I didn't take too many pictures but here are a few.

The weather was so beautiful.  It wasn't windy or cold for once.

Heaven

The waves were scary huge as usual

I like this picture. Too bad we are so squinty in it.

Christmas tree lot. This place was awesome.  Been avery long time since we cut down a tree. I think Cameron was a baby the last time.

It was dog heaven.

Checking out the choices

Nothing about this seems like a good idea.  

It actually turned out fine and the kids had a blast.  O.K., I did too.  But you won't be seeing pictures of that.  You'll gave to take my word for it.  It was fun.

Cutting down the ONE.

We put our own tree up and I love it.  We haven't had a tree in two years.  We got a live one and the house smells so good.  All of my decorations are in storage so I got some cheap new ones at Target and went with a solid ice blue and silver theme.  It's so pretty.

Now I must try very hard not to stress too much over Christmas, which I tend to do. The tree is up and some lights are outside.  A couple of presents are bought and I am not buying many more this year.  I must not stress about the rest of it.  I spend too much time worrying about things that I don't enjoy them.  I am going to try not to do that this year.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sorry I haven't been around much.  Been grieving and feeling a little bit overwhelmed.  I can't believe the holidays are upon us.  I always seem to struggle a bit around the holidays.  I feel stressed just thinking about Christmas being in four weeks.  How come after Halloween everything goes by so fast?


We are headed for a very quick trip up North to spend Thanksgiving with Lisa and the kids.  Seems like such a long trip for such a short period of time but it has become tradition.

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving.






For my Canadian friends, well, happy thursday!  One day closer to Friday.  LOL.

Last week Joe and I lost a friend to suicide.  Our hearts are broken for her family.  She is gone too soon.

We were supposed to make Christmas cards together.  I don't know if I have it in me to make them without her.

We will miss you S. You were kind and thoughtful and smart as a whip.

I can't imagine how sad your family must be knowing they won't ever see you again.

I'm sorry that you felt so alone.  I'm sorry if I wasn't as  good of a friend as I could have been.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression,  please get help.  You are not alone.

 Here is the number to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline:

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Here is the link to the Kristen Brooks Hope Center

Kristen Brooks Hope Center




No family should have to lose their loved one in this manner.

She will be greatly missed.


To live in hearts we leave behind
 is not to die. ~Thomas Campbell

Disney

Last Friday while Lisa and the kids were here they went to Disney.  You know how I feel about Disney so I got off a little early and we joined them.

It was raining.  A lot.  And I got sick.  Which was no fun.  But a half day at disney in the rain when you are sick is better than a day at work, right?  

Or not.

We still had a good time.

Here we are om Tower of Terror.  This ride still scares me.  I love it.  But it scares me.

The rain did stop for awhile and cleared up that night for World of Color but it was wet and chilly.  And I was sick. (whine much?)

This was our first time going on the new ride "The Little Mermaid".  My new favorite ride is born!   I love, love, love The Little Mermaid!  It was one of the very first movies that Joe and I went to when we were dating.  Gee, he humored me even then.  I'm pretty sure The Little Mermaid would NOT have been his first choice for a date night movie. 

I'm not gonna lie.  I was singing. Throughout the whole ride.  And most of the rest of the day too.

I loved it.  I went on it two times in a row. No one but Grace wanted to go the second time with me.  Too bad for them!

Toy Story.  I have no idea what Grace is looking at.  I have yet to go on this ride. It always has the longest ride in the park and we are disneyland snobs and never want to wait.

CA Screamin'.  One of our favorites.

They had only a few Christmas decorations up. They were kind of between Halloween and Christmas. I'm sure the Christmas decorations are out in full swing now.

I think she was re-enacting Tower of Terror here.

So pretty at night!

Was supposed to show her glowing ears.  Camera fail.

Glowing mohawk

Waiting for World of Color.  It is stunning.  If you have never seen it, the off season is a great time to go.  Although from now until Christmas it's probably crazy.  We were there at the perfect time.

Aside from being sick, it was a fun night.

At Lisa's hotel we went to the gift shop to buy Grace some gloves.  While we were in there I saw two kids in bathing suits with towels wrapped around their waists and they were buying ice cream.  It was 55 degrees at most  and had been raining.

I looked like this:  Note the scarf and big jacket.  I also had a hat and gloves tucked into my pockets as well.  

I  said to their Mom "I can't believe they are buying ice cream and have gone swimming in this weather.  Brrrrrrr!"

She smiled and said to me "Oh, we're from Vancouver. This weather is balmy for us!"

Heh.  We Southern Californians sure are wimpy!

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave

Thank you to all who serve and have served our country.  

Freedom isn't free.

Thank  a Veteren today.

More Catch Up

I am back dating these because I want to get them on the blog but I simply didn't have time to get to it in October.  I seriously don't know where that whole month went.  In two weeks it will be Thanksgiving.

Two.  Weeks.

Don't even tell me how long until Christmas.  I don't want to hear it.  SO not ready for that.

Anyway, this post is all the way back to Joe's birthday, which was Oct. 17th.  We went into San Juan Capistrano for his birthday lunch.  It is so pretty there.

 

 

We went to Ruby's for lunch.  Grace sent me her "flat grace" project for school so we took her with us.  The things I won't do for my niece!

We wandered into an antique store while we were there.  It was really neat.  I found some old postcards that people had sent to each other.  I must have spent a half hour reading the backs.  I wish I had bought some of them.

Joe thought this globe was pretty cool.

 

I thought it was even cooler after he opened it up and showed me what was inside.  

It's a bar!  That is made of awesome.

 

More cowbell!  But not forty two dollars worth.  It must be really old!

One of the vendors had this really creepy booth. 

There was some pretty cool stuff in there. But creepy! 

Look at these old dolls. 

 

These gave me nightmares.

 

There was this old apothecary cabinet with all sorts of creepy things inside each drawer.

Doll parts.

Whoever was the owner of this stall was a little twisted(but we loved it).

 

Antique children's leg braces.  Have I mentioned it was creepy??

Flat Grace got in on some of the action.

Afterwards we walked around a little. 

Isn't this the cutest little coffee shop you ever saw? 

We went to the petting zoo and saw this Llama(is your mama a llama?  Sorry.  Taught preschool for too long).

He(she?) was quite handsome/beautiful.

Flat Grace checked out the pumpkins.

I thought these pumpkins were neat.  They are called Fairy Tale pumpkins.  Interesting.

Flat Grace and me posing with the corn.

It was a fun day.