Our Christmas story

The parties began on the 19th. My dad turned 50 on the 20th and my parents had a party at their house. We all had a great time, especially my dad. He drinks old mil beer (gag) and received 5 or 6 30 packs and a couple 18 packs. That should keep him stocked up for awhile.

Dad's Old Mil cake

Opening his presents

My husband and seester at Dad's party

Christmas Eve we went to Matt's parents house and ate dinner and exchanged gifts. We both got gift cards to our favorite stores. We got Matt's mom a digital camera as she has been toting around a disposable camera since I have known her.

Christmas day we went to my parent's house and opened gifts there. I got a pink snuggie, some decorative serving plates, a pink can opener, and a crap load of gift cards.

Ozzy got a snuggie from his grandma. Here he is pretending he is shy.

And a new toy and collar from his mommy and daddy.

We left my mom's and went to Matt's dad's side of the family Christmas. Matt wanted to see his grandpa. We got there finally (flooded roads everywhere) and found out one of Matt's uncle had taken grandpa somewhere else. Grandpa showed up about the time we were planning on leaving. I told Matt to go out there Monday and visit with his grandpa and he was ok with that. (That's what I told him to do in the first place, because I knew there would be a crap load of people there but do you think he listened the first time around?)

We left there and went to my dad's side of the family's drunkfest. Once again the P. Christmas did not disappoint. The early afternoon is filled with eating and beer drinking. The afternoon brings on an intense bingo game. Uncle Wealthy's wife buys all kinds of prizes for bingo winners. I'm talking at least a hundred prizes. This year they were wrapped. My dad picked some polka dotted lingerie. I won some socks and boxers.

Us during drunken bingo

After bingo everyone tends to be feeling pretty good and the karaoke begins. Myself and all my cousins that were there sang "Family Tradition." It was hilarious. By the time I was singing karaoke, I knew it was time to go. A couple of the older cousins, along with Matt and I and my seester went to the bar. It was a long night.

Saturday, I was hungover as hell didn't feel too good but the parties continued. We went to my mom's side of the family. It was a good time. They are all nuts so it can be very entertaining.

Sunday, we went to Matt's mom's side of the family's party. By this point, I was just about partied out. The food was once again awesome. We played some cards there and got a beautiful ornament.

Sunday evening Matt, Ozzy, and I all layed around on the couch, Ozzy and I in our snuggies.

Thursday night Matt and I are having a New Year's Eve party. Nothing too fancy. I am making cheese dip, beer cheese soup, and meatballs. I ordered a special bottle of booze that should be in tomorrow.

Hope everyone had a great time during Christmas!

8 more hours...

until I'm out of here for 4 days. I don't know if or how much I'll be blogging this weekend but I'll make sure to take lots of pictures.

We have so much going on in the next four days. Tomorrow night we are going to Matt's parents. Friday, we are going to my parents in the morning, then to his dad's side of the family, and then to my dad's side of the family's drunkfest.

Saturday we have my mom's side of the family and Sunday we have his mom's side of the family. Not to mention, we have already been to his work party and the Army xmas party.

New Year's Eve we are having a small party at our house. That I am looking forward to.

It's hit me yesterday that I would rather just do more relaxing during the holidays. So if you don't hear from me every again, it's probably because I've had a nervous breakdown. I'll have my mom leave you all the address to the mental ward. Feel free to send cards.

Oh and the first person to ask if or when I'm going to be pregnant is probably going to get told to shut the hell up. It happens every time we go to family stuff. Or should I say, "Actually we've been trying for 6 months and it's not happening but thanks for bringing it up."

Christmas List

I was tagged by (army)wife at A Yummy Mummy On a Pink Park Bench to fill out this lovely Christmas survey.

Want to play along?

Copy and paste the questions into your blog,

•Then tag 5 or more of your favorite blogs, and leave them a comment telling them they’ve been tagged.



1. Have you started your Christmas shopping?
Yes I have and I am done. I'm usually the kinda gal that waits until around the 20th to start but this year I did a lot of online shopping and then that motivated me just to get it done.

2. Tell me about one of your special traditions.
I always go to Mom and Dad's on Christmas morning to open presents with the family. This is the hubs and my first Christmas together that we have our own house and that he doesn't have to leave two days later. So I'm looking forward to starting our own traditions.

3. When do you put up your Tree?
This would be one of the traditions we started. We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Matt hung the lights outside the next day. I posted pictures of our tree and house here.

4. Are you a Black Friday shopper?
No stinking way. I'd rather walk across broken glass.

5. Do you travel at Christmas or stay home?
All of our Christmas festivities are within 15 mile of our house. But I don't think we will be at our actually home very much on Christmas.

6. What is your funniest Christmas memory?
Its hard to say. My dad's brother that is loaded always has Christmas and he has more booze than imaginable. I've gotten pretty tipsy there. Also, one year on my mom's side, my uncle that is "that guy," you know the idiot of the family, was drunk and dumped his plate of food on the floor. That was pretty awesome.

7. What is your favorite Christmas Movie of All time?
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. Hands Down. I also like the Santa Claus with Tim Allen.

8. Do you do your own Christmas Baking, what’s your favorite treat?
Uhhhhhh not so much. This year I'm in charge of bring corn to above mentioned drunkfest '09.

9. Fake or Real Tree?
We have a fake one. I think a real one would be too much work. We are all about taking the easy way out.

10. What day does the actual panic set in to get it all done?
Hasn't happened this year. I will probably be having a fit about all the running around we have to do though.

11. Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?
Not this year but yeah usually.

12. What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas?
Above mentioned drunkfest at Uncle Wealthy's mansion.

13. What Christmas craft do you like the best?
Craft... hmmm... can't think of any.

14. Christmas music? Yes or No, and if yes What is your favorite song?
That's a big negative. I like singing them all stupid like to annoy Matt but that's about it.

15. When do you plan to finish all your shopping?
I'm done.

I've already read similar variations of this on some of the blogs I follow so I'm tagging everyone. If you haven't done this then go for it.

Happy Holidays!!!

Done with finals

I'm officially done with school for a month. Monday night I had my Comp II class. I got my 12 page research paper back that I wrote about Ruby Ridge. I got a 100%. This is the same teacher I had for Comp I last fall. And she has said more than once that she doesn't give 100's. I wrote about her here once.

I think my heart stopped beating a little bit when I saw my grade. I thought I would get an A but had no idea that I would get a 100. Anyway, Monday night I had to turn in a paper for my final. Prior to that I had not missed one point in that class. I'm sure I'll get an A.

Last night I had my Sociology final. Going into the class last night, I had a 102% in the class. The teacher said she would have the grade online later that night. Before I went to bed, I checked and I got a 92 on the final, which is the worst I did on anything in the class. But I ended up with a 99% in the class.

I feel good about this past semester and the one coming up. But I'm very happy to have a little break even though I have two essays to write for two different scholarships I'm applying for.

Army Xmas Party

Yesterday we had Matt's Army Christmas party. I've been an Army wife for over a year and finally made my big debut. I must admit we clean up pretty nice.

Here we are outside freezing our arses off, just as I anticipated.

When we walked in we got a ticket. Later on they drew for door prizes. My number was the second one called. There were all kinds of door prizes ranging from manicures to Cardinals tickets to an Army stepping stone. I let the hubs go pick something out. In true Matt fashion, this was his choice:

And no there is no money in it. Lunch was good. We pretty much just enjoyed each others company because Matt knew like three people there. His squad leader is a chick and she is really nice.

They were asking for people to help with FRG for the unit. About 15 people from the unit are moving to a different town, closer to our house, in hopefully a couple months. I told his squad leader that I would help with FRG when they move. Matt will not deploy again and its hard to say if anyone else in his unit will deploy before he is done.

In true Army fashion at then end he had to "hurry up" and sign out. Then being the guy he is he helped put chairs away and what not, so I got to "wait."

Here is me during the hurry up and wait.

Happy Monday!!!

Drill Weekend

Matt's at his second drill this weekend. He's only texted me a couple times this morning so maybe they are keeping him busy and he will enjoy it more. I slept in until 9 this morning which is quite an accomplishment for me these days.

Tomorrow is the Christmas dinner formal for Matt's new unit. He drills 2 hours away. Tomorrow morning I'm getting my hair done at 7:30 A.M. and then driving up there. I'm supposed to be there by 11. I guess I'm a little excited. This will technically be my big debut as an Army Wife. I never did the Army ball or anything like that (distance was an issue).

I'm hoping that I will fit in better than at his work Christmas party. It's hard to explain but I feel at the Army party at least most everyone will have respect for each other and what they have been through. I have a issue with people not respecting my husband, us, and what we have been through. He doesn't. Just me. It's not like I think we are better than anyone or anything like that. I just think some people have no respect for our soldiers or their family.

Today I need have to write my paper for my Comp final. We read "The Birthmark" and have to write about man's quest for perfection. We have several topics we could relate it to and I chose cosmetic surgery. I've wrote the first paragraph, which for me is always the hardest. And now I'm finding myself blogging. Any comments?

I also need to go to Wal-Mart today to get some fleece fabric. I'm making a fleece blanket for Matt's battle buddy. They were roommates in Iraq and we both wanted to send him a gift for Christmas. He is from Oregon so I need to get it in the mail before too long.

I'm also hoping to have the house spotless for when Matt comes home.

Happy 101 Award!

Katie at The Adventures of Katie and Josh passed along this award to me. Yay! I love Katie's blog. She's is very positive and creative. Thanks Katie!

The rules are simple.

1. List 10 things that make me happy.

2. Tag 10 bloggers that brighten my day.


So, first 10 things that make me happy.

1. My husband, of course
2. My family
3. My dog
4. Doing good in school
5. Silence
6. Naps
7. Diamonds
8. Driving with the music cranked
9. Having a clean house
10. Seeing others happy

Now, to tagging 10 blogs that make me happy to read. First of all, if I didn't like/love your blog, I wouldn't follow you. All the blogs I follow make me happy. But for the sake of following rules, here are my ten.

Bridget @ Always An Adventure

Short Mama @ A Family of Shorts

Christina@ Sugar Sweet Thoughts

Dawn @ Must Love Tots

Marsie @ Quite Contrary

Jessie @ What You Wish For

Katie @ Sometimes Life is Messy

Random Musings of My Life

Tattoos and Teething Rings

Jessica @ Learning as We Go

Happy Friday!!!

Not complaining too much, just sharing

We usually keep it fairly cool in our house. The thermostat is usually set at around 63 while we are home and 60 while we are at work. I don't mind it. If I'm doing stuff I don't notice and if I'm at my base of operations (couch) I just use a cover.

Yesterday when we got home from work it was 57 degrees in our house. The thermostat was set on 62. Matt turned it to off and then back to heat. It kicked on for about 2 minutes but never blew hot air.

So I called my daddy. You see, my daddy can fix pretty much anything. (Except for furnaces) He's a jack of all trades. He came over and used his wire tester and drank a beer while he and my husband stared at the furnace scratching their butts. (I was at school but, I'm pretty sure that's how it went down.)

Needless to say, they didn't get it fixed. I don't mind the cold when I'm sleeping but, when I was getting ready this morning, it was 55 in our house. The toilet seat was rather chilly. I called someone to come and look at it this afternoon so hopefully it gets fixed today.

***

Last night while I was at school, I received an email that the order I had placed for my brother's present was canceled. No explanation. Just canceled. I found something similar to it and ordered that.

***

This morning I get to work and I received an email that another gift I ordered was canceled. Out of stock. I found a place that has the same thing and I called to make sure they definitely had it in stock. They did so I ordered it from them.

I placed these two orders over a week ago. Uggghhh Why are they just now deciding to tell me?

***

I can't spell definitely. Every time I type it I spell it like this - definately. I noticed this a couple weeks ago. Maybe I'll stop using that word and use absolutely, I can spell that right every time.

I don't mesh well with people

This weekend we had Matt's work Christmas party. He was nominated for an award and received $100 for his nomination. They gave us a really nice cutting board and a outdoor blanket. It folds up into a bag and is waterproof.

I think I have social anxiety or something. I always feel as if I don't fit in. I don't know why but I don't do well with large crowds of people that I don't know. Most of the people at this party were older so we pretty much hung out with the younger crowd. (Under 30) Even the younger people kinda freak me out. I feel like I never have anything in common with people. So I just drank. By the time we left, I was feeling pretty good.

We went to the bar after the party and proceeded to drink even more. By the end of the night I fit in. This is probably not healthy. I felt like crap yesterday. I swore off drinking.

I just want to start our own family and own traditions. And not have to worry about anything outside of that.

Which brings me to the next thought I've been having. Christmas is totally blow out of proportion. Isn't it supposed to be about spending time with family and loved ones? Why does it have to be all about gifts. I mean, everyone shells out a bunch of money and swaps presents. A lot of times, it's stuff you don't even need or want. And for what?

I can understand if you have kids you would want to spoil them a little. But I'm an adult. I don't need anything. We have spoiled ourselves enough this year. I would like to boycott gift giving/receiving next year but that would probably never work.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I know I have been a real good girl this year so I thought I would take the liberty of giving you my Christmas list this year. I really don't need or want much so anything you get me will be appreciated.

Chocolate Touch - Now Santa, you know my phone is junk. I have had a chocolate before so I'm sure this one will last me until at least next Christmas.
Pink - I'll take the body spray or the perfume. If you wish to have my husband get this for me, he could probably find it at the mall in Springfield when he does his drill next weekend. Or he could probably order it online.
A pink snuggie. Santa, you know I like to lay around on the couch and that's what keeps me on the "good list." We are also fairly frugal with the heat in our house. So, it gets a little on the chilly side.
I like these pens Santa. You can find them at Wal-Mart. Good luck though. They are usually out.
Thanks Santa. I will leave a Bud Light and some chips for you.

Steph

New Jeans

About two weeks ago I bought a new pair of jeans. I told my husband I was going to get some. I got a size bigger than I normally wear because let's face it people, I'm not getting any smaller. And I'm alright with that.

Yesterday when we met for lunch the conversation went like this:

Hubby: Where did you get those jeans?

Me: They are the new ones I bought.

Hubby: I don't like them.

Me: Why?

Hubby: They are too baggy and your butt doesn't look that good in them.

Me: Don't worry, I'll grow into them.

Hubby: *Silence*