Twas the Night Before Christmas

What a great was to celebrate the holidays!! Bill and I just got back from taking our dog, Samantha, to the pet store to pick out her holiday goodies. She has a great time. She got to ride in the truck, sniff around the store, and say hello to the other doggies. She picked out some Dingo bones, pig ears, a new mat for under her bowl, and a new harness (OK, we actually picked that last one for her).

Tonight, we plan to kick back and just enjoy. We will have a dinner of salad followed by red beans and rice with sausage. We have two movies to watch and much beer to consume. All the Christmas lights will be on and we will be warm by the fire. We are so lucky to have what we have.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Christmas Letter

For two years now, Bill and I have been sending a Christmas letter out with our Christmas cards. It is a nice way to let friends and family we do not get to see often what we have been doing during the year. We limit it to one page, front only. We think it is fun to put together and I hope others enjoy it as well.

Our friends sent us their Christmas newsletter. It was 2 full pages, front and back. Bearing in mind that they do have 6 children (and one on the way), I still think that their letter is too long. I especially think it was too long when she started listing out the top ten things that they support. When I got to "marriage is between one man and one woman" I had to stop reading.

I personally do not think it is necessary to put my political and religious views in out Christmas letter. If I did, it would read something like this:

1. Marriage is between any two people who love one another
2. All women should have the right to choose to have an abortion
3. There should be a flat income tax - the rich should have to bear the bulk of the burden
4. The war in Iraq is ridiculous
5. I support the troops who have been made to fight in this war, but not the people who put them there.
6. We have more important battles in our own country and other less fortunate places in the world.


Anyway, you get the point. Now, as a liberal, I believe that everyone has a right to free speech. So, I guess I can't fault our friends for sharing their beliefs. I just think the manner in which they did it was a bit strange. I also think that I have the freedom to stop reading their letters and to disagree at will.

The end is near...

I am nearing the end of my employment at the ad agency. I resigned my position about 3 weeks ago. I will start a new job on January 2. What a great way to start a brand new year with a brand new job! I am very excited - I think my new job will be a better fit for me. I will miss the people I work with, but I am happy to be leaving. I really want to be a part of something bigger, something more stable. I am ready to start again. I am so glad I have a chance to do so.

We are Party People

So, our first party went incredibly well! We had 18 guests to our home Saturday night. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and so many hidden connections were found. My friend Sarah went to high school at the same school as Kevin in Augusta, GA. Her older sister was in his class. Our friends, Janet and Dan, had looked at the house next door when it was for sale about 2 years ago. They were able to meet the current owners, Tom and Karen, in our kitchen. There really are only 6 degrees of separation! There was plenty of food (Bill and I will be eating appetizers all week) and way too much to drink! We only drank 2 out of 8 bottles of wine, and we have over six 12 packs of beer left. I guess our friends are not heavy drinkers.

I am so glad we did it. Sure, it was nerve racking, expensive, and a pain to clean up, but it was worth it all. I had the best time entertaining our friends and getting to know everyone a little better. We may not be able to wait until next Christmas to throw another party.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Christmas is now 11 days away. I know you will find this statement hard to believe, but I tend to go a bit overboard during the holidays. I have sent out about 76 Christmas cards. To whom you may ask? Just about every single person I or my husband has ever met. I sent cards to our dentist, our stockbroker, and our dog kennel. Of course, I have been going to the same dentist for over 13 years. He even sent a plant when my mother passed away. My broker sent me a card, so that one is even. And the kennel - well, our card has a picture of Sammy on it. I hope they will display it with all the other dog pictures.

As for presents, I have been shopping for over a month for Bill. Every time I think I am done, I buy more. Really - I think it is some sort of sickness. I guess it's just like the party, I keep fearing that I will not have enough, so I keep getting more. I am afraid he will not like what he gets, so the more options I have the better. Really - I never seem to know when to stop. I think that is tied in to the need to have everything to be perfect. If I have too little food for the party, then I will be a failure. My self esteem can't take that sort of hit. I have so little of it anyway. I guess that's why I go overboard - so people will like me. Wow, a little psychology lesson in this blog entry. Not what I was expecting when I started writing.

Do I have enough food and drink?

So, this weekend is the big party. Bill and I are throwing our first ever party for the holidays. We have invited over 50 people, and have about 20 people coming so far. Now, I am panicked about having enough food and drink. I went to the grocery store last night and purchased a cart full of food. We are going to have quite a variety of things, but I still fear that there may not be enough. I think we are going to have lots of leftovers, but I still worry that the party may not be a success. I wish I could have faith that all will be well. I guess these are the reasons why we have not had a party before now!

On the bright side, our new wine cooler/refrigerator arrived yesterday. Bill hooked it all up and it looks great. It was a fantastic idea of his to buy it and it will come in handy for Saturday night.

Tis The Season for Giving and Giving and Giving

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. There is great joy in the air and a general feeling of goodness for the whole month of December. There are also numerous requests for giving. Here is what I have done through today, December 6:

Gift exchange for work party
Gift exchange (2) for car club party
Gift for work Adopt-A-Family
Food donation at the local grocery store
Gift donation for The Junior League Community Basket
Toys for Tots Car Rally donation

I have enough and I know I am truly blessed. I don't mind giving, but there is so much!! It is just hard to get to the stores to buy all this stuff. The most wonderful time of the year indeed!!

Holiday Eating in Full Swing

So, I went to my first official holiday party on Friday night. A woman at work threw a cocktail party for some of the ladies in our company. I thought it would be appetizers, but it was a full dinner. I stuffed myself silly with the great food she had and that others brought. After all that food, we did a gift exchange that was perhaps one of the funniest things I had ever done. People were going crazy and screaming to steal the gift they wanted. Luckily, I got the $20 gift card for Total Wine that I wanted. It's better than getting stuck with a box of stationary.

Saturday followed with the second official party of the season. We had our Piedmont Chevy Classic Car Club dinner. Everyone brought food to the party. We have some great cooks in our club - so good in fact that we brought up the idea of making a club cookbook. One of our members, Larry Deal and his son, caught fresh fish for the dinner. They cut it in small pieces and delicately fried it. It was fantastic - no bones at all! There was a blackberry wine cake to die for as well. We also did a gift exchange. While I got exactly what I wanted, Bill was stuck with a salt and pepper shaker. The salt was a cigar, and the pepper was an ashtray. It was horrible (Bill said it looked like a turd in a toilet bowl). It went right in the trash.

So, next party - The JLDOC Holiday party on Wednesday. More food, drink, and pounds...

To Be a Canes Fan

Last night, Michelle (mac1995.blogspot.com), Jon, Bill, and I went to the Carolina Hurricanes Game. You never know what you are going to see when you go to the game. They can be absolutely horrible (November 2 loss to Montreal) or they can be amazing like last night. The Canes beat the Habs 4-2 with 48 shots on goal. They showed flashes of the brilliance that made them Stanley Cup Champions. They played as a team, with several players contributing to the victory. It was a pleasure to watch, and even better because we had 2 for 1 seats on the lower level. Please, boys, just keep it up. We'll see you on December 22.