Holiday Hooplah!

Yeah, all this Holiday preparation, not too mention work, has interfered with my navel-gazing, blog reading, posting desires. Which seems completely unfair given my unrequited love for my fellow man...oh, sorry, that's another post all together involving one neighbor and large piles of snow.

It seems one can survive on just 4-5 hours of sleep a night for two weeks straight. Survive being the operative word here, thriving being another matter.

My brain is foggy and my eyeballs feel like someone rubbed grit in them. The snow-whomping we had this past weekend overtaxed my muscles and I feel like a creaky old lady. Mostly because I sit my ass behind a desk and stare at a computer screen all day, so when called upon to heft and heave two feet of snow from the driveway, I'm a whimpering pansy ass for the rest of the week. Oh, how I love thee, my Wong To Yick.

Ace unfortunately strained his lower back while shoveling also, so he's been grounded by the chiropractor for a time until that heals so he can get back to swim practice. My mean grumpy mother side still thinks he did it on purpose to avoid cleaning his room. But he's an achy boy right now, so we'll sit on him for a few days to keep him resting. Not an easy thing to do with a 14-year-old who does not know the meaning of "take care of yourself!"

Despite my poorly planned holiday preparations, I've managed to finish the necklaces I made for my mother-in-law and sister, which hopefully I remember to take pictures for posting, because if I do say so myself, they turned out fucking awesome. One super dense and creamy Gluten Free Cheesecake was created with Love for SuperHubby last night, finishing up somewhere around 9:00 pm. I take pride in the fact that I did not forget to remove it from the oven and it actually made it nto the refrigerator last night. Sometimes things do not make the transition, memory loss and all that.

SuperHubby being the present planner and shopper was able to acquire most of the presents well in advance of the mad shopping rush, because he is frugal and loves to find the best bargain, which can be done all year long when one is committed. I love his dogged determination in that area. Gift giving has gotten a whole loteeasier in the past few years with his shop early and regularly strategy!

Giggles went on her own creative streak over the past two weeks and made all of her Christmas gifts by hand. She loves working with polymer clay and creating these great ornaments and sculptures. It's great to see her so intent on creating the perfect gift for the people on her list. She made Ace an ornament shaped like a monkey. It's so sweet and quirky and I think he will treasure it for a very long time. She's been telling me how much I'm going to love what she made me,so I can't wait for the grand unveiling tomorrow morning.

We're a tired bunch in Catootesville, given the crazy family schedule, so the next few days of family gatherings will be fun and joyful, a time for love, laughter and way too much food. And maybe some good bourbon.

While we stuff ourselves, unwrap gifts, laugh and love in our home, I wish the same Holiday Warmth & Cheer and Prosperous New Year blessing to all!

Catch you all in 2010!