Oh my...where does the time go? I must have blinked because December just came and went in a flash.
Well...to recap my December so far...
I have officially completed my Associates Degree in Accounting. Now I'm sending out resumes left and right. I just want "a foot in the door" kind of job. I feel like I'm not giving this degree enough credit. It is my second associates degree. I've been teasing that if I add the two degrees together then they might equal a bachelor's degree :) ? I'm am just teasing though. Part of me is a little disappointed that I didn't "go for the gold" so to speak, but I am proud of my accomplishment. I worked my hiney off for it! We won't have a graduation ceremony until June or July so that kind of stinks. I am anxious to begin working somewhere soon. I am dreading the whole interview process though. I'm not a people person initially. It takes me a while to feel comfortable around someone new and that shows through when I am interviewing. I had a mock interview for my internship class and that just about drove me to drink! I made it through it with a few laughs along the way. I got the evaluation the other day and I actually did quite well for a nervous Nellie!
With school behind me, I finally got to focus on Christmas. I did the usual basket for the hubby's office which is a two day event in the kitchen for me. I did let Olivia help me out this year. She told one of her friend's mom that she doesn't get to help me bake. Actually I don't bake all that much and I'm usually in a hurry when I do it. This time I decided to slow down and let her help me. She had a blast and she was a natural! Go figure coming from this family! She helped me make chocolate chip cookies (from scratch), muddy buddies, and hot cocoa mix. We had a great time. She has been awfully patient with me this year. She has whined about me always doing homework, but she was so excited the day I told her I was finally done! It was a nice mother/ daughter experience. Everything tasted really good and the office really appreciated everything. I have been doing this for years and I may gripe and complain about doing it but secretly I love every minute of it!!
Fast forward to Christmas Eve...
We did the traditional gathering in Portland for Christmas Eve. We all brought finger foods to munch on as we opened the Mt. Everest pile of presents. We're still looking for Britney. We lost her in the pile! It was a fun yet different gathering. The lack of Missy's presence was definitely felt by all. It had rained and rained and rained all day long (and the day before), but as we loaded up the car to make the drive down to TN it all of a sudden stopped. The sky that was left was like a beautiful painting. The clouds and sun rays were indescribable. I tried to take a picture, but there was no way to capture what my heart was seeing. When we arrived at Jeff's, we were in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on a couple of the dishes and the sunlight in there was absolutely blinding us. I made some crack about how Missy was telling us to get the heck out of her kitchen! Grandaddy did the annual 'Twas the Night Before Christmas reading and then the paper started flying. Everyone had huge smiles on their faces. We cleaned up the mess and left for home because Olivia wasn't feeling well. The was the oddest part. I usually hang around and chat with Missy after everyone leaves. It was the only time when I knew we wouldn't be interrupted by random phone calls from her work. Last year I stayed for two hours or so later than everyone else and we chatted and laughed at the kids playing sing star together. She and I played too. We sang Chasing Cars (one of her favorites at the time). That was the last time I saw her. The year has gone by so very fast. It feels as if God has put it on warp speed just to help us all make it through it.
The kids had a great visit from Santy Claus the next morning. I made a small Christmas dinner for the three of us (Gavin had his usual) and spent the rest of the day opening boxes and loading Ipods. So that's it in a nutshell.
We're still looking for Gavin...we haven't seen hm since Christmas morning. Every once in a while there will be a flash through the kitchen that kind of resembles him, but it quickly disappears down the hallway into his room.
