Signs

There are signs of Christmas abounding these days....

Tree has colored lights now added to the white lights. We need to add ornaments but it's so beautiful 'as is' that it's hard to think of cluttering it up with 'stuff'. But we'll add some glass icicles and some new ornaments we bought this year...and get out the Hallmark ornaments and take a trip down memory lane.

J. took me to the little local bakery that only opens 3 times a year - Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter - for my favorite frosted sugar cookies and bear claws for today's breakfast. There were lots of other fun things there that I would love to add to our Christmas collection - but I'll visit the week of the 21st and see what's left and how much things are discounted. She always has unique items - in addition to her amazing edible delights! I love Kandi's! The farmer's market is now year-round here and she sells there every weekend - but her frosted sugar cookies are only made 3 times a year and they are indescribably delicious. I love them! Not the couple of pounds I will undoubtedly gain in the next couple weeks - but the cookies are worth it!

My Farmville farm is covered in snow and every available building/bush/fence/tree is decked out with a dusting of snow and lights. I have a Santa's Village set up with reindeer and a sleigh, giant snowflakes, hedges with lights, lots of Christmas trees and I'm growing poinsettias every day. There are Santa gnomes, wooden soldiers in lots of colors, candy cane fences and a host of other festive holiday things. I LOVE IT! I 'farm' every morning before work and it starts my day with a smile! Isn't that what life is about? Smiling while you head out to do what you need to do to pay your mortgage? It's a small, silly thing - but it's fun. If you haven't tried it, you should.....it will 'hook you' like it did me but that's OK.

I 'shopped' online for some out of state family. Have gifts to wrap and ship to some folks but took the 'easy' route with most. The entryway is full of boxes from my online shopping activities - I love the Internet. Most retailers are giving free shipping and huge discounts. I love shopping in my PJ's - never having to leave the house. What a great thing!!

We have a beautiful amaryllis in a collectible Christmas cookie jar on our kitchen counter courtesy of my cousin in Florida who sends us a 'magical' plant every year. It's been watered twice and it will be starting it's growing phase any minute now - and if you've never grown an amaryllis, you need to. They are amazing..... Thanks, B. and M. for thinking of us. I'll try to save some cookies to put in the jar once the plant is 'done'. It's sure pretty!

I'm taking B. to the 'big' mall in Pleasanton with me after church today. I need to get some gifts for work friends and he wants to look for clothes (of course). He's trying to be back in Tracy by 1 so he can go to the gym before he heads to his 3PM-midnight shift at work. J. is playing at church today so we'll go to the 9:30 service and then head straight to the mall. It will be a quick turn around trip but that's OK. I want to just get what I need and head home - looking will lead to finding and finding will lead to buying and I don't really 'need' anything. H. has been invited but is being a recluse these days - unless it's 'chilling with friends', he isn't interested. That's another post for another day and I'll need some kind of refreshing beverage in hand to keep my blood pressure from boiling over as I write. Yikes. I thought we had it 'hard' with B. H. is not making things any easier for us as he progresses (if you can call it that) through his Junior year.

We have a Christmas party for my work next Saturday night and I have to decide what I'm making for that event. Probably the cracker/bacon appetizers I made last New Years which were a huge hit and were delicious. Also a pot of baked beans - which we had at the yacht parade last weekend and which we obtained the recipe for. They were DELICIOUS and from the recipe, so, so easy to put together. That will be a good addition to the 'eats' at the party. Also a $10 gift for the gift exchange...I'll have to think about that and track down something.

I will have J. set up the wrapping table in the bedroom so I can start getting stuff wrapped and ready. Oh, what a joy it would be to not have any wrapping to do on Christmas eve - to just be able to sit and enjoy The Santa Clause with the boys...hot cocoa with ZILLIONS of marshmallows to keep us warm. Fire in the fireplace. Leisurely. Doesn't that sound heavenly? The odds are 50/50 so far....I'll keep you posted.

J.'s just coming downstairs to head to church. Guess I'd better get upstairs and showered before getting B. out of bed.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....
Everywhere you go.....

UPDATE:

B. and I did attend church with J. - we left J. at church since he was playing bass today and had to stay for the next service - and headed for breakfast at Manny's Java Makers. B. wanted to be sure to head to the gym before he had to be at work and we weren't positive we could make it there and back with enough time. Oh, and our stomachs were growling all through church and needed food badly. So we had a nice breakfast together.

Son # 2 is in hot water well past his eye-balls. He has lost his car privileges, had his cell phone confiscated and is restricted to his room for the foreseeable future. I've been looking at boarding schools...yes, really. I know I'm over-reacting but the things we've just identified are incomprehensible and upsetting and we're not sure what the best approach is. I've bitten off three fingernails in the last 20 minutes. I hate it when I do that - as if mangling my hard-to-grow nails is going to make a hill of beans worth of difference. It is what it is, after all - and what it isn't. And no amount of fretting about it will change that. He is behaving in a way that we never imagined - and his 'circle of friends' are people we no longer want him associating with. He's become sneaky and manipulative - lying and generally doing whatever he can get away with. We'll be doing bed checks throughout the night from this point forward...and other checks as well, including logging every mile on the car that is now off limits to him. He will be transported to/from school by a parent and will have no social privileges at all...and the more we do those things, the pissier he will become. Hence the boarding school....not really a viable option, but oh, how tempting.

It's going to be a long two weeks of winter break......spending 24/7 in with a caged up teen. Is there a Christmas carol for that situation? Perhaps I will attempt to craft one.