wait...wait...yup, there it is....New Year's Eve headache. Oh, and look...my ibuprofen expires 01/10. Time to chow down! (kidding)   maybe it's because I spent (wasted?) hours trying to, let's say, "address" my office space. I hate seeing how out of control that mess (my life?) is buried in piles of paper.   Would like to say I resolve to stay organized, on top of the mail, and simplify...but yeah, I don't like to set goals I know I won't reach. Not this year.   At least I found a couple of holiday cards that didn't make it into the mail (I must have run out of stamps at the time) and I found a bill before it got lost in the shuffle, and thumbing through Emily's projects made me smile. Love the "alien" drawings and caterpillars and rainbows.   Time to scrape together a very rough budget, unless I skip that and chill for 15 minutes before getting the kiddos.   Goodbye '09, here's looking at you, 2010

things that made me smile this week...rockin' out (in my car) to Susannah's Christmas mix CD - totally awsome fun!!! finally asked the mister how to get the CD player to work (it uses the tape-1 input, why???) and now I can rock out at home!!! elle loves music and emily loves Jingle Bells...   had a (very) short week and wrapped it up having saki shot into my mouth at a team lunch, now that's entertainment.   bought some fancy ribbons tonight, hoping to put a little dazzle on the "fair" wrapping job I did. I found red ribbon with white polka dots! i think i love polka dots, there's something about polka dots that's whimsical and orderly at the same time. love it.   emily got a candy bracelet from school and doesn't realize it's candy (and we're not telling her) hahahahah....   "happiness isn't the absence of conflict, it's the ability to cope with it" ...from fortune cookie   wishing I spent more time with family and friends, but grateful for the good times we've had this year and looking ahead to more!

maybe a piece of chocolate will help get me going... instead of drifing off into a nap   OR...I could sleep all afternoon, hang out tonight, set my alarm for 5:30 am and clean tomorrow morning!!!

haven't finished shopping. sick of wrapping, I'm decidely NOT a good wrapper and it takes me for freaking ever to do wrap anything. nothing I bought this year was boxed, except books. would love to know how to tie beautiful, fluffy bows.   I'm not exaggerating when I say we live in squalor. This place is ri-dic-u-lous. seriously.   I thought I got a head start by cleaning the upstairs last weekend, but that needs a do-over and the downstairs is just... a crap explosion everywhere I look. the picking up is the part I hate most. once all the shit is put away, the actual CLEANING is a breeze in comparison.   emily's class is making cookies at school today, I wish I could have a sneak peek at them doing that. we brought in some awesome red, green, and white round, chocolate-filled decorations. not sure how they'll stick to cookies, but the picture of the decorated cupcake looked so cool.   I guess I have to at least clean up all my wrapping evidence...and have some lunch.

funny I somehow negelcted to mentio my best (shopping) deal of the year here....last week I snagged a grey/purple plaid wool coat for $19....or so I thought until I looked at the receipt the other day and noticed it was only $12 with the coupon I had used. CHING!!!   Saturday was a complete disaster. I should have known the day would be just "off" when the mister slept in until 9 am. That's unheard of, and there were hungry birds and not much in the way of breakfast. They were ok with my pancake attempt but were asking for snacks 20 minutes later. Sure felt like someone needed food all damn day, like a waitressing shift that just wouldn't stop (and nobody was tipping either). I tried making risotto for the first time, with roasted butternut squash, and literally had to get the job done while the baby was screaming non-stop because she was gated out of the kitchen while I was cooking. Then Emily couldn't stand the screaming any longer and SHE started wailing. Seriously, I couldn't get a single moment of peace yesterday. Today better not be a repeat, so help me. My fantasy today would be nothing more than an EMPTY house so I could CLEAN. What's wrong with this picture?? Ok then, so downstairs we go. Thank god tomorrow is MONDAY. and I can go to WORK.

we opened a package from grandma this morning (as instructed) and emily was halfway to heaven with a stack of decorations to stick on the windows and shiny red shoes to wear, but the best thing (I thought) was a construction paper chain, red and green, with the dates labeled on them. Every night emily can tear off one chain and that's how she'll know how many days are left until christmas. Emily's at the perfect age to do this...what a neat little thing to do.

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