Holiday Happenings

Just a quick update on what we've been doing this week.  My dad was in town and helped cross a million things off our house To Do list.  He's quite the handyman and loves to tinker with things so he installed new lighting, fixed our kitchen fan, weatherproofed our foyer and basement (gotta love 60 year old houses!), rehung window blinds, fixed two lamps....I could go on!  Not only was it fun to hang out with him this week, it's just a relief to have those things done.  When my house is in order, I feel better about life.  Yes, I might be a bit mental but I can't stand when things are broken or just not efficient.  He had to leave in a bit of a hurry today because a big winter storm is coming and promises to drop 5-9 inches of wet snow.  The rain and wind already started so even though he was supposed to leave tomorrow, we thought it was safer if he left today.  Audrey is going to be so bummed when Grandpa (or Grampy as she's been calling him lately) isn't at school with me to pick her up!  It's all good though because I've already started another To Do list for the next time my dad visits - I'm sure he'll be thrilled.  ;)

Last night I baked 18 pumpkin breads to hand out to friends, Bill's co-workers and neighbors.  I know 18 sounds like a lot but I used to bake 30+ while living in Iowa so this was a breeze for me.  I actually just got in from running around in the rain delivering them to neighbors.

Starting tomorrow Bill has 5 days off in a row and I couldn't be more excited!  We'll head to Toledo for the day on Sunday to celebrate Christmas with my family, otherwise, we're looking forward to a nice quiet Christmas with just us.  I'm already starting to panic a little when I think of all of the wrapping and toy assembly we have yet to do - Christmas Eve will likely be an all-nighter - but it will be fun!  I remember my parents' all-nighter stories so it's all on par for the parenting course, I suppose.  Although, their stories tended to involve marathon Atari game sessions until they had callouses on their hands!  Unless Bill and I get an urge to play kitchen, I think we're safe.

Hope you all are staying warm and enjoying this holiday season!