9 posts tagged “holiday”
We are almost a week away from the Fourth of July and I have a sudden urge to barbecue! So in slightly last minute fashion I've sent out the word that we'll be having a cook-out in my back yard to celebrate, all friends and dogs invited! Our neighborhood backs the most elite country club in town and they put on a great fireworks show so we should easily be able to see fireworks from our backyard.
We'll have to set up croquet, clean off the ping-pong table and borrow a few cornhole boxes. I've got plans to make Sangria and my grilling menu should a delight my vegetarian friends along with the meat lovers. This will be our first official backyard BBQ at our new house and I can't wait!
Though sometimes I get ahead of myself with planning...
maybe I should buy a grill first?
I've been dying to enter MOO's Super-Duper Holiday Card Competition. It's been so hard to find the time to design for fun when I'm so busy designing for hire but I did manage to squeeze out two entries. These designs are available to purchase and customize online, just go to the MOO website and in the search for flickr user field enter the name "helloterrio", choose from hundreds of online contest entries or create your very own!
I'm hoping to get a few more done before the deadline of December 1st but with the holiday rush who knows how much time I'll have, at the moment I'm just thrilled to be able to participate and really happy with what I've done so far.
With my birthday right around the corner and the Christmas season soon to follow its time to publish my wish list.
1.) To-Go Ware Stainless Steel Lunch Box @ $15.95 2.) Yoga Monster Mat @ $25.95 3.) Polar F4 HRM (Blue) (10% w/ coupon code “star”) @ $89.00 4.) Kata Digital Camera Rain Cover @ $40.00 5.) Petal Necklace @ $32.00 6.) Cable-Knit Handbag (White) @ $24.50 7.) Owl Pendant @ $8.00 8.) Sigg Water Bottle (1.0-Liters) @ $19.00 & Sigg Knitted Pouch @ $11.99 9.) Craft Table (Husband Made) @ $?
I've managed to survive three whole days alone, I'm still alive. Bored out of my mind but alive and kicking. Today I baked all afternoon, sugared pecans, carrot cake cupcakes and chocolate chip walnut cookies. Sweets galore. The weeks countdown to Christmas has begun and I've got my recipes ready. Jon comes home tomorrow and I cant wait to give him a big hug. I will say one thing about being alone for the weekend, I sure got a lot of things organized. I even bought renters insurance... which I've been meaning to do for months. I know I'm one of the few on this planet that really enjoys reorganizing her filing cabinet, but I do and it feels so good to have it done. :)
Moe comes to our apartment tonight. Moe is our new pet sitter and as you can tell I’m fairly entertained by her name, Moe that is. I say our new pet sitter because the girl who promised to do it for us has not shown up or called for over two weeks and seems to be avoiding all communication. So in a rush yesterday we fought to find a new sitter. Moe was the only one to pick up the damn phone. She’s certified and has many clients, she also charges out the ying-yang for her services $38 per day at three visits a day, with our 3 days in St. Louis it is a total of $114. Ouch! But the alternative is we bring her with us and like the many years before we have to stay at the in-laws, where Luna gets beat up by the other dogs and where we have to sleep uncomfortably on hardwood floors. In a two bedroom house with five people and three dogs. It’s holiday hell. So I’ll pay Moe the hundred dollars and dish out a couple more hundred for a hotel, all in the name of comfort.
We leave early Thursday for our five hour drive to St. Louis. And I’ve got a billion things that need to be done before then. Tonight while Jon meets Moe and introduces her to Luna, I have to run to the grocery and pick up ingredients for my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner (sugared pecans & fudge). I also have to find the time to make two spare keys for Moe, that’s right she wants two, because everyone says one isn’t enough. *note the sarcasm.* I feel rushed and no matter how hard I try, I always feel this way when its time for Thanksgiving. Christmas isn’t bad because there is so much time to prepare, but thanksgiving just sneaks up on me two weeks after my birthday which is a week after Halloween. It’s all too fast.
I'm normally the first person to complain about the early retail reaction to the upcoming Christmas holiday, the rush of decorations that quickly lose there glow because they are put up the day after Halloween. And though I wish they would have waited at least a few weeks It surprisingly doesn't bother me much this year. I'm actually happy to see the change in decor and I'm ready for the season. This is the first time in years I've felt real Christmas cheer, I may even go as far as buying a Christmas themed CD (of which I've never owned) * Insert sounds of shock. * I hate to say it but I may be happy and excited this year because I actually have money, I know that money cant buy happiness but it sure does make things a hell of a lot less stressful. I can afford to be happy and the last time I could say that was almost three years ago. Last Christmas there were two presents under the tree, one was a fake gift certificate of promise to buy camping equipment for my husband when we could afford it in the future. Christmas dinner was excellent but purchased on a fifty dollar gift certificate for groceries from my mom. It was depressing, but this year its all different and I will look back on that time and smile at what we had to overcome, revel in my success, pat my pocket and enjoy this holiday season.
