Where's The Tree?

My office has been taken over by boxes (Thanks PCA)! Wonder what will be in these boxes when I am finished?? A very cool gift!

Can you even see my Christmas Tree??

Mystery Solved

I found a surprise under our tree this morning. Santa had been there and had left me a gift:

As I unwrapped the box, I found another wrapped box inside - several times. When I finally got to the last box, here is what I found:

The blob has been safely returned. Thanks for all the fun Kim and Patrick. Funny thing is that I never suspected Kim at all. I was blaming it all on the boys. Nice work.

Merry Christmas!

Virginia's Letter

Over at Letters of Note, you can see the original letter from eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon written in 1897 and sent to The Sun asking if there really is a Santa Claus.

Priceless.

Oh, and found it via Matt.

131-Piece Christmas Tree

Jayme received her Christmas gift from her grandma and grandpa last night. Here is what we have been working on today:

Only 684 more pieces to go until the Winter Toy Shop is finished. Oh my.

Santa Is Following, I Mean Watching

The Decorated and Not So Decorated Doors

Today Mark Evans and I were the judges for the Christmas Decorating Door Contest at Coldwell Banker King Thompson Real Estate. Some doors were beautifully decorated and some, well, let's just say they must have been busy selling homes today.

Here are my favorites:

The winner - Melissa Johnston

I thought this one was very creative. Must have taken Hugh hours to come up with this!

And this was found on Karen Riley's door. It was probably the most interesting of them all, considering I don't recall ever golfing with Santa, Mark or Karen. Not quite sure that's my body either. . .

Thanks for including me in today's festivities Jeffrey. Merry Christmas!

Why Was I Not Invited??

Check out this group of holiday shoppers. There are at least two Chamber members in this shot.

Quote of the Day

"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." ~ Oren Arnold

The Capitol Christmas Tree

The Capitol Christmas tree in Washington , D.C. , is decorated with 3,000
ornaments that are the handiwork of U.S. schoolchildren.

Beautiful.

The First Gift Has Arrived

THANK YOU HARRY & DAVID

Christmas Memories

Decked out in her new pj's and iPod, my youngest daughter is catching some zzzzz's after a long day of hard play.

My family had a wonderful Christmas. The big hit this year was the Wii - thanks to the Newark Rotary Auction. I was the successful bidder of the Wii system. I probably should apologize to Mike Shearer for hovering over the sheet and increasing my bid every minute or so. Anyway, with the Wii system purchased early, I had a get a few games to go with it. One of my daughters wanted the American Idol game, so I went to Best Buy in Heath and purchased it. They started playing with it around 11 am and we didn't shut it down until the last guest left our house at 10 p.m. Wow was that entertaining. Even my mom participated and sang Islands In The Stream, which didn't score high with Simon. Turns out the trio of men in my den scored pretty high with their version of Imagine. That was an unexpected surprise. And my rendition of Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Till You Get Enough was very interesting. It's hard to sing like a boy who sounds like a girl.

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas filled with love and laughter and one that created some lasting memories.

UPDATE: Thanks to Andrew Guanciale - I have a goal now.

Thanks Dude.

Merry Christmas!

From our office to yours - Merry Christmas!

What Christmas Is All About

I have one Christmas show that I watch EVERY year. No, it's not White Christmas or It's A Wonderful Life, although I do love that one. I am a simple girl. I am a big fan of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Here are the two reasons why: the message and the music.

Enjoy.



Ahhh, Vince Guaraldi:


And THE song:



Merry Christmas!

It's The Thought That Counts - NOT

Last night was the big family Christmas party at the Hottinger's. A total of 30 people gathered at the house my husband grew up in on the east side of Newark. We had a wonderful time. Great food; lots of laughs and of course some fun games.


My brother-in-law surprised me with a DVD he made from the Journey concert we went to in the fall (see my post on this here). Journey is my all-time favorite band. So we started talking about the concert and I noticed that my sister-in-law had this odd look on her face. She looked at me and asked if Chris (her husband) told me about my birthday present. I responded no and then asked what she was talking about.

She had this big smile on her face and said that after the concert she stood in this long line and purchased a Journey t-shirt for me as a birthday gift. I lit up. I've always wanted one. I asked her where it was, expecting it to be around the house somewhere. She responded quietly: "I wore it. Several times. Sorry." So she's keeping it. So much for the saying It's the Thought That Counts - I want that shirt!

The Gift to Unbutton

Thank you Patrick for the lovely gift from the Groundhog ornament exchange. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time - sorry I couldn't make it.

My favorite part about your gift was the button ribbon - I actually had to unbutton it to get it open.

Thanks again!

The Tower

Thanks Harry & David. And thanks to my dad for the beautiful Poinsettia.

A Holiday Message From ProLogis

Thank you, ProLogis.

Warm and Happy

I have to admit something. Last week when a friend of mine told me that he is now listening to Christmas music, I thought it was a bit too early. He said it made him feel like "one of Santa's elf's" when he works in his work shop - read about it here. Well tonight I came across that radio station and my middle daughter's eyes were sparkling as we both belted out Have A Holly, Jolly Christmas together. She said it made her feel "warm and happy inside." I must admit, it did me too.

Thanks Patrick.