Shopping and Christmas and Change

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family. We really don't do much with Dh's side since his mother died 8 years ago. His brothers and sisters all have their own familes. We do get together with them, just not at Christmas. Dh had to work 8 AM to 6 PM on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We have a tradition of baked potato soup, sausage roll, salad, and dessert. My parents came over and ate with us. Everything was yummy and we had a great time.

Hannah got up at 4:15 AM wanting to open her presents. I woke up to her tapping me on my shoulder. This is the same kid I have to drag from the bed to get ready for school.

My youngest sister hosted Christmas day. I had to make a pumpkin cheesecake to take. Ohhh it was soooo good. I ate a piece for breakfast before I went shopping the next day. I also made fresh green beans and sweet potato souffle.

I went shopping on the 26th with my mom and sister. We began at Kohl's at 6 AM. I had some Kohl's cash to spend. I bought Hannah a shirt and sweatshirt and socks for me. We did Target at 7 AM. It was crazy in the Christmas aisle. My sister wanted this snowman for her front yard and people were really shoving back there. She conquered and got her snowman. I really wasn't in the shopping mood and just bought a few little things - spent like $24 while my sister spent $204. We also did Shopko (bought a set of bowls for $12, normally $40, for a wedding shower gift) and Mangelsons (bought nothing) before heading back to my mom's. My dad was getting tired of babysitting. My sister grabbed her kiddos and left. My mom and I went to JCPennies, PetSmart and Borders. I got my half price cross stitch pattern a day calendar, 365 days of fix it and forget it crockpot recipes calendar, and a couple of books with a GC. I bought some silver earrings at JCP with another GC. I still have quite a few GCs left, but I think I am going to wait until January to use them.

Today I am going to the gym and then to school. I have a kiddo who was on the road with a play for 2 months and she needs to meet with me about work. Apparently her tutor didn't make her do much. I think the parents were a little frustrated with the whole situation. I also need to work on my classroom and grading and lesson plans and report cards. Blech! I am not really in the frame of mind for it to begin again.

DH is off until January 2, but he has a horrible chest cold. We had thought about going to Great Wolf Lodge in KC, but with his cold being so bad we decided against it. I have to admit though, it is nice to just hang at the house.

The January theme for NaBloPoMo is Change. I have decided to embrace it. I need some changes in my life. I read an interesting article that said you can change habits if you work on not doing it for 30 days. So for the 31 days of January, I am going to be working on that. More to come on this topic (31 days for sure). LOL!