Entertainment Center Information

Carol asked for information on the Entertainment Center piece that we are trying to get rid of now that we have replaced it. It is in the 'Before and After' post with the small TV in it, and here empty in our garage:

He made tambour doors just for fun (think rolling desk top, but two and sideways), which close and hide the TV (I hadn't shown this feature) and the side drawer holds VCR tapes, but I am sure DVD's can fit also. There are also two small drawers inside the glass cupboard - one is partially open in the photo above.

The measurements: entire piece: width=56",height=52",depth=22 3/4"
Interior for TV: width=31", height=24"

The After After After

I thought that it would be days before I posted my entire set of Before and After photos, but Gary got to watching TV and was all twitchy and breaking out in hives that there was a mess in the same room and himself, so he said to get a photo of the 'Before' and we would quickly reproduce it. It was good I had a photo since I could not imagine how we fit all my toy crap in the shelves.

He is now up there surrounded by Lego finishing the Lego building Santa brought us last year for Christmas. The cool part about this is when he decides to go to bed and he is not done (and he won't be) he can walk away from it and it won't be in our living room or our bedroom! I won't bore you with the before photos, but by the time we (ok,he) finishes this years building, we will have a lovely Lego block to put somewhere.

After After

Well, the "After After After" post will be when all that crap on the couch there is back on the shelves. But having put in the TV and having fingers that could have been damaged due to the snug fit - I realized Gary wasn't kidding when he said that the TV would 'just fit'. He said he measured it four times to see if it really would. That is pretty good planning to build something 20 odd years ago and have today's TV be the exact width of your shelves you built (give maybe an inch).

Before and After

Gary completed his wood project. It was basically modernizing an old entertainment center. It is a six piece unit, with all the 'guts' (TV, VCR, etc) being held in the unit he re-made. The old one held a regular TV, had a glass door to the side, set of doors underneath, and weighed about 180 pounds. Forgot the last part until we went to move it from upstairs to the garage. After Ryan and Gary moved it Ryan asked us how we had managed to move it before now. Our answer was that movers had moved it every time except right when Gary built it and then my dad helped him move it upstairs (I don't know if Ryan had even been born).

The after section takes all the width and fits our high definition TV exactly, with drawers and shelves below it. Makes the middle shelf unit stick up one foot - I like the new, staggered effect.

Virtual Garage sale: if anyone would like the old (heavy) section of entertainment center - makes a great stand alone unit, the TV or any of our old VCR tapes (we have a bunch of Living Scriptures, Disney, etc) let me know - everythings free to a good home. We are going to pack it all up and donate it in a couple of days.

Spooning

It is nice that they both stay on their side of the bed.

So Worth It

Had to set my alarm clock for 7:00am for the cleaning lady. Last night it really did not seem like a very good plan, but now? I have all the Christmas detrius thrown away, Christmas loot put away and she is currently cleaning up all the leaves that fell off the trees when Gary shook the crap out of them and I was too lazy to do anything other than shovel them all in between the pots. See that's the neat thing about Alma - she moves all those pots and sweeps! What a concept!

I really love the smell of Lysol in my house. It invigorates me and makes me feel as if I have done something noble. Apparently my brain has not disconnected the scent from 'scrubbing down the bathrooms' to 'writing out a check' ... but it's working for me, so why ruin it?

From Scratch

Fourteen hours (ok, some breaks): finding graphics I like, learning Photoshop layers, uploading to Photobucket and changing the template html of 'Lori's Blog' and I have made a design / background for my Blog. OK, it looks like crap, and it doesn't do that scrolly thing (blog scrolls, but the rest stays still) .... addendum: fixed it .... but I did it from the ground up and I have wanted to figure it out. You can tell I am not a 'scrapbooker' since I have no eye for design, but I wanted to know how all those web sites that let you put cute backgrounds on your blog did it. Whew! I will keep working on it - maybe then when you bring up my blog you won't automatically say 'Ewww'.

Conflicted

Jessie is on her way back to Richmond State School even as I type. For all my worries, she was an angel. It was interesting to watch her internal struggle with the problem: "Mom, I don't want to go back." -vs- "Mom, I want to see my friends." She left excited, so "I want to see my friends." won out (I think by a very slim margin though).

I, on the other hand am still conflicted. It was hard to let her go back. Dressed in clothes I don't recognize, taking items I hope won't be missplaced, and wearing the shoes they always have on her (or she always picks): a pair of slip on's that don't really stay on instead of her sensible tennis shoes. I guess it was too easy for just a few days, and tucking her into bed at night my heart hurt - I am not sure why - maybe knowing that she doesn't get moms love at RSS, just care and companionship. Is it enough? Am I doing the right thing? Am I a horrible mother?

Sigh ... I know it is the right thing - it is just hard. She is learning. I could not find her pajamas that Santa had brought her while I was packing for her to go back. Jessie said she knew where they were and I heard her go into her bedroom, open a drawer and get them. She put them away! She NEVER used to put anything away. Even the princess pillows my mom gave her were sitting neatly beside her bed. A good skill for where she lives - items probably won't get lost so much if she can put things where they belong.

I will see her Sunday, but right now that seems like a long time from now. I want to make sure that the staff take care of her ... treat her as a V.I.P. - because she is. Is it going to be this hard every time she comes to stay? Probably, I just need to know that it will happen and be prepared for it.

Being prepared for it means that I will know that I will have all these feelings ... too bad it doesn't mean taking them away. Being numb sound real good about right now.

And here I thought that I was on Santa's "Naughty" list ....

My new, photo editing friendly laptop.

Who delegated me "present wrapper"?

I haven't wrapped a single one ...

Are you sure?

Hmmmmm. I answered honestly!

Your Christmas is Most Like: Miracle on 34th Street

Sweet and caring, Christmas is about helping for you. While Santa may not exist, you try to share his spirit.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

You Can Say "Merry Christmas" in 14 Languages

You can say "Merry Christmas" in: English Spanish Japanese French Arabic German Italian Swedish Greek Gaelic Hawaiian Dutch Korean Esperanto

How Many Languages Can You Say "Merry Christmas" In?

Meet: Bob

His pedigreed name is "Sir Blue Bobble Birdie Bob", but I just call him Bob.

Yep, that's all he does. He makes me enormously happy!

(Sorry, the camera was close to a speaker and I can't figure out how to control the volume, or edit a film clip for that matter ... I will work on it)

Since EVERYBODY's doing it ... hubby tag:

I have resisted for as long as I could (see question #12 for the reason):

1. He's sitting in front of the TV. What's on the screen?
Split between Discovery Channel (I might stay in the room) or the Western Channel (I flee them minute I hear the twang).

2. You are out to eat. What dressing does he get on his salad.
Balsamic vinegar and oil (not ALL boys eat Ranch)

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
He goes with Sam on this (but probably way more passionately hates them) Casserole's (all casserole's, any combination of food baked in a glass square container is out! This is why I do not cook in our house ...)

4) You go to a bar. What does he drink first?
Man, I wouldn't even know what his alcoholic beverage of choice would be - I will ask him today while we are out to lunch...

5) Where did he go to High School?
Logan High School, Logan, Utah

6) If he were to collect anything, what would it be?
220 volt professional woodworking shop equipment and all of their adjoining accoutrement's (he is well on his way to having everything ever made ... and then a few extras just in case)

7) What shoe size does he wear?
Size 12

8) What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Bacon, lettuce and tomato - when the tomatoes are fresh from the garden (other wise a club sandwich will do)

9) What would he eat every day if he could?
Bananas - and he does.

10) What would he never wear?
A thong speedo - just the first thing I thought of ...

11) What is his favorite sports team?
He does not follow sports (this and his ability to build all our furniture make him my kind of guy)

12) What is something you do that he wishes you didn't do so much?
HANDS DOWN: Write about him on my blog!

13) How many states has he lived in?
Four: Utah, California, Texas and the state of 'Sheer Joy' - when he is out in his shop building furniture...

14) What is his heritage?
English and Swedish

15) You bake him a cake for his birthday. What kind of cake would it be?
It wouldn't matter, if I actually cooked and he did not have to bake his own cake, he would keel over dead - thus why he is still alive today.

16) Did he play sports in High School?
Yes - Regional Champion in swimming.
Addendum: Gary reminded me that he also ran track and 'practiced' football (16 years old, 5'10" and 110lbs - he rethought the football thing --- got his height on his mission). I had forgotten.

17) What could he spend hours doing?
If you have not figured that out by now ... y'all have not been paying attention. And over at our house we call it "snorting sawdust"

There ... I feel better.

I think you had to be there ...

Red Birdie is very happy to bobble while I am driving the car (decided to take a photo while parked, though - since y'all can't see him move anyway).

While Blue Birdie gets flicked in the noggin every time my code crashes ... so happily bobbling ALL the time!

Thanks, Laura - you made my day!

(The "there" was the white elephant party last Friday where I was coveting the Oldroyd's bobble-egg santa)

Still Wasting Time ...

and avoiding Christmas...

Fall is in the Air ...

Inside my house. Here's the thing about having live trees in your home - they are very confused beasties. Apparently they just got the message that fall was in the air (I thought that maybe all that dark time would have given them a clue ...) and decided to turn their leaves a ghastly shade of 'I'm gonna die any minute now" yellow and drop from the trees. I noticed yesterday that maybe I was not keeping up on my 'raking' duties, but Gary decided to shake each of them senseless this morning:

Sigh, I guess I will go get the rake...

Seriously, This is ADDICTING!

I'm off the phone and still can't stop! (I have to do the laundry and I am stalling) Don't start! It will get you too!

Snowflake Fun

Read Laura's blog on her snowflake while waiting for technical support for my web site and decided to give it a try. Made my snowflake and I am still on hold! Thanks for helping me pass the time Laura!

The link to make your own: makeasnowflake

Dear Jessie,

It's been 4 months to the day when you went to live at Richmond State School. It sort of feels much longer, I think I am getting used to the idea that you are not living with us anymore. Yeah, I'm a little slow.

You seem so happy, you have friends, you have a routine, you have your space and it seems to suit you. I am so proud that you have adjusted so well. Because ... well, when you come home - you kind of look like a homeless person. You have showered yourself, you have dressed yourself and it sort of shows and it makes me want so badly to take care of you. I ache to make sure you are clean enough, your clothes look good, your hair is combed and it is so hard just to be happy because you are happy.

I know that is what is important - so your clothes don't match and your hair is a little messy - you have friends for the first time in your life! And they love you, and take care of you. They watch out for you, help you put your socks on, remind you where you set something down - or better yet - pick it up and put it back in your room. You could never get that at home - and friends make all the difference, don't they?

You are doing things that you could never / would never do at home! It is exciting to watch you grow and mature into someone that, quite frankly, I don't know. It makes me sad that you seem like a stranger. I don't know how your day goes, if you slept well, what meds you are taking, if you have been feeling well. But more than that - you seem more adult like. Such a good thing! But something I don't recognize and I feel like I am losing you.

I know I am not - you come home every week, I talk to your staff all the time, you call me a few times a week. I actually had an epiphany about this last week. I realized that I had never really thought about my life after you were gone. I just thought that it would be when my life started. Like I was waiting to live MY life, not the life of "Jessie's Mom". And as I think about things, I realize the tether I spoke about in an earlier letter is really still there. For some reason I thought it would be cut clean in two and then I drew a blank. I didn't think we would be going our separate ways, I just never thought about it. I realized the tether is just longer.

That day I realized that our lives were enmeshed so deeply that you could never separate us and that I would be here. Mom is not going anywhere - and for a moment I was sad. Realizing that it was this way until the day I died. When was I going to live MY life? That magical life I have been waiting for years to live? And then I realized - this is my life. And I can make it as great or as horrible as I want - I am free to choose. I choose to move on and learn and grow side by side with you - and that is enough for me ... until the day I die.

This week is going to be very interesting. You are coming home for 3 days! Ahhhh! When you come on Sunday, after a few hours you want to go back to your friends, so we take you. I am not sure what is going to happen during the 48 hours we have you. I really, really hope we are not counting down the hours until you can go back. But I also really, really hope you don't think that you are back home, like - for good. I can't take you back all over again. I just can't - so please understand this is just a visit. I wish so badly I could talk to you about this. It will be the first time you sleep in your bed since you moved to RSS and I am so worried. But what are we going to do - leave you at RSS on Christmas? I think not.

Let's hope for the best, shall we?

Love you, see you on Sunday,

Mom

What's Wrong With These Pictures?

Obviously my good friend My. Amazon has been by:

Why no presents under the tree?

Ok, so I have been aggressively ignoring Christmas and playing web designer, but it works for me. Most of the boxes were not presents for us or Christmas any way - but the tower is reminding me I have a few gifts for Jessie I need to wrap!

Santa's First Gift Came Early ...

And it's a big one! I discovered today that I am not a complete and total idiot. And I have believed that for a very long time, seriously - idiot - as in I have a math minor and cannot add: idiot. In another life (20 years ago) I was a computer scientist working on very technical things - when all of a sudden, I had a handicapped baby and life as I knew it was over. For 20 years. A lifetime. And I had decided that I could never do anything on computers now since they had come so far in 20 years (think no mouse, no Windows - barely no Bill Gates, nada just things I realized if I named them would not mean anything to you - and yes, I programmed on punch cards).

Playing around with the pseudo-programming language: HTML, the old computer programmer in me kicked in and started solving problems and creating. It was fun, it was exhilarating, it was strange, and unfamiliar and weird and it felt great! So now my website: http://www.lorihurst.net/ has a column (the hardest thing I have done so far), it has buttons! Push them! They go to other pages! IT IS SO COOL! I've seriously never have had this much fun in quite a while.

And best of all, there is a tiny whisper in my head saying "Your not stupid". What a gift!

It's Getting Serious

Well, I got so excited playing with HTML code (the old computer programmer in me started peeking around the corner ...) I bought a website: http://www.lorihurst.net/ Now - what to do with it?

Gary suggested that once he gets time to build furniture (he is off Friday for over two weeks - so some time coming up soon) maybe I could sell it on the website - great partnership! In his dreams - he has been trying to get out in the garage to snort sawdust for ... no kidding ... four months - every Saturday he has had something - mainly church related. And my website name is not very conducive to woodworking.

So - back to what to do, what to do? I guess for now I am just going to keep playing and learning HTML and then on to Java. Maybe I know what class I am taking once I get registered for college. Ah ... me in college - back to the good old days ... way, way back!

Anyone out there that can do this in their sleep and wouldn't mind a question or two from and idiot - let me know!

Underline! I Have Missed You!

Whooo Hooo! You know, sometimes you just need to underline something and it really bugged me that I couldn't do it. I am currently reading a book on HTML code and ran into the code that does it! Who knows how dangerous I can become!

The Quiet of Christmas

Three years ago I spent Christmas in a 100 year old Norwegian home blanketed by four feet of snow, surrounded by 2 1/2 acres of pine trees surrounding the house - with their branches weighted down and drooping under the weight of the snow. Snow is quiet. Snow is peaceful. Sitting inside my house, with the wood stove warming, the fireplaces blazing, and the tree lit - I felt the quiet of Christmas. I felt peace and joy and thankfulness.

In Norway, everything shuts down for a few days at Christmas and churches ring their bells. It feels right, peaceful, reverent and I think how Christ would have Christmas celebrated if He had His way.

But now I am home, and their is no snow, and the TV and radio are shouting, competing with sales flyers and ads and signs on stores that say they will be open Christmas Day. I have to say it is much harder to find the quiet of Christmas.

And I know I need it. I have to find it. To fully thank the Savior for coming to the earth and atoning for my sins, I need to stop, forget about the presents I have not bought yet, or the ones that need wrapped. Forget the house, and the cleaning and the mess. Forget the gloomy outside, turn off the TV - the radio - the internet, and sit down in my nativity room and just ... be quiet.

It will come, I think - that peace I felt - that led to thankfulness and a Christmas that was full of meaning, happiness, peace and joy. But I will have to work for it now, it is not going to come by just being - because things are so different now - things I cannot fix - things that are stressful and pull me in the opposite direction than the direction I should be heading.

I guess I should say I hope it will come. The time is quickly ticking by and soon, Christmas will be over. I feel the need to hurry and do something, but I don't know what that should be. It isn't a feeling of hurry and finish your gift purchases, hurry and finish delivering your gifts, hurry and get your house clean, hurry and finish those decorations you haven't put up.

I think it is: Hurry, and be still.

Done

The floor is completely clear of crap, everything is stored away in its appropriate box / drawer / container:




My life might be falling apart all around me, but my closet is clean. I am sure it will help me sleep at night.

Cats

Cats are weird ...

It's pictures like this that makes cute_overload.com one of my daily web site surf spots. I almost choked on my cheesecake!

Festive Mailbox

Just went to get the mail and it was playing Christmas carols! I guess it is one of those electronic cards, but it was very nice!

Because I Didn't Have Enough To Do

Since I don't know what to get anybody for Christmas, I seem stuck - so I embarked on a new project: Cleaning My Closet. It has been getting scary for some time and I got tired of wading through stuff, so I started digging out today.

Decided to take pictures to ensure I was embarrassed enough to complete the project and be able to take the 'after' photos.

Don't hold your breath. There is a 50/50 chance I will throw everything into laundry baskets and just shut the door - like usual.

Saving Mrs. Santa Clause

If Santa looks a little glum in this photo, it is because he is. Last year, Charlie killed the love of his life...

Mrs Santa Clause. She was running spastically through the house (Charlie, not Mrs. Clause) and knocked her over and smashed her face in. We blamed her for killing Christmas all week, and she looked very sorry and groveled for our forgiveness - we didn't explain to her that Christmas would go on since Santa does the delivering, but thought that we would blame her for a while anyway, since maybe Santa's heart would not be in it anymore.

So, I have decided to have guest Mrs. Clause's audition for the spot. Mr. Clause doesn't get a vote - I thought that I would leave it up to all of you in blog land.

The Contenders:

Mrs. Katie Clause

Her qualifications: She seems nice, could tell me the news I missed while not watching TV, would suggest sensible toys for all those girls and boys out there, seems to not be crazy, and willing to try new things.

***

Mrs. Hillary Clause

I know, she looks a little crazed (and that just might be true) but I am sure it is the excitement of dumping her current loving husband (too bad that 'loving' doesn't include her, but I digress ...) and getting a new one. She seems powerful, has Obama's ear and during these hard times, might be able to get Santa a raise or at least more elves (ship up some of the unemployed to the North Pole) so more presents for all.

***

Mrs Martha Clause

Now HERE is a Mrs. Santa if ever there was a need to replace the current one. She cooks, she gardens, she makes decorations, she probably even knows how to take care of reindeer, in fact - I am not sure if there is anything that she cannot do. Mind you, this is all hearsay - I have never seen her show, but her reputation is out there. I do subscribe to the 'Living' magazine - if not just to terrify myself that there are actual people who do the things discussed in the magazine. Looking at the December issue - looks like she could decorate the North Pole with one hand tied behind her back, and make it look scary nice. Very festive.

I am pretty sure that after I am asleep, she will clean up my house, organize my cabinets, do my laundry and fold those pesky fitted sheets to perfection, fix my decorations - or buy some new really cool ones (probably from her own line - but they better not be from Kmart), will bake cookies, pies, Christmas dinner, purchase all the gifts I still need to get (which would be ... well - all of them) and wrap them beautifully. She would turn my house into one of the pages in her magazine and I would be all full of Christmas cheer.

I am not sure what she would do the other nights, since I am convinced that she could pull all this off in one evening - I think she has magical powers just like Santa in that 'time warp' way when they are doing their thing ... maybe she could pass that along to me.

So ... who's it going to be - the news woman? The lady who really needs a new husband? Or the magical lady who will bring elves to my house and probably make it snow on Christmas eve?

Not that I am biased or anything ... just asking.

ADDENDUM:

Based on the votes so far I need to include a couple more (but this is it - the polls (actually my camera and my scissors) are closed for the day):

***

Barbara Clause

She looks the part, Laura said she would probably even clean my house, so there is a plus. And she is sweet and in Santa's age range.

It was also suggested that Santa should have a say in this, so I let him pick and he (Gary) picked:

***

Sarah Clause

Her qualifications: she is used to the cold, she can see the North Pole from her house, and she can threaten the reindeer with a shotgun if they get out of line. And Santa thinks she's hot - so ... basically she made the list.

Neither, I believe have magical elves - which I am thinking would still come in mighty handy, but ... there you go.

I'm seriously sticking this Mrs. Clause out in my living room with a piece of paper taped over her face, so think long and hard about this ... it just might be a smiley face!

Poinsettia

I am going to declare temporary insanity for my last blog. Thought maybe I should post something normal, pretty, with no disgusting complaints or whining. I definitely should not post when I am in a morose mood.

Linda gave me a poinsettia the other day and I was noticing today how beautiful it is. I think I will go and buy a bunch more and surround the tree.

Definition of a Loser ... Or Lori's Pity Party

I had lunch with Linda and Bonne last Tuesday since Bonne was leaving for a cruise on Friday and will be gone for 27 days. I was quite ill and shouldn’t have gone – but Bonne was leaving and I wanted to say goodbye and to have fun.

As we were wrapping up lunch and I was trying very, very hard to keep down the few spoonfuls of soup that I had, the subject of me being ill came up. Bonne said that she wanted to shake her fists at the heavens and ask why. She said she rarely does this but is frustrated with it. Linda also voiced her sadness / frustration that I was ill and always in pain and generally battling some sort of illness. Stress does a number on my immune system and my ability to control the pain. On a scale of 1 – 10 on the ‘stress-o-meter’ things have been an 11 lately. So things have been particularly bad, and I don’t see an end to this for a very long time.

I was overwhelmed by their concern for me. Their love for me is overwhelming and I feel so lucky to have such friends. I also felt guilty. I feel guilty that even with all the prayers and blessings and other things that I am still sick. I feel that if I were just a better person – that I would not be ill. I wish I didn’t feel this way. I think some of it is comments in church lessons, discussions on faith that if a person has enough faith in prayer, a blessing, etc that they would be healed. I have heard story after story about this – wonderful stories, heartwarming, inspiring stories of people healed by faith. So, since I am still ill – logic tells me, and my heart tells me that I don’t have enough faith … so the guilt moves in and stays in the back of my mind, constantly whispering that I am just not a good enough person to be healed. I try to ignore it – sometimes it is a whisper, sometimes it is a scream.

I spent years working on relaxation techniques to ease the pain. I tried all sorts of other things and nothing worked. I have come to a truce with the heavens about it. I am not good enough ergo I am ill. Also, everyone has troubles, and who am I to decide that I am so special that I should not have them. It just makes me terribly sad – I know I need rest so I stay in bed, or sit at the computer and watch life around me go on – without me in it. Lives of those around me marching on while I just lay in bed. It feels very wrong that I am missing so much.

My life is so blessed in other ways that it balances out – the good by far outweighs the bad. But sometimes I don’t see that, I only feel the pain and frustration that I cannot do something that day because I am sick, and time just marches on.

And while I am sharing, I thought that I might as well go all the way. Here’s the biggest thing that troubles me:

I can’t really explain my feelings about this, but it is akin to feeling as if I have lost the battle, that I have given up, gave in and now I have a crutch. Why can’t I be stronger and not have to take a pill to help? It takes the edge off, but the pain is still there, so I probably should not take it … but since it helps a little, I take it. And every morning and every evening as I swallow that little pill, I feel like a loser, a weak person – someone who, if I was stronger, better, more faithful – would not have to resort to a crutch.

So, not only do I feel that I have failed when it comes to faith and being a good person, I get to add needing a ‘fix’ to get by.

This, my friends is the definition of a loser …

Suprisingly Slothful

I am not sure what even happened today, but somehow (and I am very embarrassed to admit this) I woke up at 11:45. I am stunned. Generally I cannot stay in bed that long because of the pain in my hips and back so I get up and walk around periodically at night then go back to bed. But by 7:00 or 8:00 it is all over with and I am up for the day.

I was 'Dextering' last night, but only until 12:15 - so not really that late for me. I guess with Gary not in bed (camping out in the cold with the scouts) there was nothing to disturb me.

The up side is sleep will do my immune system some good - I am always running on low, so the 'sleep tank' should be a little more full. On the down side, my joints have decided to protest their inactivity by seizing up - I walk like an 85 year old woman!

Even Ryan was up before me, I don't think that have ever happened since he hit his teens. Ok, only on non-school days - can't say I am up and being all 'motherly' to Ryan at 5:15 am - Gary gets him up ...

Dexter

So ... Gary is off camping with the scouts - again. It seems he goes every other week when in reality it is just once a month. After delivering something he forgot to the church (A 4 MINUTE ROUND TRIP RATHER THAN 45 minutes .... YEAH!!!) he is off and I have an evening ahead of me.

I decided that I am done decorating - unless I get some burst of holiday cheer and wrap my curving staircase banister with lit evergreen like I have done the past two years - I just can't work up enough excitement. So - a night all to myself.

And what am I going to do? Catch up on one of my favorite shows: Dexter. It is on Showtime so I don't know if many of you know about it, but it is great - or I am sick and twisted ... one or the other. He is a forensic scientist who works with the Miami police department and is their blood spatter expert. He is also a serial killer. Yeah - he is a sociopath and kills people - AND YOU LOVE HIM. See - he only kills bad people - so that is supposed to make it all right.

There is nothing better than soft couch, a Route 44 size cherry & lime diet coke and watching Dexter kill people.

Getting There

I know you all so care ... but I told myself I needed to take breaks today while decorating so I have been über-blogging. I could actually be done if I decide to not do a few things I was planning on doing. Just have not decided. I promise this will be my last slide show of my stuff - as if you all want to see it. Just keeping me busy without really being busy!

You might be wondering why most the stuff is labeled 'Norwegian ...'. I was sick (no big surprise there is it?) when we were moving to Norway and Gary had to make a lot of decisions about what went into storage and what we took with us. He assumed we would be coming home for Christmas so sent it all to storage. After going to his Mom's for the first Christmas we were over there, I really wanted to experience a Norwegian Christmas - so we had to 'buy' Christmas. Since as I mentioned everything over there was really good quality I have been mainly using my stuff I got there: Real glass Icicle ornaments, glass snowflake ornaments, brass ornaments, crystal ornaments, all our 'Characters'. I am really glad we did it, and it was a beautiful, white Christmas (although I hear y'all got a white Christmas here that year as well).

Soldiers

About 6 or 7 years ago we made soldier ornaments for Family Home Evening. I had done the same thing as a child and I decided I wanted some - so FHE. I was wondering - is this something required for all families? Or was it just mine?

Last year I opened up the box they had been stored in (while in Norway) and told them to 'stand down' - I wouldn't be needing them that year. Apparently they did not take my advice - it looks like they partied in there. I had them all lined up neatly - and now - chaos.

I am not using them again this year, but forgot how cute they were and wondered if I had enough energy to lug the four foot tree down from the attic for all the old ornaments. A kiddie tree. Don't know yet - have to get farther along before I start making work up for myself.

I started untangling them and they look sort of smug ... (ok, except the two that looked totally freaked out).

Angels

As I mentioned before, I get an angel every year in honor of my daughter Rachael. I didn't mention, though, that it does not stop me from purchasing other angels to hang on my tree.

I started to decorate my tree today and decided to make a slide show of my angels - some of Rachael's are here and some others - I didn't put them all because there would be too many.

Lori's Christmas Angels:



Oh, and I should mention that there are a few Russian Ladies thrown in for color and just because I like them.

Nativity Room

Having a chronic illness can be quite frustrating. I started out decorating on Monday and was very enthuiastic about it. By evening I knew I had done too much (which was not that much at all). I was sick in bed all day yesterday - except for an ill fated trip to lunch with two friends. You know I am pretty ill when I am too sick to blog!

I finished my Nativity Room so I decided to take a break and snap some photos:



My Christmas Characters are all lined up autitioning for spots in the house:
Except for 'Swedish Santa' (we bought him in Sweden). I already know where he lives:

More on my Christmas Characters to come later...

Deck the Halls

Now, don't we look festive? This was totally Gary's doing - I think I untangled one cord. I was thinking that if this was all we did ... fine by me. I mean, who's going to know? We look all jolly and whatnot:

But then I remembered this out in the garage:

I think half the battle is getting the boxes from the attic down - so technically - I'm 50% through with my Christmas decorating ... right?

13th Angel

I just read Laura's blog about her Christmas tree. She asked "What's hanging on your Christmas Tree?". Well, my answer is nothing since I have not decorated yet, but I do have some wonderful ornaments picked up all over during my travels that mean so much to me. But nothing compares to my angels.

When I was pregnant with Rachael, during December, I already knew she was going to die immediately after birth. I was wandering around a mall, I can't remember why, but I looked up and in a Hallmark store was a golden cherub angel - and I knew I needed to have it, for her. Every year since then, I have bought an angel for my Rachael. I have amassed quite a few (she would have been twelve next Valentines Day).

For the last 3 years, I have bought the Swarovski angel. The first year it just seemed right - it was 'the angel' for the year. When it is on the tree and the lights hits it, it makes the most beautiful rainbow and just glows. So I have purchased the 2007 and now the 2008 version also.

2008



2007

The thing is - I feel like I am cheating now. Every year I would start looking for 'my angel' early and eventually I would find the one that was 'it'. Now I don't know - I am just buying the angel because she looks beautiful on my tree.

I might have to start looking again and just buy the Swarovski as a plain old ornament.

If I actually decorate for the holidays - I am sure more photos are to come ...