Great Santa, Nice Sleigh, Rotten Kids

***UPDATED TO ADD***

You don't REALLY think I BOUGHT all these pics, do you? You give them $20 and they give you the cd with all the photos. Or you give them $15 and they give you a sheet of prints of just one photo... obviously I couldn't pick my favorite so I went with the cd.

This is one of the few traditions we really keep up with.... I have Santa photos from every year so far. Although this year we switched away from the mall Santa to this one.... no lap sitting required. And if things get really crazy Santa will go "check the reindeer" and you can get a nice shot of just the kids in the sleigh. How twisted does "check the reindeer" sound? You know he's smoking crack in the parking lot on his break.

This professional Santa ain't pullin' 50k.... although I do believe he's the photographer's hubby so he might be getting paid "under the table" as they say.... "Check THIS reindeer baby...."

Shutter Withdrawal

Save me from myself.... my camera is still at the doctor and I'm going bonkers. She ain't nothing great but she's mine. I miss her. And I'm tired of trying to get pics with Hot Stuff's lovely but painfully slow Nikon pocket camera.

Anyone know of a fast camera? That takes the picture when you push the button and then recovers quickly? I love my G2 Canon but it is getting old....

Blah.

The shopping is done, isn't it?

Remember back when I wrote actual posts instead of to do lists? Hah.

My grocery list has draino and cinnamon on it.... and that is it.

A big deal since I rarely break down and actually use draino because we have a septic tank but I am getting desperate.... the bathroom sink WILL NOT DRAIN no matter how many times I take it apart and clean it out. Do you suppose it is too late to ask Santa for a sewer snake?

And cinnamon.... the last of it went into monkey bread last weekend. And you know there will be the need for more monkey bread or maybe even honest-to-goodness cinnamon rolls this weekend.

I bought myself some new picture frames at Costco for Christmas. And Santa is headed over the Staples this afternoon to get me an external case for my internal hard drive. Blah, blah, techno-geek-speak, I NEED IT. So I can store all my photos with my NEW CPU. My new cpu does not have space internally for my hd and it only has a.... oh hell, bore me some more..... just know that I was able to upgrade my system using spare parts, duct tape & bailing wire for the tiny cost of one external hard drive case thinger... about $20.

Am I still on dial up? Why, yes, yes.... I am. Why? Well, broadband hasn't come to my neighborhood and sattellite is about $100/month. Not. In. The. Budget.

Holiday Sanity #1

I seem to have developed a pre-holiday uniform.

Jeans.
Turtleneck.... usually black.
Black socks.... sometimes with Santa on them.
Black professional Dansko shoes.
Plain gold wedding band and drop diamond earrings.
Glamorous scarf... usually red.

Sometimes I break it up by wearing a vest instead of a scarf. And I have a couple very cool giant chunky rings that make me cute. Actually I just got a new pashmina scarf from some friends (red and blue... sort of) and I've worn it 3 of the last 4 days. Love.

I have a really fabulous haircut right now so I'm having cute hair most days with very little effort.

For my birthday in September I bought myself a little makeup kit and I love it. It has eyeshadow, blush, concealer, eyebrow pencil & lip gloss..... a few of those products with a blob of Aveda tinted moisturizer and some brown eyeliner and I'm good to go.

So do we call this "finding your style" or "lazy" or what???

Things I am Thankful for.....

Last night was a perfect evening.

No tv.

The kids were playing nicely. Darling Girl was "coloring" with a blue marker in her notebook. She loves her notebook. I love washable markers. She holds the marker correctly and in her left hand. Sweet Boy was playing "football" with his imaginary friends.... complete with commentary. Hilarious. His sister was the coach. "Coach, coach, what play should we run??"

Bed time was peaceful. Each kid has a basket on a shelf in the bathroom and they can get their own jammies out. Darling Girl usually comes out dragging her jammies by one leg and wearing her brother's jammies on her head. Goofball. Books and snuggles for everyone.

I sipped tea and wrapped "just one more" gift while Hot Stuff read "just one more chapter" of the chapter book he and Sweet Boy are working their way through. Then he suggested opening a bottle of wine and we settled down with a nice ipod playlist. I paged through Christmas magazines from the past few years (part of my holiday decor and very relaxing) while he read a book. The conversation was mellow and relaxed.

It was a perfect evening.