Christmas Update

Let the panic set in!


Video clip from Flushed Away, funny movie.

I still have several projects to finish before Friday! I should have taken the whole week off from work too, LOL. No but really, I'll just be a busy bee every night leading up to the departure.

I did get some shopping done thanks to a few great shops up at Etsy:
Photo Glassworks
ilee papergoods
SunlitLetterpress - picked up a card for my sister here but it seems they're out of stock but it says "A Bun in the Oven", cute.


Christmas Exit - five days and counting!

12 Days

Only 12 days left till we lift off and are in Texas. I'm excited but mostly feel behind in all my shopping and preparation for Christmas. Whats worse is that I'm sick today and I don't think I can get up off this couch.

We don't have a tree yet either. We were suppose to go get one yesterday but we were at hubs parents visiting with his brother that just got back into town from 3 months in Italy. It was a nice visit and I was starting to get sick that afternoon, all the body aches and stuff. Anyway, between work and it getting dark at 4p we might just have to forgo cutting it our selves and buying one precut with lights in the lot or wait until next Sunday and enjoy it for 4 days before we go. I'm suppose to unpack the ornaments and send my moms to her in NY, sorry mom but you might get them in time for New Years.

This year its also been really weird for gifts. Its been hard to figure out what to get my family and i'm still missing a few people. Its also been really hard to tell people what we're wanting because most of the things we need are more expensive then their budgets. I've noticed a trend in the past few years of the gift exchanges becoming smaller and less important which is nice. I'm hoping by next year we can just draw names instead of having to do the whole family. I've really enjoyed that with my in-law family.

Mostly I want to arrive into town and veg out with my family and not think about anything serious.

Kitchen Rant

Whenever I clean the kitchen after its been neglected for days a rant builds up inside me. It should be understood that neither my husband nor I like cleaning the kitchen, it’s at the top of our least liked chores. However, my threshold for what is tolerable is shorter than his and mine is pretty long. I once conducted a personal observation to see how long it would take for him to break and clean the kitchen. At three weeks* with no practical dishes left in the cupboards and a weird smell, I broke.

*get married with a lot of dishes and 2 people can go a long time with out washing them.

I say that to say this: If he doesn’t do it for his mother he won’t do it for you.

When we were dating he was till living at home. I would go over and hang out and be there for dinner. I always felt a little guilty when we’d be upstairs playing pool or whatever and his mom was down stairs cooking. I’d ask if we needed to go down and help and he always said no. Every now and then I’d go down and offer anyway and sometimes she’d find me something to do and sometimes she’d decline my help. Four years later I’m still trying to figure out the balance of help and being in the way. Now that we’re married, he doesn’t help cook. He will cook on occasion though.

After dinner I’d say 90% of the time his mom did the dishes with usually one of the boys (my hubs is the oldest of five boys) unloading and then loading the dishes when she handed them off. I got into the routine of putting away the leftovers. Hubs would be nowhere to be found. Now that we’re married, he doesn’t do the dishes, even when he cooks.

I know I should have the mind set that I am cleaning this house not just for him but for me. So I can function appropriately and healthy inside this house that is supposed to be a haven. Although, honestly, this past year I’d say it’s been more of a burden then a haven. It is difficult to strike a balance between two people that work full time with a lot of extra activities and add the fact that cleaning does not come naturally to them.

I could ramble in several different directions from here. I’ll do a summery and wrap up in bullet points to keep it short.
- Cleaning the kitchen makes me feel resentful
- Resentful makes me feel guilt
- There are things you should pay attention to when dating, if you don’t like it when you’re dating you’re going to hate it when you’re married.
- I should talk to him
- Doubtful things will change
- How can I change my self?
- Realize this is for me just as much as for him
- Establish a routine – I liked that week when I actually did the dishes daily, it was manageable.

It's December!

Saturday got su'pa busy and then my husband got home. Turns out though that I have him now trained that if I'm sitting at the computer and he asks to watch a movie he'll go "I can wait until you're done blogging." to which last night i replied "It's Dec.1st I don't have to blog. Lets watch a movie".

I know it's now December because we got our first snow! Huge flakes came down and then would stop and then start again from about 10am to noon. Then in the afternoon it started to rain and the snow just melted. Not overly impressive but fun.


This is the standard shot of my "backyard". The apartment over looks this golf course and I must have a million shots of it at different stages.

The news I can now share is... Dec. 28th we're going to The Trans-Siberian Orchestra in Dallas! My brother gave tickets to his wife for her birthday and he asked around about who wanted to go with them. Me, me, me!!! I'm pretty sure this is my husbands and I gift to each other. Although, I know a little gift I want to get him. Anyway, I'm very excited because I love their versions of come classic Christmas music but never seen them live!

In the Christmas Exit count down there are 19 days left until the plain lifts off!!!

Back to cutting out paper stockings for me.