thursday 13 #7

Thirteen Things Carrie is excited about for Christmastime! 1. VA.CA.TION!!!!! it's only three days that i'm taking (i have christmas and the day after off anyway) but having all next week off to chill with the family will be heaven!!! i'm counting down the hours. 2. Honeybaked Ham for Christmas dinner!! Jerry got a gift certificate for $50 to the Honeybaked store from work (he actually works somewhere where the bosses give gifts!) so that will be christmas dinner. yum-o! 3. My family is out of town!!! Now, i know that sounds mean, but honest-to-God, it makes it so much easier. My sister and her hubby are going to oregon, and my mom is going to D.C. to see my other sis. i love to spend time with them, but for the holidays it's just so much easier to be at home, rather than driving all over creation to see mom, sister, and in laws, who live all over this huge city, and who are rarely willing to drive to OUR house. well, my sister is pretty good about it, but my mom really beleives it takes longer for her to drive to our house than it does for us to drive to her house. go figure. 4. 12 days of Christmas gift i'm doing for Jerry. i got this idea from Kelli in the Mirror. i'm going to give jerry one gift a day for the 12 days until epiphany, each one representing a part of the song - you know, partriges in pear trees, turtle doves, french hens, etc. because i'm his true love and all. so stay tuned as i give updates on how much he digs or does not dig this present! 5. gooey butter cake. i'm making one for christmas. it's paula deen's recipe. need i say more? i'll post the recipe later. did i mention that it calls for 2 sticks of butter? drool. 6. seeing the faces of my kiddos as they open gifts. sadie's too young, of course, to know what's going on, but aidan is really very excitable these days, as he learns and sees and remembers stuff. he went cuckoo over the tree and the lights already. he's going to flip when he sees the v-tec video games we got him. 7. mulled cider and/or wine. we've made this every year since jerry and i started dating. it's a tin of spices from williams-sonoma, and you basically just simmer your cider or red wine with them for 20 minutes or so. makes the house smell awesome, and it warms your body, mind and heart. defines the smell of christmas to me. 8. my last paycheck of the year will come right after christmas, but it will also reflect the raise i just got! it's a biannual merit raise, nothing too big. it amounts to about $40 per paycheck, but hey, it's $40 more than we had before. 9. i actually sent christmas cards this year!!! i've been planning on it for years, and even bought a bunch of wallet pics two years ago, but i never got around to sending them. i just put the last of them in the mail this morning. i rock!!! 10. did i mention that i get to stay home all next week? yes, i'll be cleaning up the house after all the eating and gift opening, and home with all four kiddos, but at least i won't be at work!! 11. going to mass at our churh, with just our family. historically, we have gone to my mother in law's parish for mass, together with her, and my brothers-in-law and their families, but noah is scheduled to alter serve on christmas eve, so we'll be going to our church, st. helen. i much prefer spending christmas in our parish, among our friends and community. plus st. lukes is more contemporary, and they play weird music. i'm just sayin'. 12. we actually have enough money this year so we don't have to skimp on the gifts for the kids. no, we're not rolling in dough, but we have been so blessed with jerry's new job this year, that we're finally able to see the light at the end of the debt tunnel. and christmas will not be all on credit this year. thank god! 13. finally, i'm excited to wish all my bloggy friends merry christmas! i've only been blogging for a few months, and i love this great way to gab and converse with freinds, new and old. peace be with you all, and have a blessed christmas!!!!!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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