Archive for the ‘I love the Holidays’ Category

  • All Was Merry and Bright

    Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

    The decision I made to take a break from blogging over the holidays turned out to be one of the best professional decisions I’ve made in a long time.  Compared to last year, when I was stressed out and grumpy over having to be away from my computer, this year my mind was clear and I was able to truly enjoy everything about Christmas. Consequently, it was one of the best Christmases I (and my family) have had in a long time.

    My Dad and Stepmom went to Arkansas to be with her mother, so instead of our usual Christmas Eve at Dad’s house, we just hung out here at home. We watched movies, played video games, and then sent the kids to bed so Chris and I could do our traditional “wrapping all the presents on Christmas Eve”.  Even though we both bitch about it, neither of us ever wraps anything ahead of time, so I guess we both like staying up together late on Christmas Eve to wrap.

    Oh, Chris made the BEST coffee for us to drink to help us stay up so late – a mix of Boca Java’s Vacation Villa Vanilla and Frosty Snow coffee beans, ground together, then flavored with French Vanilla creamer and a shot of Bailey’s. SO GOOD.

    Christmas morning was wonderful. Nathan’s big gift was a bike, which we left sitting out in front of the tree. 

    I tend to buy too much for the stockings, making them too heavy to hang from the stocking holders, so those went under the tree too.

    I gave Chris a list of suggested gifts to buy me for Christmas. When I saw the pile with my name on it on Christmas Day, I was shocked. He and the kids spoiled me rotten this year!  There were snowman ornaments for the tree that he had bought last summer in Traverse City and kept hidden all this time, and a wonderful, WONDERFUL assortment of PERFECT gifts.

    The box on the left is “Twilight Woods” perfume from Bath & Body Works, which Chris and the boys picked out together. They told me that they had all agreed that it smelled “really pretty”, and it does!  The main “notes” are cedar and tobacco, and it smells amazing layered over the Warm Vanilla Sugar shower gel and lotion (also Bath & Body Works).  I also got….

    See what I mean? Spoiled rotten!   Considering what a tough year 2009 was for Chris and I, I felt like he did more than just buy me Christmas presents. I feel like he said to me, through those presents, that he still knows who I am, likes who I am, and that everything is going to be okay.

    Which is pretty much the best Christmas gift of all.

    Since this is already so long, I’m going to do another post tomorrow about the kids’ gifts, and our visit to Chris’ Dad’s house on Christmas Day. Thanks for reading!

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    13 Comments » Filed under: I love the Holidays

  • Happy New Year!

    Friday, January 1st, 2010

    Wow, 2010. It’s like a date from a science fiction novel except it’s real.  We didn’t do much last night, we watched “District 9″ on Blu-Ray then switched over to CNN to watch the ball drop with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin.  Kaitlyn went to bed but we let the boys stay up. We counted down 3-2-1, yelled HAPPY NEW YEAR!, I kissed everybody, then the boys and I went to bed. Because I’m just THAT FUN after midnight.

    I’ve enjoyed taking a break from my blogs and hanging out with my kids over the last week and a half, but now I have ideas for a whole bunch of posts starting to form in my head again, so I’ll be getting myself back on a writing schedule next week. I’ll share photos from Christmas, take a look back at 2009, hopefully my kids will do something interesting.  January 30th is my birthday, it’s my annual tradition to ask my readers to leave a comment, with my goal being to get as many comments as I am years old. So be prepared, 43 of you! lol

    Even though I just feel like getting back in bed and taking a nice long nap, Chris says we have to break down the boxes in the garage and go over to the recycling center. Which is open 24/7, lucky me. I guess I AM responsible, since 99% of the boxes are from shipments of product review stuff. Anyway….to all of you who stopped by Table for Five today, THANK YOU.

    Thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming here to read my ramblings. Thank you for helping make Table for Five a successful blog. Thank you for reading my posts, entering my giveaways, mentioning me on Twitter and Facebook. I hope you know just how much it means to me. I can’t wait to see what 2010 is going to bring!

    10 Comments » Filed under: I love the Holidays