I think I have watched one too many Charlie Brown specials this holiday season. But  I have to say that I still chuckle every time Lucy calls someone a blockhead. My kids never seem  to be as excited as I am when one is on but I line them up on the couch just the same.

So last night we were watching “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown,” and it occured to me that sometimes when I am talking to my husband,  to his ears it sounds like the teacher’s voice, “waa, waa, waa.”   He either doesn’t hear or is selective in listening to what I have to say.  It is especially obvious when I ask him to do something and only part of it gets done and then he claims he didn’t hear me say that part.  In  his defense, he says he gets a lot of “input.” 

I feel a New Year’s resolution coming on:   learning to deliver important information in a way he can hear, sort of like an ESPN sports anchor reading the highlights.

So far our Christmas vacation has been quite an adventure. I learned that it is much easier to wrap presents when you have scotch tape. My husband and I had to make due with duct tape..which I do not recommend.  It is also easier when you have scissors to cut it and not your teeth.  Apparently our third grader used an entire roll of  tape to wrap A present and left us empty handed.

We had last minute shopping for stocking stuffers.  My brother stopped in our local bakery for  a coffee and sampled the star shaped cookies only to learn that they were for the four-legged friends!  Christmas eve we watched Ham as a cow in the church pagaent.  She was standing next to two donkeys who were trying to rip eachother’s fuzzy heads off.  Then there was the angel who burst into tears half way through…

We headed home for a lovely dinner only to find we had locked ourselves out.  On our way to get a spare key from my mother-in-law, my husband clipped a parked car and broke it’s side mirror.

But  nothing compares to the adventure of watching the kids open their presents on Christmas morning.

Why is it that when I am Christmas shopping I can find nothing for the person I need to buy for, and tons of stuff I would like for myself? That is terrible… And I have to wrap up the shopping since we have a house full of family coming.

I had visions of working out and finishing last minute shopping, but my husband tells me he IS working today. Since he’s his own boss, I have a feeling he is secretly trying to escape the chaos in our house, the result of being stuck inside because of -30 degree wind chill. So cleaning the house like a mad woman will have to count for cardio.

Apparently I did not buy waterproof snowpants because every time I turn around there are wet ones strewn across the basement floor. The other night I was picking them up to throw them into the dryer, when I found a small stuffed animal. “Boy, that stuffed animal looks like a real mouse,” I thought to myself. Just as I was about to pick it up I started to question whether it was a real mouse. I called up the basement steps to my helpful husband who came running down with a teeny tiny butter dish..the kind you use to melt butter on the stove. It wasn’t moving but we noticed it breathing. I sprang into action and grabbed one of my handy rubbermaid containers. I flung out the mittens and hats and my husband put it on top of the mouse.  Great, now we had a mouse in a house with no bottom to it.   Then we found an old pizza box in the recyling bin to slide under it and take Mr. Mouse outside to find a new home.   I just hope he didn’t leave his family behind.

Anyone have any time to spare? I didn’t think so since yesterday I saw at least two of you pushing your cart through the toy aisles of Target, eyes glazed over. I’ve almost made it through my list.  Now if I could just get to the post office…

With all of the dreary financial news lately, I’m wondering what items you’ve cut from your budget or more importantly, what do you refuse to give up because it’s good for your soul? I would definitely not give up my membership to Lifetime Fitness, if only to take a shower in peace without little ones running into the bathroom.  And since the sun rarely shines during the Chicago winter, I couldn’t possible give up going to see Anthony for some streaks of sun in my hair.

Someone must be giving up their Starbucks venti lattes since their profits are down 97 percent. My dear friend Laurie refuses to give up Botox because when she tries to frown, it won’t allow it!  What ever the little things are that make you smile..hold fast and put them on your non-negotiable list.