A Holly Jolly Christmas

We went very Martha for our Christmas decorations this year. Not only did we make them ourselves, my MIL and I actually cut all the holly we used off the bushes in our backyard.

So now we can feel superior for not only being crafty but for being green too. ;)

SIL made a wreath for the back door. We left it on the inside so we could see it :D


MIL made a wreath for the front door.



I made a ...swag? thing? for over the windows in the kitchen.


And MIL and I collaborated to make another swag-thing for over the doorway to the living room.



So there you go, my crafty contribution to the holidays!

Things I learned this weekend

1. If you eat crap all weekend, you will feel like crap by Monday. The feeling may be proportional to the amount of crap eaten.

2. Doritos with Cream Cheese doesn't become not-crap just because you used Neufchatel.

3. Things generally aren't as delicious as you remember them being when you were a kid. See above.

4. Using older kids to entertain and occupy younger kids is full of win.

5. Three kids with a 5 year age gap each is just about perfect for this.

6. Hiding presents at the back of the tree doesn't work. The 2 Year old will simply climb under the tree.

7. When someone in your household asks you to keep a few of those Oreo truffles rather than sending them all to work with your husband, say no. Or say yes and do it anyway. Otherwise they will taunt you from the cake dish.

8. When it comes to leftover Konditor Meister cake, this too will taunt you. And there is no way to get your brain on board that eating it will only make that crap feeling worse.

9. If you cram 20ish people into your first floor and cook all day, it actually gets warm! However, this only makes it feel colder the next day.

10. Life gets boring when the kids and everyone leaves. Luckily, this will only last until this weekend. :D

Like a Chicken with her head cut off

I've been home during the day lately. This should be awesome but it just leaves me overwhelmed instead. I feel like there's tons of stuff I should be doing but I don't actually know what to do.

I've got a (group) interview on Thursday with jetBlue. I would absolutely love to get this job and it's stressing me out beyond belief. What do I say, what do I not say, do I have anything to wear now that I've dropped almost 40lbs? I need to get my nails done so I don't look like a raggamuffun. I need to get my eyebrows done so I don't look like a troll. I need to find something to wear that doesn't make me look like A. I'm playing dress-up in my mommy's clothes or B. I've just crawled out of the buy by the pound pile at the Garment District.

So long story short, I've been feeling overwhelmed, more than a little useless and panicking about getting this job. FUN!

In the midst of this, I'm trying to be upbeat about the holidays. I'm excited for Christmas but I feel like I just want it to be here already. There's too much prep and fluff before the actual fun happens. And I can't help but feel as though I'm putting to many of my eggs into the "Yay- Christmas!!" basket and I'm going to end up being really disappointed come the 26th. So for now I'm just trying to keep my head up and think positively. Everything is going to be great! Right? RIGHT. Maybe.

Well that was a fun post. How about some Pictures!?


This kitty keeps me sane. Or alternately drives me crazy.


This (I think) is a juvenile red tailed hawk that has been hanging out in our neighbors back yard. I think he's scanning their back wall for rats and mice.


This was taken on the ferry from Vermont to New York as Ben and I were driving to the farm this summer. It was warm and we had not only a long weekend away ahead of us, but the next 48 hours of that to ourselves. It was lovely.

Thanks!

I'm Thankful for my family schlepping over to Dorchester to humor my Martha Stewart wannabe Thanksgiving.



I'm Thankful for having a mom who actually taught me how to cook and throw a holiday.

I'm Thankful for my cousins who keep me having fun and hone my parenting skills.

I'm Thankful for my Grandparents, because even though they are "faux", they are unquestionably mine and they are the best.

I'm Thankful for Fuck Holidays. (and all year round)

I'm Thankful for my found kitty who follows me around and loves me even when I don't give her turkey. Also, for the fact that she lovingly endures being repeatedly poked in the nose by a two year old.



I'm Thankful for P Dub's turkey brine, which I used as the base for a kick-ass turkey.


I'm Thankful for wonderful bloggers that I totally love.

And I'm Thankful for anyone who actually still reads this even though I'm a slacker!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

'Scuses 'scuses

I haven't written anything in forever and if you read the last post you'll know why.

But anyway, since I updated I've continued busting my ass for UPS and took a week off to go to the Happiest Place on Earth!

And it was awesome.

Only it was TOO awesome. It was super warm and full of delicious food and family and chatting it up with Disney characters and the BAM I'm on a plane back to Boston and I'm being sneezed on and woken up by a woman laughing like PeeWee Herman and then it's so cold and I'm back at UPS at 3 am and what the hell happened?!

Transitioning back to reality isn't so much fun, you guys.

But I'm getting back into real life kicking and screaming with my head up, because there's no other choice. I'm mature and grown up like that.

And when my brother and sister in law get around to editing any of the photos they took, I'll share some.
Only that might be a while because they're all sick.

Which is a reminder that as much as real life sucks, it could be worse.

TGI-Almost Friday

So I started working this week. Like, a real live job. I'm working at UPS at the same Hub and shift as Ben but in a different center so we don't really see each other very much. And it didn't take me very long to remember something I had almost forgotten.

I hate working.

It's true. And waking up at 2:30am for the privilege only compounds my hatred. And that means going to bed at around 6:30 Which ends up leaving me about an hour or two to relax get ready for the next day. I go to school with Ben after work and just wait for him to be done since I hate the thought of driving two cars back and forth from Chelmsford on a daily basis. So even if it's my own fault, I have no time to do anything during the week. And then I have to lift all sorts of heavy boxes for hours on end and it makes me whiny and stupid (have you noticed? haha). Only in my head and once I leave work though. Outwardly at work I'm smiley and trying to be positive. If I'm not I'll end up being wholly miserable and nobody likes the miserable bitch. I can't do much about the bitch part (I'm reasonably sure it's genetic) but I refuse to reveal my misery!

I've been really working for 2 days now and today was better than yesterday but there's one thing that hasn't changed. I get really motion sick for about an hour a day. Basically the floor between the trucks and the cages where I get the packages is a big belt. For about a half hour a day they turn on the belt, which happens to run in the opposite direction that the cages move. Which isn't so much fun when you reach into the cages (they are huge) and your upper body is in a cage moving one way and your lower body is being dragged the other so you have to keep stepping. But that's not the real issue. Since that's all I can see, I get instantly looped. The floor is moving one way, the walls are moving another and I'm not actually moving but my body freaks out. It's so odd, rides don't make me sick, boats do nothing to me but shaky movie cameras and other odd visual things send me reeling. It's not so much fun.

But I work through it because I have to and I watch how I'm feeling really closely so I don't puke on anyone's packages. I am technically a temporary employee until they decide to keep me on after the holidays, which they usually do. But if I suck too much, can't do my job or the managers don't like me I'm out.

It's not fun but it's money that will be saving up for me to buy a house and that's what I care about. I can do it so even if I don't like I will. Maybe I'll end up actually posting now that I have all the time to waste while sitting at UML.

LOL

The Big E!

I write these posts in my head before I type them out. So I'm consistently confused when a post I've been mulling over for ages hasn't actually been written yet. What can I say; senility is setting in early...

A few days Almost a month ago, Ben, Lindsay, Bryan and I took my cousins to the middle of nowhere. At least that's where I told them they were going, which wasn't entirely a lie since we had to drive 2 hours out the Mass Pike and I feel secure in saying that that might as well be the middle of nowhere.

However, there happens to be a big ol' fair in the middle of nowhere!

That big ol' fair is otherwise known as The Eastern States Exposition or The Big E. It's basically a state fair for all of New England, or if you're from around Boston, a bigger version of Topsfield.

One of the biggest draws is the fair food and we wasted no time getting down to biz-nass.

Big ass-E Creampuffs


Huge Baked Potatoes from Maine


Corn Dog!

Please excuse the muffin top, bra straps and glazed look. It's the fair, it does things to you.


Actually, it might be the all the "fried" that does things to you.


Only here could you find deep fried peanut butter banana right next to Indian food.


Mmmm Deep Fried....



And we had our share of Deep Fried goodness. I remembered just in time to get a shot of the last deep fried oreo. I wasn't quick enough with the cheesecake. Or the chocolate covered bacon, or the kettle corn or anything else that I can't remember that we clogged our arteries with.


But this was the true heart attack inducing gem. Look closely...


Yes. That is. A bacon cheeseburger on a glazed doughnut.


And this is me carrying a tired (and quite heavy) six year old in a vain attempt to mimic some sort of exercise. It's all about self delusion!