ten days 'til Christmas!!!

And ho ho ho, I am excited! I am excited because there are presents under the tree now. The kids have been bugging and bothering me to bring some out, so they can feel them and guess and pretend they didn't. I would leave them all in my room until Christmas morning if it were up to me, but Paul says we should just bring them out and let them get excited about it. It isn't a big deal, and it does confirm that I have accomplished something....there are more to wrap. And they are in bags and piles in the closet. I pull something out, look at my list, and decide who to give it to. So far Evelyn and Joe don't really have anything special, just a few little things. I bought nice boots for Sonja yesterday, but she needed them now.

It is twelve degrees out, snowing, windy. Just a lovely day. And the kids all went to school. I have to pick Aaron up early to go to the dr. for his nose. Mirielle is taking Miss Emily to the airport for me. Emily is going to India for a friend's wedding. She will see some of the girls she was in Norway with. She won't be home until Christmas day, and she will probably have to work that night. I didn't get to see her since I have been back, so wah, it will be a long time without seeing my dear Emmy. I probably won't see her until The Wedding. The Wedding that will fall into place magically, with little or no effort.

No, I have been THINKING about it.

I am hoping to finish up my shopping soon, finish wrapping presents, make some Christmas cookies, and plan the menu for the wedding. Soon. Not today, though.

Yesterday I did not stay home. No, I went to Kohl's, Target, and Price-Chopper, and the gas station (I had $1.10 off per gallon!)....I had to buy Jonathan a coat, I paid full price, ouch. $20 in Target. (Evelyn told me she needs a new coat, but, "I can wear this one until spring when we can buy a new one." Oh, how quickly they catch on....) I bought Charlotte Claire a few things for Kindergarten...she has enough old stuff from the other girls, but each kindergartener needs some new stuff. It is the right time of the year to buy it, too. 75% off. Oh, I bought myself a pair of boots the other day. I am not a boot-wearing girl. No, I wear my sandals until it snows, then move into some shoes or my Birkenstock clogs. But I tried these boots on in B.J.'s, they look like uggs, they are sheepskin and sheepfur or whatever you call it, sheerling, I think, and they are so warm and cuddly! I wore them out shopping yesterday and they kept my feet WAY TOO WARM!! I am seriously going to bring my sandals to slip into in the store next time. My feet were on fire by the time we got to the grocery store....and oh my goodness...Mirielle had to use the bathroom, so Jon got to push the cart with the two little girls in the back while she was gone. I had no sooner warned him that if he took those sharp fast turns, that cart was going to tip over. Well, it did. In slooooow motion, with me like five or ten feet away....I tried to get to it as it was going over, but THUNK, down it went. Thankfully, the girls were fine, but a bit shaken up. Jonathan was a wreck. I told him it was okay....his remorse was clear, no need to scold the boy, his eyes were overflowing. He said he didn't MEAN TO!.....I didn't even have to tell him that I told him so...he knew.

So....after groceries, a quick stop at McD's....their coffee is heavenly, especially for the long drive home in the blowing snow. We had tomato soup and salad with chicken for dinner. The salad mix was dated yesterday and today, $3.99, buy one get one free. Then there were $1.50 coupons on each bag. So we paid fifty cents a bag for it. We added some green peppers and black olives, and a few croutons...yum.

They had roast beef on sale for $1.99 a pound, I am going to cut some up and make stew today. If I make enough, it will be dinner for today and tomorrow. After that, I don't know. I am not a good planner.

It is snowing like crazy out there. I wish we had a nice fireplace in the living room.

I thought there would be a snow day today. Blah, I have to go out and drive in it to take Aaron. blah, I do not want to. I am especially scared to drive in lots of snow. The blowing and drifting across the road, the slipping and sliding....I hope Mirielle drives Emily's car, it has all -wheel drive, so I can at least take Old Goldie, our 2000 Dodge stratus. It is much better than the 15passenger van. (when were on vacation, we were sitting near the pool, and this guy from New Jersey was bragging....he said, "I have seven cars and two boats..." I said to Paul, "We have like seven cars..." We laughed pretty hard. We have a 2002 truck with issues, the Stratus, Abigail's old 1993 Oldsmobile, the minivan, and the big van. Okay, so only five. Enough to play Driveway-Shuffle with. I am sure the New Jersey man's cars were a leetle bit more prestigious.)

Is it apparent how I ramble when I KNOW I should be getting moving?

I want to get a quick letter of to Benjamin, even though he is coming home on Saturday. It breaks my heart to think of him looking for mail every day and not getting any.

I found out last night there is a gingerbread house contest this coming Sunday at our church feast. Oh, I think I might need to stay up all night long and make one...I have this idea for one...but Ben is coming in on Saturday, it will take all day to drive there and back....although Kim suggested I look into bus tickets. Anyway, with all I have to do around here, the last thing I need to do is get caught up in this gingerbread house thing. But it appeals to me so much...I googled them last night, and oh my goodness, I want to make one!