Winding Down...

Blogless. Is that a word? Well, regardless of its validity it is very descriptive of my Christmas! I will certainly find time this week to catch up with a few pictures from our week and a day in Utah with my family. But not today. It is already time to get ready for our New Year's Eve with nieces and nephews from the Gillas family. If I am not posting anything of substance then why do I even bother to show my virtual face? Good question--and one that will likely remain unanswered.

Pains of Procrastination

Seriously. When did shopping all day become a painful process? What happened to the teenager who longed to spend an entire day devoted to shopping? I procrastinated my Christmas (& Alex's birthday) shopping, so today I left the house at 10:00 am and didn't return home until 10:45 pm. I hurt everywhere! When did I get so old and wimpy?!

Ugh.

At least it's done.

Success at the thrift store

Actually, thrift stores. I had an unusually lucky week for thrift store purchases. I cannot reveal all of my exciting finds however, because some will take the form of a Christmas present in not too many days.
Still, some finds are public knowledge:

This is beyond awesome. A Fisher Price Sesame Street Clubhouse! I swear I had this when I was little. I remember the moving sidewalk that dumps you down the twisty slide and the trap door that spills you out onto a chute on the other side.

Count (with monocle) and Big Bird (looking a bit skinny) were included...along with some barrels and a jump rope!

Uh oh Bird...watch out for the trap door at the top of the stairs!

I saw this a split second too late to transform it into a Christmas present. We've been trying to find a lunch box for Alex for ages...but he saw it just after I did. Still...a Voltron lunchbox is too cool to pass up. And everything was 50% off. Wahoo! So..I guess Alex got an early Birthday present.

Speaking of birthday presents and good finds...

Alex's dad found this old 4-string Slingerland banjo at a pawn shop. It's just what Alex has been looking for! They gave it to him last weekend for an early Birthday/Christmas present. (Al's birthday is Wed. Dec. 19th...he'll be 29!)

For a good 48 hours he only put the banjo down to sleep, eat, and use the restroom. I think the gift was a hit! I hope I can find a gift even half as cool...

The Official Start of my Holiday!

And suddenly...Jen is a pleasent person to be around! As of 2:35 am Monday morning, final grades are in the system and I am free from my job until Januray 7, 2008! Wahoo!

Alex is wonderful to put up with the mood-swings of a girl who is overworked in the higher-education field. I work-work-work and stress-stress-stress during the term...but as soon as the term is over..........ahhhhhhh..............life is wonderfully pleasent again. I'm not sure that this is a healthy way to live, but I do love the idea of having a month off of work during the Holiday Season.

Boy, I'm sleepy. I have designated Monday Official Sleeping In Day!

and now the grading begins...

Hooray! Finals are done! I gave a Beginning Math Final exam today from 10-noon, and I took a Chemistry Final exam today from 1-3. It feels so good to be done! But-of-course I am not done. This is a new feeling for me: the elation that follows successfully completing college courses immediately followed by the realization that I now have a lot of work left to do in grading the exams. (Last spring term I had to grade exams, but I hadn't been taking exams as well).

It was really tough to finish that Chemistry final and then have to go back for 2 more hours of work that day. Yuk!

Oh...p.s....recording is going very well. We are having a blast--and we have another session tonight!

Almost...

Tuesday night Alex and I went with our niece Greta (18) and her boyfriend to an Aquabats concert. It was super rad. The Aquabats are a poppy ska band that were huge in the late 90s. They are a bit older--but put on an out-of-this-world performance. They dress up in costumes (the famous blue aquabat spandex, black Zoro masks, and "utility belts") and fight bad guys on stage. Plus also, the music is fun.

So, the Aquabats co-created this new CrAzY show on Nickalodean called Yo Gabba Gabba (produced by Alex's cousin Justin!). It is a show loved by kids and grown-up-kids who overdosed on Sesame Street and Saturday Morning Cartoons in the 80s. They have 5 funny characters (robot, wolf, alien-like creatures, etc.) and have guest stars (Elijah Wood, and lots of indie bands), kids, and songs (There's a Party in my Tummy!). (We have never actually seen the show, because we don't have cable--but we watch pieces on YouTube).

Anyway...DJ Lance Rock (guy in big orange hat) opened for the Aquabats and....the characters from Yo Gabba Gabba danced on stage! AND WE MISSED IT!!! We got to the concert a bit late--and they had just finished and left the stage. Bummer. We saw a family from church there with their little ones--they got to go up on stage and dance. Muno even tried to pick up the baby. How cool is that!? I suppose it would be like me going to a concert as a 2-year-old and getting to meet Big Bird and Snuffy. Whoa. I wish.

But...the concert was super fun and it is always fun to go to concerts with Greta.

An exerpt from a rambling Journal entry...

"Life isn’t a competition to see who is engaged in the most worthy or time-consuming cause! Life is a test to determine how we meet the challenges our Heavenly Father presents for us—by our actions and our attitudes. Life is so much more than this week’s To Do List. When we sacrifice the "best things" in favor of crossing off the more obvious things from our List—we are not getting any closer to becoming the whole and healthy daughters of God that we desire to be! Life is made up of moments. How we live in each moment IS our life. SO…choose wisely."