Maybe we'll start Christmas shopping

It is a little unnerving when I look at the calendar and realize Christmas is in three weeks. We haven't done any shopping. Nada. Zilch. I haven't even bought cards, much less gotten pictures ready and envelopes addressed. I make it sound like this is not the norm, but it is. Before we had kids we did all our shopping on Christmas Eve. It was more of a challenge. Now, we feel like we have to have things ready ahead of time. One week is ahead of time, right?

I love Fridays. The kids don't have homework, and our evenings don't feel rushed. Jacob was pretty excited because he got a Mario ball out of the treasure box at school today. They earn coins for behaving well at school, and on Fridays they use their coins to get something from the treasure box. Joshua is wearing his jacket that we thought was gone forever. He lost it at school several weeks ago. Everyday we would ask him if he looked in the lost and found. He insisted it wasn't there. I had given up and decided we would not see it again. A few days ago he brought it home. He said they had taken all the things from the lost and found and laid them out on tables so it was easier to see everything. That pretty much confirms my theory that he hadn't looked very hard for it before. I am just glad he found it.

We don't have much going on today. I am pumping the water off the pool tarp. Luckily, John loosened the straps and allowed the tarp to rest on the water. That means that when it rained the grommets didn't have as much pull on them so they didn't rip from the weight of the water. We are learning. As much fun as John was having making new holes and putting in new grommets I am glad we found a workable solution. The tarp may last for a few seasons after all.

Tomorrow night we are going to my work's Christmas party. I am looking forward to it. Today several coworkers were discussing some of the outfits people wore last year. A completely orange suit with matching hat was mentioned. Someone said they are certain there will be at least one all white suit and one all purple. I am thinking I will have to take my camera.