Thinking out loud.........

Well, the world didn't end and we had a wonderful Christmas. For one thing, the power stayed on, which was a nice change from last year when we spent the entire day in the dark and had Jack in the Box burgers for dinner. This year, we had Jeff's steelhead he caught two days before and it was delicious! Presents were plentiful and it was a great day to just hang out with the family.

One thing I couldn't believe was some of the comments on FB from kids who didn't get what they wanted. Are you kidding me? Selfish little brats! If you woke up on Christmas morning, you got what you wanted. Be happy. Seriously, I think we all need to rein it in a little when it comes to materialistic Christmases. Me included. I (once again) overbought, overspent, overdid it. My kids didn't get iPhones or anything like that, but their arms were full of new, fun things nonetheless. Our living room overflowed with gifts. And for that, I am thankful - that we were all together, that we could provide these gifts, that our lives are plentiful and full!

As I write this, it's a quiet morning (even though it's well past 10 a.m.) because all the kiddos are sleeping. Harrison had a friend spend the night. I'm laying in bed, looking through Facebook, checking my email, blogging and I'm STARVING! I really want someone to bring me breakfast in bed. From Starbucks, please and thank you. Jeff is out on gymnastics carpool duty as Arlie is at a three-hour workout. So, he's out of the picture for serving Your Royal Highness. I suppose I should get up and cook a big breakfast for the kids and the sleepover friend, but then I think......nah!

That is one area where I suck as a mom. I HATE MAKING BREAKFAST! To me, the perfect breakfast is a coffee and pastry, preferably made and served by someone else. I'm not one to whip up eggs (which I don't care for and suck at making) and/or waffles, pancakes, etc. I just have no patience for breakfast. I'm usually starving when I wake up and if it's a work day, I'm busy getting ready and often grab something I can eat in the car on the way to work like a frozen waffle with peanut butter. A big, hearty breakfast with any type of meat and/or potatoes is more like dinner to me, and certainly not something I want first thing in the morning. Yuck!

So, even when my kids have friends over, I just throw out some cereal and milk. Or do nothing now that they are old enough to make their own pancakes (and mess up the kitchen in the process). In fact, I'd like nothing more right now than to just sneak out and get myself a coffee and a doughnut and eat it in peace somewhere (the driver's seat of my car will work just fine).

On another subject, the week between Christmas and New Year's feels kinda "dead." I keep forgetting that most people have to work (I am off the same times as my kids because I work for their school district). But yesterday I remembered I still have to pay bills, schedule appointments, call people for things, etc. I'm on vacation....sort of. But since we've spent most of it just hanging around the house, it feels kind of empty. I think I better plan some fun stuff to do before the break is over so I don't feel like we wasted it! For one thing, we still have Groupons to go see a big light display that we never did before Christmas. We'll do that tonight or tomorrow. There are a ton of things we COULD do, but who has a huge after-Christmas budget? I guess I should try doing all those crafts I never got around to doing for the holidays! HA! I still have a huge batch of sugar cookie dough in the freezer that I never got around to baking either! I even bought special squeeze bottles for frosting this year so we could have a real Santa's workshop of cookie-baking but they are still sitting empty in the pantry. SIGH!

I do enjoy the after-Christmas sales, but I'm so cheap I want to wait till next week when everything is 90% off. Of course, there's no selection left by then. I did buy some new boxes and bags for wrapping next year. I reuse them until they're practically falling apart, so this year I had to recycle a bunch. The nice thing about the after-Christmas sales is that since we have both a January and February birthday in our house, I can pick up great birthday presents on the cheap!

I always love giving gifts and watching the recipients open them and this year I was especially excited for the things I got Jeff. I think the best thing (and his favorite gift!) was an artist's rendition of his dog, Shade, that I had done for him. It was a 5x7 sketch with color and included a matching ornament. It really captured our old dog! I also got him a four-hour chartered fishing trip and tickets to a hockey game. I always find men in general to be difficult to shop for, my husband included, so I was pretty excited about some of the things I got! He was very happy (and got lots of other presents too!).

It's almost 11 and still quiet. Maybe I can sneak out after all! Gotta use those Starbucks gift cards sometime, right? :)