Cremes

This year I decided to make a special Christmas tribute post to some of my favorite Christmas memories over the years. So sit back with some hot cocoa and a blanket as I head down Memory Lane.

I didn’t believe in Santa Claus very long, and I was really young when my mom told me the truth. I wasn’t old enough to be truly traumatized, but apparently dad was the most upset that mom had spilled the beans. I remember doing the whole milk and cookies thing, complete with carrot for Rudolph. Anyways, one year I thought I was going to be smart and wait up for Santa, so I crawled underneath one of our end tables in the living room with a blanket and pillow with the intention of waiting for Santa. Mom would have none of that, so I didn’t get to stay there and was shooed to bed.

We used to have most of my mom’s family over for Christmas dinner after church back in the day when everyone wasn’t so messed up and anti-social. One year I got a desk and a bookshelf and we had set up some of the gifts on it just so they would be out of the way, including a porcelain girl that my aunt had painted for me. Anyways, one of my bratty little cousins got behind the bookshelf and managed to push it so everything fell off… and guess what broke? I ended up tossing it after a few years because it wasn’t any good for anything. We got the whole thing on tape too, because that was the year mom got a camcorder from dad, and he had it on the tripod recording everything.

I can remember some good gifts that I got over the years from my parents. There was the Super Nintendo, the huge Lego playsets, and CD players. I usually got most of what I’d asked for.  Probably the best game ever was the Super Nintendo though, it was worthy of an excited shriek when I ripped off the wrapping paper.

One year we had a really nasty snowstorm that started Christmas Eve, during the day.  Mom didn’t finish delivering the mail that day and I spent the day alternating between playing Zelda and watching Christmas movies on TV. It was one of the few times we woke up to see snow everywhere on Christmas morning. I can remember many more ‘green’ Christmases than white ones, but it’s usually white by the end of the day.

Christmas memories come more to me in tiny snapshots: Dad singing Silver Bells way too early in the morning, eating lobsters on Christmas Eve, going to the church service Sunday morning while Dad cooks the veggies for dinner, waking up at 2am when I was little and running into the living room, and quiet nights sitting beside the lit Christmas tree.

My new life in Texas and my entirely new lifestyle and Christmas traditions prompted this little memory trip. As great as it is to be here with my husband whom I love, it’s important to remember the past good times and to cherish them always.

Merry Christmas everyone - and Happy New Year!

So I’ve been meaning to keep going on my series of school posts, but I’ve been sidetracked for two reasons. The first is that I’ve plain ol’ forgotten about it. The second is that the next installment is so blurred in my memory that I think I’ll have to do two years in one. I’ll have to keep you all hanging for a little bit longer because I’m on my way to do some last minute Christmas shopping as soon as my ride gets here. Maybe in the next couple of days I’ll find a spare minute to get it done, but we’ll see. I still haven’t done all of my baking and got a few things left to wrap up. Not to mention those scrapbooking projects. Regardless, it’s been a good couple of days after Wednesday was out of the way - I was so miserably sick that day I just wanted to fall unconscious. Anyways, I just wanted to mention that I hadn’t completely forgotten about those school days (yet) and to whet your appetite so you read my blog more. I should print up tee shirts.

Anyways, only two shopping days left! Hope your holidays are merry!

Once again I’m plagued with sickness at a very inopportune time. Less than a week until Christmas and I’ve got loads to do but for now it looks like I’m out of commission. Right now it’s just a scratchy throat, occasional headache, and tired achy muscles. I’m hoping the sinus part doesn’t come because that will have me out of commission for most of the holidays. I’ve spent most of the last two days watching TV and laying around, Mike thinks that I should call the doctor tomorrow and see what drugs I can get to speed this along. Thank goodness the doctor is literally 5 seconds away. She was about 10 minutes down the road, but moved into the new hospital right on our street. The place isn’t even finished yet, the elevators are full of cardboard and lined with what looks like x-ray blankets, and there are hardly any signs posted. I only found my doctor by chance. I’ll keep going back to her though, mostly because she’s just so darn close.

So of course that means I haven’t progressed very much on any of my Christmas projects which means that they probably won’t get completed. I haven’t felt much like being upright let alone working on anything. I’m hoping that the illness works its way through me before long so that I can get everything that I need to get accomplished done.  Good thing I’ve done my Christmas shopping already, otherwise I would be in a bind. The crowds are pretty insane right now, so staying home is definitely the best option. I wish I’d gotten sick before now, but what can you do? There’s never a great time to get sick, but it really bites when you’re sick during the holidays.

As I did once before, I thought that I might share a few scrapbooking tips that I’ve picked up over the years.

Today I found a great site for true type fonts that are really awesome for scrapbooking. Fonts, you ask? Well, I’ve found that sometimes sticker letters just don’t cut it when you’re looking for a really specific look. Maybe the type style that you want is unavailable, or maybe you can’t get those little stickers to look right. Cardstock prints just as well as regular paper. I cut mine into the 8×10 form of regular printer paper, load it up, and start printing. I’ve never done this on a laser printer, and I think it actually works best on inkjet, just from what I’ve read. Anyways, before I get too carried away, this is the website. Lots of nice themed Christmas ones on the front page there.

I’ve got some pages that I would like to scan and share with everyone, but unfortunately we’re not set up with that sort of technology around here. I’m hoping to pick up a three-in-one sometimes down the road but it’s just not in the cards right now. I’ll take some digital photos sometimes and upload those (but first I need to find where I put that darn battery charger). I’ve got a couple projects on the books (or more accurately, the dining room table) right now, and they both need to be finished by Christmas morning so I’m a little under the gun right now. Luckily they are both moderately short so I should be done with plenty of time.

Anyone who got a Christmas card from me, I’d love to hear your thoughts on them! I spent a few afternoons making them, and while I have some I liked better than others, it’s always nice to get some feedback on creations!

So yesterday we brought home my new car. I’m too friggin’ happy to finally have it here. I spent most of the day at home, but at least I don’t have to be at home. I went out to Target this morning, picked up a few things. I would have gotten my groceries done, too, but I need Mike to give me some moolah for that. The car itself is super cute. It’s a red Scion xA and pretty small. I only fill up about 2/3rds of a parking space. This is not a picture of MINE, but it’s identical:

We have a window tint on ours since we got it for free, so the windows are a little darker. But that’s my car!

It may be small but it’s quite roomy and comes with iPod playability. I like not having a huge monster car driving around these insane roads. My trip to Target was uneventful despite the fact that I forgot to pick up an air freshener to take away that “new car” smell. I’ll need to head to WalMart again in the near future so I’ll have to remember to pick it up then. I’m pretty sure I’ve got all my Christmas shopping done, I just need to get my scrapbooking projects that will become gifts finished, but that requires some photos and some more supplies. I picked up a few things at Target today, but they really don’t have all that much for scrapbooking there. Some really cute albums though.

Tomorrow I’m spending the afternoon baking with Val and I’m hoping to run down to Baybrook Mall for some things. I’m definitely not brave enough to drive there from here since I’m pretty sure that would require getting on the freeway and I’m not that brave quite yet. Going to Target was challenge enough for right now. Taking things slow with the driving, but hopefully I won’t be stuck in the apartment ever again. I still need more information about the insurance “job” but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to take it since I’m not legally able to work yet. Speaking of that, we still haven’t gotten my application out there, so this week we have to buckle down and get it out. We’ve been married for a month and been lazy I guess. So I need to get down to Kinko’s and make some copies, then get my photos taken. Then it’ll be all ready to go, finally. I really want to start working so I need to get my application in!

Anyways, hope everyone is having fun, gearing up for the holidays and such. I sent out all my Christmas cards so I hope they are reaching their destinations!

So I was nonstop busy this weekend and I LOVE IT! Especially when you are hanging out with friends and family and doing fun things like watching cute movies and buying candy. And eating candy. Lots of it! It would be a hugemongous post if I said everything that happened over the weekend so I’ll just give the highlights.

Friday we spent most of the day shopping for candy. How can that not be a total blast? Sunday was graham-cracker-houses-posing-as-gingerbread-ones day so we selectively piled candy into our carts. They have some cute holiday themed candies at the Dollar store. We found the usual Santas and Frostys, but we also found squared chocolates with decorated foil to make them look like gifts, soccer and basketballs, Christmas lights that actually lit up, and much much more.

I drove home from the restaurant that we ate dinner at on Friday night. I was a little scared and almost got hit by someone who a) decided he was too good for turn signals and b) wanted to be in the same lane as me. Luckily we saw it in time and didn’t hit the schmuck. Other than that, it was a good drive home.

Saturday evening I went to see Happy Feet with Ellie and her friend. It was such a cute movie. I really liked the animation, and was quite impressed by the snow. Very realistic! I’m sure I was the only person in the audience who was like “Oooh the snow is like real!” But the singing was cute and even the random “overfishing is BAD!” message didn’t seem like it was hurting the storytelling. All in all, it was cute. I really want to see The Holiday because it looks cute. Definitely up my alley.

Sunday was the all day candy/icing/graham cracker fest. Mike and I found ourselves constructing a log cabin and lemme tell you, it wasn’t a moment of genius when I took on that challenge. We finally finished the construction (not even any decorating) around 6pm. That means it took us about 6 hours to do it. Most people left around 4, so we were stragglers. We’re going to have more houses built next week, so we decided to save our decorating for next week. We were too tired to have any fun with it anyways. I ended up taking a nap on the couch while I was waiting to eat dinner!

So it was a fun weekend and I’m looking forward to decorating the house next weekend. I need to do some wrapping this week and possibly some more baking. I ended up being put in charge of sweets this year, so hopefully I can hone my cake mix cooking skillz and be the hit with all the sweet tooths. I’d really like to make a Christmasy peppermint cake so I’m going to be poring through cookbooks and online to find a good recipe. My red velvet cake was a hit yesterday and we only brought home a small piece.

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the best part of all! Last night, I got about 8 hours of REAL SLEEP. No sleeping pills, no Tylenol PM, just me! I’m feeling energized and ecstatic just thinking about it. Man, it seems like it’s been forever since I got real sleep. Two weeks, in fact. Anyways, I’m back on a normal schedule and it looks like things are shaping up around here. Mike’s going to see about our car loan this afternoon and I’ve got some volunteering/job opportunities that may be coming my way so YAY! No more being stuck home all day!

Well, I tried to keep this one shorter but there’s lots to say for once. Hope everyone is doing well, and that people got their Christmas cards that I sent! Leave me comments!

So I’ve had insomnia for the past week or so. Let me tell you, after awhile it starts to bring you down. I’ve been ten times more emotional and feeling just plain old depressed than ever. I haven’t done very much around the apartment at all lately. And it’s not like there aren’t a few things I could do; we have a few boxes that need to be unpacked, some papers that need shredding, and a big rust spot on the bathroom floor. And there’s always dishes and laundry. But lately I haven’t felt like doing anything. Not even the things that I normally enjoy, like scrapbooking. I’m feeling better today than I’ve felt in a long time, so hopefully the insomnia and yucky feeling is on its way out.

I don’t have all that much to say even though it’s been forever since I’ve updated, but I think I may be getting my car soon! We’re looking getting a Scion XA instead of a Fit, mostly because the Honda dealership isn’t giving us any help in finding one. The dude at the Toyota/Scion place was very helpful and nice, and I liked the car so it’s probably what we’re going for. We just need to get our loan and our insurance up and running and then we’re all set to go. I’m really hoping that I’ll have it before Christmas, and then I’ve got to practice driving around and getting used to the area.

Anyways, not much else to say. Hopefully things will get back to normal over the next few days.