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Category: Living the Life

'Tis the Season for Giving

Published by dee on November 20, 2007

Indeed the time is upon us…already.  I’ve been a little put off by the Christmas songs already streaming across the radio stations and all of the Christmas decorations that were in stores even before Halloween this year.  It always seems early, but this year it feels like retail stores are in an even bigger rush to push the shopping upon us.  It makes me wonder if they think people will buy more if it is out earlier.  It sure doesn’t work for me.  In fact, it just makes me not want to shop at all.

Unfortunately, the shopping is inevitable if I want to have gifts for those special people in my life come Christmas morning.  I’ve been picking up a few small things here and there for Zach, and really only have one more large item that I want to get for him.  I haven’t gotten it yet because I’m pretty sure it is going to require a trip to Toys R Us, which I try to avoid like the plague.   If my boss lets me off early tomorrow I may venture out there.  I need to pick up some birthday presents for my nephews as well and I guess that’s as good of a place as any to look.

The last couple of years I have done the majority of my shopping online just because it is much easier than getting out in the crowds.   I would much rather do a quick search and pay a few extra dollars of shipping than have to trudge through store after store looking for the exact item I want.  This year I have a few unique items in mind that can only be purchased online and I suppose I should get them ordered soon.  I’m waiting for a name drawing on my side of the family before I really dig in and still need ideas for a couple of other people.

I’m having no problems whatsoever coming up with ideas for Zach or myself though.  I’ve been updating our Amazon wishlists like crazy and keep having to stop myself when I want to add yet another item (linked in the sidebar for any family members who may want to refer back).  I also keep finding things I want for the baby, who will not even be here until three months after Christmas.  I’ve already started an Amazon baby registry and will hopefully venture out to Babies R Us or Target soon for those things that can’t be easily purchased online.

So yes, ’tis the season for giving and receiving.  I don’t want to sound greedy, but I do enjoy opening a few gifts and discovering just what my loved ones have picked out for me.  But, I enjoy watching others open their gifts even more.

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Just Call Me Negative Nancy

Published by dee on November 19, 2007

Things that irritated me today:

  • I forgot to set my alarm and overslept.
  • I got to work late due to the oversleeping.
  • I left my cell phone at home and didn’t have time to go back and get it.
  • My favorite radio station has already begun playing Christmas music and we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet.
  • My car was on empty and I didn’t have time to fill it up because I was already running late.
  • I ran errands at lunch and again didn’t have time to fill my car because I didn’t have my phone and didn’t realize how much time I had already spent at Wal-Mart.
  • I almost forgot the one emergency item that I had gone to Wal-Mart for in the first place. I remembered it just as I was about to enter the check out line.
  • I almost fell down three different times because my shoes kept sliding off of my feet.
  • When I stopped at Payless to try to find some cheap shoes to replace the ones I was wearing the salespeople wouldn’t leave me alone long enough to peruse the very small selection they had.
  • I had to go to the packed grocery store and fight my way through the aisles that were filled with rude people.
  • I didn’t get home until almost 7:30 and Zach was absolutely starving (although still being amazingly good) by then.
  • We rushed through dinner and I still didn’t get Zach to bed until 9:30.
  • It is 10:00 and I’m just now finally getting to relax.
30 Days of ThanksIf you’ve been paying attention, you might have noticed that I haven’t exactly been keeping up with the 30 days of thanks posts. It isn’t at all because I can’t think of things I’m thankful for, but rather because I’ve been really rushed to get my NaBloPoMo posts up. Today I’m very thankful that Thanksgiving is this week and that it is a short work week. I’m really looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family and having a couple of extra days off to relax and hopefully catch up on a little bit of extra sleep.

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Amateur

Published by dee on November 18, 2007

zach_xmas07 012One of the projects I decided to embark on this weekend was taking pictures for our annual Christmas card.  I thought I would save a little money by taking some photos of my own instead of going the professional route.  I’m very much an amateur when it comes to photography, but I really enjoy playing with the camera and seeing just what I can come up with.

I tried to set everything up just right before I got Zach in front of the camera.  I picked the brightest room of the house, opened the blinds on all the windows, and set up my background.  The only thing I didn’t account for was the attention span of a toddler.

In the few minutes that he allowed me to snap photos, he quickly lost interest.  He certainly didn’t allow me the time to try to adjust for shadows and the like.  Because of that, most of the photos didn’t come out the way I wanted them to.  Out of about fifty, I ended up with two or three really great shots and several more really good shots that I may be able to salvage with some creative work in Photoshop.

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Lunch with Toddlers

Published by dee on November 16, 2007

Multimedia messageToday I got the pleasure of going to school and eating lunch with Zach. They had a parents luncheon for Thanksgiving where all the parents got to come have lunch with their kids. It was chaotic to say the least. Sitting at a table with 8 two-year-olds was an experience that I’ve never really had before. In between every bite I could shove in my mouth were requests for more juice or mac and cheese, which were the two most popular things at our table.

The food was actually quite good but the dessert table was the most impressive. I had a hard time choosing between the many cakes, pies, and cookies spread out. I ended up with samples of peach cobbler, apple pie, some kind of brownie/cookie concoction, and a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.

Multimedia messageI was also impressed with the table decorations, although I have to say that candles, tablecloths, and toddlers don’t really mix well. The kids had the candles blown out within a few minutes and the tablecloths barely managed to stay on the table.

The whole thing really was fun though.  I loved seeing how excited Zach was when I showed up for lunch.  Only a couple of other parents showed up for his class so they were all calling me “mom” for a while.  The hard part came when I had to leave and go back to work.  Zach wasn’t at all happy that I was leaving and didn’t want to let go.  Eventually a teacher had to come peel him off of me so I could escape.

I’m really thankful that I have a boss that is so flexible and allowed me to take an extra hour at lunch so I could be with Zach.  I really had a great time and I know Zach enjoyed me being there.

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Did You Ever Notice?

Published by dee on November 14, 2007

Time has really gotten away from me today and I won’t be near a computer tonight, so here’s a real quick entry so I don’t miss my NaBloPoMo post for the day.

Monday night Hubby and I were watching How I Met Your Mother, one of our favorite shows.   Basically, during the show Ted was dating a girl he really liked, but the rest of the gang didn’t like her.  When he finally convinced them to tell him what it was about her they didn’t like, it ruined the image of perfection she had about her and he suddenly didn’t like her anymore.  In her case it was that she talked all the time.  He hadn’t noticed it before someone pointed it out.  As the show went on, they continued pointing out little annoying habits about each other.  The thing is, once that one annoying little thing is pointed out, you can’t get past it.

This morning as I was driving Zach to school, I noticed a tree that had the branches cut out of the middle so that it formed a “V” shape to allow some power lines to go through.  Once I noticed that one, I couldn’t stop looking at trees the rest of the way to work to see if any others were cut that way.  As it turns out, there are several along the same street.  Now I’m going to spend the rest of my life looking at trees as I drive.  It is something so simple, yet I never noticed it before.

So, I’m curious to know if anyone else does this.  When you notice something for the first time, does it stick with you to the point where you can’t think of anything else?  Does it ever go away and just become the way things are?

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The Rule of Six

Published by dee on November 13, 2007

It’s funny how you can twist and turn and wind around this great big thing called the internet.  A few days ago instance, I received an e-mail notification of a new follower on Twitter. I didn’t recognize the name, so I followed the link to her blog to see who it was. As I scanned through the posts, I discovered a post about the Rule of Six. It looked like an interesting concept, so I kept following link after link until I finally got to the original source.

The concept seems to be discussed mostly on homeschooling sites, but it got me to thinking about how I might incorporate it into my own family life. Basically, the Rule of Six is a list of things that you feel should be part of your child’s life on a daily basis. It can be something as simple as “read a book” or something a little more meaningful such as “spend time in prayer”. It can be anything as long as it is important to you and your family. Oh, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be six things. Your list can be as long or as short as you like.

I’ve done a lot of thinking on this and would like to share my own Rule of Five (Yes, five. The number suited me better than six.). I have kept it pretty general because the way these things are expressed can change greatly. I think we do most of these things on a daily basis already, but I hope that formalizing it a little more will help me on days when I’m feeling a little lazy.

I’m sure as time goes on and my children get older that some items on the list may change, but for now these are the things I want to focus on. If you decide to join in and make your own list, please let me know so I can check it out. You might also want to add it to the Rule of Six blog carnival going on here.

Here’s my list:

  1. Responsibility
  2. Prayer
  3. Affection
  4. Kindness
  5. Gratitude
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