Football, Cake, Festive Sparklies, And Protecting The Factory

I started decorating for Christmas over a week ago. I wanted to go through all my bins and organize them and give some stuff away to the Goodwill, so I knew I was in for a long haul. I also knew that I had to decorate more carefully this year, and that I had to rein myself in a bit. Think more creatively. Outsmart the kitties and give my decorations a chance to survive another year.

This year, I only am decorating in the large upstairs living room/dining area and kitchen.

I put all the bins in the kitchen. ALL OF THEM. All twenty? Something like that. Not good. I could not use my kitchen for 4 days. And when Mav wanted to go out that back door there? Yeah. That was a process.

Oh, and my bathroom has a festive shower curtain, but I did manage to keep it very tame in there compared to past years (what? Am I the only one who's put giant, sparkly garland around all one's bathroom mirrors and medicine cabinets? And lots of Christmas ornaments sprinkled all around the towels and toothbrushes?). So I say the bathroom doesn't really count. There are no lights in there or anything like that. So it couldn't possibly count. No extension cords needed. You still have to turn on the light or it's dark in there. That is a valid point because we haven't used a lamp or kitchen light upstairs since I found my box of Christmas lights. The bathroom, just some towels and the shower curtain. And shower hooks. Shut it.

I wanted to get the bulk of the decorating done before the hubby was home for a few days. I was also super cleaning, which in my world is different than regular cleaning, although it happens pretty regularly. It's the "use all the vacuum attachments, move the furniture and clean under it then move it back" type of cleaning. And if it is fabric or fabric-like and fits in the washer, it's gettin' washed.

Anyway, the hubby and I have been running all over for a couple months. It seems like stuff was breaking here at home on a daily basis and that his long hours at work were starting to take their toll. We'd also just seen my lovely family twice, and although we wanted to drive to see them, we figured we wouldn't be able to stay that long anyway. Drive 7 hours to stay a day or two, then head back... It was a little too much for us to do this time. I think we just knew that we needed a break in general, so we decided to not travel at all over the weekend and just stay home.

Tuesday night, the hubby came home from work and announced his vacation was starting NOW, so surprise! I was happy for him, although I was still knee deep in cleaning and bins upon bins of festiveness. I finished cleaning, shut the bins, and we just spent the long weekend resting.

We did not leave the house. Not once.

I love my husband. I love our pets and our home. But Sweet Jesus, come Sunday, I was ready for him to go back to work.

There was a lot of football (please someone explain to me why we watch games where he doesn't care about EITHER team, oh my God I am going to have an aneurysm), a big turkey dinner, and lots of sitting on the couch watching Netflix movies and DVRed sitcoms from the past couple weeks. I think we were just proud of ourselves for still showering regularly. I love him, but wow. The football and the educational television. I was tired of being tired. Phew phew, phew phew, as he plays his game. Swear, swear, when it doesn't go well. Just having to remember that there are 3 meals a day, every day, that I get to deal with for more than myself is such a pain in my arse.

I did a lot of cooking and baking. Which I enjoy and I'm not complaining. I just find it easier when I just feed the hubby supper and don't have to worry about breakfast and lunch. In related questions, why has no one told me about those Rhodes frozen rolls before? I had a coupon and holy crap, I could have just eaten the tray of those for dinner. Screw the slow cooked turkey breasts, from-scratch mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and gravy. I just want those rolls. I don't even need a plate. I'll just juggle them in the air and eat accordingly.

Hello cranberry coffee cake experiment. I declare you a SUCCESS! Even if I did add a sprinkled crumbled topping TO A BUNDT CAKE BEFORE BAKING. Yes, yes, smart people out there, that does mean that I put on a topping that ended up being the bottom of the damn cake. Oh well. All the better to glaze you then, my dear.

Hello red and green sugared snicker doodles. I declare you FESTIVE! Holiday platter! BOOM! SNAP! SNAZZY HEAD BOB INDICATING I AM SASSY AND AWESOME!

I have an awesome Paula Deen cookie jar I got after Christmas on clearance last year. Plannin' on keeping that puppy full, and sending a lot of treats to the hubby's office, all through this holiday season.

Early last week, as I was putting up ONLY TWO trees, I had the windows open and was dying of heat. It was 75 or something ridiculous like that. Cut to a couple days later, Thanksgiving morning, and we had this.

It was cold and snowy and oh so festive! You can't tell from the photos but it was really coming down, too!

The hubby ran Mav out and came back in with foggy glasses and a layer of snow. I told him to turn around and give me a sexy over the shoulder look since the snow showed up best on the back of his coat. Heh heh heh.

And yes, I did HAND MAKE that wreath there. Thanks for noticing. I did good snagging a hottie AND making a wreath for 4 bucks instead of spending like 30 on one ready to hang. I'm double awesome?

Our long weekend ended up being rather date-less, but it was just nice having some time off. I will have to take some pictures of the house all decorated. My poor Islamic husband puts up with A LOT. There is glitter everywhere and Aphrodite the cat keeps removing all the little Christmas balls and tiny pieces of evergreen from the one tiny basket on my dining room table and hiding them throughout the house. The main tree shakes on a regular basis as we watch television, making us have to pause our show since this is indicating another 4 legged feline is climbing it from its insides. The only evidence of this is the little jingle sounds of ornaments shaking and the slightly epileptic movement of something like 8 feet of tree. It is always just enough to be jarring.

I have enjoyed being at home, for the most part, but a little bit of me is getting cabin fever. This weekend I am being forced to be social AND fancy, neither of which can be good. Not looking forward to that. For being a good, dutiful wife, I would like a reward. Hugs, I suppose.

OH, AND I ALSO WANT TO GO ICE SKATING, HUSBAND.

Seriously. Someone needs to take me ice skating. Like now. It will help with the cranky. I promise. ICE SKATING. WEE. SCARF AND MITTENS AND SKATING IN CIRCLES. LIKE NOW. IF YOU DO NOT TAKE ME SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN THE GROCERY STORE OR MOVIE THEATER I AM GOING TO FORCE YOU TO WATCH ALL THE TWILIGHT MOVIES AGAIN.