Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Finding Christmas

I'm having a mid-life Christmas crisis. It started about four years ago and has left me searching for something that's missing.

At first, I blamed economics. I was worried that I couldn't afford enough presents for Marc and Nate.

Then I blamed time. I didn't have enough hours in a day to bake all the cookies I needed to bake, wrap all the presents in a glorious creative way, build gingerbread houses, watch plays, see the Christmas movies, look at Christmas lights, decorate the house, and on and on and on...

Then I blamed the retailers. They start putting Christmas stuff out in September ...what the heck! And it's so commercial.....buy buy buy.

Then I blamed the weather. It hasn't snowed enough. It's too warm. It's too rainy.

Monday, December 17, 2012

38 Things to Do Before 38

For the past three years, I've created a list of things to do before my next birthday. It's a fun way to set some goals and add a little focus to what's most important...living life to the fullest. I spent my birthday weekend putting together my list of 38 things to do before I'm 38. Without further adieu, here's my list:

Friday, December 14, 2012

Happy 37th Birthday to Me!

Today I turn 37. Happy birthday to me! As has become my tradition, I'm working on my list for the upcoming year. Last year was 37 before 37 and this year....well 38 before 38 of course. It'll take me a few days to perfect my list but today's a great day to review last year's list and check my progress:

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Making It Pretty

Did you know I love Christmas? If you read my blog, then you probably answered YES!

I've been struggling with the issue of time and all the things I want to do, feel I need to do, and have to do. Take that normal feeling and throw in the part where I share custody of Marcus and Nate and it tends to feel like everything is jumbling together and there's no time for anything. 

Rewind to last night. I've been wanting to make Salt Dough Ornaments since I saw them on Pinterest. I wasn't sure how they'd turn out....half expecting this to be a pin-fail. I had three million things to do last night so almost put it off. But after running around and getting home around 7, I decided I could either A) make the ornaments or B) watch TV. (note: TV nearly won out)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

My sister has a theory that a person's favorite season is the one they were born in. She's a September baby and fall is her favorite. I'm a December baby and winter is my favorite. So maybe there's something to it. 


One of the floats at our annual Snowflake Parade.
My holiday season always seems to start with the Snowflake Parade, a tradition for 28 years in Klamath Falls. You can call me Master Parade Planner - okay not really. It's the floats that make it awesome but I take a small amount of credit.

While most folks are watching the pretty floats go by, I'm down at lineup keeping everyone in ...well, line. For the days leading up to the parade, I'm stressing over the lineup - is it interesting, does it flow, did I keep the horses away from sirens and bands away from eachother, and and and.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

My Incredibly Good Looking Family

I've had family photos taken three times in my life - once when Marcus was 5 (he's 16 now), once when Nate was 4 (he's 8 now), and this past weekend.

I love photos so you'd think I'd do it more often. I'm probably not alone in admitting it's because I hate photos of myself.