Christmas was splendid!!  I got the one gift that I’ve been wanting…my ring.   I bought Jason several gifts…but I think he liked the Michael Vick Falcons jersey and the Colorado Rockies watch  (you can download the entire MLB schedule into it every year) best.

The kids loved their gifts and had a marvelous time opening them!   After all of that was accomplished, the little ones went off with their dad for holiday celebrations with his family and I took Dora and my Mom to see The Phantom of the Opera …which I’ve written my review on as well…for those of you who wanted to read it.

Do any of you have plans for New Years??  Not sure what we’re doing as of yet…Jason has to work that evening and won’t get off of work until 10pm…so…who knows.

My little Cotton goes in tomorrow to be spade and to have her microchip put in.  So please send her good thoughts…I’m sure she’ll be a bit scared tomorrow morning when I take her in.  I’ll let you know how it goes…I’m sure she’ll be fine…but I’m still a concerned mommy.

Well…I need to get back to cleaning and kiddos. Have a splendid week m’dears!

Well, tonight is my company “Holiday Party” and of course it’s a whole 6° F here today with a windchill of -18°F!!

Can you say COLD!! Yikes!  But I have a sneaky suspicion that we will have a white Christmas.  So yeah…the drive into work was fun!  People out here don’t know how to drive on snow-packed roads…but what else is new eh?  

Anyway, I’m here at work now and Jason is giving me a hard time about still wanting to go see Phantom tonight after the party because it’s snowed and we will be out late and he has to work tomorrow…but the thing is, he doesn’t work until 1pm tomorrow afternoon.  I told him that I will be more than happy to go by myself…but he’s whining.  And then he tells me that he told my Mom that he and I are going to see Phantom tonight and now she’s upset because she thinks that I’m not going to take her to go see it on Christmas Day.  Big MOUTH!  Geez!   Btw…I AM taking her to see it on Christmas Day…it’s not like I’d mind seeing it twice!

This is not the reason I’m posting…sorry, I totally got off track. I’m posting to wish you all Happy Holidays!!

OMG…I just got a beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered to me!! And no…not from Jason (who btw is celebrating his 4th Xangaversary today)….they are from a dear friend of mine that I’ve worked with here for many years…in fact, I mentioned him not to long ago…my friend Vern.  He’s the one who’s had a really rough time the past few months.  It was a very nice gift to receive…thank you Vern.

Now…where was I? Oh yes…

Good news…goooooddd news!! I just found out that The Phantom of the Opera WILL be playing at the nearest theater to me!  WOOOHOOOOO!!! This means that I will be able to see it on Thursday after all!!  

~does happy dance~

So…anyone still last minute shopping?  The media states that holiday retail sales this year are down from previous years.  Hmm…could that have anything to do with our economoy sucking? Just a thought.

Do you know what I did yesterday? I spent the day with my hubby.  Yup…some together time!  I was very nice and I want more.  However, that won’t happen for a few weeks I’m afraid. But, we certainly had fun hanging out together yesterday.  We were busy running errands most of the day though…picking up food for Christmas dinner (an Italian menu this complete with salad, stuffed mushrooms, lasagna, wine, and marsala apples for desert) and light bulbs (the one on my fiber optic tree croaked) and some last minute stocking stuffers.  We did stop for lunch though at Red Lobster…haven’t been there in a long while…and we had so much left over that we ate that for dinner as well!

So…are you all ready for Christmas?  What are your holiday plans this year?  My kiddos (the three younger ones) are going to their dad’s house the afternoon of Christmas Day (after we open gifts) and will stay with him for the remainder of the weekend.  Dora chose to stay with Jason and I this Christmas…we’re excited about that.  So, on Christmas Day…(since I found out that The Phantom of The Opera is only playing at one theater location in the Denver metro area as an early release…in Boulder…and only has three showtimes 2:15; 5:30; 8:30 ) I’m taking all of us (my mom, Jason, Dora and myself) up to Boulder to see it!  So Christmas dinner will be on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day…which is OK considering the little ones will get to enjoy it this way as well.

After that…it’s the beginning of the “clean sweep” that I’ve talked about doing.  Yup…I’m going to spend my week’s vacation cleaning (more like gutting) my house and organizing things…whether my mom likes it or not.   I can’t live like this anymore…so I’m doing something about it.  Call it a Christmas gift for ME if you will.

Okay…back to work for me.  Have a great Monday!

Thank you all for you wonderful words of encouragement and support regarding the situation with Dora…it means the world to me.

Well…the good news is that Dora was able to sing last night at her choir concert!  They sounded wonderful for a group of seventh graders.   The bad news is that Dora and I had an altercation this morning regarding her taking some of her grandma’s possessions and attempting to give them to her teachers as gifts.   The shit thing about it is that I already have gifts for her teachers…all she had to do was ask.

Some of you may remember that over the summer I had a problem with Dora because she stole a necklace from Mervyns, where her grandma works…it was a huge ordeal because my mom covered for her on it and didn’t tell me about the situation until a while later.  Anyway, in order to attempt to teach Dora how serious this could’ve been…I confiscated all of her jewelry from her.  I was trying to teach her that when you steal…you could possible lose everything…and it’s not worth it. 

Apparently my efforts were in vain because she didn’t learn.  So…we’ll just have to keep trying and talking about the difference between right and wrong on this.  I think that she knows the difference…but she chooses the wrong option.  I was also very angry with her because not only did she take things from her grandma…but when I confronted her with it, she lied to me about it.  Btw…she’s an awful liar and always has been.  She’s NEVER gotten away with lying to me…ever…and yet, she still attempts to do so.

Anyway…that’s my gripe for the day.  It’s kind of bummed me out…

Tonight is Dora‘s first choir concert at school.   Unfornately, she lost her voice over the weekend due to a nasty cold and won’t be able to sing.   However, she still has to attend in order to get a grade…so I told her to just pull an Ashlee Simpson and lipsinc!  

I finished my Christmas shopping this last weekend…the little things.  Stocking stuffers and such…although Jason will be getting the candy for the stockings this year.  Hard to believe that Christmas is next week eh?  Yeah…but it’s cool!

Jason and I decided to purchase a gift for ourselves this year…well for each other .  We decided that since our DVD player died a while ago and we’ve been using one that the kiddos had been using (which works…but it’s been abused a bit) that it was time to get ourselves a new toy.  One that would accommodate our needs…but give us some umph if you will.  So as we looked through the Target ad on Saturday…we saw this Magnavox home theater system for under $200…and thought, “hey, that’s not bad at all”.  It’s nothing huge…but it has a DVD/VHS player and receiver with a 300 amp subwoofer and 5 speakers.  It works very well in our bedroom and was pretty simple to install and setup.  Everything was color coded…so even Jason could’ve done it alone…haha.  

Anyway…we’re enjoying that new toy and I think it was a nice gift.  I spent most of last weekend baking cookies…chocolate chip (with and w/o walnuts), sugar cookies (decorated) and tons of biscotti (orange cashew, orange almond, & cranberry pistachio).  I’m not done yet…I still need to make the peanut butter and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies…(I made enough for the packages going out of town…but the kids want some too…go figure).  I’ll probably do that tomorrow night after work.  I got the out of town packages mailed off yesterday and am trying to get my Christmas cards mailed out…although it’s slow coming at the moment.

So…what have you been up to this last week eh?  Anything exciting?  Are you all enjoying the holiday season thus far?  I’m sorry that I haven’t been around to visit so much lately…but I guess it’s true that everyone is busy this time of year huh.  I hope that you are all well and enjoying the season.

Awe…I AM loved!!   Thanks so much for reminding me why it is that I love Xanga so much!  You all are like a second family to me and lately I feel as if I’ve been neglecting you.  I’m sorry for that…but let me just say that all of those comments left for me yesterday made me smile so BIG!  Thank YOU very much for that!

I‘ve said it many times that this season is magical…but it can also be very difficult for many.  I understand both sides of that coin…it is bittersweet for me.  Christmas is one of my all time favorite holidays…but in recent years it’s been associated with tragedy in my life and I’d lost the passion that I’d once had for this important day.  To be honest, seeing the play “A Christmas Carol” with Dora last Saturday reminded me of just how meaningful this time of year is.  There’s a sense in the air…a different ora is you will.  If you just open your heart and look at it all as if through the eyes of child…it brings a whole new light to the season.

Last night when I got home after jaunting off to the store…I watched as Caleb got out of the car and was mesmerized by the Christmas lights decorating the front of our home.  I watched as he walked up to the moving illuminated deer in our front yard and gazed at them as if they would soon speak to him.  That was magic.  The look in eyes…that’s what Christmas is all about to me.  Seeing the joy in that little boys face as he discovers the season for himself.

Who could ask or want for more than that?   To him, all of the so-called “hoopla” that we all go through every year for this holiday is an extremely awestruck sort of experience.  I tell you, if you’ve ever wondered what the joy of Christmas is…just look into my son’s eyes and there you’ll find it.

Wow…3 comments on my last post.  Have I been gone so long and neglected you all so much that you’re not going to talk to me anymore?

I swear…if I get caught posting from here (work) I’m in BIG trouble!  But what can I say…I miss you all so much!