HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Sidenote: The BYU Bowl game was awesome, last night. I don't think Oregon really showed up until the 4th quarter. Woo hoo! Go Cougs!

Okay, so I'm realizing that this will be my last post until next year. Sounds kinda ominous, but I have family descending tomorrow and I won't even mention how much baking I have to do. And they are staying until January 1, so this blog will resume on January 2nd.

I'm still very excited we have the new Harry Potter title, although it's irking me to pieces that some news networks are reporting the title as Deathly "Hollows" instead of "HALLOWS"--which isn't right. I mean, that's sort of a MAJOR mistake! MSN still hasn't caught it. Annoying.

Well, I have to work today, so I'm writing this furiously, but I'm going to waddle into non-PC territory and say "Merry Christmas" to everyone, and to those who don't celebrate Christmas, "Happy Holidays" and to those who don't celebrate any sort of holiday at this time, I'm sorry you have to put up with all this holiday cheer, but it's not going away any time soon. So please drink some cider (a non-denominational WINTER drink) and let's all get along!

And for those "Christmas" celebrators, I would remind you that Santa and presents aren't the real reason for the season! :-)

I hope everyone has a happy Holiday, and the safest of New Years. 2007 is going to be a GOOD year, I can feel it!

Take care everyone, and be safe,

Lara

OMGOSH!!! IT'S HERE!!!!

JUST IN: Okay, those of you who know me, know what a HUGE MONGO Harry Potter fan I am. So, if you don't want to be "spoiled" STOP READING!!!

The door to the room on J.K. Rowling.com is open, and after some finagling, you can find out the title of BOOK SEVEN!!! IT is:


HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS


Okay, that's just creepy. You KNOW Harry has to die with a title like that. He is SO doomed.

OMGOSH does this mean it will be done in 2007? One can only hope! I fully expect the Harry Potter Internet World to go literally APESH*T over this for the next few months. How fun!
Oh, and read my previous post...if you need a laugh, because this time I actually TRIED to be funny!

Happy Holidays!

Some Things I've Learned...

Status: Paying bills (because it's getting to the end of the month) and SO excited because I have people cleaning my house from top to bottom today, but not that excited because I'm probably going to have to sell one of my children to pay for what they're charging me on such short notice.

Kidding, of course, but I'm desperate. I am beyond caring.

Okay, to the topic at hand. You know, I worked retail a million years ago (for a million years it seemed) and now that I am officially working it again at Christmastime, I've learned a few more things. About working at my store, and SHOPPING at my store. For instance:

1) You must cover your employee nametag as you walk to the bathroom because any customer who sees you will automatically assume you are an expert in the department you are passing through to GET to the bathroom.

2) If you ever stand in the aisles to straighten, you might as well staple an "INFORMATION/DIRECTIONS TO ANYWHERE" sign onto your forehead.

3) Never make shortcuts through the hosiery department. You will be attacked by one or more ladies (at any given time) and will be subjected to a tirade on why they don't like the layout of the store, or a whining tangent on how awful it is that we don't carry knee-hi's in the pantyhose section.

Now, to SHOPPERS:

4) Never shop with small children on Senior Day. (Wednesday) You won't find a cart ANYWHERE in the store because the Seniors all have them and are using them to help themselves walk. And no, we don't have them hidden away. Even though you think we do. The Seniors have them all. Not anything against Seniors, mind you, this is just a fact.

5) If you see something you like, and you want to buy it but think you'll come back for it, DON'T WAIT. Buy said item RIGHT AWAY because it won't be there the next time you come back and you'll whine about it to me while I'm checking you out and I'll want to stuff a comforter bag up your nose because you'll be the 659375th person to tell me that.

6) Come at 5am (When the store opens on the Day After Thanksgiving or the Day after Christmas) to buy the Portable DVD player we have for next to nothing. Because it will be sold out in the first 30 minutes and you'll be out of luck because EVERYONE wants a Portable DVD Player for Next to Nothing. And I'll already be tired of telling people that we're sold out by the time you wander in at 10:30 and ask me where the "Portable DVD Players That are In The Ad" are.

7) Yes, EVERYTHING in the store is on sale, plus an additional 15% off. It usually is. You don't need to marvel at that fact every time you check out. We know everything is on sale. In fact, if you ever found the lone item that WASN'T on sale, we would be aghast with horror and mark it down immediately because EVERYTHING IN THE STORE IS ON SALE.

Disclaimer: Okay, now, I don't mean any disrespect to the current store I'm working in. In fact, I quite like working there. I am merely remarking on the idiosyncratic behavior of the customers who SHOP there.

8) Fitting Room people who find your mess of inside-out clothes on the floor, really AREN'T HAPPY THAT YOU'RE ALIVE. So STOP BEING A PIGGY ALREADY!!!

Okay, that's about it for now. If I think of any more, I'll let you all know.

Time to pack cold lunches!

Indiana Jones A-thon...

Poor Thing One is sick. She caught the virus. We tried to keep it from our kids, but HELLO, we all live in the same house! She has a fever and a sore throat and stuffy nose, and therefore I've knackered her up with Motrin Cold. She's watching all three Indiana Jones movies today in her jammies, in her room. She feels much better, but that's the medicine.

I've decided to call a cleaning service for the house. I'm still weak from being so sick and my bathrooms are about to have something rise up out of the toilets and attack us all in our sleep.
(Okay, they're not THAT bad, but they will be if I don't do something about them.)

I finally got to watch The Devil Wears Prada the other night. Cute movie. I wouldn't have lasted five minutes in that office. I would have thrown her iced mocha latte ALL OVER her dictatorial ass. Seriously. Degradation is not one of the things I can tolerate. Although I TOTALLY would have gotten busy with Simon Baker. :-)

Okay, I got tagged by Mik, so here goes:

Six Weird Things about Me:

1) I absolutely can't have my food touching on my plate, especially breakfast foods. If the syrup gets on the eggs, etc... I fly to the moon. Separate plates are a must for messy foods. Eeek--you should see me at Thanksgiving. (i.e. I won't eat if the fruit salad touches the turkey.)

2) I could subsist entirely on bottled water and Cool Ranch Doritos and Kraft Creamy Ranch dip...for at least a week, and be happy as a clam.

3) I prefer men with black hair and I like 'em hairy (except NO back hair) and I've been that way my whole life and I married a blond.

4) I think fish or shrimp tacos are just WRONG. They don't make sense. I don't understand them.

5) When I watch a movie with others, it makes me CRAZY if there isn't anything but absolute silence in the room, so people can absorb the "true meaning" of the movie. Yeah, I'm a Movie Nazi.

6) My house is in a constant state of disarray...but my craft room is categorized and organized to the point of obsessive/compulsiveness. Everything is sorted, filed, and labeled to the minutae. And it's ALWAYS perfectly straight.

And there you have it, folks! I'm tagging Colin, Brenda, Laura, Karen, Pamela, and Ann.

Have a happy day, everyone!

It's a Christmas Miracle...

Believe it or not, I'm feeling better today! Of course I'm running around, and Hubby is going to Vegas until Saturday for the BYU Bowl Game so I get to clean the house by myself (for our Christmas company) but it's all good. I CAN BREATHE!!! And I don't sound like Lucille Ball in her later years anymore. I have my voice back!

But I'd better go right now or I'll be late for work! EEEK!

Happy *HACK* *COUGH* Holidays...

Have to get the kids to school, run to the cleaners, the grocery store and then to work. Then run home for the TV repairman. Hopefully they ordered the part for my 50 inch plasma TV as opposed to the 37-inch part they accidentally ordered last time.

This day had better get better...

*COUGH* OH--and I found out that what I have is viral...so no amount of antibiotics in the world are going to help me. Woo hee! I get to suffer until it runs it's course!
What joy is mine.

Sorry folks, I get hideously sarcastic when I'm miserable. Can't help it.

Bah Humbug From Bed...

Well, I've been in bed yesterday and today. I am afraid I officially need antibiotics. Apparently you can take certain kinds when pregnant, so I am calling my OB first thing tomorrow to get some. My head cold has gone into my chest now, and I'm a hacking, cement-headed mess.

Hubby was an angel yesterday. He's been on antibiotics for a few days and is feeling better, so he took the kids to see Eragon while I slept. Then he took them to dinner, and THEN to the mall (scary move, in my opinion) to buy my Christmas presents.
And he only called me once, to tell me that the boys were being *turkeys* at Barnes & Noble. (Heh heh, I noted with glee after that phone call that he was indeed following the Christmas List I wrote out for him...#3 was a B&N Giftcard.) :-)

They got home really late for the kids--Ten p.m., but I could tell they were very excited and bursting with secrets.

So I'm in bed again today and I'm already halfway through my favorite novel of all time: Pride and Prejudice. Yes, I'm a walking cliche--Jane Austen is my heroine. But I haven't read it in about five years, so it's about time.

I am also reading my other writing buddies' blogs and they are all cooking and baking up a storm, and I feel DEPRIVED. This is the time of year I love to do that too, and I am a sickie, and have no desire to stand in the kitchen for hours. I have a ham in the crockpot today, but that's about it. Hopefully I'll get better in time for THE BIG DAY and I'll want to bake, because I always do a big tray of assorted cookies for Christmas Eve and also cookie plates for our friends.

Given the state I'm in, I currently don't have the desire to do any of it. Hence the need to get better...fast. Not to mention the in-laws are descending on Christmas day, and I have a house to clean (and KEEP clean) until then.

Where's the damn bubble bath? I need one, and some chocolate. Oh, never mind, I can't taste it anyway.

Hmmmph. Bah.

PINK IS FOR...

Sugar and Spice and Everything nice.....

HOWEVER, I'm getting slime and snails and puppy dog tails, because we're having a boy. ;-)

Ha ha, fooled you! Yes, it was actually very apparent as soon as the tech started the ultrasound. Hubby and I looked at each other and said in unison: "That's definitely a boy. "

Because trust me, if it's a girl, well...it just isn't, ok? It's 100% boy. We have photographic evidence at this point. :-)

So, I got the best night's sleep last night that I've had all week. I also know this because Hubby woke up at 2am again and watched me sleep while he played on the laptop for four hours. He said I was sleeping so deeply, I didn't even toss and turn like I usually do.

I think I'm just so tired from all the sleepless nights, and I can relax because the baby looked healthy and it was a BOY. Hooray! Just call me the Boy Factory, because it's looking that way!

Today I'm cleaning, because I haven't deep-cleaned in a while. I still can't believe that CHRISTMAS IS IN TEN DAYS!!! Yikes! It's kind of sad though, because after Christmas the tree is bare and we are in such a hurry to take everything down and get rid of all evidence that it ever WAS Christmas...it's always a strange transition. But me, I'm ENJOYING the next ten days!

Have a Merry Weekend, Everyone! Stay away from Malls!

Today is the DAY!

We get to find out what the little tyke's sex is. I have the 20-week ultrasound this afternoon--Hubby is getting off work early so he can see it with me. I just hope the baby cooperates! With Thing One, we were trying to determine it and she had her butt to us the whole time, and we didn't find out until a later ultrasound.

I just want a healthy baby, although a boy would be nice. :-) They're easier. (oops, did I really write that out loud?) *Ahem* As I was saying, I'm game for anything.

Today is WRAPPING and MAILING day. Lots of packages to get out, and I'm waiting for plumbers until noon, so I have time to do it all. That's the only thing about having a new house I don't like. Little things go wrong and you have to call people in to fix them, and it really puts a crimp in your day. Oh well, I shouldn't complain, and BE GLAD that we're still under warranty.

I am REALLY cranky today. I hardly slept AGAIN, and my throat hurts now. Ugh. Although my OB yesterday said I could take Sudafed if I was really desperate. I am going to sterilize the sheets and everything today, so we can get better. I mean, good grief! We are holding onto these colds way too long! I have no desire to bake, no desire to cook, and I just want to curl up in front of a fire with herbal tea. I'm a mess.

Okay, now that I've throroughly depressed you all, I have school lunches to pack.
Or maybe they can take HOT lunch today...

All Hail Vicks Vapo-Rub...

Status: Feeling better today, but not out of the woods yet.

My friend Devon recommended Eucalyptus oil to help me breathe, and since it was late at night, I discovered that a major element to Vicks Vapor Rub is...lo and behold...Eucalyptus, so I unscrewed the jar and inhaled it for a while. It actually did help, although trying to sleep was interesting. I only woke up once last night, but I was choking. NOT a good feeling. Poor Hubby was still up several times to blow his nose. I think we are ready for these colds to be DONE.

Busy day today. I have a morning Dr.'s Appt (my monthly O.B. checkup) and then it's off to work--only four hours, thank heaven, and then I have to run to the school for an IEP meeting for Thing Two. So, another day of running around and no down time. Thursday is going to be CRAZY. I am sitting on tons of packages and Christmas cards to be mailed and if I don't get them out this week I'll be a dork. I mean, why expend the effort, and NOT mail them? Doesn't make sense.

Tomorrow I get to find out what the baby is! It's my 20-ish week ultrasound, although I'm 22 weeks. So hopefully the baby will cooperate and his/her Control Freak parents will get what they need to know. ;-)

I told Hubby to get me a big giftcard to Barnes & Noble or Half-Price Books this year, because I have some RESEARCH to do for my novel, that I'm determined to get written after all the Holiday craziness. I will be a little rusty, but it's good and damned time. Enough "but the house isn't unpacked, and I'm crazy" crap. No more excuses. Only New Year's resolutions, and writing.

Into the shower I go...

Still Sick.

Sorry Folks, I'm pretty miserable. And I have to work a very long shift today. Cross your fingers for me. It's not looking like it's going to be a very good day.

In fact, my head is so full of yuck, I can't think of anything to blog about.

The Doldrums of Sickyness...

...as Thing Two would put it. We were all sick this weekend, with assorted ailments. Hubby and I have nasty head colds (only I, being pregnant, can't take ANYTHING for mine) and Thing One had the stomach flu over the weekend. At least she was clean about it. She made it to the toilet every time, and I quarrantined her to her room for the entire Saturday. She seems fine now, if not a little peaky.

I folded about 4 o'clock this morning and took some regular strength Tylenol, for my sore throat. Today should be fun. But I always feel worse in the morning, and I feel better during the day. USUALLY. We'll see.

We obviously didn't go anywhere this weekend, we just stayed in our PJ's and layed around. Hubby did laundry and tidied up for me while I was at church--I had to go because I was a speaker during Sacrament Meeting, and the primary kids were laughing at me because I was croaking like a frog when I was trying to teach them a Christmas song and singing it to them. But when I came home I had a clean kitchen and Hubby had the kids all diligently cleaning for me. It was very nice.

It's been warmer here...about 40 degrees. It's pretty sad, but it feels WARM compared to the single digits and windchill we've been having. I am only running to Target this morning, and then I'm going to sequester myself in the basement, so I can move all the boxes around so our shelf guy can bring all his things down there and build shelves tomorrow.
No work today, but I work another LONG shift tomorrow. I have to say the Belly is starting to make things miserable. But I always push through. I'm NOT a quitter.

I just remembered it's Garbage Day. Time to get the kids working on it!

It's Friday!!!

I don't work today...but I have to sit at home and wait for the TV repairman from 9-12, I just hope he comes early so I can run around!

I have to give a talk in church this Sunday, so I guess I'd better work on that. They only need about 15 minutes from me. So I can gather info and put it together while I'm waiting for the FedEx truck, because I bought Hubby a Christmas present that requires a signature at delivery, so I get to wait for THAT too. But it's worth the secrecy. Hubby will be surprised!

Okay, had a VERY funny conversation with Thing Three this morning. He came bounding down the stairs, with the energy only a six-year old has, and he got into the bed and cuddled with me while we talked. At 6:30, I asked him to go and wake up his brother and sister. He ran upstairs, flipped on their lights and told them to wake up, then ran back down to our room. Thing Two came stumbling downstairs, but the Princess was still fast asleep. So I knew I needed to go up there. Thing Three leaned in to me and said:

Him: I can do my trick on her to get her to wake up, Mom.

Me: What trick is that?

Him: I just tell her I'm stealing something from her room and she pops right up out of bed and gets up! Ha ha ha!

Hubby had just gotten out of the shower and we both burst out laughing. One thing our daughter HATES: when her pesky brothers mess with her stuff. Thing Three definitely has it nailed. It was too funny.

Needless to say, I went up and woke her up. She went to a late birthday party last night and I knew she'd be tired in the morning.

This weekend should be good...we're hitting all the local Boston Stores for fun and of course we always end up buying stuff...I LOVE Boston Store.

And then I have about 3947 presents to wrap because if I don't, my closet is going to EXPLODE. I need to wrap and label and move them into the "hiding spots" in the basement. Although that will prove problematic since we have a guy coming over Tuesday to build shelves in our basement for all our food storage. So I need to think of a new hiding place. Hmmmmm.

Well, got to get the kids to school! Have a happy weekend, everyone. I just hope we have two degrees to rub together, here. We're in the MINUSES with windchill. NOT FUN.

Whoa, There.

I swear this baby has doubled in size in the last week. I have officially "popped out." Can't hide the pregnancy any more. And we get to find out what the sex is, next week. That will be fun. They are having a HUGE infant sale at Boston Store so we need to find out so we can go crazy.
:-)

I was a little stressed yesterday because Thing Three had a high fever. He came home from school with it (eek!) and was burning up until I dosed him with Motrin. I set my alarm for 2am this morning to check on him and give him more medicine, but he was sleeping peacefully and he wasn't hot. This morning he feels fine, too. I am more than relieved. I will NOT send a child with a fever to school, and I have to work a long shift today. So I had the major dilemma of calling out or not. Luckily, he seems OK this morning so I don't have to worrry. But the last thing I need is to have to send my sick child out in 5 degree weather! UGH. And this school has FOUR recesses. I will just have to bundle him up more than usual. I had this conversation with him yesterday:

Me: Are you warm enough during recess?

Him: Not really.

Me: What part of you is cold? Your feet? Your hands? Your legs?

Him: Well...just my nose.

I had to laugh at this, because his NOSE is the only thing not covered when I bundle him up. At least it wasn't anything more vital. Besides, the kids run around so much at recess (have you ever watched them play? They are absolutely manic the way they run around) I'm sure they keep plenty warm.

Time to get ready for my loooooong shift today. I hope my feet hold up!

St. Nick's Day? What???

Status: Hoping I haven't put all you fine people off Potluck food... ;-)

Okay, talk about Uncomfortable. I took Thing Three to the Dr. yesterday for his annual physical (I take them on their birthdays if I can, it helps me remember) and the Pediatrician started talking about "Saint Nick" and if my kids were going to put a shoe by the fireplace that night.

The kids had apparently already heard about St. Nick in school and begged her to tell them about him. She told them that on St. Nick's Eve (the 5th of December) Wisconsin kids put a shoe by the fireplace and during the night, St. Nick comes and puts candy and toys in their shoe.

The whole time I was thinking "When was THIS invented?" She looked at me and winked and said it was a "Wisconsin Thing."
My daughter, not one to miss a beat, told the Dr. that we lived in Wisconsin for three years before we lived in Denver and St. Nick had never visited our house. The Dr. replied "Well, I bet you never put a shoe out for Him!" And it was like a light went on in the kid's eyes.

I was positively SQUIRMING at this point. I'm not one to like being "put on the spot" and the entire way home the kids were begging me to let them put a shoe by the fireplace that evening.

Hubby had the predictable reaction. "You're Kidding" he said when I told him. "That's silly." We agreed to play along, but in the morning, I told the kids it was just a fun tradition that parents did with their kids to get them excited for Christmas. They were actually pretty cool about the whole thing.
I guess I need to study up on Wisconsin Traditions. Next you know they'll have a "St. Sausage" day or something where we have to leave a grilled sausage by the fireplace, and see if it turns into a bag of candy. Okay, that was lame. But I'm still scratching my head.

Picked up my copy of DEAD MAN'S CHEST yesterday, and despite the kids' protests, we are NOT letting them watch it. Davy Jones' CG alone will give them nightmares. Heck, the opening scene had ME recoiling. (Birds eating the eyes out of rotting corpses anybody?) I was a bit surprised that they made it so...gory this time around. Especially since kids are their major target. Oh well. I read somewhere they were making like, SEVEN more movies, and they were going to kill off Orlando's character down the line. I say don't go crazy and have half-baked shoddy sequels. Friday the 13th comes to mind...

Time to get going. I have to work today. I work today and tomorrow, and two days next week. Just how I like it. My house is the cleanest it's ever been!

Oh, and Happy Sausage...er... I mean, St. Nick's Day, everyone!

A Christmas Potluck Tale...

Status: It's now 3 degrees F. outside. Looks like I'm driving the kids to the bus stop today again. Oh, and we're supposed to get MORE snow! I'm turning cartwheels as I type...Oh, and HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY THING THREE!!

A reader emailed me yesterday and asked me why I was being so hard on Potluck food in my last post. So, let me explain:
It really started in the early nineties with a story my Mother in Law told me about her church Christmas Potluck:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MIL and her good friend were in charge of the food for the Christmas Program. They opted for Roast Beef, baked potato, steamed peas and a roll. Nice dinner, right?

Only they planned on having enough food for 100 people, and 150 showed up.

They were in the kitchen, doling out plates to the servers as fast as they could, and lo and behold, they started to run out of Roast Beef. Yet the servers kept coming and asking for full plates. They began to get desperate. What to do? What to do?

Then it came to them. And what they did next, they both swore never to divulge to anyone, and take the secret to their graves. (But my MIL, bless her, can't keep a secret to save her life, and ten years later, she was telling me all about it, unknowingly putting me off Church potlucks forever...)

So what did they do? They began taking the PARTIALLY EATEN old Roast Beef off of the DIRTY plates that were coming back to the kitchen, and plopping it on the NEW plates of food.

And no, I'm not kidding. MIL said it took up to three dirty plates of half-eaten Roast Beef to make up one plate, but they scrambled and filled the plates with the old Roast Beef as fast as they could. They ended up having enough for everybody, and those poor souls in the dining hall never knew the truth.
And of course while they were switching out old gross Roast Beef and giving it a makeover on a new plate, they were in complete stitches over it, and eventually tears, because they thought it was so funny. Little did the Church People know that they were getting Someone Else's partially eaten Roast Beef.

THE END.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, granted, this debacle happened in the early eighties, when no one had any Germs (you know what I mean) but STILL.
It sicked me out so badly, now, I won't eat at Church Potlucks. I've been in some of these people's houses, and I've SEEN their kitchens. It's called the"I-Have-Lots-Of-Kids-And-I-Therefore-Have-Sticky-Counters" Syndrome.
And as much as I love you, I'm not going to eat the cookies you plopped on those counters out of the oven.

This is why I don't like Potlucks. I might consider eating the food if it's served right out of a crockpot, (that is still TURNED ON) but that's it.
Sorry, I don't know where the food has been, and that scares the jeebies out of me.

Can you fault me? :-)

It's 9 Whole Degrees Out...Where's My Swimsuit?

Two Words:

Hot Cocoa.

Make that a Venti, and we're good. BRRRRRR! I am bundling my kids up in about 50 layers today...they resemble something out of The Christmas Story (you know, the kid in the snowsuit) and can I just say I LOVE taking 20 minutes just to get all three of them wrapped up?

Luckily the school doesn't let them have outside recess if it's colder than 20 degrees. (That's Farenheit for you Canadians!) And currently with wind chill figured in we're about -15.

Oh yeah, Florida is looking WAY good right about now...

I am officially DONE with Christmas shopping! So happy, and I divvied everything up equally, which is very important.

Oh, and I ended up going to the Church Party on Friday night, Hubby came home from work early so we could all drive together, and it wasn't bad. The kids sang beautifully and I was glad I was there to direct them. But we left right after that. There's something about Potluck Food that gives me the Heebie Jeebies. Especially when you don't know where it came from or where it's been, or how long it's been sitting out. YUCK. I guess that's just something I have to get over.

Well, many errands to run this morning. I'm going to get the Expedition warmed up and drive the kids to the bus stop...it's way too cold to make them stand out there this morning.

Oooh, fun, and it's garbage day. Maneuvering two giant garbage cans down the sheet of ice that is my driveway should be SPECTACULAR.

And I wonder where my kids get their sarcasm...

SNOW Part II

My three Things are having WAY too much fun today...

Hot Chocolate, Anyone? (Dang it, I wish we had a sled!) *Note to Self*: BUY A SLED.

Slammed by Snow!

Wow, they weren't kidding about the weather this time. As of ten o'clock last night, there wasn't a flurry to be seen here in Pewaukee. I decided to go to the store just to get some basics, and they were completely sold out of milk. Not a gallon or a quart in sight. Apparently people were freaking out about the impending blizzard. Luckily I have about four gallons in the downstairs fridge, so I wasn't worried. I bought my stuff (including the last of two car window scrapers) and then I went home, and we went to bed.

We woke up this morning to this:

Naturally they've cancelled all the schools, and naturally, workaholic Hubby just left ten minutes ago to brave the drive Downtown, which they've dubbed with a BLIZZARD warning. I told him to call me the second he puts his big toe in the office.

I'm kind of laughing at my neighbors, though, they are out there, diligently shoveling their driveway, and in two hours it will be all snowed up again. But hey, they're bonding, I guess.

I had to call in to work, I have already tried the two babysitters I trust and they have both been snatched up already. I can't think of anyone to watch my kids, who doesn't live 40 miles away. Not a good sign. My kids are excited to go out and make snowmen and snow angels, but I told them not until the snow finished falling, around noon.

The only major stresser is our Church Christmas party (which I'm directing the music for and must be there) is tonight and I have to drive 40 miles there. I wonder if they will cancel it. So many people have to drive long distances to our little church, which is in Wales (a.k.a. BFE SIBERIA) Wisconsin. Should be pretty interesting.

If I don't blog tomorrow you'll know I'm in a ditch somewhere. Let's hope they get smart and cancel it.

Cross your fingers for me...