All Is Well

Man. What a December.

First it was Babydoll and me in the play, Peter Pan. Tons of fun, and we're going to do Cinderella in February. We're all (as in all 6 of us, excluding Hunk O Man only), are in the chorus and I'm going to help with costumes.




Then Christmas hit. As in, hit me upside the head! I've done virtually all of my shopping online and had it shipped up to my Mom's house (where I currently am until Friday, the 26th). I'm still short one Santa gift, but doing pretty well on the rest. I was able to save quite a bit this year by utilising my Visa card reward points. I'm telling you what, it's not a bad deal and you can spend it like free money.

Then I got on Ebay and found a couple of things, and made sure I went through Upromise and SwapBucks, etc for other stuff. So the money savings has been good this year.

We had a trip to Monticello last week -- just Babydoll and two of her friends, EB and CG. We played CatchPhrase virtually all the 2 1/2 hours there -- and I got them all headbands with springy disco ball thingys on them, so it was me and the three also-homeschooled aliens. The weather was terrible, but we had a good time anyway. That place is amazing -- Thomas Jefferson is amazing! We'll definitely be going back in the spring. I am determined that my kids are going to see some of the history that surrounds us within a 3-hour drive of the NC/VA border where we live.

We also had a look at downtown Charlottesville, which was your typical college town -- wonderful in its history and creativity. I recommend a visit if you get the chance.

I make Christmas dresses every year -- except not this year. It just didn't happen. Sometimes we must let things go. Instead, I'm doing a little gift project for the girls for everyday. I think it will all turn out fine in the end.

We did get our Christmas tree, finally. Hunk O Man ended up going over to the tree farm, and the guy was the former art teacher's husband, and the art teacher loves Bug, and they got to talking -- in the end the guy gave him the tree for free. So there you go. I married an amazing man who is not only stingy and frugal, but is able to make the most beautiful Christmas tree materialize out of thin air. Waiting a little longer just makes it prettier -- and I am determined to leave it up until mid-January and thoroughly enjoy it!

Merry Christmas!