Not Christmas...Not Just Yet

Well, we are under a week before Christmas is here...and I get more sad as each second passes. I wish it could be the week before Christmas all the time. I get sad that it will all be over very shortly. We will have to take down our lights outside and our decorations inside; our walls will appear empty and bare after the bustle from Christmas. Our first real Christmas tree is starting to dry out and it will soon be time to bag it up and take it to the curb. Deo surprised me today after he got home from work by taking me to Winterhaven to see the lights. It's one of my favorite things to do in Tucson as it's one of the only Christmas traditions we have here (or that I am familiar with). I'm trying to get all my Christmas music in before Deo won't let me listen to it anymore, and I'm trying to watch all my Christmas movies before it seems tacky to watch them outside of the season. I'm plugging my Christmas tree and my little gingerbread village in, even when I'm home alone to soak up all the Christmas spirit before it's too late.

During our walk in Winterhaven, I started thinking about some New Years resolution that Deo and I could do; something really good, instead of my typical "lose weight and work out more" resolution. We thought of the idea that we research a non-profit that we both really take an interest in and dedicate time once a month to volunteer with them. I know to most people, once a month doesn't seem like a big deal. But for us it is, and seems very realistic. So our next step is to start some research on different organizations that we feel passionate about before the first of the year. Also, I've been thinking about starting to go to Church again. I've had my struggles with organized religion lately, but have recently been thinking about my Catholic upbringing a lot and feel like I should start attending again on a regular basis.

A lot to think about in the next few weeks, but it will be a good start to a new year.

Bad Pet Parent

I just got back from taking our two kids for a walk. I met a co-worker at a nearby park. She decided to bring her puppy as well. Of course her puppy is so well behaved, walked right beside her on the leash, and even stopped and sat down while people would walk by. My dogs, however, ran all over the place, pulled me every which way, and barked at every moving shadow we walked by. Hannah even got so crazy that I fell down and scraped my knee at some point. Now I know that this is our fault. We haven't had them trained and don't spend a lot of time working with them on their leashes (Toby's actually gotten pretty good since we used to walk and run him everyday while I was in college). But Hannah is just out of control. She's not used to being around other people or dogs, so I know that it helps getting her out of the house and mingling. But every time I think about our dogs are so out of control, I think about how bad our human kids are going to be. We already get disapproving looks when we take our dogs to PetSmart, I can just imagine the looks we will get from disapproving parents when we go out to eat. Or how I'm so nervous getting our Report Card from the PetsHotel wondering how they did, I think about how nervous I am going to be going to a parent-teacher conference.

But then, I look over at my crazy, out-of-control brats and see how sweet they are, all tuckered out from their long trip. I realize that they were just so excited to finally get out of the house and they absolutely love walks. So here are my sweet puppies, all tuckered out. And I realize how much I love my pups and how much I will love my kids, even if I do get disapproving looks.

Bad Circulation

I walked into my office this morning and it was (no joke) 60 degrees. For some reason McClelland Hall, specifically the Undergraduate Programs Office, bears the brunt of the winter chill. In addition to being extremely cold, I have determined that I have extremely poor circulation in my extremities. I have turned to warm socks and closed-toed shoes, but always have difficulties with my hands. Typing turns my fingers into little finger popsicles. Sometimes it is all of them, sometimes just my pinkies, sometimes only my right (mouse navigator) hand. It's weird. Doing some research I found these cool gloves. They seem pretty cool. They actually hook up to your computer's USB drive and keep your digits toasty warm while you type. The mittens open up so you have full finger function, and it looks like it also has an adjustable heat setting. For roughly 30 bucks, I think it might be a good investment for me...and any other bloggers out there!

A New Tradition

So I picked up this gingerbread house kit from Michael's during my Black Friday excursion. We started it this weekend and then after "gluing" together the walls and roof, read in the directions that told us to "wait an hour to dry completely." This part of crafting always irritates me because when I start a craft, I want to finish it right away. But alas, we waited...until last night to actually getting around to decorating it. It was a cute and easy-to-do kit, under $10, and actually quite yummy (we snacked on some broken gingerbread and icing while crafting). I was happy that Deo actually wanted to do it with me. I actually tried to sneak and decorate some of it a couple of days ago in which Deo caught me and asked me to wait for him (he just likes to amuse me)! After finishing the project, I thought of a cute tradition to start. I want to make a gingerbread house every year for Christmas. That way, we can display our entire collection each year and see in what ways we can make them different each year. Next year I want to make a two-story house with a picket fence!

So here is year numero uno:






P.S. Please don't mind the nasty dust on our shelf. We need to get around to do a good cleaning :)

O Tannenbaum

I still remember the day we went and picked our first Christmas tree as a couple. I was living in a tiny, cottage-like house with my brother, and Deo was in a studio by himself. It was the first Christmas I wasn't going back home to Ohio, so I wanted to make it special. We had no space, and even less money. So we went to Wal-mart and bought the best tree we could for 20 bucks. Then we bought boxes of 99 cent colored bulbs and ta-da....our first Christmas tree....

....Well, we've come a long way from our fake Walley-world tree. This year, I was determined to go all out. A 9 foot Noble Fur; the best one on the lot (at least we thought so). We loaded it up in our car and unloaded it in our garage. We sat back and looked at it, "I think we bit off more than we can chew." I wasn't even sure if it was going to fit in our house.



But sure enough, it fit perfectly in our pre-planned tannenbaum locale (even though we had to move our table against the wall). But it fit, and we were off decorating.



First, we put up an ornament to commemorate our first Christmas together as a married couple; which makes this Christmas season extra special for me!



My mom, brother, and niece even came over to share in the delight.







And the finished product: