Tradition

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the traditions. I love that my family gathers for fondue, stories, and silliness every Christmas Eve at my Mother's. I love opening that one gift on Christmas Eve. All the little traditions too!

We spent that last week or so, looking for a glass globe "Our First Christmas" ornament. We both have memories of the old ornaments hung on our parents' trees. We searched every place we could think of (without ordering online) and couldnt' find one. I guess they don't make the glass ones much anymore, for safety purposes. We eventually found a cute ceramic one, with 2 snowmen holding an "Our First Christmas" banner, with a snowflake dangling from that, on it "2008". Yearly ornaments is bound to be one of our traditions, but who doesn't do that?

In the seven years I've known Matt, we've gone to Temple Square to see the lights. Last year of course, was the most memorable, because of his proposal. We decided that we will go there every year to get a picture in front of the tree on Main Street (and we'll try to go on the exact day, as we did this year). OUR tradition. Someday our kids will ask why we have to do this every year and we'll explain to them that this is where our little family started, on a cold night December 14, 2007, when daddy asked mommy to marry him, and she said yes! (sappy...yes...but nostalgic)

So here's our 2008 picture, taken, kindly enough, by President Strickland.

Here are some other beautiful shots, including the new nativity scene on the Main Street display:

Yeah, you on the phone in the next lane…

AT THE RED LIGHT!

(WARNING: expletives are used in the post to follow and severe use of sarcasm, read at your own risk)

Don’t give me that dirty look that says: (all miffed, of course)“Um, uh you’re music is too loud! I can’t hear the person on the other end of my cell phone!”

Well honey, I have my window down because I’m smoking a cigarette, to keep my traffic anxiety down. And the music is up, to keep me occupied, instead of jumping out of the car to tear a new one into every fucking driver behind me tonight, who seem to think stopping two inches behind me is enough room.

I realize you drive an automatic, so you don’t understand, but with a manual (you know the other kind of transmission with what you inept people call a “gear-shifter”) there’s this thing called rollback. I know it’s super hard to understand that when I put it in first gear, especially on a hill, unless I keep my foot fully on the clutch and gas (which would burn my clutch up, SO I DON’T) the car rolls back a little before the gas kicks in to create the uphill forward motion needed to cross the intersection (also known as driving). So please for the sake of your own vehicle (because if I hit you when I roll back, it will actually be your fault for following too closely) leave me some fucking room…..like 3 linear feet at least….NOT 3 inches!!!!

So you, yeah you bitch, on your cell phone (because that phone call is sooooooooo much more important and urgent than you driving safely - and other drivers’ safety from you out on the road) don’t give me that dirty look. You don’t even have room to be looking, Miss law-breaking-using-your-cell-phone-while-driving bitch! GET OFF YOUR DAMN PHONE AND PAY ATTENTION TO US INNOCENT DRIVERS WHO LET THE PHONE GO TO VOICEMAIL WHILE DRIVING (because we realize focusing on the road in rush hour traffic trumps the calling your girl friend to find out what she’s wearing at the party tonight)!


For full disclosure: I do use my phone once in a great, great while when driving, but 99% of the time I let the call go to voicemail, because I don’t want to cause an accident….besides have you ever tried shifting while on the phone? I don’t have enough arms!

Spoiled

I love this time of year. No, not because I want or like to be spoiled with Christmas presents. I swear! I actually have a really hard time with people asking “What do you want?” It makes me feel awkward, because there’s so much pressure to give an answer. I feel like giving any answer besides “nothing” sounds selfish. I know people have good intentions by asking, but Christmas and my Birthday make me anxious for this reason. And really...the other 11 months out of the year I’m fortunate enough that if there’s something I decide I really want, I usually buy it for myself (and 50% of the time I tell Hubs, the other 50% I slowly work items into my wardrobe as if I’ve always owned them, hoping Hubs won’t say anything-and if he knows he never says anything).

In the last week, multiple presents have been appearing under the tree for Hubs. He keeps telling me that it’s too much, and he hopes I didn’t buy him anything expensive, because he can’t afford anything expensive for me. Now, this frustrates me because I DON’T want anything really except for this one lavender eye mask ($20 at the mall). Secondly, I DON’T care if he gets me anything expensive…I just want to enjoy our first Christmas as a married couple, really! I’ve even racked my brain for ideas, as he too has asked what else I want. Umm…there’s this new CD I want by one of my faves. Besides, my presents to him last year were really lame, and his to me last year? Well a bad-ass camera….and oh yeah that big diamond ring on my finger :) So if it were a competition, I’ve got some catchin’ up to do!

REGARDLESS…

Honey, dearest, husband…it’s actually not a competition, and I want to spoil you for two simple reasons:

1) I love you, I love you, I love you!
2) The other 363 days (because you’re birthday doesn’t apply here) you spoil me rotten, with back scratches, foot rubs, bringing home treats I love, cleaning the house, etc without even me asking for these things (on most days anyway). Plus, you walk to work to save us money, because you see the bigger picture and are willing to sacrifice for it.

So... I’m freakin’ spoiling the hell out of you this Christmas...deal with it!

Dreams

Ever have one of those dreams, that when you wake up, you try to fall back asleep to finish it?

Saturday I had a dream like that, and haven't stopped thinking about it since. I did get up and then go back to sleep hoping to finish. It wasn't the same dream the second time around, but more detailed and far more interesting.

The first was short and vague. I remembered something about a baby girl (and it was definitely Dakota's sister) when I woke up, so I tried to go back to it, by going back to sleep.

The second was wayyyyyy more detailed and memorable, but still short.

I was in a room in a house, somewhere I've never been before. I was with my sister. We were talking about who knows what, but she was holding a beautiful baby boy, about the age of one or eighteen months. (I don't know, I'm bad at guessing babies' ages.) He was wearing little kid overalls and a white shirt, and she was feeding him a bottle.

He was beautiful; blonde curly hair, with a tint of red to it, very pale but striking blue eyes, and very fair skinned. In the dream I couldn't look away from him.

He finished the bottle and she laid him down on a blanket on the floor. She said "Aw, you're tired now, huh? Go to sleep beautiful Colton". I said, "I love you Colton".

That was all.

When I woke again, I was confused thinking "There's no way that was Kass' kid". Kass' husband is full-blooded Japanese, and she really doesn't have a shot in hell of ever having a non-Japanese looking child. I figured he must have been mine. BUT Matt and I already have a boys name picked out and it's not that.....perplexed I told Matt about the dream. He said "Maybe it's our second son..?". Immediately I started laughing and said back to him, "But we'd never use the name Colton....it would destine him to be a bull rider!". Matt laughed too, because about a month ago we were watching a rodeo champion on TV and I noticed every-other rider was named Colton, and I had said at the time "Matt if you want a bull-rider for a son we have to name him Colton or Colt". Also, this week we saw the episode of Seinfeld where his comedy bit at the beginning of the show talks about naming a kid Jeeves destines him to be a butler....

Anyway, it was funny to us at least.

Here's the thing...I'm not really religious, but I do believe that sometimes dreams are more than that. I do believe they can be warnings or visions. It has happened to me before, and there is just a totally different feeling in and about the dream, where you know it was closer to reality.

So I am left knowing that that baby boy Colton will exist someday, maybe he's ours, maybe not. If it is, do we have to name him that? I really don't like the name! I guess time will tell, and maybe he is ours, and we will have a name picked out.....but then we meet him for the first time and no other name will fit him but Colton.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was rather mellow for us this year. Matt worked, while I cooked yams and the green bean casserole. After he got off we headed to my mom's and enjoy a very scrumptious meal and enjoyed the family gathering. Friday we went to see the movie 'Twilight' and later took our cousin to the ER (which is just a fiasco of a story in itself). Saturday we lounged around, bought a Christmas tree, and put up lights outside. Sunday we did a little bit of shopping and went to Matt's parents for small second family Thanksgiving dinner. It was wonderful to sleep in 4 days in a row, and just do what we wanted.

Today I had my return visit to the doctor, and scheduled my surgery for January. I will have my tonsils out as well as some surgery on my sinuses. It sounds like a grueling recovery, but hopefully I will be less sick following (and be able to breath normally).

You Don't ALWAYS Grow Out of It

So I remember being 6 or 7 or 8 or one of the many ages I was prone to ear infections... double ear infections. I remember the doctor telling me and my mother, that kids grow out of ear infections.

Well, I'm a grown-up 23 year-old who has, yet again, a double ear infection! I get them at least once a year. I've been miserable, in bed for the last 3 days, and finally dragged myself to work today. It wasn't so bad when I was little and all I missed was school and schoolwork....but now I have to use 3 vacation days, and please, let's not mention the piles of problems left on my desk to deal with, upon my return!!!

Stupid lying doctors! You don't ALWAYS grow out of these common sickness children get. I now, at the ripe old age of 23, might have to get my tonsils yanked. I hear the older you are the harder it is to recover.... Now, I don't blame my mom, because she listened to what the doctor said, and believed him because well, he's the doctor! Besides, she already told me she feels bad and should have had them take them out when I was younger, but she's still not to blame :)

As if having the chipmunk cheeks for the 2 different times I had wisdom teeth wasn't bad enough.....and I never have good recoveries, so I'm sure if it's not one thing it will be another!

...end rant...

Choppy Chop Chop!

Alas, it was time for a change! Chop chop went the shears, bye bye went the hair!