'Tis the Season

'Tis the season for

Christmas cookie exchanges
Family Holiday Parties
Friend's Holiday Parties
Baking
Secret Santas
Decorating the home for Christmas and winter
Cold weather
Over-eating
Relaxing
Christmas Shopping
Wrapping
Christmas movie watching

The majority of those things we have already done this year. Today we will be checking one more off the list - today is the Nordquist Family Christmas gathering in Amery, WI.

I was trying to count how many Christmas parties we have been invited to and will be attending this year...let me see,

1. There was the Barnetts -Friends (which was cancelled last weekend due to the snow-pocalypse)
2. The Nordquist's - Family (mom's side) (White Elephant)
3. The Krutzig's - Family (dad's side)
4. The Krutzig's - Family (immediate family)
5. The Doberstein's - Family (Derick's side)
6. The Sunnarborgs - Friends of the family
7. The Beckers - Friends of the family (TBD if we are getting together or when, but we usually get together each year)

So, all-in-all, that makes for many Christmas gatherings with friends and family! It is nice, but also exhausting! 

Last night, my sister and I went to see Billy Elliot, the play/musical. Our mom had gotten us tickets to go see it, and we did. We were both surprised at how long it was! After the first act was over it was already almost 10pm! We ended up getting home closer to midnight. We both left not really having enjoyed it, which was a bummer, considering it is always really fun to get a little dressed up and head downtown to the theater! So, that part was still fun. Not finding parking in downtown Minneapolis, but it wasn't so bad. Thank goodness for my GPS too - getting down there with a couple of roads blocked off would have been hard to navigate otherwise! Yikes!

I have all of my Christmas shopping done and wrapped and under the tree. We have been done for awhile now. I like that feeling of being done with it!  A lot of my family wanted books for Christmas this year, so Amazon was my friend this year :) I am looking forward to running through Target on the day AFTER Christmas again this year - getting a few new things here and there to decorate for the holidays. I do not really need much this year - but I do hope that they have my snowflake dishes on clearance like they did last year that I was able to pick up a few pieces of the collection! They even added a few "new" pieces to the collection, so that will be a fun hunt for me this year!

I have one week left to work before I get a whole glorious week off! I am really looking forward to that! I think everyone needs to take time off just to take the time off and get away from work. especially where I work - with all of the leadership changes we have been going through at the most rapid rate imaginable. It is a little unnerving, to say the least. I just go to work every day, hoping my badge lets me in the building, and that I have a place to sit and work. Sad, but that is the state of affairs there at the moment.

Well, I am off to finish getting things pulled together to head over to Wisconsin for the afternoon, I will update when there is more to update! I am sure there will be some great stories from the White Elephant exchange this afternoon!!