holiday fun

hi everyone. i am playing with the backround for a change of pace... it's hard to reset all the colors though, so hopefully you can read it all without too much problem.

i just added a few holiday polls. answer just for fun. i wish there were write in spots. if there is a way and i'm missing it, let me know!

our tree is finally up, with lights and ornaments. it took a week to get it all done, but it is done and it looks gorgeous! the village is up too. things are starting to look festive around here. i hope it is all done soon so i can sit back and relax - at least regarding the commercial parts of Christmas. i am done shopping, at least 90%, and am 50% wrapped.

got our first dusting of snow today and it is slick on the driveway since it is so cold. i went to the store for milk with no problem, but i did slip in the driveway (with my feet, not the car.) at least i didn't fall down! i've certainly been known to do that before.... how embarrassing!

my parents came today for a week or so here with us. the plumber was here a long time today to fix a leak in the water main line as it comes through the foundation. poor man had to dig a hole in the freezing earth and hang out in the mud all day. he made good money doing it, but i still feel sorry for him, especially today being so cold! now, i feel sorry for me too having to pay so blasted much but i wasn't about to do it myself! he had to re-cement part of the foundation around the water main. the pipe itself was not leaking. now to dry out my carpet in the basement walk-in closet. what a mess! at least it is done, we hope and pray!

maia has surprised me with her LACK of touching the Christmas tree. I really thought by now she'd have scaled the thing, so I'm pleased that she is listening to the "NO touching the ornaments, Maia" commands. Of cousre, I still did my best to put the non-breakable ornaments at her level... so we'll hope this trend continues.

maia has a few new words... Christmas tree is shaw-shaw-shee. and Santa is Aw-Shaw. I know these aren't real words, but she says them consistently, so they are her words for these things. it is adorable.

matthew was at his dad's house last night. they ordered chinese food for dinner. matthew brought home his leftovers. i was famished at lunch today and asked if i could have some of it. it was Peking Duck. It was absolutely delicious. Now, what makes me laugh about this is that matthew told me this was a $24 dinner!! good grief! i must be cheap, i would NEVER spend that on dinner, especially take out. don't get me wrong, it was delicious, but wow. now, it made me laugh because in essence I was eating a dinner matthew's dad and step-mom bought for him, at quite a price, and i was eating the left-overs! there are still some left for matthew, i really just wanted to try them, but i did find this amusing. i'm sure their plan, as nice as they are, was not to buy me a $24 dish for my lunch. LOL. it was good............ i just hope i can go back now and eat my kun pao chicken when i'm the one paying for it! :)

tomorrow is the battle of the beltway... redskins vs. the ravens. it is a night game. tomorrow is going to be a high in the 30's with wind-chills in the teens... and that's mid-day. i can not IMAGINE how cold it will be at the game tomorrow night. wow. i hope they don't freeze, i hope the ravens win. no, i hope the ravens kill the redskins! i hope matthew can get out of bed on monday morning for school.... i'm allowing him to go because he has pulled up three grades in the last two weeks and i think he deserves a reward for his work. there is another game next sunday and he's going to have to continue his good trend to be able to go to that one!