Guess what?

I'm stuck in DFW airport overnight. Why? Cuz I misread my itinerary and missed my first flight, which led to a missed connection to Seattle. What's worse than finding a comfortable sleeping position when pregnant? Finding a comfortable sleeping position on an airport cot when pregnant. Oh, and did I mention that the restaurants and shops closed at 8:30 (which is about 30 minutes BEFORE I knew I was going to be stuck here overnight)? That lovely gem of information is only enhanced by the fact that all the vending machines in the terminal are "CURRENTLY UNDERGOING PROCESSING". I don't know what that means in vending machine-ese, but in real-life, it means that they don't accept currency and don't dispense food or drinks. Good thing I stashed a bag of cookies in my bag. Looks like it will be dinner and breakfast.

I'll be back later in the week to really blog about my vacation. As you hopefully understand, I'm just not in the mood right now.

Christmas Traditions

Lots of my blog friends have been mentioning Christmas traditions lately, so I think I'll join in on the fun. I'd love to hear from y'all too about your favorite (or most hated) Christmas traditions.

My mom's family hangs out all of Christmas day. There's a big dinner, lots of desserts and presents passed around from the name draw. Then, we get down to business - family games! We have the best rounds of Scattegories, Charades, MadGabs, and any other manner of group interactive games going. It lasts into the night.

My dad's family bumbles awkwardly about in a rented hall for one hour (count it, one hour) of catered dinner on Christmas Eve. Everyone sits in their "cliques" and we fake hug and yell Merry Christmas on our way out the door almost as soon as we came in. It's so insincere, but its a ritual. My flight gets in very late this year so I'll have to miss out this time (darn!).

My most favorite Christmas tradition, though, is waking up very early on Christmas morning at my mom's cinnamon and peppermint smelling house in my new "Christmas pajamas" and sneaking across the hall to crawl in her warm bed until its really time to wake up. Now that I'm married, I have to sneak back to my room to be there when hubby wakes up, but its so worth it for those few quiet moments with my mom.

Christmas at the Condo

Well, we finally made our way to the Christmas tree lot, where I subjected my husband to unraveling, propping up, fluffing, then discarding about six trees before I found one that was the right size.

Hubby doesn't believe in measuring trees before he buys them. Because of this, we had to move our dining room table partly into the kitchen, then give up use of the entire sliding patio doors last Christmas. He bought a 9'x4' tree to fit in a 7'x3' space. Therefore, my plans for a festive foyer had to be diverted to an unusable dining room, patio entry/exit.

Anyhoo - I put myself on the tree-finding committee this year and we made out okay. The tree is still about a foot wider than I wanted, but at least it fits in the space.

I still don't understand why he insists on having a Christmas tree - and a live one at that. We are always in Oklahoma for Christmas so the tree sits twinkling alone on the days surrounding Christmas. Now that we're living in Washington and the front, side and rear of our condo are surrounded by pine and furs, I suggested that we just decorate one of those trees already naturally outside. We can enjoy them through one of three picture windows. No dice.

So, here's the before and after of our 2008 Christmas tree. Thought I'd post it to add a little joy to your season. *cue holiday music in the backgroun*

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm always conflicted about Thanksgiving. I don't appreciate the historical origins of the holiday because of the settlers treatment of Native Americans. However, in recent years, I don't appreciate how Native Americans are treating Black Indians so that dampens my initial sympathy a little bit.

Yet, no matter how I feel about that whole bit, I relish the idea of having a holiday devoted solely to being thankful for all of one's blessings.

So, in the honor of the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are a few things I'm thankful for this year:

1) My loving and supportive family
2) That dinner will be catered by Safeway (read: I don't have to cook a thing!)
3) My little circle of friends
4) An end in sight for the current presidential administration
5) This chocolate bun I've got in my oven
6) A husband who rubs my feet in the evening (even if he did snatch the covers last night)

What are you thankful for?