It's Christmas Time in the Desert....

*OK...Nothing to do with the post, but isn't this a funny Picture?*

It's Christmas time! The tree is up, the lights are shining, the elves have come.....So what's missing? Well, let's see. I'm as crazy as ever. Birthday party next weekend. Christmas parties coming up. Christmas cards almost finished. Hmmmm? What is it?

I'll tell you what. I'm not at HOME!!

This Christmas season contains all the usual merriness, it's just plain weird having Christmas in the desert! I miss all the usual sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas at home. Making new traditions with my family is great, but being away from all that says Christmas to me is just a little bit different.

Oh well... It's not about me anyway...is it? The kids are having a blast. That's all that really matters to me.

And as Scarlet Ohara would say....After all, I'm coming home to Tara (I mean Memphis) soon!!!

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Crazy!!

All of you who know me know how crazy this time of year is for me. With three people in my little family of five having birthdays in December plus Christmas plus Thanksgiving makes me a crazy person. I vow every year to try and scale down, to not get stressed out, and to just relax and enjoy the holidays.

Well... I'm not off to a good start. Every year at this time something happens to my brain. Call it information overload or whatever you want, but I seem to get overwhelmed to the point of forgetting things and becoming all panicky. Everything always, always works out. I just need to learn to relax.

This year we are having Thanksgiving on our own. Simple? Right? Well... Not really. Having Thanksgiving on our own means I (little Ol' me) has to cook the ENTIRE dinner on my OWN! Not only do I have to prepare all this food, but my little family doesn't even like half of the traditional Thanksgiving fare. Oh Well....too bad! I'm cooking it anyway. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it. I guess I'll just have tons of delicious leftovers to feast on till, till....well, Christmas I guess!

Then there's the birthdays. John Russel, Mae, and Rusty are all a week apart. The two children each wanted their own parties this year. I was going to oblige, much to my dismay, but, thank goodness that the park we are going to have the parties in is totally booked the first weekend so too bad! One party it is. (Thank the Good Lord) We will have the kids' party on the 13th! (Choir sings)

We are also flying back to the south on Christmas day. I'm stewing over luggage and packing gifts and buying gifts that will fit in a suitcase. I'm also concerned about flying with three young children and all the gear that this entails, and worrying about layovers, and ears hurting, and..... I could go on, but I'll spare you my craziness!

We will make it. I will survive. Please pray that I hold it together and realize the real reason for this wonderful time of the year. I can't wait to see all my family. I can't wait to see all my friends. I can't wait to eat food that I don't have to cook. I can't wait to have a free BABY SITTER! I could go on and on.

The season is here. I meeting it heads on. Crazy or not, here I come!!!