Where's the Beach?

Thankfully it finally stopped raining here. Now it's just really cold - but sunny at least. I had really hoped to sleep in this morning as a Christmas gift to myself. I suppose 7:50 is better than 7 am. While hubby snoozed, I made Pumpkin Oatmeal for the both of us for breakfast. I used steel cut oats, stirred in pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla protein powder, and topped with toasted walnuts. I topped mine with just a drizzle of agave nectar while Jason stirred in brown sugar into his. After breakfast it was time to open our goodies to each other. I am now a proud new owner of a high step , new weight gloves , 6 ' resistance bands , plus jewelry (2 necklaces, bracelet, earrings), and gift cards to DSW (oh he knows me so well), Bed Bath & Beyond, and Amazon. My mom and sister showed up around noon for our Christmas Brunch. I was very excited to have them over again this year. I wanted it to be special so I made sure the table would match the food. I found the place mats, ...

It's so hard to believe that Christmas is really almost here. I'm sure I say that every year. How do I let it sneak up on me though? I mean, aren't the reminders there as early as June? We can't even get to Halloween before seeing Christmas decorations. I didn't try to decorate the house all in one day. It's been a slow process where my husband and I do a little here, add a little there, another strand of lights, oh, more garland please. The only problem is that we don't realize just how much we've pulled out until we have to put it all away in a few weeks. Oh, and the house is a disaster. But it's sparkly and festive. This year my sister and mother are going to come up on Christmas Day for a noon brunch. I'm very excited about this. We'll be doing Christmas dinner with my father the day after so no Christmas Day travel for us. Last year was the first year we had company to our house for a holiday. It was the first time we were able to sh...