Gerber Baby Smile

Well we didn't catch in on the camera, but Caitlyn laid out one heck of a gerber baby smile this morning. Adam got up and was mildly complaining to Marisa that the baby cried a lot last night. Marisa said she only got up once last night. So Marisa was holding the baby and I took one of Caitlyn's hands jiggling it and said (in baby talk), did you keep mommy up last night--no response, then I said (still in baby talk) did you keep Uncle Adam awake last night and right on cue, Caitlyn smiled so brightly and so big, it was like looking at a gerber baby ad. It even got a smile out of Uncle Adam.

Five Days, that can't be right

Sean's blog says that there are five days til Christmas (on that ticker thing)--how can it be that close already? I haven't even sent out all my Christmas cards yet. My list is over 300 this year, but I physically don't have time. I figured out over the weekend that if I really pushed it, I could do one every 30 seconds, but that actually it took about 3 to 5 minutes for each card, because I wanted to add something. Then I'd get writer's block. "All the best in 2006" is pretty good, but I didn't come up with it until about card 120.

My job gets tougher near the end because I run out of the cool Christmas cards and I'm down to the bargain basement ones. Do I really want to send a bargain basement card to remind people to hire me as their attorney--no, not too much. Every year I get to this point (although it's usually at the begining of December and not FIVE DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS) and I go out and buy really expensive cards. Then I get my credit card bill and I berate myself--what was I thinking. So this year, no going out and spending money at the last minute--if they are not at the top of the list and I don't want to send the bottem of the barrel cards (actually all the cards are very nice, but I'm so picky that I have my favorites and those I just don't like as well), then maybe, just maybe they don't get a Christmas card this year. No, no that will never do. Sleep is overrated--I think I'll pump out those last 150 in no time tonight. Gold Snowmen on cards are perfectly respectible and lovely Christmas cards. Merry Christmas in bright bold colors brightens anyone's day.

Plans for the Collection's office party on Friday are progressing nicely. I've had one RSVP. I put on the flyer that everyone had to bring a roll of quarters and keep it if they won or they could play with "house" quarters, but that all the "house" money and anything won over their first roll of quarters goes to charity. Now I have a client meeting that morning. This could get dicey if I can't come to the party that I'm forcing everyone else to go to. Well "forcing" is a bit strong, I mean sure I'm nominally the boss, but really it's more like strongly encouraging. All the same, it's going to be a disaster if I can't even go. Five days, how can that be?

Forty, Smorty

So after all that worrying that I wouldn't have forty hours to finish my project, I'm done and my log is at 41 hours. Sure I got up early on Sunday morning and was late to the Kiwanis Christmas party and I stayed until 10:30 last night to finish, but it is done. Now I can start my Christmas cards.

The tour of homes was wonderful. I had the best home on the planet, it was decorated so, so pretty. The owners made four gingerbread houses that were absolutely adorable. I never had any interest in them before, but now I want to make one. I also have never been a fan of fireplaces, but in their home, the fire in the fireplace was so wonderful. It almost makes me want to fix ours--almost. Sunday night after the Kiwanis Christmas party, I finally got busy to decorate our tree. We're late this year, because someone went off to the hospital to have a baby around Thanksgiving--I'm not naming any names, you know who you are. Actually, I just took out the ornaments that I liked and Adam put them all on the tree. I got him to put the lights on also, but he didn't put the beads on--I finished that this morning. All in all, I'd say we're getting into the Christmas spirit pretty good.

At the office we are having a gift card exchange for our stealing santa gifts. At first I pooh poohed the idea--I don't want a gift card. But then someone suggested a really unusual gift card--the .99 cents store or somewhere like that and now I'm thinking, this could be interesting. The collection department for the last few years has gone a little crazy exchanging gifts, so this year Peter said, let's just go out to lunch instead. Yeah another opportunity for me to pull out the tired old subject about how few things I eat and the whys and wherefores. So then I had the brilliant idea--let's stay in and play Michigan Rummy at lunch instead. Order sandwiches from downstairs and play a really fun game. (You eat sandwiches from downstairs was Jim's response--no of course I don't eat sandwiches from downstairs). Then I said, we can even play for real money. Now I had people's attention. This is going to be fun.

Forty, Smorty

So after all that worrying that I wouldn't have forty hours to finish my project, I'm done and my log is at 41 hours. Sure I got up early on Sunday morning and was late to the Kiwanis Christmas party and I stayed until 10:30 last night to finish, but it is done. Now I can start my Christmas cards.

The tour of homes was wonderful. I had the best home on the planet, it was decorated so, so pretty. The owners made four gingerbread houses that were absolutely adorable. I never had any interest in them before, but now I want to make one. I also have never been a fan of fireplaces, but in their home, the fire in the fireplace was so wonderful. It almost makes me want to fix ours--almost. Sunday night after the Kiwanis Christmas party, I finally got busy to decorate our tree. We're late this year, because someone went off to the hospital to have a baby around Thanksgiving--I'm not naming any names, you know who you are. Actually, I just took out the ornaments that I liked and Adam put them all on the tree. I got him to put the lights on also, but he didn't put the beads on--I finished that this morning. All in all, I'd say we're getting into the Christmas spirit pretty good.

At the office we are having a gift card exchange for our stealing santa gifts. At first I pooh poohed the idea--I don't want a gift card. But then someone suggested a really unusual gift card--the .99 cents store or somewhere like that and now I'm thinking, this could be interesting. The collection department for the last few years has gone a little crazy exchanging gifts, so this year Peter said, let's just go out to lunch instead. Yeah another opportunity for me to pull out the tired old subject about how few things I eat and the whys and wherefores. So then I had the brilliant idea--let's stay in and play Michigan Rummy at lunch instead. Order sandwiches from downstairs and play a really fun game. (You eat sandwiches from downstairs was Jim's response--no of course I don't eat sandwiches from downstairs). Then I said, we can even play for real money. Now I had people's attention. This is going to be fun.

You have Snow, we have rain

Tomorrow is the Hoover Tour of Homes. Sunday is the Kiwanis Christmas party. Both events would be complicated greatly by inclement weather and yet, the heavens decided that it was time to rain today. Luckily the sun is peeking through and hopefully, the clouds now have that out of their system. They've had their cry and now it's time to get back to sunny and nice.

I was the chair for Tour of Homes about four years ago. I did the tickets, I arranged all the walk throughs with the home, I arranged everything with the florists--I basically did a whole lot of work. Two years ago I was the house mom for a very nice house. I helped arrange the tickets for the chair, but basically I just showed up at the house that day with no duties writing scripts or calling florists or anything like that. That was a nice year. Last year I didn't have to help with the tickets--Yea!, but the chair kept bugging me--did I call the florist, did I write the script, did I do a walk through with the owner. Then somehow I was getting a gift for the owner. It seemed like a lot of work and I was exhausted at the end of the day. This year I am again a house "mom" and I am going to write the script (in the next hour actually--they are waiting for it). The chair wanted to know if I had arranged a walk through with the florist and I was forced to point out that she'd never told me their name and phone number. She tried to reach me frantically in a two hour window that I was not available and said that the homeowners wanted to cancel their participation because I hadn't arranged a final walk through. I'm really tired of P t a. I know it's for the kids, but really. I'm tired before the day of the tour even begins--that's just not a good sign.

Alright, I've had my cry. Time to be nice and sunny and have a great tour of homes.