Holiday Prep

I fell off the face of the earth for awhile. I needed a certification for work. Many things suffered during the time I spent studying. Little Man's potty training seemed to fall into the nether world of a black hole. John spent most of his time taking care of Little Man while I spent the majority of my time attached to my laptop studying, googling, and studying some more. I was lucky though. Little Man still knows who I am.

It all paid off. I passed my test. Yay me. One down. 2 more to go. I'll spend the next couple of weeks prepping for and then enjoying the holidays before I start my crash course on my next certification.

I did manage to squeeze in some Christmas shopping. I'm almost done. Of course I still need to ship a few presents. I love the Post Office. I love their rates. I do not; however, like their lines this time of year. Every year I say I won't wait until the last minute to buy and ship presents. Every year I think I can do all my shopping on line. Every year I crack myself up.

I had a list for the nieces and nephews. Michael's still doesn't have on-line shopping. So of course the one perfect present for 2 of my nieces could only be found there. The line was long but I've seen longer and they moved it fast.

I even ventured to TRU. Anyone who willingly goes to TRU during the Christmas season is a masochist. I was dreading it. Fortunately the parking lot was not completely full. We went in with a list and grabbed everything quickly with the exception of a present for one of my nieces. All I got out of my mom was Barbie accessories. I found the Barbie aisle and told John to stay off to the side of another aisle with Little Man because of course it was jammed. There was no pushing or grabbing. Instead there was a lot of hemming and hawing. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was a little overwhelmed at the selection. One couple had a list consisting of almost all Barbie accessories. Do you know that Barbie now has a jet. A JET! Available at the great low price of $89.95. My niece is not getting a Barbie jet. At least not from me. I made my selection in record time (based solely on the scientific fact that I entered the aisle last but left first).

From there we headed to the checkout line. Sweet Mother. I looked in the cart and pulled out my phone. I hit their web site to see if everything we were purchasing was available on line. I was going to scratch the checkout line, head home and hit the laptop instead but I couldn't find everything on line. They didn't have it. They didn't even show the items. WHAT? Who does that?

Ah yes. If you shop on line you are less apt to make impulsive buys. Restrict your on line selection during the holiday season pushes everyone back into the stores and increases your sales. Sorry to disappoint TRU. This year, I held firm. I will give you kudos though. I've only seen one other corporation manage lines like that. Walt would have been proud of you.

So the insanity of Holiday prep work is almost over and I'm able to enjoy myself. Little Man runs into the house each night to "turn on the Christmas" (tree) and the village. His presents are wrapped and hidden with the exception of the train set his grandparents bought him. That will be set up Christmas Eve (it isn't Christmas until you are up all night assembling something).

He's fascinated with Frosty. All the snowman stocking hooks are Frosty and we spend many moments discussing their actions, clothing, and singing the song. He's slowly getting excited about Santa coming. Well actually he's excited about getting presents. When I told him Santa would not only leave him presents while he was asleep but would do it by coming down the chimney he seemed a tad concerned. I've caught him staring at the fireplace with his head cocked several times. Then he shakes his head and walks away.

He'll adapt. He's very good at that. I introduced him to the Nightmare in My Closet book. Now daddy is always the Monster. Each night he races upstairs, dragging me with him. He runs into his room yelling "we hide mommy, we hide. Quick un'er the covers mommy!". Tonight he placed puppy under a blanket and said "Don't worry Puppy. I shoot the monster." He ran into our room where John was putting away laundry and "Pyew! Pyew!" Apparently he needs to work on his aim as the monster chased him back into his room and right into the safety of Mommy's lap.