Christmas Cards (That Haven't Gone Out Yet!)

I think my New Year's resolution is to create a new profession. Heck! I'm already so good at it, why not take it in as a title. "What is it?" you ask? A Professional Procrastinator! Yep... that's me!

I've had this "idea" for my cards for quite a while. I did bits and pieces in little spurts of time, but basically, this whole season (heck! this WHOLE frickin' year!), I kinda kept losing my mojo-my creative juices (please, no ugly comments here). That's a bummer. And a set-back.

But... because we canceled our mini-cookie exchange and postponed it until AFTER Christmas (see? more procrastination practices!), I was able to create more cards. (Only 2 had been done previous to this!)

So... this is what I came up with. *Note, you may be receiving a different version, but basically, their the same idea... lol! Enjoy!

The finished card. Inside reads: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (embossed in metallic blue)

My "first" card... had real machine stitching around the blue background. Uh, no... didn't like it. the paper came up through the holes and "bled" through, not making it clean enough, so I ended up faux stitching/doodling with my white Gellyroll pen.

My second and third cards (made exactly the same as each other) didn't have this raised/cut/glittered snowflake. They had a stamped and embossed snowflake... and then I realized I had so many cards left to do... and not enough white embossing powder.

The stamped image behind the snowflake is "Special Delivery" and embossed in clear. (Dunno what happened, but the 2nd & 3rd cards ended up clear, while the remaining cards were kinda milky white. Huh? Clear ink + Clear embossing powder = Milky White? That's a new one to me... go figure.)

Here you can see the embossed stamped image under and the layers of the snowflake.

I ended up using my most absolute favorite glitter. (Needs to get me some more of this stuff!) It's ultra-fine and gorgeous. I cut our 2 snowflakes (Cricut Cartridge: Christmas Solutions) on white cardstock, ran them through my Xyron, stuck down the first one, flipped over the second and glitter-galored it (like I said... LOVE, love, love that glitter!), then pop-dotted it on top of the first one. Love the effect!

Just a different angle... (see how GREEN my tree still is-and it's REAL!)

Then of course, as I love b-l-u-e SO much (my fave color, ya know?) I had to add a beautiful shimmery organdy ribbon to it. I love it! It's so... um... ME!

Oh... The weather outside is frightful...

(sing-a-long now...)

But the fire is so delightful... and since we've no place to go... Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Um... NO!

Here, in Southern California, it has been raining for a week (or more). "We" are not used to such rain. If we truly wanted this type of weather, we'd live in... let's say Oregon or Washington? Um, yeah... Not going to happen. But, it kind of feels like that right now. So ya know...The "S" Word (SNOW) wouldn't even close to work for us.

Seriously, it hasn't let up for a couple of days. (My prissy poodle-mix [much as I L-O-V-E, love her] won't go outside for her walks and has to literally be picked up and put on the grass for her to take a... [you know what].) And our streets are flooding. Our county (and surrounding counties) have been declared disaster areas.

That's ok for people who are used to this. They know how to adapt, but SoCali people? uh, no... They don't know how to drive in this stuff. There are accidents everywhere, which makes that a disaster in itself.

Now insert the wind. Trees are being torn out by their roots with the top-heaviness of the their rain-trodden limbs. (See? They're not used to it either!) And much of our housing (good ol' track homes) are cheaply made, so we don't have double panes. (This means we hear the wind whistling ALL. NIGHT. LONG.)

I so long for days like this!

Can you tell I'm "just" a tad crabby? uh, yeah... add in the kids are all on vacation, starting to fight/argue... and we're ALL going crazily insane cooped up in the house, cuz you know... I am still working on Christmas stuff... such a procrastinator...

The Santa Experience - 2010

I know... I already posted about this... but... I didn't tell post about everything! lol!

My hubs got a new camera last year. Pretty nice, not what I would have wanted, but a major step for him. Until recently, I haven't really liked his ideas OR the pics he's taken (he tends to not get different angles and liked things posed ["Smile for the camera!"] style, which I totally don't).

On Friday, though... he amazed me. I believe these are some of the best he's gotten! He went up to the second level of the mall and took photos of our little ensemble... They are precious.

Marissa, insisting to Santa that she'd "REALLY been a good girl". Uh... huh...

On another note... he was stopped by security and had to put away the camera. NOT because he was taking pics of the Santa & Co. BECAUSE, he "could be taking pictures of the mall set-up, casing the place..." One never knows who or what might be a terrorist, I guess. And so... we're ALL under suspicion. What the heck is this world coming to? (and NO, they don't tell you to put away your phone... guess that kind of picture is A-ok. whatev...)

They had a little fun after... (quality is NOT good from a phone)

I would post more pics, but unfortunately, as I tried to upload them this morning, my external hard drive crashed (oops!), and so... I had to salvage these pics from Facebook. I guess it's good for something else... lol! 

Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus...

... right down Santa Claus Lane... (Sing along now!)

I know ya'll know this song! Whelpers... all my kids do, even the older step-kids. It happens once a year. I actually get all of the kids (all 5 of them) together, no matter what the heck their schedules entail or where they might be. I get them all for just a little bit, depending on how long the line at the "Mall Santa" is...

This year, it was NO LINE! I couldn't believe it! AND... it was cute, simple and thank goodness they'd changed the decor! I haven't used my local mall in many years. Years ago, I had the kids' pics taken there, and the Santa suit was red (duh!), the candy-cane poles were mostly red (had a super thin white stripe in them), the chair that Santa sat in was red, and the backdrop was... you guessed it! RED!!!! So... you could barely see Mr. Claus in all of that redness. He looked like a ghostly apparition in the Sea of Red. And let's not forget that most "Christmas" frames have LOTS and LOTS of red in them, too. It was just too overwhelming and I swore I'd never go back.

But... as you may or may not have noticed, it is/was/has been raining here. So, since my step-kids were coming from Los Angeles, and my hubs had to drive them back (yes... they ARE adults - don't ask. It's a long story) in the rain and my steps had "other" things to do and had time constraints on them, "we" decided to go local and I prayed for a Christmas miracle.

First off, I looked and looked all over the frickin' Internet Universe for pics of the set-ups or samples of the Santa Photos at each mall in the surrounding cities. Did you know that while malls may post "information" (very limited, I might add) and possibly hours and NOT prices, they DO NOT have any pics of cute little kids sitting on the Jolly Old Elf? Nada. Nothing. Zilch! So... you/I am just going to have to trust that they have it coordinated better and that maybe some interior designer/set coordinator finally found their calling and fixed our local mall's set-up.  ZOMG! Are you serious? I have to have this super duper anxiety attack happen for what may/may not possibly be OK? Maybe I should take a pill NOW!

And so... we went. Got out of cars (in the RAIN!) and hustled the kids inside. The only ones in line were already getting their pics taken. Woohoo! AND! the set was a mixture of vibrant colors, surrounding Santa in his workshop. Super duper S-C-O-R-E!

The girl elf looked at us and said, "All of them are in the picture?" My reply? "Of course! They're ALL my kids! And they'll be doing this until the little one is 18!"  We took pics and ran out of there. Whoops! We were so quick, I forgot to wait for my pics to be printed, and so I went back... Eek! They had them all in a bag, waiting for me. Sometimes I'm such a dork!

Aren't they CUTE? And hey! so... the border's a little red (I picked a gold-ish frame this year!)

Oh! You're wondering about the adults taking the Santa pic? Yeah... um... I only ask for one picture the entire year. This is the least they can do. It's the closest thing I get to a "family" picture... and this year was the first time EVER that all of them (every single one of them) is actually looking at the right camera AND smiling.  Merry Christmas to me!

It Rained On My Parade (Newport Beach Boat Parade)

For the past couple of years (we've been making it a tradition), we've gone to Newport Beach the last weekend before Christmas for the Newport Beach Boat Parade. We set up food, bring chairs and warm clothes and LOTS of coffee and hot chocolate.

And then we wait. And we wait. Until... we hear music and see the boats turning the corner of the harbor (Newport Beach Harbor) and head out way.

The lights are dazzling and the atmosphere festive, as the dancing lights reflected on the water entrance us. People shout from their boats and some people sing. Once it starts, it lasts for about 40 minutes to an hour, and we are transfixed the entire time. Check out this post from 2008!

But that won't be happening this year... In Southern California this year, nature decided to rain on us. Don't get me wrong, I love the rain and know we need it. But. We really don't want to be out in the cold, the dark, the beach, with little or no boats to watch (not to mention the expense of the gas to get there - $40 or more), as it rains, pours, and floods the beach in puddles (think kids and dogs and a wet, wet, soaking ride home for more than an hour!).

*Sigh*

And so... we didn't go. Either last night or tonight. And I get it. But, I'm a little disappointed and a little depressed. This only happens once a year, and when it's gone, we look forward to it again. *sniff* And so... maybe next year... just maybe, nature will be kind to us once again, so that we may enjoy the brilliance of the season again.

Josh's Journey, Sharing His Road to A New Life Through Weightloss

My family has a history of obesity. As much as I'd like to deny it, I am "obese", at least by medical standards. It's really hard to talk about, and it's even harder to do something about. I would just rather consider myself "fat" and move on and do nothing about it, as I'm really not that motivated to do so.

Sure, my clothes get tight now and then, and I prefer to wear sweats, but hey! It's comfortable. And I've had no health problems yet. According to my insurance (Kaiser Permanente), in order to get "help" (other than a nutritionist), I would need to gain 75-100 pounds to qualify for the lap-band and even more to qualify for gastric by-pass.  I realize some people think these are extreme measures, but when you have almost no control, you NEED this to reign you back in.

Enough about me. Today's post is about my brother. Josh. He has suffered through weight issues his whole life. And now, he is doing something about it. It's not because he can't diet. He can. He has tried. As it turns out, he had other health issues that were unknown to him (or anybody else for that matter), and now this is what the doctor ordered.

The Monday after Thanksgiving, Josh went through gastric by-pass surgery. He has had to give up some favorite foods, but when your goal is to live, rather than die, it doesn't seem such a sacrifice, does it? Anyway, I'm not the one who should be telling this story. It is his to tell, and he does...

The following video is his fourth. But he tells it honestly; he has nothing to hide.

If you would like to follow his journey, please check out his other videos and subscribe to his YouTube channel. Comment on his videos, as well. We all know.. the more support, the better the result. And Josh, like most of us, needs all the support he can get. I'm there for him, too! This, more than anything, would be the ultimate Christmas gift to my brother. I know we can all join in and wish him... Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year (and a Wonderful New Life)!

Winter-y Bags - A JW Story

The Incriminating Stockings

I help a lot in the Kindergarten class... Yeah, my 5yo is a kindergartener, so why wouldn't I? So... yesterday was their holiday party, no "holiday" in particular, buy yeah... you all get the meaning, right? Christmas! Shhh! Don't say that too loud! We don't want to get in trouble for mixing Church and State/School/Government... whatever... but, there are those kids whose parents practice other religions. You know... like "JW" (Jehovah's Witness). And our class has two kids whose parents do...

And so... in all of the hustle and bustle of putting together the party, getting all the stuff together, stocking stockings, wrapping presents, etc., I kind of didn't even think about it. I know... very ignorant of me, but hey! I'm not perfect.

Paper stockings were made for the class (by some AWESOME parents - not me) and stuffed with lots of wondrous things, candy canes included.  The teacher's gifts to the children were wrapped in beautiful foil ornament paper. Um... yeah.

My Non-Holiday Solution

My solution? I quickly downloaded a picture of a snowman (with Christmas trees and stars and holly) in PhotoShop and ps-ed all of the symbolic stuff O.U.T.! (even the holly! because, well... if I look for the symbolism in almost everything, then I know someone else might, too!) Then I filled in the coloring, re-drew some lines, and came up with the above.

Still have to re-wrap the gifts, but ya know? I think this'll do... what d'ya think?

What it all comes down to is... I believe in the country I live in. I believe in the freedom of religion. I also believe that kids should be allowed to be kids and live as children, experiencing the "fun" of childhood. It only happens once. So... if I need to change a little bit the prep that I do to accommodate them and allow them to be allowed by their parents to enjoy the "other" things that other kids get to... I will. Enjoy all of the season and winter-y goodness.