Full Schedule

Christmas stresses me out. I hate change and rearranging and so decorating for Christmas gives me a headache because my "stuff" is out of order. Christmas shopping wears me out because I'm so worried about making sure that I get things that people will like - I'm very thoughtful in my gift selection and so I guess I just want that thoughtfulness rewarded by the person thoroughly enjoying their present.

My mother is the easiest person for me to shop for - because if I like it...there is a good chance that she will like it as well. Craig and my father are the two most difficult people to shop for because they're "guys" and don't really ever say that they WANT anything and they both have difficult hobbies to buy for. My dad is an auto body repair man who loves cars and Craig's two favorite things to do right now are travel and collect baseball cards. Hmm.

All last week at school the teachers were talking about how much they couldn't wait to RELAX over the holiday break. "Relax?!" I thought, "I don't have time to relax! I've got too much to do!" Before last week was over, my calendar was already booked up. Here is a quick overview:

1. Monday 12/20: Haircut for Locks of Love at 9:30 with my friend Emily, her sister-in-law Jennifer and Emily's two nieces, Claire and Mary Kate. We are all chopping our hair off to donate it and I am so super excited to get rid of this mane that is occupying my head right now. I LOVE having long hair because it is relatively easy to take care of, but it's getting out of control and heavy. I'm ready to have it about shoulder length. Tomorrow night Craig and I are going over to my parent's house for Christmas with my parents, brothers, sisters-in-law and nephews since my brother Mike and his wife are in town from Maine. We are doing the whole big Christmas dinner and present unwrapping and so Craig and I have been wrapping presents fast and furious this weekend because as of yesterday...I had NOTHING wrapped.

2. Wednesday 12/22 - Friday 12/24: Craig surprised me with a trip to Nashville to stay in the Gaylord Opryland hotel complete with tickets to see Garth Brooks perform one of his benefit concerts for the Tennessee flood victims of last summer. I LOVE Garth Brooks...I know all the words to every song on "Ropin' the Wind" and I can't wait to see him perform. While we're there we're going to go to their ICE show, get massages and try out this famous pancake place that a coworker of mine demanded we go to.

3. Friday 12/24: With having both of our families close by, Craig and I are able to celebrate the actual DAY of Christmas with everyone so we have chosen to celebrate our family Christmas with each other on Christmas Eve. This might change in a few years when we have to play Santa but for right now it works out really well with everyone's schedule. We always cook a good dinner together (this year it's steaks, potatoes and green beans) and watch a holiday movie (usually Elf or Love Actually) and then open our presents to each other...and Angie's presents too of course.

4. Saturday 12/25: We're getting up early on Christmas morning for breakfast and gift opening with his family at his mother's house which is just a few neighborhoods away from us. We will open and receive presents from Craig's mother, sister, Memaw and Aunt Kay. Since my family will have already done the Christmas present thing earlier in the week, my mother decided that she would just make a lasagna and have us over for dinner around 5:00.

5. Tuesday 12/28: Through the grapevine I think I might have found a child care place for Natalie at the end of the school year and next year! She is a woman in our neighborhood that keeps 3-4 kids at a time during the day and she comes highly recommended by a coworker of mine as well as a good friend who used to have her own son taken care of by this person. We're going to go over to her house at 10:00 to meet her and her family as well as take a tour of her house to see what kind of facilities Natalie would be in everyday. I'm really optimistic about this woman because she is so super close to our house and she sounds wonderful. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

6. Wednesday 12/29: Craig will be turning 37 this year! I have a birthday surprise planned for him at 10:30 that morning followed by a Stars game with his friends in the evening.

7. Friday 12/31: Stars game for New Year's Eve.

8. Saturday 1/1: TCU bowl game party at our friend Doug's house whose daughter attends TCU.

9. Monday 1/3: Go back to school!!!

And somewhere in there, our good friends Dana and Brian are going to be having their baby girl, Jacklyn and therefore we will be going up to the hospital to visit them and meet Natalie's future best friend!

Whew! That's a lot of stuff...but I'm hopignt hat since I really only have a few things planned everyday that maybe I will still find some time in there somewhere for some much needed napping.