Some Decorations

This year Chancho and I went out for a Christmas Lights excursion. We really only got to see two beautiful homes because they were so far apart, but these were the pictures that I got.

A home in Queens, NY

A home in Bronx, NY

 This house was ridiculous. It's a Hollywood theme so there are manikins dressed up for a dinner party, along with every other decoration available from Santa to Snoopy. They were playing Michael Jackson's "Beat It" when we were viewing the house, which I thought was odd. The whole house was odd, including the fact that it is painted bright pink. But it was still awesome regardless of the weirdness.

Here's my tree! (Don't mind the spooky eyes, it's just Foxy)

Foxy checking out her first Xmas Tree

Completely decorated - Red and Silver theme this year

Garland across the mantel. And Foxy creeping in again.

Garland going up the staircase

There is also garland with lights on the front door, along with wreaths, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture of those yet. Busy busy busy...only a few more days until Christmas! I still have yet to finish all of my shopping. Perhaps by Monday or Tuesday it will be done. Chancho is going away this weekend so I'll have some extra free time. 

Quote of the Day: "He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree." - Roy L. Smith
Listening to:  "Silent Night" by Mariah Carey

In The Spirit

I've been waiting patiently to hear back from the new job (PCS) and still my phone is silent. I've called twice and left messages. Still nothing. Perhaps they're busy with the holidays themselves. Maybe they're waiting for the new year. Whatever the case, it's driving me nuts! I can't make plans without knowing if they're going to call and need me to work. I'm in limbo right now. And I HATE limbo.
TG and I decorated the house the other night finally. The tree is up along with the garland and nativity scenes. I didn't do every single decoration this year, just out of pure laziness, but the house looks good. I'll upload pictures later. I am currently babysitting Buster. He is sick with a cold and possibly an ear infection. He keeps smacking at his ears. I definitely have a soft spot for sick babies because all I've been doing is cuddling and reading to him. I even rocked him to sleep today for his nap.
But what has really got me in the spirit is that my best friend Jean from childhood has reappeared into my life. She was isolated from friends and family for a good 2 years because of the guy she was dating. Everyone was really worried about her for a while and we were hoping that she would open her eyes to see the horrible life that was surrounding her. Unfortunately, it took a traumatic event to do that. But none the less she is out of that life and back with her friends and family. We've hung out twice and have tons of plans to do things together. She is currently seeing her childhood sweetheart and is in the happiest time of her life. Which ultimately makes me happy for her. They're talking marriage, they went ring shopping and have even discussed buying a place together. So of course, being the girl that I am, I'm wrapped up in the idea of being married too. Chancho and I have talked a lot about it in the past and even now. He's even mentioned taking a stroll through a jewelery store to "browse". But Chancho has also been my reality check. He brings me back down from cloud 9 and shows me realistically where we are. However, it doesn't hurt to dream about that dream wedding. I mean it is the season to be merry!

Quote of the day: "Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves." ~Eric Sevareid

Tuesday Tips

Gift Wrap Wonderland is here!!! It will be officially in stores this Thursday. You can order online right now. They have an offer for free shipping if you spend over $100, which we all know is very easy when shopping at The Container Store. If you've been in the stores at all this week, you will notice that the construction is underway to turn the store into the wonderful wonderland. A reminder to get your items early. If you think it's too early because Halloween hasn't even happened, you're late. People are going crazy pre-ordering items just to make sure they get it. Because this stuff will sell out within the first 2 weeks. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, there won't be much of anything left.
The stocking stuffers this year are awesome! There's a link on the homepage which will show you the catalog which should be hitting homes soon. There are also recipes posted online, gift ideas and homemade ideas. You have to check it all out. I'm beyond excited for this. Christmas is my favorite holiday. Next week I'll do a tip on my favorite stocking stuffer or two.

Remember to stay organized this year with ornament organizers, gift wrap organizers and light boxes! We have all of those to help keep you sane during the holiday hussle and bussle!

Happy organizing!!

The Final Christmas Post

I figured I'd show off Chancho's Christmas tree too. I really am not a fan of the colors, in fact, I really hate gold, but his sister did such a nice job in decorating the tree that I needed to share. He got their tree from the volunteer firefighters this year. Our close friend volunteers so he supported them with getting a tree.
Here's the tree all decked out.

They don't have a fireplace so their radiator is their chimney. I think they do a pretty good job in decorating it to look Christmas like. However they don't know the tradition of what the stockings are for so they just hang there unused.

This is Chancho's ornament. It doesn't match any of the other ornaments, but it's allowed on the tree. I was going to get it for him last year when I got my roommates their ornaments, but I made the mistake of taking him with me to pick up their gifts and he saw it and got it for himself. It's from a store that opens only during the holiday season and they sell ornaments that can be personalized. It's a neat store. I can always find something for someone. They have tons of ornaments.

I believe that sums up all of my Christmas pictures, which means the season has come to an end. :( I'm gearing up for the New Years party tomorrow. First I'll be going to see Chancho at work. We've decided to have dinner together, even if we can only eat in his car. It's an hour together that we normally wouldn't have. I'll take it though. Let's hope he doesn't get a call so our plans don't get canceled!

Christmas Day 2 & 3

Coming home so late from Chancho's house, I forgot to put up the stockings for Santa to fill. Therefore waking up Christmas morning, I didn't have anything to open up. We skipped the opening of stockings and headed straight to Connecticut to my cousin's house. Chancho joined the family this time. We spent the entire day there. We opened up presents and Chancho handed out his PBA cards. He decided that he would only give them to the adult relatives rather than everyone in the family. They were of course a huge hit. My aunt jokingly said that this was the sign she was looking for that allowed her to be naughty this new year. Everyone loved my M&M trees. Almost everyone opened them right away to get at the candy. It was a good Christmas Day, very enjoyable.

The day after Christmas, this is when my immediate family gets together and celebrates Christmas all together. We go to my brother's house. It is midway for everyone now. Chancho got sick from eating something at my cousin's house, so he sadly did not make it to my brother's. I was finally able to open up my "real gifts" as I like to call them. I know that these are the gifts that I want off of my list and that someone put a lot of thought into these ones, not to say that my other relatives did not put thought into theirs, but these gifts won't be re-gifted for sure. Here are few pictures of what I got:

 Here is my scanner from Chancho. It scans photos and negatives. 

This a Coach wallet from my sister and her husband.

My new camera from my brother and his wife.

Now on to New Years. Chancho got the call. He has to work. I am so bummed out about it, but I am slowly letting myself adjust to the idea of having another New Years without him. Hopefully by then I'll be alright. I really do need to learn how to not get my hopes up. That is where I go wrong.

Listening to: "So What" by Pink
Quote of the Day:  "Happiness is a place between too little and too much."

Christmas Day 1

Christmas is split up into 3 days for me and my family, starting the holiday, with a busy Christmas Eve. This year I was able to get the majority of the day off because I worked an overnight the night before. So I went into work on Wed. night and didn't get home until Thurs. morning at 6am. I was delirious around 4am. I don't even remember the drive home at 6. I was so tired struggling to keep my eyes open. I got home and had to keep the cat locked in my room (mind you I'm allergic to him) due to my sister and brother in law coming to stay with us with their dog. He's a cranky old man and very finicky. Therefore, as I attempted to sleep, he thought it was the perfect time to paw at my face and meow all the while walking up and down all over me. None the less I only got 4 hours of sleep.

Remember that outfit I bought for Chancho's holiday party? Well since we never went to that holiday party, I wore the outfit for Christmas Eve. At least I got some use out of it. The family, minus my mother, brother and Chancho, traveled to Long Island to my grandmother's house to have dinner and open a few presents. It was a very nice evening. I got to eat my favorite holiday dish prepared by my grandmother. She makes the best German dish called Grunkohl. She did however manage to mess up the eggnog. I believe she left out the eggnog part and only added rum. It was a tad too strong.

After stuffing our faces and opening the presents I hustled back home to make it to Chancho's for his families celebration. They always celebrate on Christmas Eve at midnight. When I arrived they had eaten already and were waiting around for it to be midnight. Chancho's godson is 5 and was waiting impatiently for the clock to turn. It was a lovely night. They all were very happy with their presents. I thought I would have been uncomfortable because as they open presents they go one by one and take pictures as you sit there opening the presents. You are truly in the spotlight. However, for some reason, maybe me being extremely tired, I didn't mind and was very comfortable. I'd like to think that that was a major stepping stone for me. The fact that there were about 10 people starring at me and it didn't bother me, I can check that insecurity off my list.

From there, I left a tad early and crashed. The rest of his family stayed until 4am. There was no way I was going to make it that long. When I got home I was eagerly greeted by Leela, my sister's dog. She wasn't locked in her crate so she was licking me as I walked in the door. Luckily, I was so exhausted that i passed out that I had no idea if my cat was tromping over me or not.

Listening to:

Part I

Just a quick post to let you all know I made it through the holidays alive. A lot has gone on in the past few days. A lot of traveling and working. I am beyond exhausted at this point and still have to wait til Wed. to get a break. A quick preview: I got a few great gifts. Here's a picture of one of the gifts that I'm in love with. It's a PostSecret book. The link to the left will bring you to the website, but a brief summary of what it is: A man, Frank, decided to ask people to mail him a postcard with their secret on it. From there he has posted these postcards online for everyone to see every Sunday. He has also published 4 or 5 books with all of the postcards. It's pretty neat.

I took this picture with my new camera! The battery in my camera was coming to an end. Guess I took care of that problem by replacing the whole thing. I'm still learning about it, but so far, I like it!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and was able to enjoy themselves! Hopefully, I'll be able to post more on Wed. Tune in then.

Quote of the Day: "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'i will try again tomorrow'."

Superstitions

I'm really not that big on superstitions, but reading these in a Christmas book, I couldn't resist, I had to share.

• If a girl scout comes to your door anytime in December, buy what she has got. She is an angel in disguise.
• December 15th, kiss a pomegranate, all xmas wishes come true.
• Drop a shelled nut in one of a tray of Christmas cider mugs ~ whoever chooses it will play a big role in your life. 
• Draw a heart in pencil on a plain piece of paper; send it to the one you love on Dec. 21st. He will be yours.
• Hard boil an egg Christmas morning, if it cracks you win your heart's desire. (Tip: drop ice cold egg in boiling water.)
• Drop 3 cranberries on the ground ~ the furthest one out directs you to the one you love. (Drop with a certain flamboyance.)
• If you find an orange in the toe of your Christmas stocking, Valentine's day will be glorious (as opposed to Christmas)
• Listen to "I'll Be Home For Christmas" 3 times in a row, and you will be. (If not, try clicking your heels together 3 times.)
• During the Christmas season of your 16th year if a baby smiles at you ~ true love is near by.
• Pull out a gray hair on Christmas day and a child will kiss you. Possibly all day long.
• On Christmas Eve put three pink peppercorns under you lover's pillow; he will do the Christmas dishes.
• Smell a yellow rose the morning of the 17th of Dec. & there's a good chance you'll get diamonds for xmas.

 Listening to: "Christmas Is All Around" by Billy Mack

Busy Elves

Thought I'd sneak in a quick post since I have been MIA for the past few days. It's not that I've been extremely busy, but busy enough that posting went to the wayside. My one day off last week was spent at my brother's finishing up Chancho's gifts. They came out great! I think everyone will love them, the embroidery really made the gift personal. It's amazing what little embroidery can do to a pair of sweat pants.

I've been working non stop and dashing to stores when I'm not to pick up last minute gifts. Remember that gift that I bought for my brother and sister in law that wouldn't be here til after Christmas? Well it showed up on my doorstep today! I had already went out and bought them each a little something so they would have something to open up Christmas Day, but I guess now they'll have extra, and who doesn't love opening up more gifts? I also found on my doorstep today a package from my best friend up at school. She really went above and beyond, she got my a whole outfit. I wasn't expecting it at all. I finished wrapping up the glass tree jars and they came out so pretty. I also bought wayyyy too much candy, I'll be bringing the extra bags into work so everyone can enjoy them, besides me. Tonight is the first night of the overnights at my job, the candy will help with keeping us all up til the crack of dawn.

To add to my busy schedule, I went on an interview to my mother's friend, she needs a babysitter for when she returns to work. She has a 6 1/2 month old son who is the cutest little guy. I said I'd help her out while she's getting readjusted to working again. It can't hurt to get some extra pocket cash while searching for a job. I'm looking forward to it, giving me something else to do.

Right now, I'm waiting to hear back from Chancho if he has to work New Years Eve. Since we've been together, we have yet to share a New Years Eve kiss. I'm hoping this year will be different. Although, it doesn't look good. Everyone around him is getting their assignments so I figure it is only a matter of hours before I get a text or phone call that he will be working. Which I am prepared for, or at least what I keep telling myself. Two of our close friends are having a party which I am taking part in planning and am looking forward to that as well. As long as I am surrounded by friends and get to see the ball drop, I'll be content. I know I can't complain too much because I have him for three days during Christmas and that is more important to me.

Have a wonderful Holiday and be sure to bring the New Year in right!

Here is a recipe for happy Christmas for you all to enjoy!

 Fill a house with equal parts of Love, Hope & Peace

Add the joy of children & the strength of older people

Season with the music of laughter & some mistletoe kisses

Warm before a crackling fire & serve with tidings of Comfort & Joy!

Listening to: "My Grown Up Christmas List" by Kelly Clarkson

More Presents

I sadly have not finished my Christmas shopping. I was doing so well with it too. I did however receive my dad's xmas present in the mail yesterday. I think I may be more excited about it than he will be. It's a personalized frame from 1stframe
 Inside the frame I made a collage of pictures ranging from the day all of his kids were born up until today. I included a few pictures of my mom and him from the earliest that I could find until now. I'm in love with it. I should have made it for me. I'm not sure if the icons on the side are big enough to see, but the one on the left is of a guy in a canoe, and the one on the right is of a deer. The bottom saying is "From Great Oaks, Little Acorns Grow."

The next gift I got, which I don't think will be here in time for Christmas is a personalized tub from Personal Creations. It's a pretty big tub and I think it's neater than using a cooler to hold drinks. It's for my brother and his wife. They are always having people over to hang out, I figured it'd be a cool thing to have in their back yard. I didn't realize though that the personalization would delay the day of the shipping so it will probably arrive a couple of days after Christmas.

Speaking of shipping. The US Postal guy today arrived in front of my house and slid open his door, threw our package from his seat to our front door (which is probably a good 35 feet), slid the door shut and drove off. I was shocked to see that! How can they treat packages like that? I know that most packages are marked fragile when things are obviously fragile, but still. That is just rude! I wonder if he would have done that if he knew I was sitting in front of the window watching.

All I have left to shop for is my mom and Chancho's mom. I know exactly what I'm getting for Chancho's mother. However, my own mom is still a challenge. I'm still waiting for that "ah ha" moment to come along.

This is also the season where everyone is putting up lights on their house. There are always those few houses that you know are going to put up the same lights as last year and you expect it, well without fail the house on speed, as we like to call it, is up and flashing away. Every year as we drive down the bottom of our hill and look across the highway there is this one house that has multi-colored lights that are flashing like crazy. I swear if someone with epilepsy drove by they would have seizure. Anyways, I made Chancho drive by the house last night. He didn't want to because it was going slightly out of our way and why would I want to get that close to something so obnoxious? As we got closer there was a sign all lit up and on it it told the driver-byer's to tune in to 107.7fm. We did as we were told and low and behold there was Christmas music playing. The lights on the house were flashing to the tune of the music! I was shocked, amazed and sat there smiling. Here I was hating this obnoxious house for years and now that I finally understand it, I love it! I think it is just the coolest thing that they could do. I'm glad that I took the journey over to see the house up close and personal.

Listening to: Silent Night by Trans-Siberian Orchestra  
Quote of the Day: "One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly." -Andy Rooney

It's a New York Christmas

Chancho and I took a day to ourselves. We started the day out with putting "Big Bertha" into storage for the winter. He braved the blustery wind and drove his motorcycle to the storage place in 17 degree weather. From there we traveled into the city. For one reason only, to see the big tree. Here are some pictures from our journey to the storage, Rockefeller Center and the tree in all it's glory.

Here are some pictures of our dessert. We had dinner in little Italy. We didn't have a place in mind so we just stumbled across a little place, that I can't even recall the name of now. The food was okay, not good enough to go back again, but it filled me. We stopped off for dessert at Cafe Palermo for a cannoli and cheesecake.

And lastly, here is my decorated Christmas tree. We put the lights up last night and tonight Chancho came over and sat on the couch while I decorated. My mother cleaned out our ornaments tossing some of the old ones and putting some in the "tag sale" box. I swear this tag sale box that she has is one that she just picks out of and puts the items right back into our closets. I never see her dragging the box to any tag sale.

Quote of the Day:  "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more."  --Dr. Seuss

Let's Say Thanks

This is a quick 10 second thing that I thought everyone could do. Visit this website. It will give you the option to pick out a card that was handmade by a child and then you get to pick out a message, or write your own. Then you send it and it will arrive to a soldier overseas! So quick and painless and yet so meaningful. This holiday season I have been very much involved with the soldiers overseas. I'm not sure why this year is any different, but I have been sending cards and care packages like crazy.


Quote of the Day: "I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month."

Candy Galore

I started to fill my candy trees and well my plan has changed a bit. They didn't have just regular M&M's in red and green. So I went with the holiday mix of chocolates. I figure everyone loves chocolate, can't go wrong there. It has Reeses mini cups, Hershey's milk chocolate, and Hershey Kiss'. They all are wrapped in red, green, silver and gold. It met my criteria so I got 4 huge bags and they didn't fill them all! I also had to take the bag of peanut M&M's in the red and green to fill the smaller trees. I was mad that I wasn't able to fill the rows with a separate color, but I think this way is a lot easier. It doesn't look bad so I can be okay with it.



I took this next section from Because of Love, she posted up some quick questions about Christmas and we all know I love Christmas so I couldn't resist.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Definitely wrapping paper. The only time I use gift bags is if it's way too awkward to wrap.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real tree, I love the smell.

3.When do you put up the tree? We don't have a day per se, we just put it up when we have the time. Last year was Christmas Eve. I'm hoping for this weekend this year though.

4. When do you take the tree down? Again, that depends on when we have time, but some time in the week after Christmas.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, very much so. My sister-in-law makes some really good eggnog.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The only memorable one that I have is a sleeping bag or my American Girl doll.

7. Hardest person to buy for? I'd say my brother. I can never tell what he'll like. I also feel like he has everything.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Chancho.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? I have a few.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. Everyone lives so far away and I feel like mailing them is more personal.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't think I have ever gotten anything too bad. I would probably say some sort of jewelry or something like that.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I have two. Elf and The Family Stone.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I will start in August if I see something I'll get it. Otherwise it really begins Dec. 1st.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, I have.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My grandmother's homemade Grunkohl.

16. Lights on the tree? I love the big lights that are multicolored, but these past few years it's just been simple white lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? This is a hard question. I would say my all time favorite would be Silent Night, but I also love A New York Christmas, Baby It's Cold Outside and All I Want For Christmas Is You.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? All traveling. Four different homes in three days.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Nope, that's one thing I can't do.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither, we have a Santa. He holds a candle in his hand that lights up.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Well I do open presents Christmas Eve, but they are from my mother's side of the family. The rest of the presents get opened Christmas Day and the day after.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The people who are scrooges.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Red and White or the mixture of everything from all the years.

24. Favorite thing for Christmas dinner? The same as the other question, Grunkohl!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I already got what I wanted, it came today! A scanner for my pictures. I am hoping for a battery for my camera though.

Now it's your turn. Go ahead and fill out your own answers and post on your blog!

M&M Trees

We had our first snowfall! and it actually stuck to the ground and all of the cars. While I was at work yesterday it snowed all day long. Only 2 inches stayed, but still there is still snow outside. I finally feel like it's winter time. In the spirit of it feeling like winter I actually went out Christmas shopping. Instead of buying something unique for every individual in the extended family I decided upon something very simple and inexpensive. The Container Store sells these wonderful jars in the shape of trees. They come in two different sizes. A large and a small. All of my cousins will get a small one and my aunts/uncles and grandmothers will get a large one. I'm going to fill them with M&M's. Each "branch" will be a layer of red and green, alternating. Sam's Club will be a huge help in providing me with a bulk package of the two colors and for a great price. The great part about these jars is that the tops have a suction piece to them so that when you open the jar all of the M&M's don't come flying out at you.

I'm going to wrap them in cellophane so that they can see them and I won't waste boxes or bags. I'll be tying them off with this ribbon. I'm excited to see how they turn out.

Now that I have the extended family shopped for, all that is left is the immediate family. For some reason I always find them harder to shop for.

Listening to: "A New York Christmas" by Rob Thomas

Tis the Season!

I began my first round of Christmas decorations today. This is the first year in 4 years that I am home before Christmas Eve to decorate. Unfortunately in the past years we haven't had the time to decorate and it didn't look like Christmas at all in the house. I took it upon myself to bring it back this year. I hadn't realized how out of control the attic was with all of the decorations scattered around so a lot of my time was focused on cleaning it up. I now have 3 huge boxes of Christmas items that are ready to be brought to a tag sale or donated somewhere. Sadly, that took up so much time that I didn't get to finish all of the decorating. I am also waiting to put up the tree for another day, once everything else is finished. Hopefully this Sunday or Monday will be that day. Here are some pictures of what was put up.

This is over our fire place, that is used everyday to heat our house. (the stockings will hang there later.)

Some garland over the entryway to the dining room.

A mini village in the dining room. I'm working on finding lights to light the inside of the houses.

Some outside decorations. I plan to put garland around the doors with white lights.

More garland going up the stairs. 

A tiny manager set on the living room table.

These next three are decorations from Germany. My family sent them over as gifts a couple years back.

This one actually spins once the candles are lit.

That's all for now. I'll post more as I decorate.

Quote of the Day: "Live, but not out of fear or hate, live out of love."

Christmas Surprise

I ordered Chancho's present today. I hopefully will be receiving it in the mail within the usual 7-10 business days. I was right, he did snoop around to try and figure out what I got him. My only hint, it has to deal with the Yankees. The price actually crept up on me and I spent a little more than I wanted to, but it is definitely worth it. I am tempted to give it to him early. I am just very happy that it's ordered and on it's way to my house. I can check his name off of the list and move on to others in the family. I always find it hard to buy something for my brother in law and sister in law. It's not that I don't feel like I know them, because I do have a good sense of what they like, it's just in my family we are very open about our gifts. We put a list out and we each write our name down next to what we're getting one another. There isn't any surprise to it. It just makes it a lot simpler for us. There are 7 of us in the family, not that big, but big enough to make it confusing when it comes to who is buying what for who. It usually goes something like this: "What do you want?" "A red large duffel bag from LL Bean" "Okay you're getting that from me". Or you say what you're price range is and they'll tell you something from their list that fits that. Now for the brother and sister in laws they want they're presents to be a surprise, which means I have to figure it out myself. Yes, I know, that requires me to do some extra thinking. I'm getting a head start this year. At least for when it comes to me, I have my birthday in November so I make one list and hand it out to everyone and I'm done. And this year I have to come up with presents for Chancho's family as well. The list just keeps on growing. I'm glad I love Christmas and I'm not someone who finds it all to be a "Hallmark" holiday.

Quote of the day: Shakespeare wrote: 'Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds.' When life gets hard, when things change, true love remains the same. -One Tree Hill

Tick Tock

I've spent the entire day waiting. First I was waiting to hear if Chancho got home safe from work. He finally arrived home way past his usual arrival at around 3:30am. He got stuck doing overtime, which was only supposed to be an hour long, doing bar raids. Then I was waiting for him to get out of work at 2pm from work at the deli. I did manage to sneak in a visit to get some breakfast for my mother and myself, but the grill closed so we had to settle for sandwiches. Chancho labeled the sandwiches to my surprise. Mine was labeled "sloth" for not making it in before the grill closed, my mother's was "momma dukes" and he even gave my father a "sandwich". I'm not sure what it is yet because he wasn't home to open it when I was there. As simple as that was, it put a smile on my face. Now finally I'm waiting for him to wake up. Because he got home at 3:30am and then only got 2 hours of sleep before he had to be at the deli, he's exhausted. So much for having a day together. I'm giving him a limit though. He needs to be awake by 7:30pm so we can have dinner together. Luckily there's a good movie on, Stepmom and I am able to keep myself busy at his place while he's passed out, snoring ridiculously. I'm actually surprised that he didn't wake up from me turning the volume up so loud over his snores.

On another note, Chancho got some interesting news today about his father. He's gotten into some trouble and may be needing to vacate his condo permanently. Therefore, Chancho is considering taking it off of his hands for him. It seems like it could be a beneficial thing, but I'm a little weary of the package that comes along with it. The extra bills. It would make things extra extra tight on his end. Although, if he can handle it, it would make his credit golden. I'm just concerned about the added stress that it would add to his plate. Thankfully, it doesn't need to be decided right now and there can be some time to think it completely over.

I am working on Chancho's Christmas gift. I am debating on whether or not to even write about this on here because I know that on occasion he does read this and once he finds out that I am looking or have thought about looking for a gift he'll go to any lengths to figure out what I got him. So I'll try and keep it light, it's just something I am so excited about and cannot wait to give to him, once I get it. I know he's going to love it, which makes me so happy. It will go over our spending cap, but he went over last year, so I'll make this my year to go over it. Once I receive more information on if I can actually receive it, I'll write more, if I can. I am awful at keeping surprises from people. Especially when they are good ones. When I got my sister's Christmas gift last year, I almost burst at the seams with excitement. She wanted a huge piggy bank and I had searched high and dry for one with no luck. I had also been away in bumbleweeds NY so I didn't have the greatest stores to find one either, so two days before Christmas I came home and went straight to our mall and found one, in of course the last store that I looked in. I was about to give up for the day too. I called everyone I knew to tell them that I found it and it was exactly what she wanted. The morning that we celebrated, I had her open her gift first just to see her expression. It was priceless. She loved it! This is one of the many reasons I love Christmas. It is absolutely my favorite holiday of the year.

Chancho just woke up to watch the end of the Jets game. Looks like we will be going out to dinner after all. Applebees it is. Loving their 2 for $20 deal!

Quote of the Day: You know as well as I do it's not about what you look like, or your job, or how successful you are. It's about having people in your life that you love and who love you...that's all that matters. -- Grey's Anatomy