So happy

Because:

• It's Ludichristmas! I get to see Lucy open a million little princessy presents.  For some reason, my sisters and I had the most fun buying each other dollar store presents.  We could be random and fun because we already have real presents for each other.  I think Kyle will get the most presents tonight.  I'm glad--he deserves it because the rest of us had fun together all week while he had to be at work.  Kyle misses out on a lot of fun but never resents it--he's such a good worker.

This will be even better once I find an extension cord and plug in the tree lights.

• I got to spend a whole week with both sisters.  That hasn't happened in a while--we're rarely all together these days :(  Katy had finals this week, so that cut in to our time together, but I treasured the moments we were all together.  Sappy but true.

• Last night we finished season two of Supernatural.  It was more fun than usual because Christy finally got to watch it!  We introduced Katy to it a disc ago, and she was instantly hooked.  One of my favorite parts is discussing who is better, Jared Padalecki or Jensen Ackles.  You'd be surprised who likes who (mostly, you'd be surprised that Kyle has a favorite).  I am immaturely obsessed with this show and we have had so much fun watching it--can't wait to pick up with season 3 after we get back from Amarillo.  We better have those Netflix discs waiting in our mailbox when we get back!

• Ashley got me an amazingly thoughtful Christmas present.  She doesn't read blogs (we just can't get her into it) but she is just such a good friend I had to mention it because it made me so happy. It belongs on the list.

• Itunes free holiday sampler.  Listening to it right now. So festive.

• This season of SYTYCD is over, which means a new one starts soon, and hopefully there will be dancers I can actually love.  I liked lots of people this time around, but I never loved anyone the way I loved Jason.  It's not as fun when you don't care all that much.  All I cared about was Russell not winning--I would have been fine with anyone else in the Top 6.  And he won.  Oh well.  I hope next season is more exciting.

• I spent all day with Lucy yesterday!  I babysat all morning and enjoyed every second of it.  Then she didn't take a nap because she's an adorable ratstink so I got to play with her for even longer!  I secretly love it when she doesn't fall asleep in her nap--she just sits in her crib and reads her Cinderella book to herself.  Out loud--she has it memorized.  Add she YELLS her favorite parts.  It's hysterical!  After an hour of that (usually she goes for longer) she wanted to be taken out of her crib so we laid down in my bed and read books to ourselves.  We all ate Little Caesars for dinner and watched Supernatural all night once Lucy went to bed.  It was basically heaven.

• Tomorrow Kyle and I are driving to Amarillo!  We are going to have a great drive.  I'm packing sandwiches so we don't get stranded in the snow and starve to death.  Also, so we don't have to stop as often--we want to get there as quickly as possible.  I'm going to read Catching Fire to him on the way there.  I wonder how long it'll take/how long my voice can keep it  up?  I read most of Hunger Games to him while driving, so I know from experience that it makes the trip go really fast.  They are just such freakishly good books!  So I plan on having fun on the drive there.  

• Then, we'll be in Amarillo for a whole week.  It's going to be really fun. I want to know my sisters-in-law better!  I haven't seen them since the wedding.  I'm so dang shy and awkward that I'm still a little nervous, but I know that they are awesome and once I can be a normal human, we'll be great friends.  This week is a great opportunity for me to be more comfortable.  AND a great opportunity for me to get my hands on my new niece Naomi.  I can't wait to hold her and kiss her--she is SO CUTE.  I'm really excited about that.  We're also going to hang out with Kyle's friend Braxton and his wife Mary Beth.  We went to their wedding in Amarillo last year, and they came to our wedding in California.  I know we'll have fun together.  The other exciting thing that Amarillo has is Rosa's Tortilla Factory Cafe.  I am obsessed with tortillas (often that's all I order when I go to Mexican restaurants--nothing beats tortillas and beans), and Rosa's has hands-down the best tortillas I've ever eaten.  They are incredible.  I can't wait to go there several times next week.

• OH and it feels like Christmas is just around the corner! 

Whew!  Christy and Lucy and Danny are visiting this week, so I'm busy having fun. Amanda and Jack were also in town last weekend, so we went to Rice King, looked at puppies/seahorses, and admired my new couch.

I have wrapped a MILLION presents.  First I did all the take-to-Amarillo presents (for Vaughns, Fanellis, and Braxton) (I already wrapped/sent to CA the presents for my family), and the last couple of days I've wrapped the Ludichristmas presents. This is only our second annual Ludichristmas but it promises to be AWESOME.  This year, it includes Katy and Christy/Danny/Lucy, so it is bigger and better.  We've all bought a ton of dollar store gifts for each other, plus Kyle and I are going to open the presents from my parents that they brought us at Thanksgiving.  We have a ridiculous amount of presents "under" our teeny tree.  I'm not sure what the other plans for Ludichristmas are, but we've talked about eating Chinese takeout by candlelight.  Somehow, Ludichristmas has become freakishly exciting.

We've had a ton of fun so far this week, and I haven't taken a single picture.  Lucy is hysterical. Seriously.  She is so clever and saucy.

I have seen so much of my family in the last month.  And next week we're driving to Amarillo to spend Christmas with the Vaughns!  My niece Naomi has gotten SO CUTE and chubby. I can't wait to meet/kiss her. I'm not super excited about the million hour drive in the harsh winter, but we'll hack it.

Good/Bad

To feel good:
Click the link in the first post.

To feel worse:
Click the link  in the post underneath.

Enjoy both.

From my trip:

I've never known anyone who lounged exclusively in princess costumes.

See what I mean?

We taught Sleeping Beauty about gingerbread men.

From Saturday night:

Eliza looks like a little bug!

I can't resist this baby.  She is too funny.

Right now from my balcony:

It's been snowing all day.  Those horses must be chilly.

Inventory

Computers in my home:
1. Kyle's laptop.  It is about 5 years old and a piece of shizzzzzz.  Sorry Kyle.  (He's kind of protective of it.) It is the slowest device on the planet and it has been my nemesis since I first met my husband.

2. The Mac.  A hand-me-down from Christy and Danny.  It's Kyle's main computer and we love it. It's pretty old so it lacks the intel chip that makes it possible to watch Netflix instant play movies...which is a problem.   I'm still unsure of macs so I generally use my laptop, which brings us to...

3. My laptop.  It can't open or close and it won't read discs and has to be plugged in at all times and the fan doesn't work so it gets REALLY hot and sometimes just turns off randomly when I'm in the middle of something, but other than that it works fine!

4. THE NEW COMPUTER I'M ON RIGHT NOW.  Yeah!  I love it!  It's another hand-me-down from Christy and Danny (they have lots of random computers laying around apparently), and I just brought it back with me from California.  They told me it was old, chock-full of viruses, and may not even work.  When Kyle first started trying to get it up and running, it definitely wasn't working.  BUT we have access to a handy asset that I like to call Alan Broadbent.  He went to town on this thing and now it's our best computer!  I love it.  It's a little Dell.  It not only works perfectly, but it holds a charge! For like, HOURS!  This is basically the first time in my life that I've had a laptop on my lap that isn't plugged in.  It's beautiful.  I am having so much fun!

Thanks, Christy and Danny.
Thanks, Alan.

Proud Owner

Christy and Danny are too nice to me! I've wanted one for ages.  Now I'm cool.

Surprise!

Well, it turns out that I'm in California.  Again.  This surprises me, Kyle, and everyone else, but none more than Christy and Danny!  This week is a huge week in terms of Danny's test results, so good news or bad, I wanted to be here.  Mostly I wanted to make Christy happy and help out as much as I can--plus it's going to be fun!  So I thought about it on Saturday night and ended up driving with Mom and Dad back to CA on Sunday.  We made it in record time because we were so excited to see Christy's face when she saw me. Dad took a couple pictures when I opened the door:

Lucy was at the door first.  She was almost entirely unfazed.  She just stood there with a surprised smile on her face for a while, and then said "Hi!" and ran to hug my mom, who she really missed :)

Christy was on the phone with Katy when she came to the door (we are SO SAD that Katy isn't here too--stupid school) so she didn't completely lose her head bawling.  She was really surprised.  Danny was happy, as you can see.

Once the shock wore off, Christy got excited to plan our week and do fun things.  It's a relief week for Danny which means no chemo and he can have fun with us!

The main reason I can do things like this is that I married someone wonderful.  My whole family is really grateful to Kyle for letting me be here.  It's hard because I practically just got back from a week in California--Kyle and I really miss each other.  For some reason I was way sadder than usual to leave him this time.  But we talked everything out and weighed pros and cons and decided that it was important for me to support my family right now.  He is really understanding.  And cute.  AND he gets major brownie points from everyone, which we'll cash in someday when WE have a sucky trial to get through.

Hopefully on Tuesday we'll find out that Danny doesn't have to do any more cycles of chemo.  Prayers are appreciated!