...so where was I?....

I know, I know...it's been a while (again) since I've posted. What can I say? I've been caught up by life. It happens to the best of us...

So, to play a little catch up, I'll fill you in on the last couple of days.

Friday was Pickle's birthday. How my BABY can be 18 is absolutely beyond my comprehension. I am way too young to have my baby be that old, right? (Indulge me here folks!) I gave her all sorts of options on fun stuff to do for her birthday from shopping to an amusement park, to the spa, etc., and what did she chose to do? Go to school, and spend the day with her friends since it was the last day before Christmas vacation started. (Who's kid is this?) Seriously though, she had a huge final she knew she had to take, and didn't want to postpone taking it until after vacation, so she stuck it out and got through it. That's my girl. I was proud of the choice she made.

In the evening we had a quiet family dinner at one of her favorite places downtown (The Old Spaghetti Factory) with her boyfriend, and G-Ma and G-Pa. We are so blessed that my Pops has been feeling well enough to venture out a bit with us here and there for our birthday dinners. It makes the family times together extra special.After a great dinner, we headed home for some present opening and cake. It was great way to wrap up a very nice evening.

Saturday morning I had a bit of work to do and then I did some major grocery shopping, not only in anticipation of our Christmas meal preparation, but because our Boy was coming home! Yep! I had to fill the cupboards because AJ came home Saturday afternoon, and that boy can eat! We wanted to be sure to have all of his favorites, especially things he can't get readily in college, so we did some major stocking up.

We picked him up, right on schedule Saturday evening, and spent the rest of the night catching up, hearing stories of the cold weather, the dorm buddies, and of course FINALS. Needless to say, he is very happy to be home for a few weeks to thaw out, rest up, and just plain relax. I am thrilled that he is here, especially for more than just a few days, as he has been for the last two trips he's made home. Things just don't seem so rushed this time. It's really nice.

I worked a bit again on Sunday, so Hubby and AJ got to spend the day together doing a few little house hold projects, etc. I know that no matter what they do together, they aways enjoy each other's company.

Last night we took our annual walk around "Christmas Card Lane" - that's a nearby neighborhood where several blocks of houses decorate their yards with giant, home made Christmas cards made of 4x8 foot sheets of plywood painted to look like cards, or Christmas characters, etc. It's a lovely sight to see, and we try to visit every year. Our friend Lisa, who lives very close to Christmas Card Lane invited us for dinner and then we all made our way over, dogs included, to see the sights. I am bummed to say that I somehow managed (can you believe it?) to leave my house without a camera with me, so I got NO decent pictures. I snapped this one with my phone, but as you'll see the lighting is terrible. At least you get the idea.Anyway, that brings us up to today...Monday. I was supposed to spend the day Christmas shopping, but I haven't made it out of the house yet. It's 4:13pm right now...it's not looking good. I've falled critically behind on my shopping this year, and for the life of me, I'm not sure why. I feel like it's just a lack of inspiration. It's kind of nice to realize that no one in the family really needs anything, so I guess I ask myself the question, "Why buy just to buy?" and so I sit here, catching up on my blog instead of Christmas shopping.

I have a feeling that will NOT go over very well on Christmas morning...I'm just sayin...