On the way to work

Just a few pictures I took on my way to work yesterday morning. This house is at the end of my street. They get the award for most lights.

This is the tree that they use for the tree lighting ceremony to welcome Santa. It's certainly nothing like you would see in a Hallmark movie.

Snowflakes light the way going up the main street

Watching me watching you

 So while Aunt Amanda and Presley's mom were taking pictures of Presley and I

Presley and I were taking pictures of Aunt Amanda and Presley's mom

Family photography

Most of the pictures taken on Christmas Eve were done by cell phone. However the big camera was out also. Of course first we had to figure out the timer. I was holding my phone with the flashlight, Brad was googling how to set the timer on his phone and Presley was supervising.

After the family photo was taken Presley wanted to try her hand at a little photography.

 I thought I would give her a few pointers.

 

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you what we took a picture of.

On a side note, I wanted to mention that the door is already fixed so no need to worry.

A tale about Gibbs

Our story starts on Friday night. The weather had turned bad. It was bitter cold with high winds and major wind gusts. When I got home from work on Friday I'm assuming that the wind had pushed my basement door open just slightly so that it wasn't latched. I kept closing it and it kept coming back open. Saturday morning I went to the basement to let Gibbs out when I got up. The basement door was wide open and Gibbs was nowhere to be seen. I opened back door and called his name but he was nowhere. I ran to the front door opened it up called his name and he came running. I have no idea how long he was out there and I'm thankful that he hadn't had his haircut yet so at least he had a little bit more fur to keep him warm.

Monday Gibbs finally had an appointment with the groomer. The appointment was for 8:00 and since they're just down the street I took him out to the car at 7:55. There was some snow in the driveway but not a lot and it looked like it it would be no problem driving through it. I was wrong. I ended up getting stuck in the end of the driveway. No matter how many times I got out of the car to shovel snow from around the tires I still could not get myself unstuck. Finally my neighbor from across the street came out with a shovel and him and a couple guys that were visiting for the holidays got me out. I dropped Gibbs off and then went to the store to get a dozen donuts to thank them. Finally Gibbs was done we got back home and now he's a handsome boy once again

A handmade gift

There was something that I made for Amanda for Christmas that I couldn't show on the blog until I had given it to her. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it before I wrapped it. I thought I would try and get a picture while she was opening it.

Well I got her reaction to it but you really can't see it. 

Now she's checking it out but you can only see the top.

Finally I had to ask her to send me a picture of it. This was a glass block that I added the vinyl design to and then put lights inside of it. 

How I spent my Christmas.

Christmas day I was on my own because all of our celebration happened on Christmas Eve. 

Christmas Day I spent a ridiculous amount of time watching TV and ate a disgusting amount of food. I also did a little bit of napping and a little bit of playing on the computer.

So Christmas Eve both my children came. Amanda with her husband Rob and Brad with his wife Britney and their daughter Presley. It was a nice evening. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures but I do have one group shot of all of us. Would you believe that I forgot how to set the timer on my big camera. I was going to just take a picture of all of them and then my son insisted on figuring out how to set the timer so I could be in the picture as well. I guess I need to start using that camera again.

From left to right

front: Amanda, Presley, Britney

back: Rob, me, Brad

I have a few other pictures that I'll share throughout the week. 

Today is the last of my days off before going back to work. It's been nice but it went by way too fast. Gibbs finally gets to go to the groomer today. 

Merry Christmas

 Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

I would also like to send out a special thank you to Jean from Cheerfulmonk.com. You made my day. 

However you spend your day today I hope that it's a cheerful one.

blizzard and Christmas Eve

The weather has taken a turn for the worse. We've had all kinds of weather warnings since yesterday. The temperatures have dropped the wind has picked up and there is a blizzard warning in effect until sometime today. This is a screenshot of my phone from last night . Notice the real feel of -23 

Jack Frost is working overtime

So Christmas Eve is the day that we do our Christmas celebration here. I'm hoping that the weather doesn't change things. Either way I am in for the weekend. With Christmas falling on a Sunday I have a three day weekend. If you ask me that's the best Christmas present ever. Thank you Santa Claus 

Three trees

Not quite sure what possessed me to do it but I put up three Christmas trees this year. The first one was in the Ann cave

The second one was in the living room

And the third one is a little 4-ft tree that I put at the top of the steps in the hallway across from the bathroom

more decorations around my house

Today we'll move into the living room and look at the decorations I have around there. Here's my coffee table

 the end table

 sitting on a shelf

 and a cute little mouse that sits next to my TV

Tis the season

Today is an assortment of things that fit the season. First up is my craft project from Monday. I had purchased the tall Dollar Tree candles and I added the vinyl design to the glass

The one with the snowflakes is my absolute favorite

Next are these cute little snowman ornaments that I found recently while out shopping.

 I think they look absolutely adorable on my fireplace

Since there is no way that I am going to climb a ladder to string lights up on my house I have to come up with easier alternatives. Years ago I purchased the laser type lights in red and green. Wade didn't like to climb ladders either. This year I found snowflakes. Now my whole house is covered in falling giant snowflakes.

Only 4 more days to go. Honestly, I'm ready for it to be over.

Christmas in the cave

Since I spend so much time in the Ann cave, I needed it to look festive. You've already seen my tree but here's a few other things around the room. On top of my desk

This is on one end table

And this is on the other one. I bought the Santa candle holder for Wade before we were married. He wasn't big on decorating so I thought he needed a little something on his coffee table.

Finally this is one of the chairs in the room.

The trouble with procrastinating

 I've needed to do a Walmart run. I was going to go after work on Thursday. Leaving work and headed to my car, I changed my mind and said "I'll go tomorrow". Friday as I was headed to my car with the wind and the few stray snowflakes, again, I said "nope, I'll go after work on Sunday". Saturday the plan was to sit in my pajamas all day, do crafty stuff and laundry. The problem was that I saw the forecast that said we were in for some snow starting Saturday night. Up to 8" is predicted. Well that blows heading to Walmart after work. So Saturday morning I left early and got it done. 

The other bit of procrastinating I've done is Christmas shopping. I really just don't feel like it. It's also hard to buy for a child and his family when you just don't know them. Now isn't that sad? I hate to admit it but I do not know my son any more. I don't know his daughter or his wife. I don't know what they life or what they want. And if truth be told, I don't even know if they will show up for Christmas eve.

I also procrastinated on hand made gifts that I had planned on making. I suppose there is still time to get them done but whether or not I'll ever get them done is questionable. I think I should start working on Christmas stuff on December 26th and then maybe by the following Christmas I will have everything done.

I've procrastinated on taking pictures of my decorations because I would have to clean first. Not that my house is a disaster but there are parts that would require some straightening up before a camera is pointed in that direction. 

Poor shaggy boy

It seems this year has been one thing after another. I kept putting off making appointments for Gibbs for shots and grooming. Just to be fair, I never make an appointment for my haircut until I actually make an appointment for him. I finally made a phone call and was able to get him in for his shots. Unfortunately they were not able to get him in for grooming until the day after Christmas. He's a little concerned that Santa won't leave him any presents because he looks so scragley

Doodle time

I couldn't help doing a couple Christmas themed doodles

Since I love snowmen, I had to do one of those too.

Floating ornament

Another one of my craft projects on Monday was to make a floating ornament. This is a clear glass ornament with an acetate insert. First I added the vinyl snowflake to the clear acetate then I rolled the acetate and inserted it into the ornament. Once inside it unrolls itself and it looks like the snowflake is floating. This first picture isn't very good because it has a reflection of the Christmas lights in it

Here's another view. This one you can tell that the vinyl is a glitter one. My only problem with this was that I had no idea what the actual size of the ornament was. The template that I used is a little big so the acetate doesn't lay the way it should inside the ornament. It's workable but not perfect.

a little crafty

I didn't have much ambition yesterday for my day off, but I did manage to get a few crafty things done. I purchased some tall skinny candles at the Dollar Tree. I cut a few designs from vinyl on my Cricut and adhered them to the glass. Voila!

And here they are one at a time. Of the three the tree is my least favorite. As for the Santa and the reindeer I'm torn between the two I like them both

Venting

Yesterday I had one of those days that just sort of makes you want to spit nails. 

I got to work and things were going good then it started.

1) Two of the three people that were supposed to be there at 7:00 we're late. 

2) The girl that was scheduled in the deli did nothing but complain all morning long. 

3) The cashier that was scheduled is probably my least favorite employee. Even on a good day I find him totally annoying. 

4) I was supposed to leave at 1:30 but was told that the closer was going to be late. She was supposed to be there at noon. By 2:00 she still was not there. I told boss's son that I was leaving. I figured he can take care of it. 

5) Final thing, and this is a big one, was the employee who called asking to talk to boss's son. I asked him what he wanted and he told me he needed to talk to Marc about changing the schedule because he needed some days off. I told him the schedule was already up and it was too late. He says I know that's why I need to talk to Marc. I told him Marc was busy and the policy is you have to ask for the time off before the schedule goes up. He hung up on me. I went to Marc and told him. Next thing I know Marc is saying that he needs to change hours on the schedule for Jayden (the kid who just hung up on me). Apparently he called Marc's cell phone  and Marc told him he would take care of it. 

My final Act of the day was to leave my store keys behind and I told him I've had enough. I'm not quitting but I'm not going to keep working hard so other people don't have to. 

My day off

Like every other day off, yesterday started with coffee and blog friends. Once I decided to get myself moving, I got the laundry started. Then I decided to dig out a couple totes of Christmas stuff. I still have three more totes to go through but at least I got a little bit more done. 

 Amanda suggested that I put all my snowman under the tree this year instead of on the steps like I usually do

Other than that, I paid some bills and watched a few movies. I was hoping to get some Christmas craft projects done but I couldn't get myself to do them. Maybe after work today or tomorrow