Card distribution

Why is it so hard?

My cards are still on hold. Why? Because we're trying to track down addresses. Yes, in this day and age folks forget to tell you when they move. The TRAVESTY of it all!

Am I being anal? It would be nice if folks would send a card or even an email regarding their new residence. Even when we were time crunched to move here in a 2 week span, I managed to get Change of Address photocards mailed out the first week we got here!

The biggest offenders of this? Family. Namely...my husband's family. They seem to think that "word of mouth" is the best for of communication. Excuse me? Who can manage to decipher the gossip from the real important stuff? It's hard to tune-in and tune-out of what my MIL is saying people.

I guess a couple of my hubby's cousins moved in together. His father's sister moved to Florida. His other aunt no longer lives with her boyfriend. His Grandma was on a long-term visit out of the country, but where is she now? The list changes every year.

Then there's trying to get my hubby to GET the information from his mother. Oy! The man can't even seem to get the addresses of the people at his office! I've been requesting this stuff since Thanksgiving people!

I've got my handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet updated as far as it can go with the addresses I've got on hand. I've already placed an "X" next to the names for the folks whose cards are ready to go. And yes. I've got a tab for every year since 1999 with the addresses where I sent the cards. And yes. I've got an "X" in a column when I receive a card from people. Keeps me organized!

Now if only the rest of these clods would get into gear and get organized! Ba-hum-bug! Merry Christmas! Ha!

P.S. Happy Chanukah!

Ever changing weather

Monday was a cold & rainy day. It rained ALL day. Not something you'd expect in Arizona, eh?

Tuesday was clear & sunny. But COLD! The high for the day was 58 degrees. Brrr.. What was wonderful was that because it was such a clear day, we were able to see all the snow that the previous day had left behind. It came down about halfway down the Catalina mountains (in some parts). For those of you who know my town, then you know that it's an amazingly beautiful sight. I was so bummed that I didn't have my camera in my car as the kids and I did errands.

Today it'll be about 62 degrees. At 10am, it was still only 49 degrees. But it's warm enough for the snow to melt up in the mountains. There is still some hanging in there in the back and at the very tops though. But I'm sure it'll all be gone in the next day or so.

Tomorrow it'll be up in the high 60s. This weekend, they've projected 70s as the high.

But I'm just glad that we're able to relish in the cool weather and NOT have to deal with driving in the snow. We can look at it from afar and just consider how beautiful it looks. We don't have to shovel it. We don't have to deal with freezing cold & wet feet. We don't have to deal with it as it melts. We just see the purity of it as it tries to linger on the mountains up high against the bright blue sky.

Back it up!

In my daily life, I try to determine what things I can let go and what things I need to confront.

I'm sure you're dealing with it too. Do you let your child whine forever (since they're unusually tired) or do you nip it in the bud? Do you let the kids wrestle in anger or do you separate them? Do you go return to the store to get that bottled water you paid for & they forgot to bag or do you let that $0.72 go?

We're all confronted with these decisions every day. Which ones do you face head-on? What makes you decide?

Today, I was faced with one of those situations. One of those situations where I had to decide if I was going to confront it.

The Bear and I had finished our lunch and were on our way to pick up the Princess. We left a parking lot area and got onto the main street. We then headed to the nearest left turn lane. We were the second ones at the light. It's a four lane road (2 going north and 2 going south). I had to make a u-turn, so I made sure to stay to the right on the left turn lane. I sat there about 10 feet behind the guy in front of me. Suddenly there's movement to my left. My left? There's a green Ford Expedition a little ahead of me to the left. What the heck is that guy doing?

Decision time!

Yes, I had to decide if I was going to ignore this man's ignorance that it was a one-lane left turn or not. Hmmm... What would YOU do? La-le-la-la. La-le-la. La-le-la-la-la-la-la-la. La-le-la-la. La-le-la. De-de-de-de-de-de-de. Time's up!

Of course. You can guess what I did. I confronted him head on!

I inch my vehicle forward. I navigate so that my window is parallel to the front passenger window of the Expedition. What do I see? Some big 50-ish man chomping away on a cigar. [Sigh] I look over at him. He notices the movement and looks to his right. He sees me. I open my window. He opens his passenger window.

Me: This is only one lane.

Man: Oh, I couldn't tell that from back there.

Me: [Smile. Close my window. Face ahead.]

I'm done with the conversation. It's his call. What does he do? He pauses for a second. A bit of indecision. Then he backs up and gets behind me.

Maybe next time he'll pay attention when he's driving. It's not like there was heavy traffic and he couldn't see the lane lines. They are EASILY seen on this stretch of road (they just repaved it and repainted a month ago). So he had no excuse. ZERO. ZILCH. NADA. for being in that lane incorrectly.

His car may have been twice as big as mine, but he doesn't get to hog the road. Nope! Not on my turf!

Making Mommy Laugh

Cough-cough-cough like you're dying of thirst in your carseat.

I fish out your sippy from the diaper bag and hand it to you.

[Sounds of drinking]

Silence.

I turn to check on you.

What do I see?

You putting your sippy into the mouth of your little stuffed dog, the size of your hand.

You're "sharing" your water with it!

Mall Santas

Okay folks...here's a question for you.

How do you explain to your kids about the Santas that are in the malls?

Here's what we told the Princess:

The Santas at the malls are "Santa's Helpers".

Santa can't be at each mall at the same time so he has these guys out. Plus, the REAL Santa is a little too busy getting prepared to be at the malls.

The "Santa's Helpers" talk to the kids each day after Thanksgiving. Each night, each helper EMAILs the REAL Santa in the North Pole about the kids he spoke with that day. This way the REAL Santa has an updated list of what each child wants.

PLUS, the "Santa's Helpers" can get notes from the parents indicating if their child has been naughty or nice.

How do you like our explanation?

As for gifts? The toys are all from Santa. Any clothes the kids receive are from family. Santa only gives gifts to kids. Adults have to buy gifts (clothes) for each other -- since we don't really play with toys.

Making Mommy Laugh

Stacking the individually wrapped paper towels. Three across. Three high.

Then using them as a buffer as you do body slams into them.

Yeah...that's what my son was doing this afternnon.

Anxiously waiting

I ordered my photo holiday cards and am anxiously waiting for them to be delivered.

I made my hubby help me on the photo selection AND the card design this year. This card goes out to our friends and our families, so a FIVE minute conference with me on this was needed. We ended up selecting a design that I hadn't originally been drawn to. Considering the colors we were all wearing for the photo, it was the BEST choice.

Hopefully the cards will show up today. Then I'll have a couple days to address them. Then I can mail them all!

Mail them gradually? NO! I don't do that. I have to send them ALL out on the same day. This way they're all postmarked the same. This way there's no discussion (on hubby's side of the family) of "OH! We got their holiday card today" and the other family member not having a card. You know? I mail it all at once to eliminate any DRAMA. Oy!

Anyway, I'm excited to see the finished product. Now...all I have to do is write up a 2004 summary of our family. EEEkkkk! I don't have any holiday paper for that! Time to head out to the store!

Cold & wet

It's been raining all day!

It started as a soft pit-pat on the skylights about 9am. It's about 10:30pm and it's still coming down.

The photo is a little blurry but you get the idea. The streets were covered with water. On this one stretch called River Road, we saw three accidents (in about 2 miles). It was crazy!

We went out to visit the new house. The framing is going up! They're already working on the second floor.