How Time Flies

I know you all know how time flies. Can you believe it's December already? This is the time of year that I start checking all my lists and stressing about how to get everything done. Why is that? The season would be so much more enjoyable if we could all just relax. But enough self delusion. This year is shaping up to be just as hectic as usual, and to be honest, I'd probably be bored if it was too quiet!

So we spent the Friday after Thanksgiving braving the stores and trying to get our Christmas presents done in one big rush. I know, we're crazy. But you know, it brings back the days when we were first married. My dh is in the army, and our first assignment was Germany. If any of you have lived in Germany, you know that while it's lovely, and there's an abundance of great local gifts for family in the states, they just don't have shopping malls! And after the first full year, we'd pretty much exhausted the beer steins, woodburned plaques, smokers and ornaments. We were very blessed, and were able to come home our 2nd and 3rd Christmases to visit the family. So we would fly home a week before Christmas and spend one frantic day roaming the malls and electronics stores, participating in the last minute craziness, but somehow managing to purchase gifts for every one of our family members in that single day.

That's what Black Friday is like for us now. The kiddos stay with Grandma and the dh and I hit the stores dark and early. As usual, we got most of our shopping done that one day. We also got a leisurely lunch and dinner while out, and not once during the entire day did we have to shout at a child to stop racing around the store, or hit the bathroom 5 times in a single hour. Yes it was crowded, but for us, it was a date!

So I think we're done shopping for the kids, and then, lo and behold, Sydney decides she must have that stupid dang bird. You know which one. That parrot. That sings. And talks. And dances. And laughs a creepy little laugh. And talks. I've been trying to convince her for days that it is totally not a cool gift. It's lame, I say. It'll just break. It'll keep you awake all night talking and singing. And dancing. And talking. Now I have to say, Sydney is usually my most malleable child. If I talk about something long enough, she always caves (I know, I'm a bad mom). But this time, she held out. She listened to everything I had to say and then calmly said it's okay if I don't like it, but she does. It's the only thing she really wants. This is over a period of a week, and still she hasn't budged. I'm kinda proud. But it means I have to get that stupid dang bird. So I hit the store today, quickly snagging a few other craft items (some really neat eyelash trim from the fabric department that looks FABULOUS on cards and boxes, pics later). And I got the bird. And you know what? It doesn't SHUT UP! I have no idea how I'm going to get a screwdriver into the 2 inch space at the back of the box, around that heavy duty twist tie to prevent anyone from stealing the stupid dang bird (as if), and get the stinkin' batteries out. Because otherwise, it talks ALL THE TIME. While I was standing in the checkout line, it kept laughing at me. I can't imagine wrapping it - we'll all have nightmares listing to it sing and laugh and watching the box shake. Right now it's locked in the trunk of dh's car. But we got the bird, all will be well on Christmas.

Pics of the box tomorrow, and new info on Virtual Stamp and Scrap Clubs!