Christmas is Coming!!

Brianna and I put up the Christmas tree the other night! I wasn't sure I wanted to do it, since I was tired from working, but she convinced me! We thought we would post a picture since Brianna decorated it so beautifully! She is pretty proud of it!!!

Turkey Dinner Is Done... Let's Go Shopping??!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving... spent it at my mother's house with my sister and her family and one of my uncles! As always, we gorged ourselves with too much food and drink, which made for a very long and tiring trip home that evening!!! And of course it was late when we got home... CJ's Dallas Cowboys were playing, so we couldn't leave until that game was over! We got home about 9:30 pm. By the time we put everything away and got every one to bed, it was almost 11:00. Not good when we were going to get up a few hours later to go shopping...

Normally, I try to avoid "Black Friday" shopping!! There doesn't seem to be much sense in freezing your buns off at 4:00 am while waiting in a LONG line for the stores to open. Then you have to push your way through people to get to what you came there for... However, upon looking at the ads on Thanksgiving Day, we saw several items that were really good deals so we thought we would try this "shopping frenzy". Wal-Mart was one place I needed to go and their doorbusters started at 5am. Since we have three Super Wal-Marts that are open 24 hours here, I decided to go to the one clear on the opposite end of town, away from the mall and shopping centers! It was great! I got there about 4:40 am and parked right up at the front of the store!! I was able to go inside since they are open 24 hours... they have their "doorbuster" items on pallets in the aisles and wrapped in black plastic so you can't see what it is. There is a Wal-Mart employee standing at each pallet to make sure no one tries to rip these open before 5:00 am. Because everyone was out at the Wal-Mart by the mall, closer to the shopping areas, there was not very many people here at the one I was at! I was able to get everything I came for (which I can not list here since they are Christmas gifts... someone might read this!), I didn't even have to wait in line to check out, and I was out of the store by 5:05am!!! It was GREAT!!! I can't say the same about Target, though! They are located over with the shopping centers and the mall!! BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!! After I finished at Wal-Mart, I took my purchases home. CJ was going to go to Target, but since I got done quickly and made it back home before he left, we went together. Our first mistake was the time... we didn't get there soon enough! We arrived about 10 minutes before the store opened.... BAD!!!! This is a Super Target with two separate entrances on the front. There were lines formed from both doors and going back around the corners to the back of the building... on both sides!!! We saw Shannon Ewart, whose son played baseball with Zach this summer. She was about a third of the way back in line, and she said she had gotten there at 5:00am and had been waiting in line for an hour outside already!! Well, CJ and I didn't think we were going to get what we wanted at this store, but we were there, right?! Might as well get in line and see what happens!!! Well, we didn' t have to wait outside in the cold very long... once 6:00am came and the doors opened, the lines moved very quickly. But we aure didn't get what we wanted! By the time we got to the shelf where it was, they were sold out of them!!! So we pushed through the maze of people in there and headed out! It actually took us longer to get out of the parking lot than anything!! CJ went home and went back to bed, while I took off to work. I was still pleased with my Wal-Mart purchases, though! Note for next year: Plan ahead and leave the house earlier!!! :)

Johnny Appleseed Play

Brianna's 2nd grade class put on a play this afternoon, called "Johnny Appleseed". She played a little Native American indian girl named "Young Wolf"!!! The class really did a great job of "acting" it out -- they were quite entertaining!! I had to work today, but I was able to get off early to go see this!

Tonight, Brianna is leaving for another Girl Scout overnite. CJ and I are going to Zach's scrimmage game at the middle school... the 8th grade boys vs. the 8th grade girls!!! I guess it is just a little practice before the basketball tournament starts tomorrow. Zach sprained his ankle last weekend while he was shooting baskets at the neighbor's house (he stepped back to take a shot and his foot slipped off the concrete edge of the court, which is raised above the ground a few inches) so hopefully he will be able to play okay this weekend. I will update the blog with more later...

A Busy Weekend

This past weekend was just another busy weekend for us! We didn't have any sporting events to attend, but we started doing things around the house to get ready for winter... I keep hoping that by putting it off, maybe winter won't ever come! (Yeah, right...) We took advantage of the nice weather to get up on the roof and clean out the gutters, etc. CJ also got up all the leaves in the yard by mowing them with the lawn mower! The lawn mower just sucked them up in the bag along with the cut grass, so this was even easier than old-fashioned raking!!! In the afternoon, we went down to the basement just to clean out a small corner by the furnace where CJ had been accumulation "various items" (aka JUNK). Well, that small task turned into cleaning the whole utility/laundry room area! We took up old rugs and bought new ones, bought a shelf for towels to put by the shower, etc. The shower also had a small drip coming from the cold faucet, so we also fixed that while we were down there! It was supper time by the time we got done, and we didn't feel like cooking, so Brianna suggested going to Red Robin for supper! Judging from the empty plates at the table when we were done eating, everyone worked up quite an appetite cleaning!! Too bad, the "cleanliness" never just stays that way... Oh well, one room done, only 5 more to go!!!

Halloween -- Come and Gone

First I want to apologize for not getting this posted on Halloween! And also for not getting the pictures out yet either!!! Brianna and I carved a pumpkin on the Thursday night before Halloween, but it was pretty "withered" by the time Halloween got here! So, I didn't get any pictures of that either.

Zach and his friends decided not to go trick or treating this year... instead, his friend Andy invited a bunch of kids over to his house to "hang out", meaning sit around and talk and listen to music and play video games! He had a good time out and was home before 9:30 since it was a school night.

Brianna was a cute witch for Halloween this year. She had to take her costume to school because they were having a Halloween parade in the afternoon. Parents were invited to come up and stand out on the school playground and all the kids came "parading" out in their costumes to show them off! Even the teachers were decked out! After the parade, they had Halloween parties in their individual classrooms until school got out. Parents could stay for this also, but I had to leave to pick up Zach from school. After an early supper, Brianna put her witch costume back on, and we proceeded to walk the neighborhood streets. We only did four streets, but she filled her bag twice, so she got plenty of candy!! We got home just before 8:00, so she got her pajamas on and had two pieces of her candy. It wasn't long before she was asleep on the couch... she didn't even make it to her bed!!

Once Brianna went to bed, I went out to meet my friend, Marla, from high school. We don't get to see each other very often, so we decided to get together for a drink or two. I met her downtown, and when i proceeded to get out of my vehicle, I decided to lock my doors with the button on the door instead of using the "device" on the keychain! As soon as I shut my door, I realized the keys were in one of the cupholders up front instead of my coat pocket!!! So, I had to call CJ... when Zach got home from his party, CJ came down with the other set of keys and unlocked the door and got my keys and brought them in to me! And all I had to do was buy him a beer!! Cheapest locksmith I have ever heard of!!! He stayed and visited with Marla and I while he drank his beer, then he left. Marla and I stayed until almost midnight!!! I couldn't believe what time it was... time goes so fast when you're having fun, visiting with friends, etc. I would have stayed longer if I didn't have to get up at 5:00 am to get ready for work in the morning!!! Next time, we will have to meet earlier, or go out when I don't have to work the next day!!!