Ideas for Neighbor Gifts

I admit I'm not very creative when it comes to giving Christmas treats to neighbors. Last year I made Orange Almond Bread (my favorite!) and wrapped it up in saran wrap and tied it with ribbon. Yup, that's pretty much the extent of my neighbor gifts. I know that my next door neighbor, Rich, was most appreciative since he lives on his own and gave me a gift in return (not that I expect that of course).

Over the weekend I was looking in a packet my mom has of ideas and sayings for gift giving. My favorite was as follows:

Attached is a brownie, cookie or cake mix.
"Roses are red. Christmas is sweet. I'm too busy! Make your own darn treat!"

I laughed hysterically the first 5 times I read that. Okay, maybe I'm still laughing hysterically every time I read it. So don't be surprised if you get this gift from me one day. I just hope you'll get as much enjoyment out of it as I do. Haha!

To Be or Not to Be.......

....that is the question. Christmas used to be my favorite time of year. I loved the holiday festivities, the decorations, the hustle and bustle, the shopping for perfect gifts, the family parties, the excitement of Christmas morning. Don't get me wrong, I still love parts of the Christmas holiday. It's lost a lot of it's sparkle since my divorce a year and a half ago. I hate to say it, but sometimes I feel like a scrooge. I dread the holidays....and as it nears closer, I dread it even more. Last year I didn't put up a tree or any decorations, I pretended it didn't exist (at least in my house it didn't). Bah Humbug! If I had my choice, I would've gone into hibernation and skipped Christmas altogether. I hate holidays in general...they're not a pleasant time for me, but Christmas is THE hardest.

I'm trying to have a better attitude this year....though I fall short most days. I'm trying to get into the mood and excitement of the season. Maybe pretending and putting on a happy face shows some sort of effort? This past weekend I put away my Thanksgiving decorations and have started getting out Christmas. I figure maybe if I do a small amount each day....I might be able to get it all accomplished without having a complete breakdown. I might even have my parents over later this week to help with the tree. Sometimes the thought of it all is too overwhelming. I'm hoping to get through most of the season without too many tears. Maybe somehow I'll make it a merry Christmas this year after all.

Time for Celebration

My shower is finished....except for my shower door, which will hopefully be installed once we can find a cheap one at Home Depot or Lowe's. Any other suggestions on where to look for a cheap shower door?

All of the tile and grout were finished Friday night and they came back again early Saturday morning to seal it. Hooray! I was able to get my house back. I spent most of Saturday cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming everywhere. Ugh, what a mess everything was! I'm happy to say things are almost back to normal, and I have a clean house once again.

We put the shower curtain back up so at least I'm able to use the shower until I can get a door. It's such a nice luxury having a fancy tile shower that will actually clean up well. I love that it's spacious and has shelves and a corner bench for shaving. :) I also absolutely love my trim...slate, glass and other such fun small tiles. Okay, so maybe I'm in love with just about everything. I will have to post some pictures soon.

Almost done?

Remember my remodeling that I started a week ago Monday? Well, it's still not finished. There have been many problems along the way, and luckily they were solvable. The day he started laying the tile we find out the wrong trim has been ordered. We had to take it back to the store and ended up picking out something entirely different since what we had originally ordered was back ordered and we didn't want to have to wait. Then we find out the also gave us the wrong floor. We had picked out a brown tile...but later switched it to a cheaper one. They gave us the one we really wanted, but that we had not ordered....so they also discounted that price. Yay for mistakes that turn out better in the end.

When my shower was started I was told it would take about 5 days. Are you kidding me?! It's been about double that! They are finishing up the tile today (I think) and will hopefully grout tomorrow. My dad will then seal it Saturday. We then have to order a shower door and have that installed sometime next week.

I'm so tired of my house being a complete disaster, and really really hope they are finished and done soon. I'm tired of people and mess and crap etc. etc. in my house! I'm also not looking forward to deep cleaning and getting rid of all of that dust and other such mess when they are finished. I just have to keep telling myself how great it will be and how much I will enjoy it when everything is back to normal.

My Five

Five things I don't leave the house without:

1. Cell phone
   
2. Lip gloss
   
3. Gum
   
4. Keys
   
5. Jewelry (earrings, necklace, watch, rings...)
   

Five cartoons I watched when I was younger:

1. Jem and the Hollagrams
2. The Smurfs
   
3. Gummi Bears
   
4. Strawberry Shortcake
   
5. Fat Albert
   

Five things that terrify me:

1. Scary movies
   
2. Loud noises
   
3. SPIDERS
   
4. Anything creepy and crawly
   
5. The dark
   

Five things I dislike that everyone else seems to like:

1. Onions
   
2. Peppers
   
3. Spaghetti
   
4. Broccoli
5. Scary movies
   

Five things I want to do before I die:

1. Be a mommy
   
2. Be totally debt free (car, house, everything...sorry Heather I copied)
   
3. Go to Paris with my honey
   
4. Have a secure and happy marriage
   
5. Germany, Italy, England, Australia, need I say more.....
   

Five people I tag:

1. Liz
   
2. April
   
3. Jan
   
4. Arianne
   
5. Lisa
   

Demolition Day

My shower remodeling is beginning today. Hooray.....I think. It's taken a lot longer than I thought to get everything figured out and ordered (not to mention the frustrations and annoyances along the way), but the day has finally arrived. I've covered my floors in sheets and removed all items from my counters in the bathroom. Oh geez, it feels like it did when I first moved in. My fabulous dad is playing "overseer" while I'm work all of this week. Love you Dad! What would I do without you? Today would probably be the demolishing day, ripping out the old shower/tub combination and hopefully the more exciting tiling parts will be starting soon. It's suppose to take 5 days....cross my fingers. I would love to have the mess over with by this weekend so I can put my bathroom back together again. I will have to take pictures and post them.

Conferences

Tonight is Parent/Teacher Conferences. Definitely not my favorite time of year. I hate being at work for 12 hours today....and another 12 hours tomorrow...and still having to come into work on Friday. I'm quite jealous of those traditional teachers that get Friday off. I do look forward to see those cute kiddos in my class that have been trying so hard and have progressed since the first of the year. I love seeing their grades going up, and their smiling faces. :) Some things do make me proud. However, I will be glad when these two days are over and I can catch up on my sleep this weekend. Wish me luck!