After

I found this online and thought it was cute.  And true!

So if Christmas Eve is like floating on a calm sea, peering up into the stars

And Christmas Day is like a rogue wave that knocks you off your feet and envelops you into a deep dark sea of confusion

Then the day after Christmas is like sitting in a puddle, on a muddy shore, picking sea shells out of your bathing suit.

Beat up, tossed around…recovering from a thrill ride, all at the same time.

As excited as I was for Christmas to come, I'm relieved that it's over.  It wasn't the best Christmas we've ever had.  Anxiety combined with unreasonable expectations and too much sugar can make for not much peace and good will toward men.  Or sisters.

All in all, it was a good day.  We scaled way back on presents and that turned out pretty much perfect.  I got a beautiful, warm scarf, a pair of cute pajama pants and Mama found two more of those Fire-King mugs that I love so much!  I started a collection earlier this year and Mama got me a couple more.  I love 'em!  Mama and Daddy got us all a plate of Mennonite cinnamon rolls (yummmm!) and tons of stuff for our stockings.  

Larry got me a beautiful cutting board made from a slice of an ash tree.  I told him it was too pretty to use!  I'm not about to cut that thing.  Here I am counting the rings with him on the phone.  :)  He also got me a set of ABC cookie cutters and a little spyglass monocular that is so strong, you can see a bug on a tree a half mile away!  SO cool!  He got me a President Obama bobble head doll that I absolutely love, too.  He thought I could put him in situations like I did my Spidey.  I'll have to see what I can come up with...


Santa came to see Tabbie Hoffman, too!

 
This little thing right here was what it was all about, though.  My 3-month-old great niece, Elizabeth AKA Lizzie AKA Bean.  She's so fast just like her mama was so she's teething already and those little hands felt so good to her gums.  

We're really looking forward to sharing many, many Christmases with her.  It's pretty incredible having a baby in the family again.  We had quite the dry spell.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and are excited to see what 2013 brings you.  I know I am!





 

Wrapping up!

I didn't put my gifts under the tree this year because Tabbie Hoffman absolutely LOVES laying and sleeping under there.  Since his time to do that was limited anyway, I decided to let him enjoy it as long as he could.  I've gotten up in the middle of the night to find him sound asleep underneath the tree.  So sweet.

Since we drew names this year, I didn't have many gifts anyway!  That was stressful for me.  I don't like this drawing-names thing.  So I got a little something for everybody anyway.  I chose to buy most of the gifts for my family from hard-working Americans who are just trying to survive this year and I hope that I made their Christmas a little brighter.  




Larry always always always makes me 25 Christmas cards.  I got #24 and #25 today.  I so look forward to getting one every day!  He spoils me.  :)

Larry made me this sweet little 3-D Christmas tree, too.  He uses all of his resources to make me feel loved and special.  I truly hit the jackpot when I chose him.

Four days to go!

Doomsday

So, we're still here.  Still got to finish that Christmas shopping, still have to pay the bills, do the laundry and feed the cat. 

Still.  It was a wild day.  Winter came in last night with temps in the 30's and freakishly gusty winds.  Wind that howled all night long and dropped tree limbs and branches all over the yard.  And in the driveway.  Which I backed over this morning, in the dark, on the way to work, and subsequently dragged a limb alllllll the way to the base.  "Thumpity thump draaaaaaaaag scrubbbbbb" all the way.  I get there, park under a street light ('cause it's dark at 6:30!) and pull out a forked tree limb that had to be way too big to be up in there.  Yet it was.

When the sun finally came up over the flight line, we went out there to stare at the sun, which was the brightest I believe I'd ever seen it.  It hurt our eyes to look at it!  Yet we did.  Hoping we'd see a solar flare or three.  We didn't.

We had our Christmas lunch at Golden Corral and it was so nice to just sit down together and eat.  Especially things dipped in the chocolate fountain.  

My poor left foot swelled up again like a softball this afternoon FOR NO APPARENT REASON.  I didn't do a thing to it!  We had a really slow day at work, didn't do much at all, yet my foot looked like this when I got home.

Ice and rest is on the agenda for this weekend.  IF I can sit down long enough.  I still have a LOT to do.

Andrea and I exchanged gifts today.  This is what she got me!  I love this scent from Bath & Body Works!  And for the cute little peace sign car air freshener that you just clip to your visor, she got me the Fresh Bamboo fragrance oil.  It smells so good!  I love it!!

All in all, it was a pretty good day, despite the fact that my hair was blown within an inch of its life ALL DAMN DAY.  Still, we're here, life goes on and Christmas is four days away!

Secret Santa -- The Finale!

Today was our Secret Santa Reveal and Christmas luncheon at work and let me tell you, those girls went all out!  I made Dr. Patrenos' awesome brownies with the brown sugar crust on top (and I brought home an empty plate!) and Andrea made a spinach dip that was the absolute best I've ever had!  

The other girls, oh my!  There were 16 of us participating this year and they just outdid themselves.  They brought parmesan and lemon pepper chicken wings, meatballs, turkey, ham and four different kinds of cheeses along with tiny pumpernickel and wheat buns for sandwiches, deviled eggs, chicken salad with crusty Italian bread, sausage cheese dip and chips, a cold pasta salad from Olive Garden, shrimp fried rice from a Chinese place in town, a chocolate pecan pie, a Sock-It-To-Me cake and another plate of brownies.  We were stuffed!!

We did our reveal and opened our gifts and I was surprised to find out that I was also Secret Santa for MY Secret Santa!  We had each other.  That was pretty funny.  It happened to two other girls, too.  Wild, huh??

She gave me a Visa gift card so when I got off work, I swung by Old Navy and got three new long-sleeved shirts and a pair of pajamas!

Secret Santa - Days Three and Four

I missed my Secret Santa gift yesterday because I was out sick with bronchitis or some mess ain't nobody got time for.  I feel a little better today!

So I got TWO gifts today!!  Yay, me!!

Tomorrow's the finale!  We're having a luncheon with wings, meatballs, deviled eggs, veggie tray, spinach and artichoke dip and whatever else we all decide to bring and we'll do our reveal.

This week has been so much fun!!  It's awful, awful cold on the flight line at 6:30 in the morning when you have to deliver presents on the sly.  Must be why a certain someone we know does it in a wink of his eye and a twist of his head.  :)

Secret Santa - Day Two

Today I got some Ocean Breeze tea lights and a little jar candle, a pack of Reese's Fast Break mini candy bars and a bottle of SoBe green tea!

My Santa's doing gooooooood!!

Secret Santa - Day One

A couple of weeks ago, a girl from a neighboring building came to ask me and my friend and fellow co-op, Andrea, if we wanted to participate in this year's Secret Santa.  We said absolutely so last week, all of the girls (and two guys!) from the two buildings closest to ours drew names for Secret Santa.  We had filled out an "about me" form last week to help each other with gift ideas.

We started today!  A small gift every day this week and then the big gift and Santa reveal on Friday at our Christmas luncheon.

This is what I got today!

A candy cane filled with peanut butter cups, a Diet Mountain Dew and box of green tea and a stuffed mousey rattle for Tabbie Hoffman!  AND she put it all in a bag with kitties on it.  So cute!!  And so sweet that she included Tabbie.  I had put "play with my cat" as one of my hobbies on my "about me" form.

Tabbie Hoffman thought it was sweet, too.  Here he is just a lovin' on that little mouse.

Or smellin' on him.  Same thing.  :)

A Christmas meme

The Christmas song I could listen to even in June (and do!) is A Christmas To Remember by Kenny and Dolly.  I absolutely LOVE this song!!!  My favorite line?  With a fast talkin' lover and some slooooooow burnin' wood.  :)

Hot chocolate, egg nog or mulled wine?  Egg nog!

Scarlett sho' did not deserve this boy right heah.

When do you put your Christmas decorations up?  Thanksgiving weekend, usually on Slack Friday, while I watch Gone With The Wind.  That's a new tradition I started a few years ago.  By the time the movie's over, I'm done!

What are you having for Christmas dinner?  I think we're doing something totally different this year.  Chicken wings!  Everybody is going to bring a pan of different kinds of wings and we'll have slaw and potato salad and chips and whatever else we decide to bring.  I think I'm going to do lemon pepper wings, potato salad and apple cider.

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?  Ami and me decorating Mama and Daddy's tree.  We've been doing this for many years now and I love digging through those boxes and pulling out ornaments that I remember from my childhood.

Have you ever gone Christmas caroling?  Yes, I think, a couple times.  To the nursing home when I was a kid and with the church a time or two.

When did you learn the truth about Santa?  I think I was nine.  I was on the school bus and some kids made fun of me because I had written a letter to Santa and had gotten a response and had brought it to school with me.  What did they know?  Santa IS real.  He may not be one man who travels the world delivering presents in one night but he's real all the same, his spirit of love and giving to others is kept alive by millions of mamas and daddies all over the world.  I am a Santa FOOL and always will be.  Mama and Daddy made Christmases so special and magical for us.  They had us completely tore up over Santa Claus weeks before the big night.

How do you decorate your tree?  I currently have a 7-foot faker tree that has 650 multicolored lights on it.  It's in three pieces.  I take it out of the box, connect the three pieces, fluff and plug it in.  I like character ornaments (snowmen, Santas, dolls, bears) rather than balls so most of my decorations are those.  Wooden and cloth, mainly, although I do have a hand-blown glass Winnie the Pooh.  That Tabbie Hoffman has NOT even touched.  He is doing so good with the tree!!

The best thing about Christmas is remembering what it's all about.  The birth of a very precious baby boy who was God's gift to us!  He was HERE.  He is Christmas.  

All I want for Christmas is continued good health and happiness for my family. And maybe some pajamas. :)

December is here!

I am really excited that December is here!  I don't want to say December is finally here because the older I get, the faster time goes by, or it seems that way, so I'll take life as it comes to me and try not to rush things.

We had a family get-together today but I couldn't go because I had to work and then at the last minute, they called off overtime and sent everybody home for the weekend.  I didn't really have time to get my stuff together and go so I did a little housework, put my outside lights on the fence and my trusty light-up Santa on the porch.  A lot of guys at work were fussing about the overtime but I said I'd much rather they cut overtime than start laying folks off.  They looked at me like I was speaking French and badly.  They are so used to a third (or more) of their salary being overtime.  You just cannot count on that.  The powers that be proved that today.  Nobody knows what's going to happen the first quarter of next year but I'm fine with whatever happens.  I learned a long time ago to just roll with it.  I've been laid off before.  It's really not that big of a deal.

I absolutely love my new job location!  It's like day and night.  Morale is so much better in there and I think I've learned more in the eight days I've been in that building than I did the seven months I was in Rewire.  I'm going to fight with guns and knives to stay right there.  I'll have to move around to various buildings to get all of my training done and signed off on but when it comes to my permanent assignment, right now, I'm loving where I am.

Our family drew names for Christmas and that's going to be a little weird, this being the first year ever that we haven't gotten everybody a gift.  I'm pretty much finished with my shopping and I didn't buy the first thing at the mall, Walmart or Target.  I got everything online or locally, from good old Americans just trying to make a living.  So nothing I bought is stamped "Made in China"! 

Happy December!  Happy Christmas movies, hot chocolate, cookies, gift wrapping and light stringing.  Speaking of Christmas movies, did you know about this??



I'm skeptical.  No way can it compare to the original.

The Super Fabulous Schneider Christmas Tree of 2012

Tabbie Hoffman is already watching for Santa Claus.  I told him that Santa will come down the chimney but he said everybody else comes through this door, Santa will, too. 

Halfway through already??

I cannot believe it is November 16th and I've only written two posts this month!  Not that things are all that interesting in my life but some stuff has happened.  First of all, the election is over, my guy won but now there's all this talk of states wanting to secede from the union.  I think that's silly, childish and speaks of poor sports.  As I've said on Facebook, where's that "love it or leave it" attitude they gave us during the Bush years?  We bleeding hearts didn't threaten to abandon our country, we didn't suggest giving up and giving in.  We dug in and fought hard the next four years.  And, eventually, things turned our way.  I do still have my "He's NOT my president" t-shirt hanging in my closet if anybody wants it.  I'm just sayin'.

Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK.  This month has gone by so fast!  I think my family is going to attempt something we've never done before.  We're talking about drawing names for Christmas.  There are only ten of us and Baby Lizzie but we've always bought everybody a gift (or four).  This year, we want to try drawing names.  I'm on both sides of this fence.  One side is me wanting to get everybody something like I've always done and the other side is me not wanting to lug home a bunch of gifts and try to find homes for them in my tiny 1,000 square foot house.  It messes with the minimalist way I'm trying to live.  Besides, I would love to just enjoy the true meaning of Christmas the way it deserves to be enjoyed.  A baby in a manger and my family together, warm and happy.
 


Speaking of Baby Lizzie, she came to visit me Monday night!  And she brought along her mommy and daddy.  It was such a wonderful surprise!  I took this picture of her while she was getting her diaper changed.  For modesty's sake, the picture has been cropped.  :)  She's such a sweetheart.  Just like her mama.

I love the "power to the people!" stance she's taking.  Baby girl is sho' after Aunt Ninner's heart.  She doesn't even need to try, though.  She's already got it.





Today we had F-15 Wingman Day at work.  We enjoyed a picnic of smoked Boston butt, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, cake and drinks in one of the parks on base.  As soon as I left, and I mean AS SOON as I got off base, I got a speeding ticket.  In that 40 mph speed trap on Russell.  Ugh.  I was going 58.  Oh well.  Merry Christmas, City of Warner Robins!

Monday, I start a new job in a new building to continue my training.  I'm really excited and not at all nervous.  I don't know how long I'll be there until they move me around again but I'm going to soak up everything I can about that particular part of the F-15's stay at Robins.  I registered for school on Election Day and signed up for the five classes I need to graduate in May.  17 credit hours.  That's gonna be tough but I'm determined to get done in one semester.  

 

I took Tabbie Hoffman for his booster vaccinations today.  He is SO hilarious.  Every time we go to the vet, he does this with his blanky in the kennel.  He doesn't want anybody to see him and he sure doesn't want to see anybody!





 


Here he is trying to get back IN the kennel after we took him out to weigh him and take his temperature.  He weighs eight pounds now.

 I know this thing has a hole in it somewhere!

 Ahh, there it is.  But what is this lock nonsense??

He makes me laugh every single day.  He's so funny and he has become very talkative in the past week or so.  We have long conversations about stuff.  Today was the first time that a vet actually told me something's physically wrong with his right ear.  It has never looked right.  Ami noticed it right away the day I found him.  It's a little wonky.  Well, it's deformed, from birth.  And the sweet little vet I saw today who looked all of fifteen years old told me that the canal is extremely narrow, which explains the constant ear infection we've fought since July.  Gah.  He's missing an inside fold in his ear, too.  Poor baby. All we can do is keep it clean and flush it out once a week with an ear cleanser to keep bacteria and debris out.  He's an inside kitty and my house stays super clean so that shouldn't be a problem.  Unless he kicks litter up in it, oh my God, does he love to kick litter.

So that just about catches my life up to now.  I'm really looking forward to next week and my new job assignment, Thanksgiving and getting Mama and Daddy's Christmas tree decorated.

Maybe I'll get my tree up, too.