Christmas Eve, Day & Day After

Wow, so much excitement over the holiday.

For starters, how about that snow??

We couldn't have asked for a better way to start the Holiday. I think the last white Christmas in Texas was like 80 years ago, so clearly I missed it. We did have to forego candlelight service at church, which mom was not too happy about, but somehow we did survive. :) We had snacks, and tasty beverages (helped me get over missing church real fast), watched a movie, played some cards and called it a night. My mom thought it would be a great idea to put the ham in the oven at midnight and cook it all night. In theory it was perfect. That is until about 4:00am when we all started smelling it cooking and pretty much wanted to get up and eat right then.

Got our stockings, opened presents, had a nice breakfast and then started getting ready for our company. I decided this year to be quite domestic and make homemade desserts. So here are my pineapple upsidedown cake and chocolate raspberry torte. Yes, they were delicious!



Had a lovely day with friends and family. Went home pretty late then I met up with mom and dad this morning for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We did some Christmas shopping for next year to get a jump on things and had a yummy breakfast too. Breakfast and shopping is almost as good as dinner and a show. :)


Then we had a nice time visiting with Brandon's dad and step-mom. Brandon and his dad began a relationship in October after not having one for 17 years. So far so good. They are making an effort, and I couldn't have asked for a better step-mom for B. She is the way coolest ever and has been really accepting of this whole thing. This was the first time for them to meet my parents, but all went well and I am sure Brandon was pleased to have all the most special people to him in one room.













Here are a couple more pics of B to wrap up this blog. He got some new clothes for Christmas that he really liked and wanted to dress up for us. I just think he looks so handsome! Thanks for checking out my blog. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!

So, here I am at work after passing right on through the Alcon warning screen on blog pages. I feel like it is just a suggestion that I halt, not the law. Anyway, it felt like there was lead in my legs this morning walking in from the parking lot. There is still a lot for me to do before year end, but not an ounce of me wants to do any of it. I should still be at home snuggled in my bed. Or meeting a friend for breakfast. Or wrapping the few more gifts I got last night at Target even though I swore I was done shopping.

So let me tell you about Target 3 days before Christmas. I have decided to impress all the guests at my folks for Christmas by making a homemade pineapple upside down cake and some scrumptious raspberry chocolate torte thingy. I had a Target gift card to spend so figured I would buy groceries with it. Dark brown sugar, nope, out. Light brown sugar, nope, out. Semi sweet chocolate baking bars, nope, out. How do you run out of those things at Christmas? Shouldn't they have some storage space in the back with the Holiday staple supplies? In fact I think they should order those items daily to keep them stocked. Ok, so moving on. The next source of my annoyance was the woman shopping with her dog in her arms. This is not Beverly Hills, she was far from being Paris Hilton or any of those other stick figure people. Really??? A dog in the grocery store. She wasn't visually impaired. Why was this allowed? If I weren't trying to have the Christmas Freaking Spirit, I would contemplate calling the store and talking to management about posting a sign on the door, "No shoes, no shirt, and a dog unless you are blind, no entrance." Then, of course there were all the people either mute or rude that couldn't say excuse me when they bumped into me or my basket, or chose to stand in front of the area I needed for a good 5 minutes just staring. The best part of my experience at Target was in the shoe department. I was looking for a nice pair of dress shoes for Brandon. There was only one man in the whole shoe department. I figured since he was dressed basically in the same gangsta clothes my son likes to sport that I would ask him what shoes of the 3 I was contemplating he would recommend. So, he came closer to observe and I do believe I caught a buzz off of his second hand exhaling. He was lit. Eyes red, kind of slurring, stunk like a bar, but he did pick the shoes I was going to. So I thanked him, we had some small obligatory exchange of pleasantries, and I moved along. Caught him in the next 2 areas I visited. I am sure it must have been a coincidence.

So, I was so exhausted from the whole Target experience that I passed out at 9:30. Yes, I know that is shocking for me to be in bed before 2:00, but I just couldn't stay awake. Then I had a lovely 3.5 hour nap and was awake for the next hour. Got up to check on my son and he and a friend were playing video games. Somehow he talked me into making him bacon at 1:30am. Still not sure how I agreed to that. Went back to bed and probably fell back to sleep around my usually time of 2:00am. This morning just felt like I didn't sleep at all.

So I will try to end this blog on a positive note. Someone brought donuts to work today and there was one blueberry one left, which is my favorite. Will drink my coffee, eat my donut, and try to fake the inspiration to do the work that needs to be done today.

I would love any suggestions on where to look to change my background to something a little more sparkly, like me. :) Hope everyone has a great day. And my little nugget of wisdom to all of you, STAY AWAY FROM TARGET!

The End....

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Well, I am going to have to get used to Brandon not being around once he graduates from High School this next year, so I am going to start blogging to pass the time. If I can figure out myspace and facebook, I should be able to do this for sure. Give me some time to give it the "Danielle Flare" though. Please feel free to send me any tips.

So yesterday and today I didn't feel so great. Sinus or allergies I guess. Managed to stay home all day yesterday and today, with the exception of taking movies back and getting dinner tonight. Brandon has a new best friend and has been at his house since school let out early on Friday. I did take him to the movies on Friday night, but when I found out AVATAR was in 3D I bailed and went to see Did You Hear About the Morgans instead. Then he popped home about 1:30 this morning to pick up clothes. We texted a couple times today, but that's it. My baby is finally leaving the nest. Mixed feelings of sad and accomplished. He really is a great kid.

Maybe I will join a book club, or go to wine tastings to pass some time. Anyone have any suggestions?

So I will post my very first blog now. Let's see how I do.