Christmas was wonderful and exhausting.  Having all the kids and their wives/girlfriends home is always special, then they all left except for Bailey Dog.

Bailey is here until we take him home–probably tomorrow. He’s been good as gold.  He and Wizard are buddies–so much so that Wizard got very brave and took Bailey in the car with him to the post office. Bailey loved it! But he almost gave Wizard a heart attack when Bailey put his paw on the arm rest and accidentally rolled down the electric window.  Poor Wizard! He was afraid Bailey would jump out. But Bailey was fine and Wizard handled it. Right now the two of them are sitting together watching TV.

So how was your holiday? And if I don’t talk to you before hand–have a safe New Years Eve!

So CPA Boy (oldest son) says: “Mom there’s a cookie exchange at work, and I consider this a contest that I must win.”

“Um…CPA Boy a cookie exchange is not a contest.”

“It’s totally a contest.”

Right. He’s so like his dad. Not me, I’m not at all competitive.   “And you’re telling me this because…?”

“Can you bake extra cookies so I can claim them as my own and win?”

“I’m not baking a lot of cookies this year.” I’m being tough this year, drawing lines, doing less…and I’M NOT COMPETITIVE.

“Oh. Well that’s okay mom.  Don’t worry about it. It’s just a cookie exchange.” And we started talking about other things.

Fast forward a couple days to the family party where I handed him a big Tupperware filled with cookies. I carefully labeled it “CPA Boy, the big cheater.”

CPA Boys eyes lit up. “What’s this?”

“Cookies.”

“You said you weren’t baking this year.”

“But you asked and I can’t seem to help myself. Are you REALLY going to take credit for my cookies?”

He nods. “One hundred percent.”

“You’re a cheater, you know that. I wrote it on the tag. See?”

“I’m going to cross out cheater.”

I laughed. “You suck at cheating.”

“You suck at saying no. And you’re helping your son cheat.”

Dang, he has a point. So I poured some wine and contemplated what a bad mom I am. But he totally better win that contest…uh…cookies exchange.

In all honesty, it really is a cookie exchange, and I’ve met his smart coworkers–not one of them will believe he baked those cookies The truth is I did it for him because my kids rarely ask me for anything. And…I suck at saying no.

I want to take a moment to wish  you all have a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays! I wish for each of you a truly special time with family and friends.  You all have made my life better, sharing smiles and joy and I truly appreciate all of you.

I’m going to take a week off from the blog, but will check in next week.

Only five days until Christmas!

I ran out of time to write a blog–I’ll try to write more on Monday.  Right now, Wizard and I just finished making peanut butter balls and we used Ghirardelli melting wafers–first time I’ve ever used them and so far I love them. So if you’re doing any candy making, they are a good option. And also this was Wizard’s first time making rolling and dipping peanut butter balls–he did great!

My shopping is done (or it had better be!) and most of my wrapping is done. We have a family party on Saturday, and I’ll be baking all day today and Saturday morning.  The complication is my bad ankle is acting up so I may have to cut back on what I planned to do.  I saw my doctor yesterday and he’s ordered an MRI against my wishes–he actually tricked me into agreeing to it– I’m rather impressed  And no worries–this isn’t a big deal, just annoying and slowing me down.

What are your weekend plans?

One week until Christmas, and the best part? Wizard and I asked Middle Son if this guy can stay with us for a few days after Christmas:

Middle Son answered, “I’ll ask Bailey if he wants to stay with you and Dad and get back to you.”  I’m 99% sure Bailey said yes We’ll have fun for a few days.  Wizard’s really excited, so last night I said to him, “I’m on to you, you know.”

He tried to look innocent, “What?”

“You think that after we have Bailey for a few days, I’ll be tired and realize I don’t really want a dog.”

He smirked and refused to answer.

Changing subjects here, I went to Big Stock to find a Santa Hunk, but I had sticker shock at the price. So we’re going to have to make due with one of the guys who’s been hanging around here for a while now. Just imagine him in a Santa hat:

What do you think?

I have 90% of my shopping done! Wizard and I did half the shopping together–and the other half separately and managed to get the bulk of it done. I was actually in the mall two days in a row–I haven’t been to that mall in MONTHS.  I talked to real people and everything, LOL!

 I finally got to read SEBASTIAN/ARISTIDE (Bayou Heat Series)  and I’m ready and enjoying FIGHTING FOR FLIGHT. I haven’t had time to read at all unless I had insomnia, so it’s been an awesome break.

I’m also bugging Wizard for a dog–something I always do when I come up for air after finishing a book. He’s SOOO used to this, he just puts me off knowing I’ll start the next book and get too busy again

So three questions for you all:

1) How was your weekend?

2) What are you reading?

3) And what is your favorite home-made Christmas treat?

What? When did I blink again and it’s Friday? Seriously? Sigh…

So I got a start on Christmas shopping, but it’s not anywhere near enough.  I can’t believe we are sooo close! As I mentioned before, baking is where I’m going to have to cut back. So I’m taking only special requests from family. So far, they are begging me for peanut butter balls–that’s are so easy!

In other news, BLB (broken leg boy otherwise known as youngest son) stopped by the other day. Do you know it’ll be two years on Christmas eve since he was injured? Crazy! Anyway, BLB’s doing great in school, super focused on finishing his accounting degree and handling his leg. I hate that he was tested this way, but I am so proud of him, it’s the best Christmas gift I could ask for. It’s one of those moments where we are just so grateful it’s hard to put into words.

While I wish it had never happened, it did and looking back,  I realize that it stopped my life so completely, it gave me time to re-evaluate where I wanted to go in my career. Seeing BLB accept that he needed to go in a new direction and face it with courage (and huge support from his brothers–they have been there for him in too many ways to count), inspired me do the same.

So to sum up–life can throw major sucky curve balls, but sometimes the new directions that come out of it are a good thing.

And speaking of that, I have a LOT I want to write next year. Right now,  have two books and a new series on my plate Let’s blame BLB for that!

This weekend will be shopping and complaining about shopping. What are you doing this weekend?

I started some Christmas shopping yesterday and realized that when the shopping gene was passed out, I must have been hiding in a dark corner reading a book with a flashlight.

Is it just me or does the holiday season seem more difficult to you all this year?

Let’s talk about something else! I found the photo that I lost last week.

So what do you think? Is he worthy?