I hope that this post finds all of you in high Holiday spirits and ready for Christmas! Here in the frozen tundra we call Minnesota, we're pretty much ready. The tree is up, lit and decorated, packages wrapped (though they do lack ribbons and bows at this point: more on that later), and we've shipped anything that needed shipping. I finished our cards early this morning and Rich mailed them for me a little bit ago, so...gosh I think we've got this holiday thing pretty well in hand!
The aforementioned tree went up a couple of weeks ago with nearly all of the breakables nearest the top, and the non-breakables at the bottom, where I was reasonably sure they would become kitty toys. I was praying that neither kitten would climb the tree, but as they are both a couple of little monkeys, I wasn't holding my breath. The first week went really well and they both seemed content with batting at the lower branches and ornaments: I was even bold enough to announce that they were leaving it alone... Well, you know that old saying about "speaking too soon"? Yeah. You guessed it; no sooner had I said it than one of them had to make a liar out of me. Last Saturday I caught Lois mid-way up the tree, broken ornament on the floor and a look of terror on her face as I came tearing out of the kitchen. I'm not sure if the commotion was enough to deter her from ever doing it again, but at this point they've both been content to admire it from the floor though they persist in walking about amidst the packages underneath and given their mutual love of ribbons we've left off all of the usual ribbon and bows until a little closer to the date. I'm pretty sure they would shred anything we put on them so, for now, they look a little bare. I did remember to put tags on everything this year however!
Josh is now enjoying his Christmas break from school, and trying to pick up a few more hours at Pancheros at the same time. He's managed to earn and save a fair chunk of money for his trip to DC next month but every little bit helps. He leaves on January 18th and returns on the 21st, so the trip is coming up fast. Despite the outcome of the election, I think he's still looking forward to the trip. I told him to keep his political opinions to himself while he was there lest he come home in a body bag for -God forbid- voicing his opinion. It's bound to be a momentus occasion regardless, and I know that he'll enjoy seeing the sights of the Capital.
I will be off work beginning the afternoon of the 23rd and won't be going back until the 5th of January. Ahhh, bliss! Almost 2 full weeks of rest and relaxation. I can't hardly wait. Josh has his license now too, so I won't necessarily be required to shuttle him about unless I need my car for something of my own. Mom will be here Tuesday night to spend the holiday with us, so we're all looking forward to that. I see a stack of jigsaw puzzles with Mom on the horizon! Rich will be working much of the time I am off which is a bummer, but he didn't stockpile his vacation like I did. I tend to do that every year just because I love having the Christmas / New Year time period off. Rich prefers to take days here and there throughout the year I think.
On a final note, before I post this and get my sorry arse moving...
Many of you will note that my cards this year are missing a couple of elements. Namely a photo and letter. I admit it seemed odd sending the cards off without them, but since I try to keep things updated here pertaining to what we are doing, putting it all in a letter again seemed redundant. I realize that not everyone has access to this blog, so I tried to write a little in the cards for those folks. You know... like in the olden days?!?! As for a photo- getting one of Rich, Josh and I (without Dan) seemed a little sad, but pinning our eldest down for a photo was impossible, so... the photo above of Josh, Lois and Lana seemed like a fair substitute. At least it's recent!
With that said, We wish all of you a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Blessings to everyone!
