Not Feelin It...

Holidays were fine. Lots to do, lots to make and wrap and take and bring home and unwrap. Lots to throw away and find homes for and eat. Lots Lots Lots.

Then we all got colds. Thankfully I felt it coming and spent the day before it hit putting away all the new toys and doing all the left over dishes and taking out all the extra trash. Kirk was back at work the day after Christmas and we've barely seen him since. Work Work Work. Then 24 hours later the kids and I all have coughs and colds. And shockingly within 24 hours after that the house looks like a tornado ran through it. How does that happen? But I'm beyond caring at this point. I'm on day three of cold medicine all day and taking care of the kids by myself. If only I could have a few extra hours of sleep and go into a NyQuil mini-coma I feel like I could carry on. But there's no time for that. So carry on in a daze I will.

Dishes are piling up and laundry is out of control. The toys have all found their way back into the living room and spilled out onto the kids' floor. And I don't care. I'll get to it when the fever breaks and the medicinal haze wears off. And I haven't even uploaded any pictures from the holiday gatherings... or videos. I'm sure they're all really cute.... I haven't even looked at them! I'll get to that eventually too.

I made a conscious decision today to switch from my comfortable non-crack-like Alkasetlzer Cold Plus to a 12 Hour non-drowsy (aka Crack) Sudafed Cold medicine. I'm still waiting for the fog to lift and the jitters to set in. Maybe I will have a window of a few hours where I can sweep through and straighten up this joint. Then I will most likely crash hard and require some serious couch time.

Well... I guess that's it for now. New Years is coming up... Everyone have some resolutions ready? I think I do. I'm sure I will post about em on New Years Eve like I usually do when I'm home doing nothing.... But hopefully I won't be sick anymore!

Ha Ha Holidays!

I kinda messed up this year and ordered way too few cards to mail out. I usually order too many and have leftovers... so this year I ordered less... and of course, didn't have enough. So if you didn't get a card this year it's not because I don't love ya, it's because I'm a dumb-ass! But here is the card I designed for this year. I love me some Photoshop.

What the...?

So the holiday Par-tays went down this weekend. One all girlie get together with yummy snacks, lots of baby clothes passed along, and some gossip sprinkled on top. Thanks to Lucy and Caroline for being lovely hostesses. I was out Friday until midnight, and only had a couple small glasses of wine. No biggie. But the kids wouldn't let me slow down the day after.

Next day was getting kids ready and packed for grandparent's house - sleepover! Then taking them out there and attempting to do some Christmas shopping with the hubby. Some how we managed NOT to eat lunch or dinner. (Looking back, this is where it all went wrong...) We did all (YES ALL - start to almost finish) of our shopping in a couple of hours and two stores. And we did good. So then we came home for a brief moment of rest and a bagel for me (that was dinner). And then off to a Festivus Celebration. We were kinda tired and irritable before we even got there. But it was fun. There was a contest in three parts (in which I sadly came in third, I had momentary hopes of winning) that was a blast. The only problem was that Kirk was feeling a little to festive a little too early. He got drunk. That's dddrrruuunnnk. Loud, obnoxious, the whole bit. Funny... and not too foolish, just loud and drunk. Why do I care? Cause it was my turn. I was supposed to have full reign to get holiday schnockered. And he was to be my ride home. But he kinda ripped that rug right out from under me. So I sipped my wine and mainly stayed sober. Then Lord Drinksalot passed out in the basement (on a couch, not a cold concrete floor). Almost left him there. But at 2am I decided to enlist the help of someone who wasn't afraid to 'poke the bear' and wake him up. Up he was. Still drunk he was. I drove home and we crashed with a capital C. I'm still tired. And even though I remained sober enough to be responsible, I drank an entire bottle of wine over the course of the five hours we were there...(oh! and a really strong egg not to start off the night) so my belly and my head were a little mad at me today.

Anyway. Soooo.... Yep. That's the story. I did not win the Feats of Strength contest and Kirk did not remain conscious for his first Festivus. Next year.... next year. All in all it was really fun and Thanks to Popps for having us all over to cause a ruckus in his home.

Holidays A'Comin!

I think I'm completely unprepared for this Holiday Season... or I have just kindof ignored the things I usually do...

Usually I decorate the tree the day after Thanksgiving, along with the house - stockings, candles, cards, snow globes... etc. This year the tree went up as scheduled (it's a pre-lit fake tree) but the ornaments and all the other trim are still shut up in a big box in the basement... along with all the stockings, kids Christmas books, and all the other festive decor. I just wasn't prepared to yell at the kids EVERY single day to leave the tree alone, or deal with the frustration of the tree having to be re-decorated on a daily basis. The kids are old enough now to do some serious damage and I just wasn't ready. But since the holiday trimmings have remained in the basement, so has all the holiday cheer and festiveness. I keep saying I will get it all out... and everyday I don't. Maybe today will be the day...

And shopping! I usually have a list completed in October for exactly what everyone will get. I do all my shopping online (searching for deals and free shipping and coupons) and have everything arrive before the beginning of December. The the wrapping starts and the pretty packages go under the decorated tree. But with Kirk losing his job this year and money being questionable, not to mention employment being questionable, the gift buying fell to the way side. I have yet to purchase a single gift! Not one! And there is no time left for shopping online so I'm going to be forced out into the Commercial Chaos of the Season... something I loath and fear.

I did get my Christmas card pictures taken in November, on schedule. And my cards made, printed and ordered. I even did Cayce's cards too. But then I forgot to mail them out! They sat in a pile, unaddressed and unstamped, for weeks. I finally got to that yesterday.

And we have his family all coming over the day of Christmas Eve, so I do actually have to plan a menu and shop for food, then cook and prepare that food. I also plan to make some Christmas goodies... some fudge, some gingerbread, and some candy. But that can and should wait until right before the holiday. I do however have to shop for the ingredients. I've never cooked Holiday Poultry... a chicken, a duck, a turkey... so I'm almost excited about giving that a shot.... and on the other hand I might just make a big pasta dish with sides. His family is far from traditional (we ordered pizza of Thanksgiving at his mom's house). So my choices will be mainly for me, they won't care if I make turkey or lasagna...

I think today I will get out the Big Christmas Box and Deck the Halls for the season. Hopefully it will shine a little Christmas Spirit around here. I still have two weeks before there's any real threat of being awakened in the middle of the night by Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Past...

So hopefully it will soon be the "Hap- Happiest Time of the Year!"

Here are a few outtakes from the Holiday Photo Shoot:

FotoFriday - 12.10.10

I've got nothing... we've all had a stomach flu and so you get no photos this week... Here's a silly-face family photo from a few weeks ago....



Ain't we pretty!

Flip-in Out!

Three things to report...

One, I got a Flip. I love it. It's fun and easy and even the kids can record videos. We've spent too much time NOT recording the goofy/cute/silly/brilliant things our kids are doing. So let the Flip-ing begin! I'm sure videos will be coming soon. No idea what I'm talking about? Go Here.

Two, Another Craft Fair. Here's the information if you are so inclined to join:
Saturday, December 11, 2010
St. Charles West High School
3601 Droste
St. Charles, MO 63301
North on Zumbehl off Hwy 70
9am to 4pm

Three, stomach bug. Yuk Yuk Double Yuk. First me, Monday night. Then Tuesday morning Logan threw up but didn't seem to care or be phased by it. Then overnight last night Nola threw up in her bed. There's the Double Yuk. But she seemed perfectly fine afterwords. Now this morning she's slumped on the couch with a just-in-case bowl and saying her tummy hurts. Not sure if she's still 'got it' or just hungry from no nutrients. Either way... this may ruin my chances of actually being at the craft fair. I can't send contaminated kids to a babysitter. But my mom will be there, even if I'm not. Even more reason for you all to go and visit her if I can't...

So there's my story.

Craft Fair Blues

So I did it. My very first face to face attempt at selling my photography. Edward Jones Holiday Mart. It was Saturday.

There was so much planning that went into it. Photos printed up to sell, packaging to buy and then all the prints to package up. Business cards to make, order, and put in all the packages. Frames to buy and fix up and large prints to order and frame. A display to make for the frames to hang on. The bins to look for and buy for all the product to go in on the table... Sheesh, not to mention all the thought put in about pricing on all sizes, all sets, all possible and/or potential combos people might want to purchase. What if they want this? What if they want that? I'm not the kind of person to just wing it on the fly... it had to be all thought out ahead of time. And charted, and printed out and put into a binder. And babysitters, waking up early to get ready to leave and set up early for it to start... it was a lot of work.

And on top of all that, this wasn't even my idea. It was my mom's. She wanted to do this with me and I agreed. I don't regret doing it. It was an experience. It was practice. It was something. It was.... a craft fair.

And now for the big question.... How did it go? How much did I sell?
It was a flop. A bust. A bummer.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I did whip up some greeting cards at the last minute (just because I wanted something Holiday-ish at the booth). And I sold one pack of cards. Yep, one pack. All day. One pack. But at least... and thank goodness... I didn't sell NOTHING.

And onto the bright side.... all the work I put into it was not entirely in vein. The prints are still sell-able. The organization is always worth it. And I have a craft fair under my belt... one notch in the experience department. I saw what people liked and what was ignored. I heard lots of comments about how nice it all was, good for the ego. Several people told us we looked very professional, the most professional booth at the fair was said more than once. I was even asked what Gallery my stuff was shown in. (I said, 'You're looking at it!") And I got questions/requests for things that people wanted to see. From one of those inquiries sprang a great idea for a future series I plan to start working on soon.

Now for some quotes and thoughts from the Holiday Mart:

Just because you bought the over sized chef hat in Christmas print at the craft fair does not mean you are obligated to wear it all day AT the craft fair! (with your gray sweat pants and blue sweatshirt with a teddy bear on it)
They aren't selling blinking light-up Santa hats here, so that means you wore that out in public on purpose... interesting....
"Oh! Do you have a picture of the steel mill in Granite city?!" Oh sure, let me just find that one for you real quick... I knew you'd be here looking for it.... Seriously?
"So... uuhh... you just take pictures of different stuff and then frame them?" Umm, yes, it's call photography... Ever heard of it?
Apparently the ladies over sixty are really serious about their black fingernail polish... I saw about 10-15 older women rockin the goth nails.
Children do not like booths with photography. They really, really don't. Especially when there is a tutu/hair bow booth right next door!
And the most frequently asked question of the day: "Did you actually take all these pictures?" Oh, no sir (or ma'am), I stole them all off the internet and hoped that no one would ask. Again, seriously?

So that was my Craft Fair experience in a nut shell. And low and behold... my mom asked me today if I wanted to do it all over again next weekend. Shit... I guess so.