Hey! Ya know what's fun?

Storm damage!

It is H-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s!!!!

So this one day back in May. You know that day that the world was supposed to end? I forget the exact date now and I am really far far too lazy to look it up. If you are not lazy like I am or have a better memory for such things feel free to put it to me in a comment.

Anyhoo...End of the World Day. The Babble Children whom I affectionately refer to as #1 and #2 were watching the clock somewhat carefully while we finished dinner and made fun of people who really thought the rapture was upon us. A few minutes after 6:00 PM #2 shouts, "Hooray! We survived! The world didn't end!" The words were barely out of her mouth when....

The tornado sirens went off.

The children in the House of Babble DO NOT take well to storms. Which really sucks for them seeing as how we live in Kansas, and y'know we tend to get some weather 'round these parts.

As usual we headed for the nearest TV to see what was going on. I was not worried as the sirens go off all over the county even if the tornado is in the farthest corner heading away from town.

Welll......turns out we actually had ourselves some funnel clouds in town.

None of them were particularly close to our house, so we were counting ourselves pretty lucky.

Then.....

Hail.

Big. Ass. Motherfucking. Hail.

Most were at least the size of golfballs or eggs. Some were the size of baseballs.

This storm kind of came from nowhere, and we had planned to go do some errands after dinner, so we left my car out of the garage, because dammit it is a lot of work to get out of the car, fold up the side mirrors, open the garage door manually and all that crap. So I don't put the car away until I am sure that I am done for the day. Unless it snows. Then all of the above seems like a lot less work than cleaning snow off the car. BH can't put his car in the garage because there is too much crap on his side. My car gets preference because it is only a year old.

Only a year old.

People I am not ashamed to say that I was fighting back tears as I watched that Big.Ass.Motherfucking.Hail. pound my pretty one year old car.

So eventually the storm ended after what seemed like 100 years. We went out to assess the damage and marvel over the vast size and amount of hail that had fallen. The girls were able to fill a wagon with hailstones and it didn't even look like they had made a dent.

The cars were pummeled. BH's even had a crack in the windshield.

So come Monday the great race to contact the insurance company began. Took me until almost noon to reach them. We didn't get appointments for the adjustors to come out until the middle of June.

Turns out this was one hell of an expensive hail storm.

As a result the Babble Family will soon have:

1 New Roof (previous was only 9 years old)
1 New set of gutters (just had new gutters installed 2 years ago)
1 New Garage Roof
1 Freshly painted garage
Freshly painted house trim

Sadly BH's car was old enough and damaged enough that they totalled his car out. He has decided to keep it as it runs great and he don't care 'bout no stinkin' hail dents.

My car is going to be practically new again once they are done. I am getting a brand new hood. new roof, and a new trunk, to go along with a new paint job.

To keep this from getting any longer, arranging repair estimates and getting things scheduled has been a nightmare and a full time job for BH. The only repair that has been completed to date is replacing the winddhield on BH's car.

Roof repair has to happen first. That should be soon, since they said they were scheduling 4 weeks out and it has been just about that long since they gave that estimate. They also placed a sign in our yard today so that makes us hopeful. None of the rest of the house/garage repair can be done until the roof happens. So nothing has even been scheduled for the house past the roof.

My car won't be repaired until the middle of October.

Yup. October.

Not too happy about that, but nothing to be done I suppose.

In a few moments of desperation I considered trading it in, because it was going to be such a hassle to have it out of commission for so long.

Then I pulled my head out of my ass.

So I guess the moral of the story is don't make fun of the fake Rapture, or God/Mother Nature may get out can of whoop-ass and open it up all over your house and cars.

BH and I are HOTT I tell you. H-O-T-T.

BH's parents left the state with our children yesterday.

Calm down. They had our permission.

BH and I would have gone, but you know we had BIG! SEXY! PLANS!

Like, working.

And thesis writing.

It don't get much sexier than that people.

You want to know what is even hotter?

Tonight after a romantic dinner of frozen pizza and salad from a bag, we went out for fro-yo, then hit the Club.

You know the one. The BIG club.

Sam's Club.

Sam's just wasn't happening enough for us, so we blew that sorry joint and headed to Target.

Then we needed a little down time so we rolled on over to his parent's house, so that I could scoop their cats' litter boxes. Let me tell you.....I am dead sexy when wielding a poop scoop. BH just couldn't keep his hands off me.

After that smokin' little interlude we were off again. To the GROCERY STORE.

I would tell you what happened there but you know what they say...

What happens at the GROCERY STORE stays at the GROCERY STORE.

Etiquette lesson for those who attend concerts.

WARNING: Grumpy content to follow.

Dear People Who Attend Concerts,

I know that you have likely imbibed a fair amount of alcohol, and or other substances prior to the main performer taking the stage. I have no issue with that. Everyone goes to a concert to SEE the performer and have a good time.

Let's talk a bit about that, "seeing the performer thing."

Chances are when you go to a concert, someone is standing behind you. Yes. Really. Even though you can't see them they are there let me assure you.

I am going to let you in on something. They are not amused by your dumb ass attempts at becoming the next Martin Scorcese with your cell phone, or point and shoot camera. Guess what that video you are working so hard to get? Is going to be SHITTY. Poor picture quality AND awful sound. Just be content with the memories in your mind like we did in the old days. If you want to take a few crappy quality pictures...go right ahead. I am compelled to do the same. But after a couple of shots, put away the damn camera and watch the concert you paid good money to see.

All of the above goes triple for people standing behind me. I do not enjoy you getting in my bubble and holding your shitty camera phone over my head to GET THE SHITTY VIDEO YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE OR HEAR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!

Now let's talk about dancing. I expect and have been known to engage in dancing at concerts. Perfectly acceptable. However.....

When the show is standing room only and sold out, please keep your dancing down to moves that do not take you out of your little square of space. It's a concert not SYTYCD or a Tae Bo class. Bust those moves at home while listening to your ipod. This goes triple if it is an outdoor concert in the middle of July in Kansas when the heat index reaches a record 118 degrees.

Singing. Listen...I get that you are a big fan, have all the albums on your ipod, and know the lyrics better than the performer. I did not pay $50 or more to hear you sing off key in my ear. I have been to a lot of concerts. Eventually the performer will invite you to sing along. Please keep your singing limited to that time. Save the rest for your shower or the car ride home.

General Admission rules: I got my ass to the venue early, and stood around in the 118 degree heat prior to the opening act hitting the stage so that I could have a good spot as close to the stage as possible. If you come in drunk halfway through the set and try to get in front of me you can bet your intoxicated ass that I am going to protect my territory and I am NOT going to be nice about it. Put down the bottle, bong, or all of the above, get YOUR ass to the show early and get your own damn sweet spot near the stage. I have a big purse, a loud bitchy mouth, and I am not afraid to use both in such a situation.

That is all.

Thank you and let me enjoy the show.

The obligatory catching up post

Last week I made over.

This week I write.

Where to begin?

This summer has been very laid back for the most part at the House of Babble.

BH has been working diligently on completing his masters degree. He has one class down. Only the capstone left to go. It is due July 29. He defends it August 8 and then he is done done done! I am thinking long and hard about throwing a major celebratory bash. I can't decide whether or not to do it now, or wait until graduation. Assuming he plans to participate in the ceremony.

I should probably ask about that.

I did not attend the graduation ceremony when I finished my masters degree. It was held in California, and I was in Kansas. We had a 9 month old baby, I was working part-time, BH had just gone back to school to get his second BA so that he could teach one day. There was no money for a trip to Cali for my ceremony. I was very sad, but we did have a great party at home. My only regret now is totally silly I know. Since I didn't go to the ceremony, I did not order the graduation attire. That means I do not have my masters hood. I still harbour some sadness about that. I have the diploma, which is the most important thing. I had a lot of fantasies about wearing that hood to get me through the long months at the end of my degree. So it hurt a bit not to get it.

Suffice it to say, I will be working hard not to project my sadness over missing my own graduation ceremony on to BH and bully him into attending his own should he decide that he doesn't wish to do so.

I will bully him into a party though.

Mostly because I like parties.

Also, he has worked long and hard and should celebrate his success. Especially since he is graduating with a 4.0.

What else has gone on this summer?

#1 now has a full mouthful of braces. They actually look pretty cute, and give her just a slight lisp.

I should get a picture of her, I have failed to do that as of this post.

#1's parents now have a healthcare flex account that is getting drained at an alarming rate.

Glad to have it.

I have seen 2 of the 3 concerts I wanted to attend this summer so far.

Remember that Ben Folds concert I hoped to talk BH into attending with me?

WELLL...I decided that I really couldn't justify the cost of a third concert this summer so I decided to let it go. THEN! An out of town radio station was holding an online contest to win tickets to several different shows, one being Ben Folds. I entered with my usual low expectations. A few weeks after, I get mail from that radio station. I was a bit perplexed by the envelope as I didn't recall right away that I had entered that contest. I opened the envelope to find two tickets to see Ben Folds! Yayy! I will be attending that show tomorrow!

The Mumford and Sons/Cake show needs a do-over. Guess what guys! I am old! Standing for 4.5 hours in 96 degree heat at an outdoor venue crammed in with 10,000 people does not amuse me. Especially when you are not far from the stage, and can not see a fucking thing because you are short, and people feel the need to shoot shitty video with their cell phone that they are holding over your head. Both bands sounded great. I experienced claustrophobia for the first time ever, and for the first time ever left a show before it ended. So you can clearly see where the do-over comes in.

Elvis Costello. Oh Elvis. He is a fucking fantastic performer. We were again out in the heat in standing room only. It was 101 degrees this time. However this outdoor venue only held 2000 people and did so comfortably. Did I mention that we were in the front row? Front row as in there was no one between us and the stage except for one very friendly security guy? E.C. played for 2 hours and despite the heat and my tired feet, I could have happily listend to him play for two more hours. This goes down as one of the top 5 concerts I have seen. It made up for the crappy experience I had last month.

I have high hopes for Ben Folds tomorrow. It is at the same venue where we saw Elvis Costello. The fact that we are going for free will make it all the better!

The girls have spent the last 5 weeks at theater camp, and have loved it despite the copious bitching we heard at the very beginning of summer. We usually only do one 3 week session of camp per summer. This year we did 2, because BH needed the time to do school work, and the girls believed this to be a grave injustice to them and their summer plans of sitting around the house reading, complaining about only having an hour of screen time every day, and being bored. This week will be their last for camp. Then they are off to Missouri with grandparents for a week. Not sure how I will fill my child free time. Never been at home for such a long time without the children. No big exciting plans for us, since BH will be one week from his capstone project due date, and will have to focus on that. I should probably start planning what I would like to do during my child free evenings at home.

I have enjoyed the slower pace of this summer. I am actually not looking forward to returning to school time schedule. It is always so crazy. I have not missed having a big vacation planned this summer so far. There have been a few twinges here and there, but overall I am OK with it. Travel kind of stresses me out as my two readers well know, so it is nice not to have to deal with it this time.

I have babbled on enough. I think you all get the jist of what I have or haven't been up to so far.

Now I have to start thinking about upcoming posts about my garden, storm damage repair, crazy ass state politics, and my sad sad JBTBH.

Make Over!

I told BH I was working on my blog, and he was all kinds of supportive and enthusiastic.

Then he saw that I was primarily working on the layout and he laughed at me! Apperances are important. It's all the blog has going for it. Poor neglected thing.

Now this blog was long overdue for make over in my opinion. At the very least some new pictures were in order.

So now my blog has a fresh new look.

Here's hoping for some fresh new content.

Duuuude

I gotta do something with this blog.
For realsies.

Thoughts

When I work out of my comfort zone, it makes me very anxious.
When I am very anxious I don't do so well taking care of business.
I have worked out of my comfort zone a fair amount recently.
It made me really anxious.
I did not do well taking care of business.

BUT...
I lived to tell about it.
The world did not fall apart.
I learned a thing or two about stuff and I do and do not want to do.

Now I am nearly done catching up from all the business that did not get taken care of because I was too busy being VERY ANXIOUS.

No vacations for the Babble Family this summer.
I am really quite OK with it.
Maybe I will have a garden instead.
Maybe I will get some long put off projects around the house taken care of.
Maybe I will get some long put off projects at the office taken care of.
Definitely BH will finish his Masters Degree this summer.
Definitely I will be seeing at least TWO fantastic concerts this summer.
Definitely we will swim a lot.

Did I mention that I am going to see at least two concerts this summer. (I am pushing for a third, but it may not happen)
Who will I be seeing?
First Mumford and Sons and Cake. Interesting combo, I am SO! EXCITED!
Next up is Elvis Costello and the Imposters. SO! SO! EXCITED!
Pushing for: Ben Folds. Missed him the last three times he has been around these parts. REALLY! WANT! TO! GO!

I may or may not be dropping hints with this post.

JBTBH-

O.y.

JBTBH-Days 10-16- Don't.Ask.

Oy. Can we talk about something else? My work has been very stressful and consuming since my mini vay-cay last week, and I just have not paid very close attention to eating and exercise. Eating has gotten more attention than exercise, which I have flat out ignored since last Wednesday. My poor neglected Journey. If you were a child I would have multiple CPS reports by now.

JBTBH Days 8&9-Ice cream for dinner! Crazy!

OOOOhhhhKay.

So Day 8.

Pretty good. Only not so good foods were some fries at dinner, and about a half piece of fudge after dinner.

LOTS of exercise though. At home in the morning before we left, and then swimming and walking in a pool for about an hour. (Oh my calves. Owie. Ow.)

Today-

Breakfast-Curse you $11 Breakfast Buffet with your vats of Bacon,Sausage, Biscuits and Gravy, Homefries, and French Toast. (For $11 I damn near sat there til the thing was OVER.)

Lunch-Nice healthy salad

Snacks-It was nice knowing you delicious fudge!

Dinner-I think a blizzard from DQ makes an excellent meal don't you?

There was a lot of sitting today A LOT.

But I had an enjoyable day and it was my vacation day so SUCK it JBTBH.

Tomorrow I will embrace you once again!

JBTBH Day 7-Two in a Row oh-OH!

Aack!

Second successful day.

I am in shock that I made calories today after indulging in a decent sized coke, and two good sized cookies.

So my choices weren't all healthy, but not a calorie busting event.

Exercise-full disclosure I haven't exercised yet, but have plans to once I am done blogging.

Tomorrow, will be a challenge. We are headed to the Great Wolf Lodge with friends for a mini-vacation since it is spring break and all.

That means eating out. I don't do well eating out unless we are going to Chipotle.

I doubt that everyone will want to eat at Chipotle for every meal.

So I guess my strategy is to do my best, but if I blow it....well...it is vacation.

I will just try to keep it under control as best I can.

JBTBH Day 6- Now that's what I'm talkin' bout.

Finally, a day I can call successful!

Eating-Healthy and within calorie range!

I had a veggie burger and didn't throw up!

I exercised even though I was tired and didn't wanna!

And I know this will shock you.... I took my vitamins!

If I knew how to do it I would make it so that horns, confetti, and fireworks went off while you read this post.

So use your imaginations.

Here's hoping that tomorrow is another step forward!

JBTBH Days 4 and 5- For the love of!

OK, this journey is not going well AT ALL.

I can not seem to get on track.

If I get on track then I get W-A-Y the F off track at some point during the day.

This weekend the only follow through was with exercise on one day.

Eating habits have been for shit again.

I can't seem to get myself organized to do this.

Blah!

Maybe it is time to think about some kind of reward system.

When I first lost the weight I just...decided I guess. I was so freaked out by the news from my doctor that I didn't feel I had any choice in the matter. I remember resisting temptation with the thought that I just CAN.NOT. eat those foods. I CAN. NOT. fail to follow my weight loss calorie intake. I CAN. NOT. fail to exercise daily. This is not a choice. That is what my mantra was. It kept me going.

I need to find that drive again. I hate to go the route of the doctor scaring me again, but I have wondered if that it what it will take.

Why can't just doing what is best for my health without being scared into it be enough?

JBTBH Day 3-When will the journey really begin

Holy crap.

I almost titled this one Bad to Worse.

Let's see:

Decent Breakfast
Managed to skip lunch
Ate a bowl of ice cream to tide me over until dinner
Which will be at Sonic
I can assure you I won't be getting a salad
After Sonic is a movie night for BH's students
My resisting candy and popcorn does not look good
No time to exercise tonight

Crap.

At least I took my vitamins!

JBTBH Day 2-Emotional Eating Anyone?

I decided to use initials for the Journey Back to Better Health because it takes too long to write that out every time, and I am at heart a lazy girl.

Today was a long day of very intense work.

Breakfast and lunch went well. Healthy.

Snacks.....not so much. I was tired, cranky, and over this day. BH offered ice cream and I took him up on it.

I also might have finished off those damn donuts too.

Dinner. So-S0.

Exercise did not happen. I didn't even have a chance to exercise until 9:00 tonight, and I just did not have it in me to do it at that point.

I am disappointed in how the day has gone. It was great until dinner time and evening. Then fatigue and crappy mood won out, even though I know exercise and healthy choices will battle that fatigue and crappy mood.

This is where my conflict lies friends.

At least I took my vitamins.

Journey Back to Better Health Day 1- Meh

Today gets a meh.

I went over my calories today to the tune of 250 over.

It is tough in the house for me right now. There is leftover birthday cake, leftover birthday ice cream. As if that weren't enough right there my mom found my favorite doughnuts that I can never find anymore and brought over a bag of them.

Jeez.

Oh yeah, and I had a take out box full of leftover steak, noodles, and fried rice from my birthday Japanese Hibachi dinner last night.

Oy.

To make things even better, we had a huge failed attempt at homemade mac and cheese tonight. It was terrible so I didn't eat much, but I was hungry and that damn bag of donuts was there and so easy.

So not only did I consume too many calories today, I did not really make healthy food choices either.

This has been a problem for me even when I lost weight before. I could keep the calories where they needed to be for weight loss, but it did not always equal healthy eating.

Healthy eating must become part of this process, because I have blood pressure and high cholesterol issues.

I really can't have things like cake, ice cream, and donuts in the house. I have no will power when it comes to those things. None. Zip. Zero. The best remedy is total removal. I cannot however bring myself to throw the stuff away. I thought about declaring a hold on the eating part of this journey for a few days until the stuff is gone, but that doesn't do much for my all or nothing way of responding to diet and exercise.

That is a problem that still needs a solution.

On to the positive.

I exercised! Hooray!

I didn't want to, but I made myself do it anyway, and of course I was glad. I am shooting for 30 minutes a day 5 days a week, and one hour a day 2 days a week. I will be ok if it winds up being 30 minutes 7 days a week.

I took my vitamins!

There you have it. Day 1.

Onward ho!

I turned 39 today. At least I can type it without choking...

This is it.


The final year of my 30's starts today.


Oy.


I can not quite wrap my head around the idea.


40 seems so...adult.


I don't always feel so adult in my mind for some reason. I still have so many things of which I am unsure. I always feel like I should be more certain about things than I am. More confident. More assertive. Like those fabulous and 40 women you see in magazines.


Magazines present false realities. That much I do know.


I just wish I didn't want them to be true sometimes.


So what to do with this final year of my 30's?


I don't have a fucking clue.


Well I have one clue.


I absolutely positively must find again the healthy habits I committed to two years ago after my come to Jesus physical.


Those habits have been on a downward slide for a year now and I have officially smacked the bottom.


It hurts.


Of the 32 pounds I lost, I have gained back 12. I gained back 12 because I have not been careful with my food intake, and I have not been exercising consistently.


My mood and anxiety management are near the toilet. I believe this is large part due to the lack of exercise mentioned above and in some part due to the regression in healthy eating habits.


I am fully aware and have been all along that I was backsliding. For me it becomes a viscious circle. I fail to exercise and eat healthy. I beat myself up about it. Which sours my mood. Which weakens my desire. Lather, rinse, repeat ad nauseum.

I know what I need to do to drop those 12 pounds. I am not sure why it has been so hard to make myself do those things. Other than I just don't wanna. I don't want to admit that I have to do this for the rest of my life.

It just seems so.......long.

So.....daunting.

Then again feeling anxious, grouchy, and disappointed in myself does not feel so great either.

It is daunting to think that I may be shortening my life because I don't wanna.

Just seeing it in writing is sad and pathetic.

So I have to suck it up.

Exercise must happen at least 30 minutes every day.

I must track what I eat, and make healthy choices most days.

I have to let go of my all or nothing way of thinking.

I have to stop beating myself up about failures big, small, or otherwise.

I must be healthier at 40 than I am at 39.

Starting....now.

I have been giving a lot of thought about this blog and what I want to do with it.

So for now it is going to become about my renewed Journey to Better Health.

I may throw some of the usual stuff in from time to time, but for now I need a place to keep myself honest, and really a place to put all this crap and this seems to be the best place right now.

So for the two of you who still read this thing, consider this to be your notice!

Maybe some vitamin D?

Yeah I have been absent once again. Because all my blog ideas involve me griping about something.

I had once again avoided blogging because who wants to read me doing nothing but bitching?

After having mulled this over I decided that perhaps getting the bitching out there out of my head may help it go away.

So here we go.

I have missed 5 days of work this past month due to snow. When all the schools close so do I because if people aren't going to school then they ain't coming to therapy.

This has resulted in me working several long Fridays to make up at least a portion of the missed appointments. I know I know. Poor poor Missy has to work ALL day on a Friday. I realize how this is middle class white girl privilege whining , but dammit I have worked hard for a long time to get my schedule so that I only see a couple of clients on Fridays. I do this so that I have time to get other shit done (y'know like notes and phone calls and the other assorted requests that are made of me by my clients) AND so that on the off chance me or one of the kids gets sick, or some other issue comes up that requires me missing a day of work I can make up some if not all of that time. I don't like having to do this EVERY Friday of the month because Mother Nature decided it would be fun to give us a winter's worth of snowfall in one month's time. It is throwing off my routine and schedule and those who know me well know that makes for some very cranky Missy Babble. Please know that as I am typing this it is snowing AGAIN. Supposedly we are going to only have a couple of inches this time along with some ridICulous cold weather. Hopefully this will only result in a cancelation or two at most.

While we are on the topic of winter weather, my inner cavewoman can not be shut up. She seems to think that I need to eat lots of high calorie food to bulk up for this tundra like winter we have been experiencing. So my efforts for the one bazillionth time to lose this stupid 10 pounds I gained back are not going well. I am cranky because I am hungry for crappy food, so I eat the crappy food I know I shouldn't because I am tired of feeling cranky about it, and then I berate myself because I am not doing what I know I need to do to lose the weight. I don't want to exercise because it is fucking freezing in the damn basement where all the exercise equipment is housed, AND the basement is a mess because we are trying to make it a finished space, and it is going to be a long slow process. My YMCA membership is going unused because the weather has been too crappy to go, people have been sick, and I am stuck working during the time I would usually go. So yeah.. there is that.

We have a new super conservative governor now and a bunch of ultra conservative legislators now running our fine state. I am not by any stretch of the imagination conservative. I am having serious anger responses to the decisions made by this administration. I feel very helpless and not represented in my home state and it is very upsetting. I am fairly sure this is going to be the case for the next 8 years and it makes me sick. Seriously sick, and so very very sad. The decisions being made make no sense to me and the reasoning behind the decisions seems very very flawed to me. I get that we are in a serious budget crisis. I understand that programs have to be cut. What I don't understand is cutting people's wages, and a total refusal to look at raising taxes to help keep necessary services in place. There have been tax proposals that would really not be noticeable to most people in the state, and raise a LOT of revenue. Instead our fine legislators are likely going to cut state employee salaries by 7.5%. I am pretty sure those people will feel that a lot more than paying a few cents extra for a soda, or a pack of cigarettes. Not to mention the fact that a cut like that will have more people requiring money sucking aid like medicaid and welfare. How does that help the budget situation? When money has been tight for me in the past I cut costs AND found an second job to provide extra revenue. I don't understand why our state can't do the same. If everyone else around here whose opinion differs from mine can make similar comparasins for their argument then so can I dammit.

I think those are my main grievances for right now.

In more positive news. I have been keeping my resolution so far, and my nails look fabulous.

Shellacking. But not in a Democratic party way.

Since the new year began I have been trying to be a little less...lazy...shall we say at home and work.

Obviously since it is January 17, and this is the first time I have logged in to this blog, my efforts have not extended that far.

I didn't really come up with any other specific resolutions.

Except that I am going to get my nails done by a professional every two weeks.

I just had my nails shellacked.

Shellacked in a good way, not a democratic party shellacking, which I won't talk about because it makes me want to stare with my yellow eyes and gnash my terrible teeth. Especially as our new dictator, oops I mean governor makes his tear on our poor state.

But I digress!

Back to my shellacked nails! It is a super strong polish process that is supposed to last two weeks and stay super shiny the whole time! They also improve the strength of my nails.

So I am on manicure two of the year, and I must say this is the best New Year's resolution EVER.

I think this one may last past February.

I will try and see if I can get a picture that does my shiny nails justice.

Sometime this year anyway.

I think you all know about me and promises for this blog.

Back to slackalackin

One big post in December so far.
So much for increasing the frequency of my posts.
Dang life.
Dang holiday season.

Oh well... there's always next year.

Right?

Making Christmas Simple

We decided to do the majority of our Christmas shopping online here at Chez Babble this year.

Things have just started to slow down for us after several months of crazy, and we did not have it in us to spend our expanded and highly coveted unscheduled time fighting crowds at stores.

That means that I have a ton of boxes showing up on my front porch. They are all piled under the tree now.

#2 commented that it really looked like christmas with all those boxes stacked under the tree, even if they aren't wrapped.

Well if the 9 year old thinks it is festive, who am I to contradict? Screw present wrapping I say! Save some trees!

SO, I thought maybe I could just leave the boxes as they are, we can divvy them up Christmas morning, everyone opens a few boxes and then figure out which gift goes to which person.

Fun! Right?

Not at all lazy and slackerish!