Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish friends!

O my goodness. Can you even believe it is December 10th already?! Only 15 days tip Christmas Day.  So technically 14 days til Christmas because usually we are starting the celebration on Christmas Eve.

Never meant to get so behind but here we are so there is nothing to do but go forward.

Here is where we stand:

Today Gracie has training. Then we pick up Mom and proceed to finish our last in store Christmas shopping. Pray Lord be with us and make this happen. Time is up on this as we have tons of stuff that much be wrapped this weekend and sent out in the mail Monday as my child and 4 grands live out of state and we won’t be together on the holiday.

Mom has felt unusually stressed about doing this this year. I think it’s because I’ve kind of done it for us and for her in the past and this year she is on the front line. Welcome to my world!

The two biggest and heaviest things I ordered and sent directly. Hope they do the gift wrap right at Amazon. I figure if the message is Merry Christmas they will know. Amazon does not give you a slot to specify what kind of gift wrap. Can I just take a moment here to pinch myself as I still can’t believe we paid $60.00 for a Minion suitcase for a 4 year old but YES we did! She asked for it for her birthday several months back and didn’t get it. When she asked for it again for Christmas I decided she must really want it and have imminent travel plans so who am I to stand in her way. Plus she is really adorable.

So hubby is going hunting this weekend so I’m going to pick up Mom again and bring her out for the day probably Saturday to wrap and box all these presents so I can send them out Monday.

On to the big grocery list. Our daughter and son in law are coming for Christmas and will be staying with us most of the time. Usually it is just me, hubby and Mom. To that end I thought I would do some baking. We are going to have turkey Christmas eve and ham Christmas day or vice versa. Hubster and daughter are huge fans of stuffing so he does that cooking. Mom and I prefer dressing so I make dressing for us. I’ll be making the traditional pecan pie and pumpkin pie. Also going to make a banana pudding as everyone loves  it, daughter especially. She is 4 months preggers so I want to be sure she has comfort stuff while she is away from home.

Home is decorated inside and out and looks wonderful! I still have burlap wreaths to make. So easy and so beautiful. You can leave them simple or embellish to your hearts content. Here is the URL http://www.allcreated.com/diy-burlap-wreath-wire-hanger-easy-video/

What you need for the wreath:

Wire coat hanger and wire cutters to cut it

Roll of burlap from the craft store (Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann Craft & Fabric, Michael’s etc)

Embellishments of your choice.

Speaking of great smells  your home through the holidays…  We actually weren’t speaking of that but now we are. Some ideas:

Bake some apples in the oven covered in cinnamon

Simmer some apples on the stove in water.

Collect fir trimmings and decorate in the home

Febreeze new holiday scents are great for candles and sale de bain spray.

Freshly baked cookies never hurt either.

O my I’m tired just from typing it all. Have a lovely Thursday!

Oh my goodness. So much on the table being served and so many new dishes: Trump, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina.. what’s a girl to do.

There are those known dishes like Hillary and Jeb. Is it me of does Jb Bush seem to get quieter and quieter as time passes? He’s like the incredible shrinking violet!

There was a time when I had respect for Hillary but in the face of several of her decisions and how she handled them that time has passed for me. 2012 Benghazi left me raw and all the rest has paled in comparison. So she is not a choice for me for anything.

Ben Carson was a breath of fresh air until he recently stuck his foot in his mouth more than a few times and now I just feel befuddled. He’s on my back burner and who knows from there.

Carly Forina sort of leaves me unmoved one way or the other so I’ll just let that simmer and watch along the way.

Trump is surprising me in so many ways and I’m not at all offended by it.  do wish he would rethink his attitudes about women. He clearly loves women: he loves enough of them, married enough of them and has a daughter. So get your woman act together Donald cause you’re looking too good in too many other areas to let this one fail you.

I do think it was a low blow to Trump today for Jeb to send in his girl to question Trump about women. That was cheesy. Didn’t know Jeb could go so low.

What do you think?

Ugh…. twice this week I woke up with a pounding sinus headache. The kind that warrants taking 3 Advil and a Sudafed and laying back down if you can spare the time to do so. We have terrible allergies around here,  It’s effecting the Mr. by draining all his energy.  He feels exhausted and then sleeps so hard he wakes up even  more exhausted. Sadly that might mean Mr. Grumpy Pants is in town.

Gracie has been struggling badly. She gets half a Zyrtec if she is in bad shape. Sometimes for all of us our stomachs hurt too. Gracie is in  that place right now. She has been yacking the past hour. Not eating and so forth. None of us feel like eating.

The weather has changed so much that allergies aren’t really seasonal any more. Geography can’t really lay claim to them either.

The best I’ve found is drink alot, sleep alot, don’t worry about it if you don’t feel like eating.

I’ve also found that a dab of eucalyptus to the temples often rids you of a sinus headache.

Assignment: Keep a journal (already doing)

Make a list of 25 thing you are most proud of accomplishing over the last 12 months. Complete list and share with partner.

Pick put 5 most important of these accomplishments.

List 3 ways I’ve grown over last year

Hello. I’m Julie and this is Gracie. We are two peas in a pod. Where you find one of us you will find the other.

We  have alot of interests that we would love to share with you. Hopefully something will touch you, help you or just make you laugh. Please visit us often!