Where Has She Been?

I realize the curiousity was killing you. Okay, well, maybe not so much according to my sitemeter. Most of you have just given up. Hopefully, you popped in just to see if maybe today was the day she came back... and it was your lucky day! What can I say? I've been busy. Here's a re-cap.

• Entertaining a dozen people at my house for Thanksgiving. Any woman who has been through this knows that does not just involve cooking enough food for said army, but also cleaning the house from top to bottom, shopping for the food to be consumed (in record time), and re-cleaning the house after the army has left.
• Working at my paid job. Overtime. Weekends - including Sundays. I think this has perhaps just come to a screeching halt. It's gotten cold enough now that the ground has frozen and there will be no more 'new' work coming in for this season. Busy-ness will start again next spring when the ground thaws.
• Working at my second job - farm wife. This includes, at this time of the year, year-end bookwork for the tax man. Ugh. I hate, hate, hate bookwork. I am the worlds' worst procrastinator when it comes to doing it. My sweet husband has talked to our tax accountant and tried to make all this easier for me, however I am required to do some pre-tax-accountant coding of information and entering of data into the computer, etc. I procrastinate, then have to make up four months worth of data in a couple of days. Have I mentioned I hate bookwork? Oh, yeah... and my dad was a lifetime accountant. Go figure.
• Getting ready for Christmas and Birthday season. We don't just have Christmas to celebrate this time of year. We have three substantive birthdays before Christmas, two not-so-substantive (in other words, relatives that I barely acknowledge as living, let alone having a birthday - my bad!!) ones. We also have two critical ones the first week in January. Can't let those slip by! Now, my parents did a lot of things wrong (if you don't believe me, I can offer proof) but one thing they actually did very well was to make sure my birthday, which falls one week before Christmas, was celebrated as a birthday - not an extention of Christmas. I try to do the same for the two kids (adults now) and grandson who all have birthdays so close.
• In the spirit of getting ready for Christmas, I am re-creating a cross-stitch for my parents that I made them years ago and hung in their last two homes - the last of which burned to the ground taking many crafts and cross-stitch pictures I had made for them. These are things that you can't just go to the store and purchase, but have to take the time and effort to re-make. I found one of the patterns for a large Noah's Ark and am almost done with it. My mother collected Noah's Ark memorabilia for a long time, and I'm hoping this will give her the itch to do it again. She's not gotten into any of that stuff since the fire. Hoping to surprise them... so don't tell!
• Making a list and checking it twice... all while decorating the house for the coming holiday. Now I've just got to go out and find it all! *sigh*

A couple of quick notes. Kenna - the next time you wish me to guest blog, you have to teach me how. I was a huge failure. I think it may have started (as I go back and read the e-mail) by trying to respond to the e-mail I got telling me not to respond. What can I say? Sorry...

A good friend sent me a "California Christmas" CD - songs he sung himself! It's amazing and has gotten me to sing along while decorating the house. Thank you again, Michael.

The rest of you in Blogland and WoW-land... what can I possibly say? I've missed you all terribly but exhaustion has forced me to step away from the computer at the end of the day and I've got a lot of catching up to do. Hope all is well with everyone and if not... guess I'll find out, late, but eventually. Have a great holiday season and thanks for stopping by~~~

Oh... and lest I forget. If you got something by snail mail from me last year and your address hasn't changed, you may just get something again this year! If you didn't, but want to, send me your snail mail address. I'm psychic, but not that psychic.