Wow!  It’s been a while since my last post.  It seems like yesterday that I boxed up my spices (which, by the way, is working wonderfully).  Christmas was a blur.  A good blur.  But still a blur.  We had a wonderful time with our family. 

I took down my tree on the 26th.  I usually like to milk every ounce of enjoyment out of my $40 tree and leave it up through New Year’s Day.  This year, however, I felt the need to get it down quickly, sweep up the annoying little thingies off the floor (fronds?  leaves?), and resume life.  For weeks now, and for whatever reason,  there has been a little voice in my head saying, “Come on, Bee.  Let’s get this show on the road.”  2009 cannot get here quickly enough. 

At first, for me, the ringing in of 2009 meant hope.  Change.  Progression.  But, while I was busy wrapping presents, things shifted.  Reality set in.  Some of the things I was looking so forward to are not going to happen (and I’ve got approximately 39 hours to get over that).  And, while I want nothing more than to take a good month or two to sulk and wallow in the “why-me” of it all.  I don’t have the time for it because, hel-loh-oh, 2009 is coming.  And a Bug is getting bigger by the day.  And a Wog is getting smarter by the minute. 

Lots to ‘tend to, my friends.  Lots to ‘tend to.

I know.  It looks kind of weird.  I got the idea from Everyday Cheapskate.  The idea is that you can look down and grab the spice you need rather than have to pull everything out of the cabinet.  If this works well, I’ll upgrade to a nicer container (though I’m quite taken with my Amazon.com box).  This’ll just slide into my makeshift pantry and has cleared out some much needed cabinet space (which will hopefully breed some less cluttered countertops)!

Hat tip to Trina for the Everyday Cheapskate link!

…and there is only one shot that will work with our Christmas card.  And it’s blurry.  So, HH is phot-shopping the heck out of it as I type.  If he can’t work some serious magic, we’ll have to use one of these:

This is what about 60 of the shots came out like (except Bug usually sports a more confused look).

Can you tell that we’ve hit a “silly” stage?  Or perhaps it’s just a genetic fondess for KISS.

Of course, we got a good 10 frames of this pose.  Classy, don’t you think?

How about the caption “Eye Love Christmas”  or “Arrgh!  Hope you get lots of booty from Santa!”

No explanation needed.
And it just might make it onto the family Christmas card this year.

In keeping with my Simple Christmas, I only put up a tree this year.  But I just couldn’t bear not participating in Boomama’s Christmas Tour of Homes.  So, let’s have a tour of my tree.  I’ll show you a few of my “ordaments” (Woggie’s term, not mine)!

So, here’s the tree:

I love Santas of all shapes and sizes.  So, when I saw this Santa star at our church’s Country Store Market this year, I just couldn’t resist.

A few years ago, I had an accident just before Thanksgiving.  I was on painkillers well into the new year.  It was the craftiest, most productive Christmas ever.  I swear!  (I, by no means, am advocating the use of prescription medication to take one’s craftiness and/or productivity to the next level… but if the doctor is insisting, you may want to just hop on board the funwagon!)  Anyway, I made tons of these ornaments that year.  Here’s the one I kept for myself (it’s to the right, the one on the left is Buggy’s first Christmas ornament from her Grammy):

Here is Woggie’s most prized “ordament”…. and it talks.  I’m surprised I actually found it on the tree when I went to take the picture:

And lastly, here are my favorite of this year’s new additions.  Both were made by Woggie– the nativity at my parents’ church’s Christmas festival and the “Baby Jesus Star” at MDO.  He is very proud of the glitter on them.  (To be honest, his love of glitter paired with his love of my strawberry lip balm has me a bit worried.):

Thank you so much for perusing my tree with me.  And for bearing with me and my artistic use of light and dark love/hate relationship with my flash.  You guys deserve a treat.  But I didn’t bake anything.  Remember my manifesto.  I’m sure you can find some Goldfish in my couch cushions… so eat up!

Her bargain finds make my day just about every day, but this post just blessed my heart today!

So there was the blog-jacking.  Of course it had to be right smack dab in the middle of the giveaway.  Now, it appears that the Great Will Blog For Shoes Move of 2008 isn’t going so smoothly.  I can’t get my contest comments to come back, but I’m getting last year’s comments on brand new posts.  Sweet.

Oh yeah.  My laptop has a virus.  

Join me in laughing out loud.  You know, to keep from crying.

Happy Holidays!

And thanks to Oh Amanda for pointing out that my comments are “still jacked”… some people have to pay for friendship like that!  And to properly show my thanks, I’ll be catching up on her posts first!  Lucky lady.

Oh, and if you happen to hear around the blogosphere that a certain techy guy/book blogger/Hot Husband’s work MacBook has gone missing…. remember, you know nothing.

Wow!  You wake up one morning to realize that you just poured the last of the three gallons of milk you bought on the last grocery trip.  Where did the time go?  What all have I done in the EIGHT days since I posted last?!  Glad you asked.  I love a list.

1.  I went to a wedding.  Some good friends got married on Saturday and HH was a groomsman.  The rehearsal dinner was at a fancy house where, it is rumored, the upstairs bathroom was bigger than most apartments.  Of course I cannot verify that.  I refused to look.  Big fancy bathrooms in big fancy houses make me cry.  But the fajitas were AWE-wait for it-SOME!!
2.  Having a late-evening rehearsal dinner followed by an afternoon wedding meant that both kids spent the night at my folks’ house.  Which meant that I had all of Saturday morning to treasure hunt at TJ Maxx and Ross.  TJ Maxx was a bust, but I found two dresses at Ross.  One was only $12.99.  The other - marked down to $16.99 with an original retail of $174.  I know.  I even saved the tags.  (I have a weird thing about keeping tags of the really great bargains I find.  I still have a tag for a $345 DKNY blazer that I got at a sample sale for $7.) 
3.  We decorated our Christmas tree.  I scaled back on the ornaments this year.  Why create more opportunities for yelling at Woggie?  We hung his ornaments low and he’s allowed to get those off and play with those as he pleases… which equals very little tree drama. 

I also haven’t forgotten that I still have a giveaway for which am supposed to be choosing a winner.  I haven’t forgotten (ok, maybe I forgot a little) but the whole hacker, bloggy move thing has caused my comments to drift into some sort of black hole.  I am currently fishing in my Gmail for all of them, so I can properly choose a winner.  And to make up for the debacle, I’m tossing around the idea of “Bee’s Botched Blog-giveaway Bonanza” or something like that… maybe after the new year.

I’m very excited about Christmas this year. Not only will it be Bug’s first Christmas and the beginning of Wog’s understanding about Advent, but it will be my first Simple Christmas. This girl’s taking it WAY easy this year. I’ve been aching to do it for years. But then Wog was born and I felt like I needed to overdo EVERYTHING to make his first Christmas over the top. Then last Christmas, I felt like I needed to be Super Christmas Mom, baking, gifting, and chocolate-covering everything in site… just like my Mom has always done. What I ended up with was a grumpy, mumbly Christmas attitude.

Then, out of nowhere, here come the holidays. Again. By October 1, I was completely overwhelmed and defeated at all of the things I wouldn’t be able to do for the holidays. I mean, as I think you’ve picked up on already, I wasn’t exactly succeeding at the everyday stuff as a mom of two. I was in no way delusional enough to think I could bake the first tree-shaped cookie with a whiny Wog and a fussy Bug. Then, at a work staff meeting that I wasn’t at, my last year Secret Santa recipient expressed her displeasure with my gift-giving abilities in front of, oh, THE WHOLE STAFF (and, yeah, she called me by name). Then, this happened. Bye bye went the Christmas mojo.

Did you notice what was missing from my Christmas thoughts, stresses, worries and woes? Yeah, Jesus. The “Reason for the Season” and all. It’s been a long time since Jesus was the Reason for my Season. For me, it’s been about gifts no one really likes (my nephew actually tried to give his gift from us away last year and my mom gave me my niece’s gift from us back once it’d been left at her house -unused- for over six months), casseroles no one really eats (my mom is the cook of all cooks and no one else’s can compare), and decorations that no one really sees (our house sucks and I don’t invite people over–ever). What a way to spin my wheels for all these years.

So this year, friends, here is my memo mission statement manifesto on Christmas:
I will have a Simple Christmas. I will spend time daily reflecting on the Savior’s birth. I will put up a tree for Woggie’s Buzz Lightyear ornament. I will string lights on it as a reminder of the Bright Star of Bethlehem. I will give simple gifts that are meaningful and/or practical (realizing that not all of our family members appreciate the former). I will not bake, unless requested by my family. I will not attempt to craft. I will not purchase any magazine that urges me to do either of the aforementioned. I will send cards to close friends and family only. I will take time to enjoy our families, quirks and all. I will talk to Woggie about Santa and how he demonstrates charity to others. I will teach Woggie about Advent, taking the precious opportunity as he learns, to relearn the True Meaning of Christmas.

Sometimes it feels like the whole world has lost the Real Christmas Spirit and that those who manage to keep Advent at the center have lost the ability to have fun with the other stuff. I think you can experience and enjoy both. At least I hope you can. I am already feeling the joy of a lighter Christmas load. What about you? What are you doing that is different this year? Something simpler? Enhancing a special part of your family’s Holiday?

Original and creative post titles… just another service offered here!

We are back up and running here at WBFS.  I have been moved to a safe and secure location.  HH is still in the process of moving pictures, comments, and past posts.  The feeds may look funny for a little while, but rest assured that all those drug links are gone!  Thanks for bearing with me!

Now, if you’ve entered the giveaway (all 8 of you), don’t panic that your comment isn’t there right now.  It will be.  If you haven’t entered yet, there’s still time.  I’m extending it through Friday!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!