busyness

It never ceases to amaze me how busy the holidays get, especially now that marriage has been thrown into the whole shebang. Although this is the second holiday season that Eric and I have gone through together, I think we're still figuring out how best to navigate the details of spending which holiday with whom. Being single was definitely easier in that regard!

Now Eric and I are trying to balance our holiday time between families in a way that is fair to us, my family, and his. As much as I want to please everyone, sometimes we do just need to put our feet down for our own sanity.

In the meantime, I'm wrapping up the first half of the "quarter" that I've been working with an ESL pupil and trying to get everything else done that I volunteered to get done in time of the holidays. I made a bunch of treats to bring in for my coworkers tomorrow, and then I'll need to get started on the Christmas presents that I'm making. Yeah, I like to live on the wild side, it's true, but it's also true that finishing homemade gifts on Christmas Day or later is a Shaw family tradition.

I'm very excited that Christmas is almost here--less than a week!--because it's always fun to be with family, and I'll be surrounded by a bajillion family members soon. Woo!

In a week and a half, Eric and I will then be joining my folks and my sister and brother-in-law on a trip down to San Diego to be with the rest of our family down there, especially to visit my grandma whose health has been poor. We're driving down in a minivan and then my sister and brother-in-law and Eric and I will be flying back about a week later.

This will be our first vacation since our honeymoon, so I'm very much looking forward to some time off!

Anywho...I've got some ESL lesson planning to do.

Happy holidays to all!

Christmas Decor

Before it is too late for me do so, let me post my favorite pictures of our Christmas spirit in Judd Haven!


The Noel Train is one of my childhood decorations. When my sister and I took our leave from the proverbial nest, we were allowed to choose a small handful of favorite Christmas decorations to take with us. This is one of mine. :)


Since Pippin can't seem to help but get himself into trouble, we opted out of a buying a Christmas tree--what, so the cat could knock the whole thing over? So he could break ornaments and hurt himself while we were away at work? I don't think so!--and I came up with this alternative. Also, it was free, and Christmas trees are not.


And the other side of the windows...


Above my kitchen window.


My grandpa would have approved, I think. :)


You will want to click through on this one so you can see the entirety of my nerdiness come to life. I was inspired by this tutorial and kept going.

blanket forts

Early last week, Eric and I had a very unsettling day. I don't need to go into the details of that here, but for the sake of exposition, know that we had a gloomy day and by the end of it, we weren't sure what to do.

My idea? Make a blanket fort.

So we did just that, pulled a bunch of our living furniture together, quilted it up, and pulled in plenty of blankets and pillows and cushiness so we could shut out the world and forget about hurtful comments and unkind words. I can't remember everything we did that first night although I'm pretty sure we ate dinner inside the blanket fort and I know that we definitely played xbox.

Let it be known that there are few things in life that can make me forget about my worries more than a digital chainsaw used against digital zombies. Also, Eric and I make a pretty good zombie fighting team.

The only downfall to our blanket fort was Pippin, our beloved domestic shorthair, who could not understand that his weight would pull down the blankets if he ever attempted to cross over them. Which he did. Nightly. Occasionally, he tried to walk over the blankets several times a night, each time resulting in Eric and I having mini panic moments when the fort collapsed on top of us. Ok, maybe it was just me having the mini panic moments.

Last night, we finally caved and pulled the remains of the blanket fort down. We have yet to rearrange our living room back to the way it ought to be, but that's ok with us. Eric is currently napping on the blankets from the fort in the middle of the floor. I've been reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which is nothing like I expected it to be at all. And furthermore, it is making me crave coffee and sandwiches. Mmm...sammiches.

Christmas is around the corner. Hard to believe it's just five more days away.