I’m uber close to being able to journal regularly again (at least I think I am anyways – Sasha may play a hand in keeping me a bit delayed).
I don’t really remember too much from the last week to tell you about, but I’m sure there are several things I wanted to remember. Guess I’ll tell you what I can huh?!?!
First I’ve spent most of my time lacing cork ornaments to hand out for Christmas. I did 12 a day (usually at night while watching a show or movie, but had to do it in the a.m. once). That’s the true reason I haven’t journaled in a while, but you’ll be glad to know that they are all laced, painted, and decorated and ready to be handed out tomorrow to book club and Wednesday to staff.
From Thursday I wanted to tell you about dinner w the gals at Sambuca. It was okay. The happy hour special was kind of nice: $4 off wine, $3 off liquor (I think), and $2 off beer (I think). The downer was that it was only till 6:30, 30 more minutes to go when I got there; and only at the bar. I ordered the first Merlot on the menu and it ended up being around $5 or so. Luckily for me Donna went to get it and there was some nice ladies that bought our drinks for us (she got an amaretto and cranberry – which I really want to try). I ordered calamari for dinner: large enough for one as a meal so I didn’t get the extra veggies I wanted or else I’d been miserable. They were okay. Some of the pieces were great and others were a little too chewy. My dessert was A-M-A-Y-Z-I-N-G!!!! I ordered the sticky toffee pudding; which was described as bread pudding and was false, but still tasty. It was a warm cake like food, muffin sized served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a toffee cup. The toffee cup was the best part! I could have eaten several of those w some drizzle and been happy. I got on Aaron’s Droid and checked on FB for some reason the night before and discovered that Kathy posted a suggestion about dirty Santa so I actually got to dig through my re-gift box and take something. I went w a Yankee Candle, Cookies for Santa. The other ladies got: a sandalwood gift set w reeds, cone incense, and a candle in a coconut; a set of four melamine holiday plates that were uber cute; a scented wax warmer; two drinking beach themed wall decos; and $25 gc to Bath & Body Works. I almost came home with the wall pieces but luckily Allison wanted them (I think she knew how much I didn’t – sometimes I think I can’t hide my lack of desire for things) and I got to steal the warmer to bring home. I parked in the lot behind Swt. Ce Ce’s and got a ticket that I need to pay ASAP so I can save $15 (making it $25). And for some unknown to me reason Monica picked up my tab (which I asked Allison about and she didn’t know anything about it). Honestly I think that’s part of the reason I got the ticket; I was ready to leave b/4 the time stamp on the ticket but I was waiting for my receipt to sign and it kept me there an extra 20+ minutes. So all in all I’m glad she paid for my check, but still curious as to why. We talked about doing a slumber party, an 80s party, and our wine trip. I also found out that Allison ended up having her Harvest Moon Party back in September and felt a bit awkward not knowing what they were talking about since I didn’t get invited to the make up session.
On Friday I was pissed at the DR and the PC and a little upset with the LC. I got approved to do this super cute craft with the kids for their parents for Christmas. So I went to OTP and bought plates (which I didn’t get reimbursed the tax part – no big deal; the OTP wouldn’t let me buy the plates tax exempt since I didn’t have the company card) and the LC bought all the paint. I asked for enamel paint and she brought me back acrylic; supposedly enamel has oil which can’t be used on kids. Anyways I discovered on Friday that the acrylic comes off way too easily. I learned that acrylic is only supposed to be used on porous surfaces, which is why it worked so well on my corks! I tried to talk to the DR for almost two hours on how to solve the problem, but she wasn’t available every time and then ended up leaving early so I didn’t get to talk to her about it. So I spent my Friday afternoon trying to figure out a way to save these plates without having to go buy new/more paints.
The only things I really did on Saturday was spend the entire day, literally I got up when Aaron left (@6), did my regularly routine, and then got started; painting all the cork ornaments. I started the day listening to X-mas music and around lunch time put in Stargate Atlantis while I ate lunch. It was a gloomy kind of day so Sasha and I took a nap for about an hour or so. Afterwards I got back to painting. That night I went to Allison and Trey’s to take care of Hayden. He’s the youngest I’ve sat for, just 10 weeks old. It was pretty easy. I was worried that I was going to hold him too much, but he was content to lay in his boppy with weight on his arms to help him sleep. Allison said she thought he’d play all night, but he slept more than played. Even though I took dinner w me I ended up snacking on a bunch of their stuff: grapes, cheese, and chips. It was an easy night of earning.
Sunday after getting my morning routines done I wrapped Aaron’s x-mas gifts and a few others just to use the paper and then headed out to pick up a few last minute items. When I talked to dad he said he wanted some more ‘cookie scoops’, nice ones – not Farberware. I went to Target, B.B.&B., and back to Essex. I didn’t find any at all! I also had time to stop and check OTP, but there wasn’t one there either! So as of right now I don’t really have anything for my dad! I did pick up a little something extra for Aaron and myself at B.B.&B. though. I only had an hour and half or so to shop and rushed over to IL’s to go to the ballet. I finally got to watch The Nutcracker! There were several parts that I loved, but my two favorite were the Italian Doll and the Snake Charmer/snake dance. Now I kind of want to watch the movie version to see how similar/different the ballet here is. Wonder if I’ll have time over the break?
Today was crazy! The kid’s weren’t necessarily bad, they were just nonstop all day. The FDA brought in some cookies and somebody else brought in peppermint cheesecake. The cookies were great: pb balls, pb cookies, and chewy ginger cookies. The cheesecake wasn’t that great, but I still ate it. I have no will power. I did however save two of my cookies for tomorrow! I had to stop at Aldi’s on the way home and spent way more money than I wanted. I spent $72!!! The two pack lobster tails were there for 13 and I picked up three (one for us, one for dad, and one for mom). I also splurged and bought blackberries (1.49 for 6oz) and some Spanish cheese (3.50 for 3 wedges that are already sliced horizontally into four – super convenient). We already knew what we wanted for dinner so I sautéed some onions and mushrooms for mine, then made the stuffed pasta and tossed it all w some seasoning, new cheese, and a bit of sprayed EVOO. Good Stuff!!! I completely finished my ornaments w Aaron’s help! He did the hats for the elves, outlined the Santa hats, and folded the reindeer antlers for me. They are super cute (I hope to get a picture on here b/4 posting it too). In between paining I tried to express my desire to eat somewhere other than Olive Garden tomorrow, but we’ll see. Speaking of eating Lindsay messaged me today and we are going to have dinner with them at our place on Friday so Colin can meet Sasha – I hope it’s not raining!
Guess that’s all the catchup I’ve got for ya. In case you’re wondering the best part of today was getting all the ornaments completed!!!!
What all do you have left to do b/4 the holiday? Thanks for being interested in my business (now I’ve got to work on wrapping all my presents).
