NOTE TO SELF

I just want to jot down some ideas I had that might make Christmas away from home more Christmas-y, if we ever decide to take a Christmas vacation again.

Put the itinerary for each day (and any necessary tickets) in a gift box and open it each morning. Write on the outside of the box what day and what time to open it. Or open it the night before. But keep the trip and activities secret and only reveal one day at a time.

Remember the plastic wrap.

I am so glad we bought our Trendwest timeshare. It is sooo much nicer to stay in a 3 bedroom condo than a hotel room with a bed. We were able to compare the two back to back, since I messed up and we came on vacation a day early.

Travel Lodge - or - Trendwest. Hmmm.

Of People, Piers and Pelicans

A Comedy of Errors

Another title for this blog entry could be: AAARGH!

Or how about: I am so confused.

Or: I have never sworn so much in a single day.

So, we made it to Oceanside and, no, wait - let me tell you first how frustrating it was getting to Oceanside. Our directions were clear, printed from Mapquest, but the California Highway system was not clear. There was a point where “I 215 becomes I 15" and we were supposed to drive for 15 miles and take an exit. But there are no signs. I mean, California never tells you the name of the highway, or at least hardly ever. GRRR. And then, their exits make no sense. In Utah and Idaho the exits are the number of the mile marker they are on. So if you are at mile marker 72, then that is the number of the exit. But California seems to randomly number their exits. Exit 46 is at mile marker #2. What is that?!

And traffic is terrible. Even when it is moving it is terrible. Even the boys looking out the window at the ribbon of cars moving off to the right toward a different highway said, “Wow, look at all the cars.” I thought, “I sure hope I like Disneyland because I hate California.” (Oh, there’s another possible title for this blog.)

Okay, so we get here, and guess what? NO reservation. We pull up my account and my reservation starts TOMORROW. Are you kidding me? What can you do but laugh? The girl at the desk tells me it happens all the time. Tara said she worked at the hotel in Springdale for 8 weeks, and it happened 3 times to her. I’m grateful I am not the only idiot out there.

So here we are in the Travel Lodge. The boys said, “Whoa, I think we downgraded.” That is a colossal understatement. However, the bed is really comfortable and there’s free (if monumentally slow) internet. What more could you ask for?

And the beach is nearby. It is lovely. Ian and I went running on the beach last night, holding hands, racing toward the surf. As the waves crest, the normally foamy white part glows florescent green. It is cool. We laugh. We are happy. It’s been a rocky start, but Ian hugs me and says, “I love this vacation!” (I guess there’s another title for my blog.)

A Doozey of a Morning

Some days things just don't go smoothly but DANG! today was a record breaker.

I slept through my alarm (for the second day in a row, which also makes it the second time in my life I have ever done that.) So, I'm a half an hour late... only time for the essentials. No make-up, no making lunch. Then as I'm putting my coat on, I realize Jared has also slept through his alarm and now he is running about 45 minutes behind.

I wish him luck, ask Scott to make his lunch, and dash out to my car. Only to remember, my car is OUTSIDE because the garage door broke yesterday. Soooo.... my windows are covered in ice. I live in St. George; I park my car in the garage. I don't own a window scraper. I wait for the defroster (kind of), and zip off to work where---

Someone is blocking my parking space. They pulled in diagonally, blocking two spots, and left their car running. I honk several times because I know it is one of those darn choir students, and then finally, Mr. Proffitt, the French teacher comes running out! GRRRR!!!

It's 10 after 7 am and I already need chocolate. The good news is: I know where to find it.

Christmas Newsletter 2009

I don't know why I am so tickled about the whole thing... but it makes me smile that my newsletter turned out so cute. I don't know if you can read this very well. If you click on the image it gets bigger, but I was trying to be creative and chose a funky font. It looked beautiful on the silver paper I bought. And the labels had cute little silver ornaments. Simple things are simple pleasures.

The Candy Bar Memory Game

Here is a fun party game that we like to play. I made up a little tote bag and filled it with the candy and a copy of the rules and plan to give it as my "White Elephant" gift at my work Christmas party.

Click on the picture and it will get bigger, so you can see the rules.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's always fun when the whole family gets together. Much laughter and silliness abound.

The second best thing about Thanksgiving is that I get to drag out my china.

Making Holidays Special

Crab Cheeseball and crackers

Little Smokies in bbq sauce

Texas Caviar

Turkey
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Rolls
Stuffing
Sweet potatoes
Cabbage Salad
Dixie Salad with pomegranates
Watergate salad

Pumpkin Pie and whipped cream

It's a bad hair day...

We are supposed to do family pictures today for our Christmas cards. It could be ugly, in more ways than one.



I woke up at 2 am and could not get back to sleep. This is what my hair looks like so far.



So this will be like a "before" and "after" shot. Hopefully "after" will be so much better, right?



After - I take nap

After - I go to lunch with the girls

After - my near tears meltdown at the clinic this morning when they let someone go in front of me for a blood test AFTER I had been waiting FOREVER.



Pretty sure I wouldn't have cared if I had gotten to sleep in until 5:00 am.