Deck the Halls

Our cars have been in the shop for 8 days.

(In an attempt to remedy Lexie's handiwork) 

As of Sunday, they hadn't even begun to work on mine.

Why they had us drop them off a week ago is a mystery to me.

Wouldn't you think that scheduling a repair would typically mean

"We are prepared to repair your car.  The parts we need will be here at the appointed date, and your car will be ready in a timely manner."

Silly, silly me.

Luckily, we have two loaner cars.

And they are nice.

And they match.

I have named them Sasha and Tasha, and they look very attractive parked next to each other in our garage.

~

The one downside (only one??) is that you have to be 21 to drive

Sasha or Tasha.  

I just barely made the cut.

Lexie, of course, is only 16.

This means we have been hauling teenage butts everywhere for the past 

WAY TOO MANY days.

~

There is nothing I love more than the sound of the door closing behind my darlings as they leave for school in the morning.

There is nothing I love LESS than hearing that same door open 3-5 minutes later, followed by "MOM! We missed the bus!"

Seriously?!!

You do not need to be a rocket scientist to catch the bus.

Apparently you have to be a Lakmann to miss the bus this consistently.

There is nothing better than crawling out of a warm, doggie filled bed, and into a freezing cold car to schlep your teenagers to school.

I especially enjoy it when they get out of the car, and go on their merry way, without uttering one word of thanks.

This is when I find pleasure in opening the windows and screaming 

"YOU'RE WELCOME!!!" at the top of my lungs, so all of the little darlings being dropped off can hear my pretty voice.

I pondered going back to bed when I returned home...but decided to follow that rule I had set a few weeks ago, (the one I keep forgetting about) and ban myself from the bed until after 7pm.

I gathered up my Spark, the paper, a couple magazines, the remote, and my favorite guys...and we hit the couch instead.

~

Soon after, I got a text from my husband, saying he tried to activate his new debit card, but someone had already done it (gee...I wonder who?!) and that there was a charge from kwik trip, and a $100 ATM withdrawal on it...and did I know anything about that?  Was our card compromised?!

Okay.  He was in the room with me the night before when I activated the stupid cards.

AND, I spent a good chunk of time letting him know that I had gone to all of our auto pay accounts, and updated our information, so we shouldn't have any problems with bills not being paid because of the change.

He somehow seemed to miss all of this.

Shocking, I know.

So, I went online to check our account.  I had filled the car up at kwik trip the night before, so I knew that charge was legit.

There was only one $100 transaction registered in the past week or two....a TJMAXX payment.

I am guessing the brain surgeon on the other end of the phone got confused and thought those letters meant ATM?? (I'm sorry....I just imagined the conversation that must have ensued between this woman and Mark.  I really hope it was recorded so someone can get a good laugh someday.)

Good Lord.

~

Well, I decided today I would allow a little Christmas to seep into my space.

I was not prepared to haul heavy totes upstairs (because that would involve having to haul totes back downstairs afterward) so, I just grabbed what I could carry, and threw some things together.

It must not look all that great, as it took Mark a couple hours to even realize that there were any decorations out.

I shall now share with you the exciting beginning of the Christmas transformation.  And yes...exciting is the word to describe it.

The orange candles have been replaced with white and red.

And I shoved Christmas-y stuff in with them.  Ta-da!

This was a lot of work.

I hung a stocking.

I actually made the stocking too...so I guess maybe it was a lot of work?

I killed the plant that was originally in that pot...so I stuck a Christmas tree in it instead.  Don't worry...it's fake, so there will be no death on Christmas Eve.

I also cleverly disguised the fact that Clara (the reindeer) broke her neck last year. (She has seasonal depression. We don't want to get into the details.)

I tied a pretty bow around her "problem areas" and angled her cute little reindeer butt out.  She likes a good view of the TV anyway.

And here is some stuff on a table.

Aaahh...the joy of Christmas.

And a puppy in Christmas jammies.

In a shoebox.

If only I could share the true joy of Christmas with you.

You would have to come over to my house to experience it, though.

I have had the profound pleasure of luxuriating in it not once, but TWO times this evening already!

Oh yes...there is nothing like the soothing sounds of the trombone....

(never actually playing a melody.)

Oh no!  Rather, just the long, overwhelming tones of low drones.....

reminiscent of a ship coming into harbor on a foggy night.

Over, and over, and over, and over.......

My own little Christmas miracle...come true.

And with that, I shall bid you adieu.

Perhaps tomorrow I shall "deck some more halls"....but that is highly unlikely.

I think my work here is done.

For this week, at least.

I've got Christmas music to plan.

And recital music to learn.

OOOH...and Mark just opened the wine!

Happy Wednesday!