Merry Christmas!

I had a nap earlier in the afternoon. Clean-up from dinner wore me out. When I awoke, the rain had stopped, and my husband had the kids out in the yard, trying to teach them how to ride their new bicycles. He had more patience than I do with that project. We only have a tiny bit of concrete by our basketball hoop. Otherwise, the kids will have to learn to ride in the lawn. Our driveway is made of crushed rocks. I grew up riding on a concrete driveway and concrete sidewalks. A bike is much easier to use that way.


The kids got an astounding number of presents. Fortunately, there was a lot of clothing because they both could use some. I think I'll still need to get my son some pajamas that fit and my daughter some more socks that fit.

I got a new food processor from my husband. It even came with a video, which I watched earlier today after the kids saw their new DVD, Madegascar. My son got a couple remote control trucks, but his favorite thing was the Dirt Devil cordless hand vaccuum I got him. He and my brother are the only ones I know who actually like to clean. My daughter got a lot of toy horses. She climbed into the largest box people used to ship us presents, and she played with her horses for quite a while.

My mom called me earlier, and I've called my brother. I still need to call my dad today. He's probably gone out to the movies. They movies are usually open on Christmas.

Happy Christmas Eve!

The sun starting to set. It got up to around 60 °F this afternoon. It was very pleasant. I sat out in the sun for a while.

We did our weekly grocery shopping at Kroger this afternoon. Usually we go in the evening, but they close at 6 p.m. today. The store was packed. I got round ligament pains (a pregnancy problem) about halfway through the store. My purse became too heavy to carry. The pain stopped a little after I put my purse in the cart. Of course, I worried it would get stolen the rest of the time we were in the store. I NEVER leave my purse in the cart. My purse was fine.

I spent about $5 getting a quart of fresh strawberries. After dinner, I'm going to try a recipe in The Joy of Cooking to make a strawberry bavarian cream for tomorrow's dinner. Even if it doesn't set and mold properly, sweetened strawberries in whipped cream should taste very good. Since no one is coming for dinner, it won't be a disaster if it doesn't work out. The price of stawberries is horrid. I don't think I've ever purchased them out of season before.

I've had the turkey in the fridge thawing since Monday. I'm not sure it will be thawed by tomorrow. I guess I may be running it under water in the sink tomorrow. I'm not sure what to do. I think I might have cooked a turkey once before, but how hard can it be? I can roast a chicken. I'd be more concerned if we were having company, but we aren't. I'm not sure what time dinner will be tomorrow. That will depend entirely on the turkey.

It's venison for dinner tonight. Our neighbor gave us some a couple weeks ago. It's quite tasty.

So far the mail hasn't arrived today. I'm not even sure it is supposed to come today. Usually it comes on Saturdays, and it never comes on Sundays or Christmas. Since Christmas is on a Sunday, perhaps they gave the postal workers an extra day off.

My son can't tell time yet. We've told him when he wakes up in the morning to check the clock on the stove. If the first number is a 5, a 6 or smaller, to go back to bed. If it is a 7 or an 8 (yeah right), he is free to get up. We're sure he'll try to get up early because of the Christmas presents. I always did.

Christmas cookies

I have decided to make them. I've put the butter on the counter to soften. I'm only making two kinds, although one of those kinds produces two distinct cookies (one rolled in colored sugar and one plain with a Hershey's kiss shoved in the center).

N and J are in the family room watching a Barbie as Rapunzel video we checked out of the library yesterday. I haven't seen any of it, but I'm sure it's horrid. I don't like very many of the videos the kids watch. Probably the only one I like is Old Yeller. Maybe the butter will be soft when the video is done.

None

Sunday my daughter, J, turned four. A friend of hers turned three, and we spent three hours at her birthday party. She had us over, her grandma, an aunt, uncle, and cousins. We didn't have a party for J; we have no family in the area to invite. We did have a cake and presents, though. J got a lot of presents in the mail from her grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

We're still trying to find someone to rent our duplex. The person we approved fell through; she didn't have the money for the deposit and first month's rent. We won't get anywhere for a while. No one wants to move at Christmas. Hopefully we'll get the until filled before the end of January.

It was 18 °F outside when I got up this morning according to the thermometer in our family room. It was 58.8 ° F in our family room. Yuck! We have a heat pump, so we are only actually warm in the summer or when we run our wood-burning stove.

Map of states I've been in

create your own personalized map of the USA

Bad weather

We are getting a wintery mix right now. It was supposed to start earlier. I think it began around 7 a.m., just as I was getting up. It wasn't supposed to snow, but it did for a while. Now it's turned to sleet or freezing rain. Our schools didn't close because at the time the decision was made, the storm hadn't begun. Eventually this mess is supposed to become rain. Hopefully it will melt off any problems before school is over, and certainly before rush hour this evening.

My Trixie Belden Christmas gift exchange person got her gift yesterday. I was glad. I got it to the post office on Monday and wondered how long it would take to arrive. Two days. I haven't received my present yet. These gifts are a lot of fun since they are inexpensive enough that one doesn't have to worry if they will be liked a lot. It's just fun to send and receive them, and interesting to see what the other person comes up with.

I got most of my Christmas cards done last night while I watched some MacGyver on DVD. Since most of my cards were pre-printed, I made computer mailing labels, and I used a stamp for our return address, it went quickly. It wasn't very personal, but if I waited around to write a personal message to each person, no one would get a Christmas card. I still have about three to do manually, and they will get personal messages and addressing. They are to people I don't see often or keep in touch with. This is my once-a-year chance.

Just another day

I managed to go to the park after dropping J off at preschool. I had a nice 30-minute walk in the woods. Of course, I had to use the restroom about 15 minutes into the walk. Fortunately, this park has one. I don't think it's heated any more than enough to keep the pipes from freezing. This morning the temperature was just below freezing. The restroom has stainless steel toilets without seats. They were cold, but if you gotta go, you gotta go. At least there was a restroom.

K made a fire in the woodstove last night. I was finally warm for once yesterday evening. It was very nice.

Yesterday, I did get my load of stuff to the thrift shop and got gas in my car. Then I came home and napped for about half an hour before going to the supermarket. Even with the nap I fell asleep around 9 p.m. last night.

I slept until about 7 a.m. this morning. I'd like another nap, but I don't think I'm going to bother today. We'll see. I'd like to vacuum the house and then mop my vinyl floors (kitchen and bathrooms). I already dumped all the trash and cleaned the mirrors. That plus the walk have worn me out.

Well, I need to go pick up the house so if I decide to vacuum, the floors are clear of junk and toys.

None again

Life is back to normal. The kids are in school, and I've been out running errands, and I have more to do when I get done with the computer. This morning I've been at the bank and the post office. In a little bit I need to get gas in my car and go to the thrift store to drop off a load of boy clothing we won't be needing. Then I'd like to get some meat at the grocery stores.

If I have time when I get my errands run, I need to clean my house, pay bills, and start sending out Christmas cards. Fortunately I already have my kids' names and ages written on the backs of their school pictures so they are ready to be included with the Christmas cards to relatives.

I convinced my husband to buy a water-heater jacket and some foam pipe insulation for our hot water pipes this weekend. Yesterday my husband put the jacket on the water heater. Last night I tried to put on the foam pipe insulation, but I'm too pregnant to get all squished up to fit in the crawl space where most of it goes. I tried to get my son to help, but he's too scared of the poorly lit and unlit areas and barely understands how to put the foam on the pipes. We only got the stuff done that was in a lit area and more easily accessible. Hopefully my husband will do the rest. My intent is that we will have a slight energy savings if we insulate the hot water tank and pipes. Right now it takes about a minute of running the water in my bathroom to get it hot. My bathroom is the farthest from the water heater. In the winter, if one turns the hot water on about five minutes later, one has to run it for another minute to get it hot since the pipe cools so quickly. I think the insulation is rather inexpensive so it won't take much of a savings for this to pay for itself if I can get it installed.

Kids back in school

I got most of my Christmas shopping completed today while the kids were in school. I had planned to do it yesterday, but school was closed. Unless I decide to get my husband something else (like if he actually tells me what he wants), I've only got my friend in Nebraska left, and I'm hoping to order her something online. Plus, her present doesn't have to be timely; she often runs half a year late. She hasn't e-mailed me any suggestions yet, but I can't complain since I've still got to provide her my wish list. She did call me yesterday.

I bribed her to call me. I've been trying to reach her for a while. Last week I left her a message to call me if she wanted to know the baby-to-be's gender. It turns out she's had to work every day for the past ten days. It was good to talk to her, and she's hoping to make a visit in the spring. I see her now about every three years. She's never seen me pregnant, and this is her last chance since I want only three kids. Back in junior high and high school, when we used to hang out a lot, I was a scrawny thing. At eight or nine months pregnant, I am a mammoth.

I'm getting shopping sickness. It seems to come on even faster since I'm pregnant. It is the horrible aching all over that I get from shopping. Shopping is painful, but when not pregnant, I usually get 45 minutes to an hour before it starts. Today I think I had ten minutes before I was in pain. Perhaps it's an introvert thing. My husband has a book about introverts that I've been meaning to read.

Snow day

School is closed today because of the bit of snow we got yesterday. It is very early in the year for snow where I live. Normally we see none until just after Christmas. It looks like a couple inches out there--enough to cover the grass. I think it will melt away soon.

St. Nicholas visited last night and left candy in my kids' shoes. I think we are all feeling a bit queasy from too much candy now. I had never heard of such a tradition until I married my husband. Perhaps it's because he's Roman Catholic, and I'm not. We also celebrate Advent and even have an Advent wreath with candles, something I never did growing up.

Brilly got it right!

I had my ultrasound yesterday, and my baby will clearly be a girl. Everything appears to be going fine with her. I had my ob/gyn appointment today. I'm fine in all important ways, but I have a varicose vein in a very personal location. I may order a pregnancy jock-strap type item to reduce the pain and pressure. The doctor assures me this difficulty will go away by itself after the pregnancy.

Fortunately a friend of mine offered to watch J while I went to my appointment today. Because the doctor was running behind by over two hours, I spent over three hours at the doctor's. I got done in plenty of time to meet N's bus, though. If J had been with me, we would have had to reschedule. We had to do that my last appointment because the doctor ended up doing an emergency C-section.

I spent the evening yesterday phoning all my family (all long-distance) to tell the that we would be having a girl. My mom seemed very happy since she has three grandson's and one granddaughter right now, my brother's wife was sterilized after her second son, and I don't plan on having a fourth child on purpose.