The House is Not Decorated Until the Nativity Set is Up

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. It has been a very different Christmas Season for us, this year. Different because we have been alone for the most part. We do see Jon, Bonnie and Ella often, but everyone else lives in the Boise area. Which is why we are traveling to Boise for Christmas. We are so excited to have the whole family together for the holiday. We will be having our traditional Family Home Evening on Christmas Eve at Angie's house. Jim will be telling the Christmas Story from Luke, with a few "Dad" things thrown in. Of course Mom has bought matching pajamas for everyone to wear.

Christmast Day will be at Aaron and Kelly's. It sounds like Kelly is putting together a wonderful dinner. It should be total chaos with all 13 of us, which includes the two grandbabies! I am so excited! Malia is three and Ella is almost two; perfect ages for the whole Santa Claus thing. I will be sure to take lots of pictures.

One of the best parts of the Holiday Season is being able to attend Tip Tap Toes dance recital in Idaho. Every year Kami holds a recital in December and every year it is adorable! This year I got to help by being the narrator, but of course, the highlight of the whole event was watching Malia in her two dance numbers. Prejudice grandma or not, she was not only the cutest dancer out there...she was the best dancer too. A chip off the old block, Kami. It seems like only yesterday it was you! What fun for Nena!

Alas, all is not fun. I am feeling guilty for not sending out Christmas cards this year. I just haven't had the time. I know, I know...other people are just as busy as I am, but I truly feel like I lost a week of the Christmas Season by being in Chicago for a week. (Never again!) But, I will send out cards after the first of the year, and I am good with that, so I hope others are too.

Tomorrow is our Company Christmas Luncheon/Party. I hope everything goes well. After that, I still have some shopping to do, a ton of presents to wrap, visiting teaching to do, gifts to deliver, etc. Then we pack and it is off to Idaho. We come back on Saturday and Sunday we leave for California for a week. It should be fun, but everything is so hectic!

Plus, I have been given some new responsibilities at work that I am still not comfortable with. It all adds to the stress but I am determined to enjoy the holiday. Today, (Sunday) I got up early just so I could snuggle by the Christmas tree and read Christmas stories out of the book I bought. It is my personal tradition to buy a Christmas book of stories every year, and then read them throughout the month of December. I got a late start but I am still committed to making time to read a couple every day until Christmas. They truly do make the season "spiritual" for me.

And today was my favorite Sunday of the whole year! The Sunday before Christmas! Our Sacrament Meeting was wonderful! We have so many wonderfully talented people in our ward that it is unbelieveable! Violins, flutes, piano and organ duets, a really, really good choir and some wonderful speakers all made for a fabulous program! It was truly a blessing to be there. People who do not get the spiritual side of Christmas truly miss out. I am so grateful for the blessings that are mine through the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends!! Speaking of family...here are all my girls and my boys! I am so blessed!!!

No time to write, but I am getting "flack" from my kids about my blog being old news. It is just that December is so busy and work has been frantic that I just haven't taken the time. I will, I promise, I just need to get caught up first.

In the meantime, here is a picture of our Christmas tree.

It is a beautiful day in Oceanside, California! It is 2:15 in the afternoon and I am enjoying the 80 degree temperatures and the soft ocean breeze. I love being here with Jim but my visits are always way too short.

This morning we went to church in the old Oceanside Ward. We saw a few people we remember from 15 years ago, but most everything else has changed. Even the chapel is brand new; the old one torn down and a new one built in its place. We had a great sacrament meeting and I'm glad we went.

Yesterday we went to the La Jolla temple. It was absolutely gorgeous and an absolutely perfect day. We had a great experience in being there; it was so peaceful and quiet. The celestial room is the most beautiful one I have ever seen. It brought back a lot of memories from when the temple was built and when I used to be a temple worker, there.

We also spent time at the beach yesterday. Oceanside Harbor is still one of the most adorable harbors, anywhere. We love that place! Jim surfed while I read. It was very relaxing which is exactly what I needed.

This trip has been the perfect 'healing balm'. My blood pressure has been 'roller-coastering' for a couple of weeks. Work is totally stressing me out, as it is my busiest time of year, and of course there is always an issue or two with our family, which stresses me out too. (Ryan just called and he broke his ankle in two places. No job. No insurance. No rent money!) But being here for four days has helped bring back a little sanity and I just need to do it more often. Jim and I both always have such a good time when I am here!

Hi Everyone!

I forgot about my promise to post a picture of the Halloween costume. Here it is. Unfortunately, I won the contest in the "scarest" catagory, which is not what I was going for. But scarey is scarey, right?
Jim is leaving for Phoenix and I will be alone here until Thursday when I fly to California and meet Jim there. I am going to stay for a long weekend and just relax. Ok, that's a lie. I am taking my computer so I can work...but then I will relax.
We got a lot done around the house, this weekend, and took Jim's parents for a ride up to Wallsburg. I hope they enjoyed it. We also helped them with a couple of chores they needed help with, too.
One thing Jim and I have always enjoyed doing is taking walks together. We do it on Sunday mornings and any other morning we can squeeze it in. Here are a couple of pictures from our walk. All the pretty leaves are gone, but November does have a charm of its own. Enjoy, and have a good week!

The "Graff" side of the extended family doesn't know each other very well so Jeannette thought it would be a good idea for everyone to be on Facebook. That way, the cousins could all read about what is going on in each other's lives. So, last night I joined the Facebook crowd. Now I have a blog site, an online journal, and Facebook. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I just can't keep up with it all. So then I got the brilliant idea of directing everyone to one site...this one.

So, 'hi' to all the nieces and nephews on Jim's side of the family. Mine too, if they happed to add me as a 'friend' on Facebook. I will try to keep things somewhat up-to-date on this site, but no promises. I am on a computer all day at work. I'm not so sure I want to spend any more time on it when I get home. But, for what it is worth today, we are all fine and happy.

Jim gave a big presentation in California today and he said it didn't go as well as he would have liked. I'm sure it went better than he thinks; he just didn't have a lot of problems to talk about because his new market is doing so well.

I am in the middle of planning our biggest tradeshow of the year which is coming up the day after Thanksgiving. I will be in Chicago the end of November - first of December. So, the Christmas tree is going up before Thanksgiving this year, even though I am opposed to people doing that normally.

And tomorrow is Halloween. I am in charge of the company party / luncheon / costume contest. It should be pretty fun. I'm going as a cross between Peg from Married With Children and Flow from the old Alice sitcom. (Basically a Bimbo with really bad taste in clothes!) I'll post a picture tomorrow IF I get around to posting anything tomorrow.

And... one more thing. Aaron and Kelly are coming to stay for the weekend! Hooray! I love it! I can't wait to see them.

I'm not sure what is happening to me lately but I want to be anywhere but at work. For some strange reason I feel like life is speeding up and I have a lot I want to get done before I "check out". Being at work all day is stopping me from "living life."

Now, realistically I know that isn't true. Work is a part of life, but lately it is just plain boring. Actually, as far as jobs go, I have a pretty good one. And, I have enjoyed it up until lately. Planning events and tradeshows, designing tradeshow booth graphics, putting on employee functions, meetings and parties is usually pretty fun, but...not lately!

I want to enjoy the beautiful Fall. I want to be outside before the cold and snow comes. I want to spend time with Jim. I want to visit all my children and play with my grandchildren. I want to redecorate my house. I want to finish scrapbooks and journals. I want to sew. I want to quilt. I want to read. I want to write a book. I want to take yoga. I want to workout. I want to have friends over for lunch. I want to clean out closets. I want to take naps. I do NOT want to go to work!

Life is short. Life is good. I want to LIVE!

It's been awhile....

I don't know that I am cut out for this blogging thing. It is only for my family to see, but still, I can't seem to keep up with it. I would like to because I think it is a good way to keep up on what is going on in everyone's lives, but still....I can't seem to keep up with it. It is just one more thing that weighs on my mind and makes me feel guilty. Guilty? Why guilty? Because everyone else on the planet seems to be able to blog and chat and surf and text and IM and, etc. etc. etc. I feel out of the loop. I feel like a looser because there are just not enough hours in the day for me to do all that I have to do, and be up on all that stuff too. Again...I can't seem to keep up with it. Do I need to say it one more time? I CAN'T SEEM TO KEEP UP WITH IT!!!!!
And that is my blog for today.