Thursday....

I cannot believe that Christmas is this weekend. Today is the last day of school for the kids. My oldest is going on a field trip to see "A Christmas Carol" and my middlest (as he calls himself) is having his Christmas party. I made both of them wrap their own teacher gifts and write the cards. Most teachers are getting Godiva Chocolate, Nam's Bits (the best little chocolate chip cookies ever) and scented candles in milk glasses. The gifted services teacher is getting the new dinosaur pop-up book. She has had my oldest in class for 5 years now, so we wanted to give her a personal gift that she would love and would remind her of my son for years to come. If you mention dinosaurs to any of my son's teachers (and many other teachers in the school, the vice principal, the principal, the instructional lead teacher, the janitor, the school nurse, etc.) they immediately think of my son. And this teacher collects pop-up books. It was synchronicity that this book was released this fall. Anyway, I love shopping for teachers' gifts, as I think these people are so important to my kids. However, I do try to give gifts that they can use up because I am sure they get a lot of stuff to dust. The dinosaur book is the exception.

Tuesday, we decided that in order to sell this house, our living room had to be a different color. We really didn't like the way it turned out when we painted it. I have since learned that you don't trust the lighting in the paint department at Home Depot. Anyway, I don't like the new living room, either, but at least it is neutral. We started painting about 8 pm and had all the furniture back in place by 2 am. I slept for 2 1/2 hours and got up and walked my four miles. I think I may have overdone things, though, because I just could not get up this morning. Luckily, my husband was kind enough to go into work a little later than usual so I could oversleep. I am feeling much better now. So here is the living room transformation...
Before...
After...
Wow, what bad lighting... It is now white. So the downstairs of the house is now white, or at least has white below the chair rail. I guess people want to buy neutral homes. My new one is anything but neutral. It is purple, everywhere. Very purple. Not burgandy, not lavendar, purple. I am working on a warm tones pallet for the new house. There is a lot of wall paper to come down first, though.

Interesting blogs I have read lately... Both Rayna and Amy have great information about Chanukah on their blogs. A friend of mine has been at school making potato pancakes a lot recently. I am ready to try my hand at Rayna's recipe. Debra had some interesting points about men and gift giving which has sparked quite the conversation. JudyL has a fun story about a gift arriving just in time and how to hide it from a man. Gabrielle has an interesting post about Twyla Tharpe's book, which I think I will read when I am done The Artist's Way. Be prepared to be serenaded by Bon Jovi when you go to that site.

Ok, back to wrapping presents. Maybe a quick trip to the Avenue to get some more Nam's Bits. And I am hoping one of my Chicago relatives sends me some Frango Mints soon...

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, or just enjoys the holidays.