cue minor heart attack

Seriously... I just was continuing my addiction and noticed Right Here that the new season isn't set to debut until APRIL... APRIL?!?!?!


My life is in jeopardy over this delay... even though I know it shouldn't be

IT IS!


**edit**

I think its a sad, sad sign of my addiction that I just plugged the premiere date in on my calendar so I don't miss it...

don't judge me.

hizzah

work is much better with the Glee soundtracks in the background.


Thanks Santa!

dum de dum

So as we all know Zill is getting a fish tank... a whopper 30-gallon tank on eye-level ...fish tank for Christmas. Her daddy, since if you remember correctly my fish woes prevent me from being involved in this little gift adventure, went and picked up 4 of the fish that she chose at the pet store a few weeks back on Monday. As such, and as all good daddies do, he's spent 10 minutes out of every waking hour since that time on his hands and knees checking up on the fish. And, in true fish form, we lost 2 of them last night and the other 2 are white (they were speckled when we got them)... things are not looking so good for the fishy haven. And we've still got 2 days to go... so I think Super Fishing Dad is bound for Dothan once again to a) buy fish b) find somekind of something that tells you what's wrong with your tank settings, etc. c) hopefully get some fishy advice from the pet store... maybe a book even.

I'm just back to trying not to look at them in case its my fault... even though, to my defense, I have been at work every day while they were at home... so obviously, its gotta be somebody elses fault... right??


And in a moment of divine provision, (Don't you love those? I mean really, diviness), Hayley is getting a princess table with 2 chairs and tea set for Christmas. What is that you say? Why no, no we didn't break down and buy it for her... why no we didn't stray from our stocking and 2 gift plan... why no we didn't drop heavy hints at the fam... it was provided for us, divinely! I got a call earlier this week from a dear friend whose princess daughter has outgrown her princess table... which is especially enchanting because this princess daughter is also a petitey like our Zilla so we often compare notes on their smallness... and in true princess form the daughter told her Mama that "they should find somone to give it to" and the mommy thought of us! Hoorah! Praise God! I know its a simple materialistic gift, but I do beleive it reflects His provision for our family and a sign that he honors the choices we are making in regards to Zilla's gift receiving.... which, when you boil down to it, is the choice to do minimally since we know that our families will do plenty and don't want to ruin their fun... and in their benefit they did honor our wishes last year (when she was t-tiny) to donate to her college fund instead of presents!

And praise God today is the last day of work until next week!

this may be the longest.day.ever ... but I'm guessing tomorrow will probably, in all actuality, be much much longer... this is primarily because I'm not working Thursday and Friday... which translates into a 4 day weekend, which means I'll be completely useless come Monday, and equally useless come the next Friday which I am also taking off... you know, because I can and all.

Today we had the employee luncheon at work and it was good... I'm such a picky eater that the food wasn't really the most enjoyable part but being able to have the cafeteria full of voices and laughter and everyone together was much better than the daily lunch grind which includes the adult version of assigned sitting in the school lunchroom.

We also had our secret santa swap, which I had looked forward to with anticipation and mild anxiety... I tend to wear my expressions on my face and while I was quite sure that I knew all of the ladies in the mix well enough to trust them with safe shopping... I always fear, despite the fact that I am grateful for any gift given to me, that I will have a display face that says otherwise...let's just say that surprise doesn't suit me well... we also had to turn in ideas when we swapped names so I had a second set of anxiety over including things that were within the money limit but also gave options to Santa at the same time, because lets be honest, even when we appreciate, sometimes a simple gift idea can go horribly wrong in the hands of someone who isn't as much like you as you know, you are. Anyway, I got these fabulous notecards (which I love) and a great little change/ID purse and one of the slim/wallet sized Bibles (totally not on my list, but a total love on my part)! I'm actually about 85% sure that it is the perfect fit to the outside pocket on Zill's diaper bag and since I now carry that instead of, well, anything, it will fit in without weighing the bag down any more than her own supplies do.

And I got lots of Christmas cards so now the front of my desk looks all festive and lots of other little goodies from the other department heads... I sent everyone cards but I'm thinking now, that for next year, I should try and find at least a small something for every department head... the mix has been about 1/2 and 1/2 on gifts vs cards so I'm not feeling entirely terrible, but borderlineish.

Zill went to see Santa at the library, yes, this is attempt number 2 at a Santa photo with Breezy this afternoon, so I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out... Mom said the only one of Hayley in Santa's lap is her screaming bloody murder which I think is par for the course on 16-month old Santa pics. But that she did give him five and was friends from afar with him... so at least that's progress I guess.

And I have to give a mad shout out to Walmart for the amazing print jobs they've come through on for me this year. But especially for getting my last order here in less than 5 days, 2 days before expected delivery... that is insanity, but in all goodness. And really, if you haven't ordered pictures through their home delivery program you should totally do it... photos are NINE CENTS for a 4x6 and the quality is there for great reprints and enlargements... if you are all anti-corporate giant I promise this is a concession worth making... especially if you've browsed the cost of printing on any other photo sites lately... you know, because I'm sure there are more people like me who take no less than 50 no more than 500 pictures in a month... just give or take.

4 days

Christmas is in FOUR days.

Seriously... where has this month gone???

Christmas Favorites

Since this is post number 3 today I guess its safe to say that I have not only bypassed my allotted work internet time but that things are slowing down for the holidays...

Here's some of my Christmas decoration favorites.

This was in Zilla's room last year... it was before she had hair for her hairbows... and before the Georgia pot was shattered to death in a SWGA windstorm. This little tree however is the one that was in my room growing up so its got lots of sentimental attached to it.

Mom made these stockings for us... easy to pick out which belongs to each of us right?? Michael actually has had his for 2 years.. and mine and Hayley's were new this year. Hayley's is made of the same material that Mom made her bumper pad out of so we'll always have a piece of her nursery in her stocking. Also, a mad shout out to the people who built our house which has no shelving, mantles, or anything even remotely resembling an acceptable place to hang stockings. And yes, those are paper clips, I'm having a hard time finding cute clips that work on blinds...although I think shower curtain rings will be the next candidates.

And we all know where I stand on this Nativity.. and please ignore the fact that the hand-me-down couch which is still in desperate need of slipcovers doesn't match the green room. In my defense, this was taken last year and that couch is no longer in that room so its not quite as bad.

16 months!

Overalls By Prisspot Designs (I have a contact email if you are interested)

So this was our first attempt to take Zilla (all my favorite Mommy bloggers have nicknames for their kids so I decided it might be fun to use them too) for pictures with Santa Claus... as you can see, there is no Santa to be found. This has many factors, and since I haven't been able to post anything without a list of some kind, we will continue in that tradition.

1. it was freezing and Santa was outside (and by freezing I mean, South Georgia freezing, which is in the 30s with the wind blowing)
2. we stripped her of her warm jacket and loveys and thrust her into a "sleigh" which was indeed a golf cart with sleigh sides with a stranger
*despite this, she didn't enter full tizzy mode, but she wouldn't look at him and dang sure wouldn't let go of anyone who was holding her

So we took about 5 shots, which is basically nothing compared to our normal photo sessions, and called it a morning. On the way back to the car however, we passed a playground, and since she had been down pushing her own stroller (her Aunt Mischa started this thank-you-very-much) she had no intentions of bypassing a perfectly good playground, especially since the weather had been dreary and she'd been stuck inside all week at daycare.

So instead of having pictures with Santa, we have 80 pictures of my child playing all by herself in her cute Christmas overalls that we have gotten our money's worth, or rather Breezy has, since she's worn them more than any other outfit this month.

But hey, some days we take what we can get. And this one suits me just fine.

I entered a giveaway

So after selfishly reading this great BLOG without commenting on what fun it is for me to read, I got brave this morning and entered a giveaway because 1. I'm a photo nerd and would kill for this program and 2. its only fair to share the drool. As such, I also got to looking at this BLOG for part two of the giveaway and I suggest you visit both!

So, continuing in my selfish ways, I'm getting a second entry in the contest by blogging about the contest which in essence may help me win the contest which will in fact, prove my selfishness to be beneficial.

at least in this case. but not in life so much. because selfishness never gets anyone very far without heartache and pain and lots of bad things piggybackin' along.

So, go check out the blogs and the giveaway, but you know, don't enter because I want to win!

Just kidding!

3 years and counting

We had our third anniversary yesterday... as such, I'm going to blog about a semi-related subject... movie genres.

My favorite categories of movies, check my Netflix if you don't beleive just how true this is,

1. based on a true story (I'm a sucker, especially for happy endings)
2. sports movies (shut up, you know this doesn't surprise you)
3. sports movies based on a true story (this is how its semi-related, we watched The Blind Side at the movies yesterday, and yes you should go see it)
4. animated films (that's right, Alvin, I'm coming to see you after Christmas)

and then all the random hodge podge categories melt in together.... you know, in case you were curious.

something new for our house

So if you know me at all you know that my favorite decoration in my whole entire house is my Willowtree Nativity set that I finally collected all the pieces to last year (through several years of gift-giving from family members)... I'll try to remember to post a picture of it when I get to where I have one stored....

Well, this year I had to find a new place to put my Nativity... it usually sits on the coffee table but this year  a) Hayley can reach the coffee table and b) the coffee table has been repurposed as the flat surface on which the 30-gallon fish tank sits.... yes, 30 gallons, its Hayley's Christmas present, and yes, it is totally her Daddy's responsibility because I kill fish just by observing them from afar in pet stores... true story.

So I decided to put it on this little white dinnette type table in our kitchen because a) we don't eat at it so we don't have to dodge the Nativity for dinner b) otherwise its a junk catching table c) you can see the Nativity when you walk in the back door, which all good SWGA folks know is the only acceptable way to enter a house.

I was also finishing up the Yada Yada Prayer Group series by Neta Jackson (if you haven't read it, you should, great reads and great inspiration... Christian fiction obviously) and in the book one of the families talks about its Nativity tradition and I happen to think its a cool one, and my mom agrees, although Michael pulled out the "dork" card when I started discussing it.

Anyway, the tradition is that only their Nativity Barn gets set up ahead of time.. and all the characters of the Nativity are then dispersed around the house (the wise men far away on the east), Mary and Joseph traveling to the nativity and the shepherds and animals off in the field.. etc, etc... and all throughout December the characters move closer to the nativity as it gets close to Christmas but baby Jesus not appearing in the barn until Christmas morning... and I think that's really cool.. so, we're going to start that at our house next year.. This year, they are already at the Nativity because I'm teaching Hayley who the characters are and she's gotten quite accomplished at making the respective animal noises for the livestock.. but I've got to have time to scope out moving places for my characters that are out of Hayley's reach, but also make sense as to why my wise men are in the living room alone... and the shepherds are no where to be found...

but either way... next year, we're having a moving nativity... and its gonna be awesome

If you haven't heard the Christmas version of "Bonfire" on country radio, you need to check it out... it'll make you laugh... or at least, it made me laugh.

I haven't updated in several weeks but I've been stuck in writers block and we've taken another turn at running around like chickens with our heads cut off for a few weeks but hope to settle down some between now and Christmas (like that will happen)

Anyway... Michael's birthday is today so he's the big 3-0... so we'll be celebrating with low country boil with the fam tonight.

This past Sunday was Heritage Day at Zion, the little church I grew up in before moving to FBC when I was in 6th grade, so we enjoyed the service and music and dinner on the grounds. One of my favorite pastors of all times was there (his kids are my age so our families hung together some when he served there) and he always makes me laugh which was fun too. I had to speak, first on the program YIKES, but I think it went alright... I'd share it but if you don't know the church it probably won't mean as much to you... but I may think about it some more in the next few days.

Every year at Christmas I remember how horrible I am at making and shopping down Christmas lists... every year I tell myself that I'll keep a running list throughout the year so I can have a decent list come December, every year I forget to keep a running list until late November and then I begin backtracking and stalling and saying "I dunno"... every December I also remember the great presents that I wanted to give everyone last year but already had bought them something when I figured it out and told myself to write it down for this year but that now it may be too late to get together for this year or have bought an alternative gift prematurely and now can't buy the fabulous idea from last year because I've already hit my spending limit. and every year, I tell myself I'll do better... and I don't... but what's Christmas without those kinds of traditions? blasphemy I say!