Black Friday

Great day today! Chris woke up early as usual and let me linger in bed for a little while. He spent most of the day @ the lax store getting everything ready for the upcoming holiday season and I spent the day @ home w/ the girls. I took down all the Thanksgiving decorations yesterday and spent today wrapping them properly in tissue paper/bubble wrap and packing them away in the attic. T & I took almost everything out of the attic, went thru some boxes, consolidated some stuff and actually threw away 2 empty boxes. She is such a huge help to me. 99.9% of the time she does what she's told/asked and rarely complains. She is a joy to be with and is truly growing up to be a wonderful young lady. She went shopping this morning around 4 AM w/ friends and come home and snored on the couch for a little bit. It was pretty funny. She was out like a light.

I started to decorate for Christmas today and have decided I decorate waaaaayyyyy to much (not just for Christmas! I decorate for just about every holiday except St. Patrick's Day; we're not Irish). This year I will not be decorating as much as I have in the past. I usually empty my china cabinet and put out all my Christmas china. I have a complete service for 12 (and every serving dish you could possibly imagine!) and set the dining room table with 6 place settings, linens, glassware, silver and accessories. I don't think I'll be doing that this year. My Christmas china is very, very special to me. My mom, grandmother and aunt started this pattern for me years ago (I believe I was still in high school). It means so much to me and I'd love to pass it on to one of my girls (that and my wedding china!).

I have a wonderful collection of Santas (wooden, ceramic, metal, etc.) and I think I'll concentrate my Santa's in the foyer and my Snowmen stuff in the kitchen. I also always do two Christmas trees -- the big one in the family room and the "travel" tree in the foyer (filled w/ ornaments from our various travels/family vacations). I like to make the kitchen look like a candy shop at the holidays and decorate w/ a lot of candy canes, gum drops, etc.

In case you've been living under a rock the last couple of months or don't live in the state of Alabama, today was the Iron Bowl (annual Alabama vs. Auburn game) and it was a very exciting, nail-biter! In other football related news, the Hoover Bucs beat Gadsden City tonight and are headed to the 6A State championship game next weekend.

Tonight we fondue'd for dinner and relaxed w/ a nice bottle of wine. Chris fell asleep on the couch and T went to the movies w/ friends. It has gotten really, really cold tonight (seriously! like 38!). I have the heating pad on my feet to keep me toasty.