Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!

We got up at seven this morning and enjoyed a very nice and leisurely Christmas morning... Not as much under the tree this year, but only because we've sort of been opening gifts all along. One thing I observed is that we got the Wii a bit out of our system and were much more able to enjoy our other gifts.

Oh and guess what I got?! An iPod Nano! This one, in black:



Nice, huh? It even has my name and email address etched on the back! Earlier today I was wearing the ear buds in my ears, listening to music nice and low - it was so sweet! Everywhere I went, so did the soft little tune in my ear. If I heard a great song, I could turn it up! And I could totally hear everything else going on around me in the meantime. This will be especially handy at work, where I itch to listen to music, but need to be able to hear, too.

My Christmas package was delivered to Jocelyn's house last night, yay! What a relief.

And back to work tomorrow... There was talk of Jeff taking the kids up to Maine, since they have the rest of the week off. Hopefully that'll still happen, hopefully the kids will be well enough to hit the road. Maggie hasn't stepped foot outside since coming home from school on Friday! Henry and I went for a walk down to Curtis Farm this afternoon, it was really gorgeous out. Snow, but still sort of warm - good smelling, too!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

We're stretching Christmas like taffy over here

Jeff and I decided to have a staggered roll out of Christmas gifts this year, and so far it has gone pretty well. Another factor at play in our lives right now is that both kids are just not 100%. A lot of laying around and napping and accounts of not feeling good, stomachs hurting, bodies feeling "scratchy" (a catch all adjective for Maggie, although she could use some lotion). So ever since Friday night, when our holiday vacation actually kicked off, the kids have been sort of lackluster, save for some brief pockets of brightness, as documented below.

We are loving our Wii, and are still managing to get a lot of play in, despite the ill health. Right now Jeff is horsing around with the preferences, poking around and putting his mind to it. He also kicked out the JAM his first time out at Guitar Hero (Thanks for the gift, Grammi and Papa!) which surprised me, but didn't. So far I am impressed with the parental controls that come with the Wii. For example, Henry always plays using a certain "Mii" character named "hok", and we can go a message center or somewhere on the Wii that will tell us which games, and for how long, his "hok" Mii played. Pretty interesting.

I think another thing about this Christmas that's different is, of course, that I'm working. Last week, as we were all clawing our way through the work and school week, digging out cars from snow storms, securing christmas party gift exchange contribution and the holiday concert at the school, I realized yet again how hard we all work now that we have some place to be every weekday. What a chore it is to just get through the week sometimes, and how nice it would be to have four days of just us, etc. It has been very nice and mellow... I am just now realizing that Matt from the farm is the only non resident of our house to actually set eyes on our Christmas tree! How sad is that!?

Here is our tree this year, by the way:



One way to look at it is if there is only going to be one person outside our house to see our tree, it ought to be the person who actually cut the dang thing down! Maybe?






Onward with the photographs.

Here is Henry, thrilled to pieces with his very own copy of The Simpsons movie (thank you Jocelyn!), which came complete with it's own t-shirt. The t-shirt, incidentally, came compressed into the shape of a pink frosted half eaten donut. d'oh!




And this is Maggie, proudly displaying her "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse set!" Thank you again, Jocelyn... This set came with only one character! I had to explain that the reason it only comes with Mickey (and not Minnie, or Daisy, or even Daffy) is so that people will spend more money. I can't figure out which is worse, that I'm right, or that she understood what I was talking about.



And yes, that is a nasty dusty old microwave she's using as a play table surface..

I just like this pic. She opened up a gift of a dozen headbands, and put this one on herself! cutie pie.



Since I knew we were getting Guitar Hero, and I knew that Maggie would end up not exactly being able to participate too significantly with that game, I worked it out so that Henry gave Maggie her own electric guitar toy for Christmas. Here she is jamming out. We've been listening to classic rock songs ("Iron Man", "You Really Got Me", "Shout at the Devil", etc.) and she was always lamenting that she didn't have the right rocker outfit. The rocker outfit involves a guitar, and also dark sunglasses. She'd been wondering about footwear, but I pointed out that a lot of rockers go barefoot, and so she was all set.




Here's a dud shot of Maggie and her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse set. Gives you an idea of the quantity of snow we have around here.




In other news, the giant package I shipped to Seattle still has not reached it's final destination! I will be so bummed out if it doesn't get there! The degree of sweat and toil I employed to put what's in that box, in that box, cannot be replaced! I will be bumming hard core. Although when I was at the post office, saying goodbye to the box, as it were, I was struck by how I may never see any of the items in this box. I was putting it all in a box and then entrusting it to the good folks at my local post office to get it there. Odd, that. Also, once I got that shipment out, and then the other priority piece of mail (I'm looking at you, Arizona) made it's way into the mail, the holiday stress level, in general, really took a nosedive for me. I mellowed out like an old hound dog after those two boxes left our possession. But now I think of all the goodies in that Seattle package, and I am bumming hard core at the thought of none of getting anywhere!

Keep the faith, Susie. Keep the faith. Tomorrow is another day. The mail comes on Christmas Eve day, doesn't it?

Oh, and one more thing! I know it sounds like a regift, but it's actually a kick ass regift and I am thrilled to get it. I've never turned my nose up at anything I got second hand, and I'm not starting now! Jeff had his Powerbook G4 laptop refurbished and tuned up and now it's all mine! mine mine MINE! I am thrilled with this. He and I had talked about how I would inherit his laptop after he got his new one. But then his old laptop shit the bed somehow and I was busy passing him notes about Christmas gift ideas for me and between this and that, I forgot all about it. Until he gave me a big "Merry Christmas!" and made like a game show tv hostess and with a big sweep of his arm revealed a gorgeous laptop -- just like his new one! with a screensaver that said, "Susie's Tibook G4" -- I was like, whoo hoo! sweet!

He'd stripped it of all his business, cleaned it up and out and then fixed it up nice and sweet, and now it's all mine mine MINE! I already feel like I am writing to you from my new world headquarters... And last night, I went to Marshalls and bought the perfect backpack for it, with which I am super pleased. I would, ultimately, like to downplay the significance of the Mac in the kitchen, and this powerbook will be the first major step in that direction. if I could figure out how to retain the large scale convienence of all the Kitchen Mac delivers without having that giant clutter pit of cables and papers and dust and so forth, I would certainly do so. Now, at least, I can strip the kitchen mac of my personal business and begin to taper off my dependance of that machine and refocus it to this one I'm on right now! I can also begin to contemplate different projects I've had in my mind but have been too shy to crank out while perched on a stool in the kitchen. Dig?

Okedoke, dear reader. Sure do love you. I hope that, whichever specific reader you are, you find yourself content and able to cope with this unusual holiday season. My dad's not here anymore to say "Bah Humbug" and "fiddle dee dee" and all the rest, and we all are having to go it alone without him, and that's hard. My way to cope is to isolate myself with my family and do what I want (and what my husband agrees to - love you Jebby!) about gift gifting and waiting (or not), and so I'm hanging in there. I hope you are too. bye for now...

Thursday, December 20, 2007

We opened some gifts

Here are Henry and Jeff and Kermit modeling their great looking christmas gifts made with love by my mom!





Wednesday, December 19, 2007

News of Visitors!

Howdy!

Jocelyn and Brooke bought their tickets last night!!! Hooray! They'll be here the last week in January. This news makes me so happy! A dream come true!

In the dreams-crushed department, however, we have a story from Henry's life. He lost another tooth, and was broken hearted at no money from the tooth fairy under his pillow. Even though this is not the first tooth lost in a world where your mother is the tooth fairy for Henry. Last week when a tooth fell out, I confessed that I was the tooth fairy, and let him grab a handful of change from Jeff's spare change jar.

Regardless, this morning's crushing disappointment over the tooth fairy issue was just the ammunition he needed to mount his defense for why he wasn't dressed yet. In fact, further, he would be throwing out all his baby teeth from here on out, dashing my hopes of crafting a baby-tooth necklace for his bride to wear on their wedding day. LOL!

I told him, "Hey. you know what? I can only keep so many dreams afloat at once." There was a silent, pregnant pause where nobody mentioned Santa Claus, and then he got out of bed and got dressed.

Friday, December 14, 2007

I need to update more often, I know, I know!

Hi everyone...

It snowed a super bunch yesterday! With more expected this weekend - hooray! It's very beautiful outside right now and I am happy to have at least one day this weekend with the weather too yucky to be out running errands.

Maggie and Henry were both sick this week! Maggie more so. She began throwing up around 2 in the morning on Wednesday, and then kept throwing up almost every hour on the hour until around 2pm. Night Night had taken one for the team and soaked his ear in the vomit bowl, so he didn't get out of the dryer until 2. He got right back to work however, and our girl was able to sleep pretty much until the next day. Jeff stayed home on Thursday, and both kids are back at school today. Henry had a stomach ache and seemed plagued by some sort of bug that didn't make him barf, but did seem to keep him down for the count all of Wednesday.

It was nice to stay home on Wednesday as I was able to finally get a holiday shipment in the mail to Seattle Thursday at lunch. There are still other packages to get in the mail (Arizona, I'm looking at you), but sending that box out West was a big load off my mind, I won't lie to you.

We are getting a Wii for Christmas! They are so hard to find in stock right now, I was complaining about that fact to my sister Dian and she said she knew someone who was selling one second hand! It's only four months old, so it's hardly second hand - we are very excited!

NOTE: Say nothing to Henry or Maggie on this issue until AFTER Christmas. Thank you.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Fishes



Here is sweet baby Eli from down the road. what a cutie. Took this yesterday when we went to cut down our christmas tree...

Friday, December 07, 2007

Maho Bay Camps, St. John, U.S. Virgin Island

omg I want to go here:

The roomy tent-cottages are nearly hidden by lush foliage providing privacy. Translucent fabric on wood frames, screened windows and open air terraces take advantage of the cooling Virgin Islands trade winds. Each has a separate sleeping area with comfortable twin beds. An extra mattress is behind the sleeping-couch in the living area. Bed linens, blankets, towels, cooking and eating utensils are all provided, including propane stove and ice cooler. Every tent-cottage has its own private deck, electric outlets, lights and fans. Barbecue areas and fresh water are available along the walkways.

Our secluded white sand beach and year-round tropical climate offer a variety of popular water sports (with expert instruction available) including kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, snorkeling and scuba diving. Massage, yoga, National Park presentations, weddings, live music and other activities are available. Glassblowing demonstrations are a popular activity with mesmerized guests watching beautiful glasswork being made from crushed bottles in our Trash to Treasure Art Center. So there is something for everyone, we also offer an array of classes for both adults and children that include a number of craft areas such as tie-dyeing, ceramics, glass blowing, watercolor painting, and paper making -- and each class demonstrates an aspect of creating art out of recycled materials.


and it's like just $160 a night for a family of four in January. Doesn't that sound wonderful?! I'd post a picture but iphotos acting funny - but go ahead, click! see for yourself.

Maho Bay Camps, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Good Morning...

We have been having trouble with Henry getting up in time for school in the mornings. I go in and wake him up and get his clothes out for him (if I'm feeling charitable) and then leave him in a seemingly awake state to suffer the consequences of not following through and actually getting up and dressed and downstairs.

This morning, Jeff facilitated some consequences. I was in the kitchen making lunches when in walks Jeff with Henry (wearing only his underwear) in his arms. Jeff opens the front door, deposits Henry outside, then closes and locks the door! I was howling with laughter. "It's not funny." he says. "You can't carry a seven year old kid in his underwear outside and lock him out in the snow and not expect me to laugh - THAT IS FUNNY." I say.

The morning did not get much better for our boy. I let Henry inside, he ran upstairs to get dressed, then accidentally slipped on the stairs coming back downstairs and landed on his tailbone. :-( And then he accidentally smacked his sister in the face with his backpack. And no time for breakfast. And no gloves to be found (just two right hands) which meant he'd either get in trouble at recess or not be able to go outside, etc. I was feeling bad for the guy! Hopefully this morning was sufficiently uncomfortable for him to maybe get up a little earlier tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Hello...

Maggie has been wearing the dress pictured below NON STOP, except for school. She wore it all day Saturday, slept in it, wore it all day Sunday, slept in it, took it off for school, put it back on when she got home, and slept in it again last night.

HOWS THAT FOR HOLIDAY SPIRIT?!?!?

Sunday, December 02, 2007