and a Merry Christmas to all!

I've had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. We've had some drama going on in our lives. (Thankfully, not between Joey and me - we are rock solid now!) The drama - aside from the homeowners insurance dilemma, has put us in a financial bind which put a damper on our holiday spirit. We have to come up with money to drive to Mississippi and pick up Devin, bring him down here and do it all again a week later. we also have to pay a down payment on our new homeowners insurance, buy presents and pay all of our bills - which always happen to be due the last week of December and the first week of January. Excuse me while I wallow in my self pity.

We have tried to get ourselves in the spirit despite the circumstances. We have a great family here in town that sells firewood and Christmas trees. We firmly believe in supporting local businesses and these are good people. We were able to get a 6'ft tree for $25.

We are lucky enough to have a fireplace to decorate which makes it so fun to decorate!

All this has been a blessing in disguise though. Joey and I have realized that we really do have everything that we need and we were already incredibly blessed this year. We bought our home, we have jobs, and most importantly we have each other! Really - what more can we ask for?

Florida Peninsula can kiss my...

Yes, I know my blog and I disappeared for awhile there. Joey and I got a letter a few weeks from our homeowners insurance letting us know that they were dropping our policy. So for the past three weeks we have been busting our butts making fixes to the house. We repaired stucco, repainted, put in a new washer box, raked all the leaves out of the front yard and are supposed to be getting a wind mitigation inspection on our roof today. Except its raining, as in tornado like conditions. I doubt Mr Roof Inspector Guy will be climbing up there in those conditions. Grrr. I promise a real post tomorrow!

Five Question Friday

1. Favorite gift you are GIVING this year?

The digital camera my sister and I are getting my parents. Their camera is ancient and they really do deserve a new one!

2. How many parties are you attending between now and Christmas?

None, that I know of. I'm doing Girl's Night Out with church next Friday if that counts...

3. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Feliz Navidad - puts me in the spirit instantaneously!

4. Who was your favorite elementary school teacher and why?

I don't have a hands down favorite. I loved my kindergarten teacher because she was probably the kindest person I had ever met. I also loved my fourth grade teacher as she really challenged me and was from NY also. I had just moved to Florida then so having a little bit of home was just what I needed.

5. If you had a choice to live in any other period of time (other than now) what era would you choose and why?

I think I would have been happy in the early 1900's, just in a cabin somewhere, raising kids, cooking that whole shebang. Shoot - I'd do that now if I could afford not to work!

Emerging from my black hole...

Knock. Knock.
Hello? Diana?
Hrmph
Just wondering if you were ever coming back to the blogging world. You’ve been gone a week now!
Mmm. Mmm hmmm.

It’s been a week here in our household!

I will sum up Thanksgiving as stressful, exhausting and highly successful.

I tallied two fullout blowouts – one with Joey (complete with tears, yelling, and a slammed door or two) and one with someone else right after Joey and I had wrapped up our disagreement. The 2nd argument was completely unnecessary as Joey had just explained to this person what we had just fought about and that neither one of us was in a good mood but I guess they missed the hint and took something I said the wrong way. Oh well, you live and learn and it all ended up working out in the end.

I was up at 5:30 on Turkey Day to start the bird and the ham and Joey got up as soon as the house warmed up enough for him. He tackled cleaning up the yard since that was where we were eating. I’m warning you now I don’t have any pictures since I was too busy going crazy to snap any. Luckily Joey’s aunt and uncle took a few so I will post those whenever I get copies. My mom and dad showed up around 10am to help me (search for my sanity) and everyone else arrived throughout the afternoon. We ended up with 15 adults, 7 kids, 3 dogs and amazingly 0 arguments! There was enough food to have fed three more families and plenty of joking, ribbing and stories shared. I finished doing dishes around 11pm and passed out.

Friday was a lazy day for me. Joey went to work with my brother-in-law on a project and I read a book, ate leftovers, took a bath and vegetated. It was divine.

Saturday I spent the day at my sister’s we had Starbuck’s, got pedicures, lounged, read and set up her tree. Sunday brought my niece’s Regional cheerleading competition – they did AMAZING!!! – and we are Nationals bound. She competes at Disney Monday at 3pm. I took the day off work to cheer her on and am so proud of how hard she has worked this year. The rest of the week has been cleaning, relaxing and just getting back to normal.

The last tidbit is unfortunately we didn’t see a BFP this cycle. We are taking a break from the TTC for a bit though – we have a few bigger things going on that really need to get dealt with first and Joey and I have a feeling once those are sorted out we will see everything else fall into place. We reached this decision together and both feel happy about it.