It's Christmas Month!!!
Usually I've got the bins of decorations out, the holiday cds playing, and I am getting all holly-jolly with myself today. But instead, the house is quiet, the bins are still out in the garage, and I am sitting at my desk, trying to sip water and tea because I am still sick. The is month crept up on me!
Mads stayed the night at my parent's house last night. I miss him like crazy, but with how sick I felt last night, it was probably better that he was not home. My chest was tight and for the last two days I had been having a hard time breathing. Today, I woke up with out my voice and a bright red throat. :-( I'm trying to take it easy before he gets home, but I will probably still go out to the garage and get the bins.
"What's that? I can't 'ear you!"Another thing keeping me from my usual holiday glory is that I have been super busy and this sickness is exhausting me. Even without the as-yet-unknown illness I've been fighting this last month, I have a lot on my plate. I am starting a crafty business with a friend. It's hard to think of it as a business, but what else do you call making sock monkeys, sock monkey kits, clothes for monkeys, and beaded jewelery for people? I have a few things I plan to make separately and sell in an etsy shop, but that is still in the developing stages. (Developing stages = I bought all the materials for them, and just have to get my ass in gear after I finish the three sock monkeys I have in varying degrees of done.)
Speaking of Mads sleeping somewhere else - he has been sleeping in his own bed for over a week now. It started off as him and I sleeping in there one night when Kei was sick, and now we have a routine of me and him laying down together in his bed while Kei or I read stories. Then, Mads drifts off to sleep, and I get up. The first few nights, he'd come find me at 3am and ask me to go snuggle with him more. But now he sleeps all night in his room, solo. It's weird for me to get used to and I'm wondering how I will do when it starts storming (I like having my mancub right next to me so I can be sure he's fine and safe). But he is proud of himself and likes having his own sleeping space. One night when I was out with a friend, Kei said Mads went to bed by himself - just said he was sleepy, and off he went. Kei barely was able to tuck him in before he was asleep. I've told Mads that if he ever wants to sleep with us, it is still ok, but that we are proud of him too. He shows no interest in being in our bed for sleeping anymore though, other than a few lazy mornings when Kei didn't get up so he was snuggled with for a bit. My little mancub is getting so big!
Thanksgiving
Mads has a room full of toys but still prefers empty bins.
Mads and my Dad - Thanksgiving EveningIt was so nice to have time off with Kei and Mads! Thanksgiving Day we spent at home. We worked on Mad's room a bit, since it had been completely gutted. Kei and Mads hung a shelf over Mad's kitchen. He now has a place to put his dishes, cups, and "spices", other than trying to cram it all into his kitchen cabinets. I still need to make a mesh net to put his Care Bears in - the type that hangs on the wall or in a corner. I hope to find a pattern online, but if not I'm sure I could wing it. We went to my parents house in the evening. Lots and lots of great food. My mum made these delicious feta-filled pastries with sweet chili sauce. I over ate and didn't feel so great (waaaaaay too many carbs!!!) but was able to blob on the couch after dinner with family and watch a movie. Everyone wanted to watch Joe's Apartment, so Mads, Kei, and my mum went in the other room to watch Wow, Wow, Wubzy. I like the characters but can hardly stand the show so Kei didn't mind me watching Joe's Apartment with my uncles. (It was a little gross in some parts, and a bit violent in some parts, but overall hilarious, btw!!!)
The day after Thanksgiving, I was up at 4:45am, so that I could be at Joann's at 5:15am. They opened at 6am, but I didn't get done until around 12noon. I spent an insane amount, but saved at least 4 times as much because of all the discounts. After that, I went home, ate a huge lunch while Kei and Mads got ready, then we all headed to the Zoo. It was free! We rarely get the family time, let alone have the money for stuff like that, so we all were excited. Even though it was packed, we found a really good parking spot. We spent almost three hours looking at the animals, had a bite to eat, then looking at the animals some more. I took over a roll of film worth of photos, and once they get developed I will post them. Mads really liked the Orangutans and the Lemurs. I'm so conflicted about Zoos, esp. the Sacramento one since some of the enclosures are seriously lacking. The grumble-gus part of me was pretty much quieted by the excitement on Mad's face and the joy beaming from him. After the Zoo, Kei and Mads went to Kei's mom's to pick up some stuff she had for us while I went to a friend's to work on the monkeys and do a little shopping. I didn't plan on doing as much shopping as she wanted to, and was out later than I had planned. We went to Walmart (blah), In-and-Out (yum!), and Michael's. While in Michael's, I found a really awesome gift for Mads! It's an Eric Carle "My Numbers" Art Set! It was in the clearance section without a price tag(the velcro to hold it shut had come unglued on one side) , so I had no idea what it was going to cost. Normally, those sets cost $18.99. You can probably imagine my surprise when the cashier told me it was marked down to $2.00!!! $2.00!!! For a perfectly great kit!!!
We didn't plan to buy anything for Mads for Christmas since we already have things stored away for him, but I could not pass that up! I just wish there had been more - what an awesome gift idea!
Saturday, I had to work. That went fine. It was busy, but still dragged on. Afterwards, we had planned to drive out to the Jelly Belly Factory for their tree lighting ceremony.....but traffic was lame and none of us were really interested in being stuck in the car for a long time. Instead, we ran to Joann's again, which took so much longer than it should have, and then went to John's Incredible Pizza. I felt like a heel for taking so long in Joann's. Part of it was me, of course - I needed to pick up some buttons (50% off!) and discovered that they carry felt on the bolt. (-_-*). But the people they had cutting were soooooo slow. Luckily, the two people I had do my cuttings were very good and friendly, which made the waits worth it. (Yes, "waits" - I got a few things cut, then found the felt and had to go wait again).
Kei suggested John's Pizza, and it was such a great idea! The drive wasn't bad, just the usual traffic. It wasn't crowded and we never have gotten to go up there just the three of us, so it was another nice family outing for us. Now, I am a huge skee ball fan. I could play skee ball for hours. Mads never really seemed interested before, but they have an alien version that he discovered and he is now a skee ball convert. It was so cute - he'd get the ball in one of the holes and would start jumping up and down saying " Mommy, Daddy, I did it!!! I did it!!!" He was so proud of himself! I tried to get a video of it on my phone, but every time I took my phone out he'd stop. Little puck. (^_^) We spent our credits and had a fist full of tickets in no time. Instead of wiping out our tickets on one big item, Mads always gets a small toy and saves the rest of the tickets on our John's card. He picked a paddle ball like the one he saw on Curious George the other day. It's the kind that is a wooden paddle with a ball attached with a bit of stretchy string. Kei and I both have had bopped eyes as kids from those things, but Mads seems to already have some better skills than we did, lol!
Today
I'm a bit bummed to not be feeling good on my day off. I really wanted to go out with Mads and see if the Michael's near us had any of those Eric Carle sets, then go for a walk to the park to feed the ducks. I'm supposed to be taking it easy though, so I supposed a walk to the park in the fog isn't the best idea anyways. Here's my list of what I hope to accomplish today, in no particular order:
- Finish the two monkeys larger monkeys. Possibly start the small monkey for Kei.
- Get the holiday stuff from the garage
- Make a holiday playlist on iTunes / Limewire and put the holiday cds in the player.
- Bills, bills, bills. I've slacked since I've gotten sick and our finances are a bit wonky right now. I'm really hoping everything has been paid and have a sinking feeling that something has been forgotten...
- Put together an advent calendar for Mads - I meant to start this last month!
- Get some of the craft stuff out to the garage/studio.
- List stuff on craigslist - I have 9 bins/boxes of things to get rid of, it's all taking up valuable space in my garage/studio and needs to be gone!
- Rest, drink tea
- Do a load of washing, put away towels and Mad's clothes. Fold pants and skirts, maybe go through and match up socks.
- Spend time playing with Mads and reconnecting with him. I really miss him!
- Do a 30 min walk on the Gazelle - I've been slacking on that too. Probably will do a low paced walk, but need to do something, yk?
- Make a bento for Kei for tomorrow - again, slacking.
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