It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I put our tree up over a couple of days. One day the lights and the next day the ornaments. I wasn't home over a weekend so I had to do it in the evenings after work. We won't have much company this year so I didn't decorate the rest of the house. My son will be hosting Christmas at his house for the first time.

It took many takes to get this picture with the lights all lit up. My flash made it too bright and you thought it was daytime with no lights. Then when I turned the flash off, it was too dark. Also, the star is flashing, so I had to time that right so it was lit in the picture.



Here is our attempt at a Christmas photo. It was the first time I used the tripod and only the second time I used the delay timer. There were many outtakes. My dear husband likes to be silly. I never did get one that I really liked but these will do. These pics are all SOOC. I have not had time to tweak them. We were dressed to go to my work Christmas party, so I decided to take advantage of the situation and try to get a good picture of us.


Here are my favorite ornaments. My dad carves an ornament every year for each couple and each child in the family. The current total right now is 14 just to cover family members. Then he makes extra because of extended family and friends that always want to buy some of them. He does great work and I did not inherit one bit of his artistic ability. This year's ornament is the Christmas tree in the bottom corner of the picture. I have been the keeper of my kids' ornaments for years. When each one gets married or moves out, I pack their ornaments up and give them their box. This year I boxed up the ornaments for my last daughter. The tree looks different without all of the had carved ornaments on there.

This weekend has been spent shopping, wrapping and baking. Today I started some red velvet bon bons that will have to be finished tomorrow. I also made chocolate and peanut butter fudge. I will have to make another batch of peanut butter fudge because my husband will eat all of this one long before Christmas. He has no will power over peanut butter. The shopping is going great and I only have a couple of small gifts left to buy.

Tomorrow I hope to go to my son's house to have Christmas with my daughter who is here from out of state. Mother Nature may have other plans. We are anticipating icy roads and frigid temps and it is too far to go if that is the case. The alternate plan is to finish wrapping gifts and to dip the bon bons. I also have many Christmas books that would love to get some attention. That will be a different post.

Winter

So, I'm almost ready for work this morning. I think I'll go outside and start my car and then come in and make my lunch while it warms up. I don't remember the temp but suffice it to say it was c-c-c-coooollllldddd. So, I go out the door, reach into the car to start it and change all the dials so the SNOW! will melt off of the window. I flip the little switch that will make my seat all nice and cozy for me and head back to the house. Stuck. the little button on the screen door is frozen. I can't get back into the house. I go turn off my car, walk around to the back of the house to let myself in the back door with the key. Stuck again. The key turns, the knob turns but the door won't open. Finally it dawns on me that my husband locked the dead bolt to protect me while he is gone deer hunting. Then I go back through the front door, making sure it doesn't close all the way and start my car all over again.

OK, make my lunch, get in my still frigid car, since it didn't have as many minutes to warm up, and take off. First stop is the ATM machine. I pull up to the little screen and: Stuck. The windows on my car are frozen shut. I cant roll any of them down. Well, I decide that if I have to get out of the car anyway, I'll just go inside to get my money. Next stop. McDonald's. Windows still frozen so I have to get out and go inside for my sweet tea and cinnamon melt. I almost fall on my fanny going into McDonald's because of the ice on the parking lot.

I decide to wait until after work to fill up the car because it is so cold. Gas went from $1.63 this morning to $1.79 this afternoon. Crap. I should have filled up yesterday.

Don't you just love winter?