Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig!

Alas, I am home again. We arrived home Saturday afternoon after a week long stay in the Wisconsin Dells. It was a wonderful vacation! We even got about a half inch of snow On Wednesday evening. It really felt cozy and festive! Even Black Friday was a traffic-free, crowd-less outing when we braved the Tanger Outlet, Kohl's, and even WalMart! I picked up some Christmas gifts and got some ideas for the girls. The three oldest are at the age where they really want clothes, shoes and grown up toys like new I-pods, digital cameras, laptops, and cell phones. It seems the ones they have are in need of upgrades... huh, who knew?!

Sad to say, Haley, our 10 year old confided to me that she no longer believes in Santa. Evidently her 13 year old sister found it necessary to share her own insight. This kind of makes me sad because it means she's approaching those teen years. That makes three. At least Lexi and Izzie will stay excited over the possibility of a rose cheeked chubby man dropping down the chimney to leave them surprises under the tree. For a few more years anyway!

As soon as we arrived home Craig set out to prepare a sermon for Sunday's 8 a, service. He preached while Pastor Ray fulfilled a prior ministry commitment. I attended the early service with him which I don't often do. I am glad I did. He brought a great and timely word!

Today was back to the "grind." It was pretty busy which made me grateful that I spent a few hours catching up on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately I am "it" when it comes to timekeeping at my workplace. Because of this I sometimes find that managers and employees get a little bit of an attitude when I have been out for a few days. I do my best to stay available" in some form even when I am on vacation. This time I had to rely on my cell phone because the dial up internet was not cutting it and I was not comfortable using a public computer in the lodge for business purposes. I deal with SSN and pay rates, very sensitive information, I have to be cautious. As far as some of the 'tude I received I just kept smilin' and took care of business!

I really have a lot to do in the upcoming few weeks. My plan is to lay out a detailed places of incentives for each day. Hopefully, prayerfully I will accomplish a majority of what I plan!

As always, Thanksgiving was glorious. I cooked up a storm. Yes, even though we were staying in a rented villa I pulled out all of the stops! The villa was stocked much better that I had anticipated. All of the appliances, pots, pans, dishes, utensils and serving dishes were provided. Even a grill with all of the tools! I had packed up some necessities just in case but only ended up using a stock pot and my favorite casserole dish. Despite the much less space than what I currently have in my kitchen, we had a bang up meal!

I took a lot of pictures but they have to be developed. I sent them to snapfish so I should get them back soon. I'll post then.

Well, I'm going to sign off and spend a little cuddle time with Craig. He has to go back to work tomorrow so we're going to end his last night"off" with a little time alone.... :)

Love & Blessings,