What Happened?

Seriously, where the hell did Christmas go?  I feel like we were just leaving the house to head out and pick up a tree and now it's already out in the front yard waiting to become wood chips.  As quick as it comes, it's gone.  I find it bizarre the radio is stuffing Christmas down out throats starting on November 1st, yet at 12:01am on December 26th, every piece of holiday music in the building is locked up tight. 

It's rather sad when you think about it.  All of the money, time and energy we put into to Christmas and it's over in a blink of an eye.  When I was younger, I remember the entire week between Christmas and the New Year being such a great week.  There were still Christmas shows on and you could still hear holiday music on the radio.  What happened?   Sadly, this depresses me.   I cringe when it's time to take down the tree and tuck everything away for another year but to have television and radio completely flip the "holiday off" switch just makes it even worse.

I think everyone would enjoy the holidays a whole heck of a lot more if they took the time to celebrate and enjoy them instead of rushing to get them over with.  Shame, actually.

Watch Out...

Looks like we are finally going to have a good old fashioned blizzard before the year is over.  Normally, when any kind of snow is predicted, we all laugh and plan on getting a few inches of rain.  Not this time.  Like most storms, this one was very hard to track so there wasn't much mention of it until yesterday afternoon and all at once, all the news stations began airing accumulation models which seem to go up every time you check.

About eight or nine years ago, the coast was pounded by a February blizzard that I don't think I will ever forget.  Of course back then I was young, stupid and basically single so I spent the entire day and night out in the blizzard bar hopping to whatever bars we could find open that was still serving.  It was awesome ;)  It must have snowed for two days straight and when all was said and done I think there was over two feet of snow on the ground and snow drifts over eight feet.  Damn!  That was so much fun!

Obviously, my life is a little different now so tomorrow will consist of baking Christmas goodies and watching all of our favorite Christmas specials.  To be honest, I don't think I could ask for a better day than what we have planned.  Big Boy is going to be jumping out of his skin when he sees all of the snow (we are supposed to get).  The only downside to these storms are the damage they are doing to the beaches..  The beaches are a mess and the dunes are so beat up  they actually look like bluffs in a few spots along Island Beach.  It's such a shame.

I'm thinking tomorrow is going to be a long day and we have to get up bright and early (hopefully before the snow) because I realized Big Big outgrew both his snow boots and ants from last season.  If I'm buying new boots and pants, we had better put them to use!

Is It Just Me?

Or does the Santa on the side of this page look a little creepy?  ------------------->

I'm trying to holiday up my blog and for some reason I'm just not finding a background I'm happy with and because I'm insane, I won't use the same one as last year.  I'll just keep looking and I'm sure I'll eventually come across something I like.  You would think this was a matter of life or death the way I get so involved.  Yeah.  I have issues.

I also realized that  by the time this is read by anyone, I will have already changed from the background in question and then no on will have any idea what the hell I'm prattling on about.  Issues, I gotz em.

And It's Over

Why is it that at 12:01am on December 26th Christmas is long forgotten. All the radio stations vault up the holiday music, there are no more TV specials and the very mention of Santa sends people cringing? I just don't get it? I always though the holiday's ran through the new year but I guess I was wrong.

Maybe if Christmas wasn't pounded into our heads from Thanksgiving day on, everyone would be able to enjoy the holiday season a little longer. I do. I consider it Christmas right up until New Years day and then we take down our tree. By then I'm ready to have my house back to normal but until then, it is still Christmas at the beach.

Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful Christmas Holiday!

Love,

Hubby, Tracy & Big Boy

My Mommy's Christmas Tree

Just thought I would share a few pictures of my parent's Christmas tree. I was really happy when they decided to put it up this year. Thank goodness Big Boy has been really good about it and has not tried to tackle it yet.

Everyone in our family has their own picture ornament. I actually really love my parents Christmas tree. It was so fun decorating it as a kid even though everything had it's own special place and the candy canes all had to be facing the same way. I do have one gripe...I noticed my ornament picture is way down on the bottom. I'm assuming this problem will resolve itself before my next visit. Cough*hint*cough.

Easiest Fudge Ever

It's really no secret that I love to bake and I even pride myself on how good I have become at it. I finally have a pantry just for my baking supplies and I'm not afraid to try any type of recipe. Well, except fudge. I'm not really a fudge fan but every so often I get a sweet tooth for it. The idea of making it always aggravated me with the whole soft boil and hard boil stage. Way more work than I am willing to do....until now.

While waiting to pick up Big Boy's train table (shhh, don't tell him) at Target the other day, I was reading a little Jello holiday baking booklet. I came across the easiest recipe for fudge that I just had to try. It's so easy I figured it would taste terrible. Was I wrong! I'm not joking, it's this easy..

2 pkg. (8 squares each) Bakers semi-sweet chocolate

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chopped walnuts...although you could substitute any kind of nut you like best

2 tsp. vanilla

Line an 8-inch square pan with foil. Microwave (that's right, microwave) chocolate and milk in a bowl on high for 2-3 minutes. Be sure to stir the mixture after 2 minutes and then use your judgement from there. Be sure to stir the mixture until completely melted and then add the nuts and vanilla. Spread the mixture into your foil lined pan. Refrigerated for 2 hours or until firm. Use the foil to remove the fudge from pan and cut into nice bite size square portions. It takes no time to make and for such a simpke recipe, the resluts are fabulous!

Enjoy!

The Kindness Of Strangers

I know this person will never read this but...I wanted to thank the good Samaritan who found my debit card in front of the post office earlier today and brought it inside. Thank you.

I guess it fell out of my pocket when I was getting in to my truck and the lady at the post office said I wasn't even gone three minutes when a man said he found it outside in a puddle. I was on my way to the mall and as soon as I got over the bridge my fuel light came on so I figured I needed gas. Thank goodness because I would have gotten all the way to the mall and would have had to leave. Also, I'm so lucky I had cash on me at the gas station. I never carry cash and for some reason when I was at the bank earlier I though maybe I should grab a few bucks "just in case." Weird, huh?

It has been an interesting day all around. We are officially ready for Christmas. I am so happy I don't have to do anymore running around! While I was in the bookstore today, I was checking out a book for Big Boy. It was a learn your shapes book with a magna doodle thing on top so he could practice drawing. Well, there was a grandma type lady looking with me and I went to grab the Winnie the Pooh one and of course, she said "Ooooh, do you see anymore, my granddaughter would love that one....so I let her have it. Then I went for the Cars one...well wouldn't you know it! Her grandson would just love that one too! Finally, I grabbed the Finding Nemo one and before she could even open her trap I just ignored her and walked away. Sorry lady! What the hell? Is she the Duggar grandmother?

I am finally home and tucked away in my warm house. It's puring rain out and I am so happy I don't have to go anywhere else!

Like a Scene From a Movie

Right now in my home I'm all cozy in my fleece Christmas pajamas drinking hot cocoa and the dog is sleeping in front of the fireplace. The entire house is decorated for Christmas and it's even snowing out! There is no other place in the world I would rather be at this moment except right here.

I am so happy we finished decorating the tree last night. I think it looks so beautiful. It's definetly bigger then we usually get but I thinks it's a nice fit.

It's so nice to have the Christmas spirit again. For the longest time it seemed to be lost and I often wondered if I would ever feel the same way about Christmas again. That was until I had Big Boy. He has brought back the love of Christmas for both me and hubby. We plan on making every Christmas for BB as wonderful as can be and I'm not really talking about gifts. I want to take BB ice skating before Christmas and I want to drive around and show him all the beautiful Christmas light, sing Christmas carols and bake cookies with him.
I think he knows something is up because he is constantly looking at all the decorations and he seems to really like them.
Damn. I just realized what time it is and BB has a birthday party to go to in the morning and I do not want to be tired and cranky, I think we can all agree on that.
Anyway, I hope everyone likes the pictures if our tree!

A Little Lucy Update.

Wow! We really hit the animal shelter lottery. Lucy is turning out to be such a great dog. She did try to sneak up on the sofa last night when she didn't think we were looking but, can you blame her? So far, everything is going really well and we are so happy to have found her. Part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop but we can only hope she stays this way. She has also started to put on a little weight which I am very happy about since she was a bit thin.

I would love to be able to stay home and play with her and Big Boy all day but unfortunately, I have to leave for work.

You Can Feel It In The Air!

Christmas! I thought I would decorate a bit for the season. I'm sure this is the first of many designs. I think I am obsessed with blogger backgrounds! Anyway, things have been going well around here. Thanksgiving went well and I really think everyone enjoyed themselves. Big Boy stole the show as usual and for the most part was better behaved then I could have ever asked for.

Big Boy is starting school next Monday. We are all extremely excited for him. I really think he is going to just love it. I was able to meet his teacher and the other kids in the class. I am so lucky to live in the school district I'm in. They have been just wonderful in helping me get Big Boy the help he needs for his speech delay. I also went school clothes shopping for him earlier tonight. Have I mentioned how much I just love Old Navy. Hey, being a grown up is expensive and the days of dressing head to toe in J Crew and Ann Taylor are a thing of the past!

I think I need to head off to bed. I have the weekend off and I can't even tell you how much I a looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I jumped the shark and both the inside and outside of the house is already decorated for Christmas. I wish we could go get our tree but Hubby says it's a little early for that. My goal is to get BB's Christmas card pictures finished this weekend and we have the best idea ever this year. I'll be sure to post a pic if we can ever get them done. Time for bed. Good Night.

Unbelievable!

I am just about finished Christmas shopping for Big Boy and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet! I'm sure I will pick him up a few more things here and there but at least I know for the most part he is finished. I'm not really sure we'll be doing the "big ticket" item this year. He doesn't really need anything. He got a bike for his birthday. Any ideas, suggestions, on what to pick up for a three year old terror?