Are You Ready?

Goodbye November. Hello December. Shoppers, start your engines.

I am terribly behind this year. I need motivation. The girls want Christmas lights. Lots and lots of Christmas lights. I want time to stop for about 3 days so I can get my shopping done, cut a tree, decorate said tree, hang copious amounts of white lights on the house, bake cookies, make popcorn balls, fudge and caramels, and drink lots of hot cocoa.

Tomorrow I vow to have a better attitude. I will update my list, mark off the few things I have done, and add the other 40 things to the list that are bouncing around in my head. Tonight I am going to grumble about all the things I have to do in the next 25 days. Ho, ho, ho....Merry Christmas!

José

Dear Husband was home for a brief visit last night between work in Idaho and hunting trips. We had an early dinner and sat down to watch TV for a few minutes. DH had the Thursday night football game on and a man with an awesome voice was singing the national anthem.

Princess sang along and then we went downstairs to practice our music lesson. While I was waiting for Princess to get her books out I started to play a few notes from the national anthem on the piano.

Princess put her books on the piano and I quit playing and moved over for her. She looked at me and said, “Mommy, play the José Song again!” I was confused for a moment and then it occurred to me what she was saying.

José, can you see, by the dawn's early light….

Boating

In our haste this morning Flower thought we were going to take the raft on the river. She looked at me and asked if we were going on the boat. I was confused for a moment and then it occurred to me that she must have misunderstood Princess when she woke her up. Princess loves to help me vote but Flower didn’t remember voting in the primary. So when Princess told her we were going to vote on the way to school I think Flower thought she said boat. I don’t think Flower had as much fun voting as she has boating, but we got our stickers to wear proudly today.

Election Day 2010

Did you do your patriotic duty and vote today? I did. As a government employee who was given the day off, it was the least I could do.

Another strange thing happened this morning. I set my alarm for one hour later than I usually set it on weekday mornings. I got up when it went off rather than hitting snooze a couple times. I showered, got dressed, did quick makeup and hair. Princess got up on her own and got dressed. Lunch and backpack were ready to go so I decided to see if we could get out the door early enough to vote on our way to school.

Princess got Flower up and helped her get dressed. I combed their hair and brushed teeth while Dear Husband sliced an apple and got my coffee ready. Princess got breakfast bars and coats. We found shoes and were out the door. One hour and ten minutes from the time my alarm went off. The exact same routine usually takes us 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Now I am wondering what the hectic do I do for an hour every morning? Now I have to think of a new excuse why I don’t have time to workout in the morning.

Thankful

I think I know what Flower meant at lunch on Friday when she asked God to please keep Mommy and Daddy together. Dear Husband had a minor incident on his way home from town Saturday afternoon which could very easily have been a major accident.

DH bought new tires for the Expedition last Tuesday. He drove the Expedition home Tuesday, to work on Wednesday, and then left it sitting at his office until Saturday when got back from Idaho. DH returned his work truck to his office and met the girls and I to get groceries and a pumpkin to carve. We needed one last item so he went to another store and the girls and I went home with the groceries.

I had just finished putting away the groceries when DH called to say his rig broke down. He didn’t sound very happy and I don’t blame him. He was half way home when three bolts were sheared off of his rear driver side wheel and the back end of the Expedition started fishtailing all over the road.

Fortunately he was able to slow down and stop. He found three lug nuts on the interstate, the fourth came off in his hand and the last one was still on the bolt but he could loosen it easily with his hand. Apparently whoever put the new tires on forgot to tighten the lug nuts.

There is no doubt in my mind that God was watching over DH. I can’t even think about what might have happened if the last two bolts had sheared off and the wheel had come off at 80 mph. It makes you stop and think about what’s really important in life. I didn’t worry about how messy the house was last weekend, I was thankful we were all home safely.