my holiday top 5

The holiday season is upon us and I thought I would post my Top 5 list of holiday things that make me tick and things that tick me off. So here goes:

things that make me tick
1. the feeling of community
2. gifts that are useful
3. well-done holiday parties (that's been awhile!)
4. playing games
5. getting things that I wanted but didn't know about (this happening is very rare indeed)


things that tick me off
1. the greedfest when everyone opens tons of gifts at the same time
2. computers that run out of space while I'm in the middle of designing my christmas cards
3. curmedgeons
4. ungrateful children
5. lawn ornament snow globes

I also hate those blow-up snowman and santas that sit like empty colored sacks on the lawn during the day. These are pure blight, but they still don't top the snow globes. We have a lot of these because people around here shop at Costco and Lowe's, where they are located, and I suppose they are somewhat affordable, but darn they make our neighborhood ghetto. Sometimes less is more. For some reason, we also have lots of icicles. Erik finally had to go out today and buy hooks to drill into the overhang so we could hang our lights. Since we live in a flat-roofed house with no eves and no gutters, hanging lights was pretty darn near impossible. I made an attempt to tape them up but I can't recommend this method, since they all fell down on the ground after one night, where they have been sitting for more than a week. But in my defense, I have been busy - and we've had a cold spell (yes, I know in the 20s isn't that bad for most of you, but I actually had to use my credit card on the windshield this week!). Well, I better get back to designing those Christmas cards which are now going to be New Year's cards. Have a great holiday!

I can see! (and other updates)

These pictures are from Ardenwood Farms, where Henry and I went with Lael on her first fieldtrip last week and had a great time. We all spent two weeks in Utah for Thanksgiving break and had lots of fun with the cousins. I had Lasik surgery there and so far it's been a success! I have 20/15 vision in one eye and 20/20 in the other. Although it still goes in and out sometimes, which is a little disconcerting, and I have the expected dry eye issues, it's still been pretty good. I was able to do Lasik because I used the Hoopes Vision Center and they had the latest lasers, which took less tissue and corrected my vision with an impressive 10 seconds in one eye and 11 in the other (the lasers out here would have been around 45 seconds in each). Also, instead of creating a plateau, with light aberrations around the edges, the new lasers curve with your eye. I think I had better results because of the newer technology, so I am happy I had it done in Utah, even though it was definitely a factory.


We did a lot while we were in Utah, and it was good to have a break! I went to the New Kids on the Block concert with my sisters (yes, again!), we stayed a night in Midway and Erik went scuba diving in the Homestead Crater while Oliver and Lael swam with Grandma Olson (I couldn't swim because of my surgery and Henry was too young). We also stayed two nights in Wolf Creek. We had an awesome Thanksgiving Day at Dan and Clare's. It was definitely an eventful trip. I made a bad call on the way there and we ran out of gas, which put us back an hour because we had to call AAA, but we made it! We watched Clare's family slaughter their turkey, which was interesting. I do want the kids to know where their food comes from, and I guess that was one way to show them. It didn't deter them because that's about the only thing they ate was turkey the next day. That same day we sadly ran over a dog on the way to Wolf Creek. It was running down the middle of our lane and there was nothing we could do, so we were sad and tried to find the owners. But for the most part our trip was very good.

We met Allie, Carl's fiancé and had dinner with them and Caitlyn and Erika at the Mayan. We also got to see other friends we haven't been able to catch up with for awhile. We are back and things are in full-on holiday season (along with the usual craziness of the Boosters, overwhelming amounts of homework, Scouts, the dog ...). So I can't promise I'm going to be great at keeping things up to date but I'll try! We're going to Washington D.C. for Allie and Carl's wedding, so we're excited about that. Hope you are having a great December!