Christmas party and house tour

My DH had his 'office' Christmas party last evening. Usually he doesn't want to go to these but he has been working in a new area for almost 6 months and he enjoys the staff a lot - so we thought what the heck! We had a good time. They met at O'Charley's and had a section off to the side just for the party. One of the ladies organized an ornament exchange. DH received some ceramic bells shaped like Santa and a snowman. They are really cute and a great addition to the tree.

Of course, I ate too much. I had to get back on my WW menu plan today.
DD17 ate dinner at the church before working in the nursery for the mid-week activities. The dinners on Wednesday nights are planned by one of the ladies and many pitch in to help with the preparation, serving and clean up. It is really nice as it gives people a chance to fellowship and makes it easier for families to attend the activities without worrying about getting dinner before coming to the church.

So since DD17 was not home and DH had to work late (so I did too) I just made big salads when we got home. I wasn't hungry at the time so I put mine in the refrigerator and didn't eat until about 9 pm. I was busy working on Christmas cards and before you knew it, several hours had passed.

This is my favorite time of the day - everyone else is asleep and I am just relaxing in the easy chair next to the Christmas tree. I really have to get the rest of the decorations up. I need to get my cards done so I can put all my card making supplies away and put out my snowman dishes and other snowman collection in the dining room. And the snow village this year will be on top of the entertainment center. It is kind of high for young people to see but with the split level it will look nice from the dining room - looking down on the scene. I will have to post some photos when I am done decorating. I will have to be done by Saturday as some ladies from church are meeting here to go to a friend's house tour about an hour away. It is a beautiful Victorian home that she decorates to the max! It will be a fun drive to the tour just getting to know each other better- then on the way home the talk will probably be about all the Christmas trees and wonderful decorations. Our family attended an open house there last weekend and as usual it was amazing!

I had such a busy day at work that it was good therapy to come home and work on our Christmas cards. We mail out about 60 and also distribute about 120 at church. We have mail bins for each family that attends regularly. That makes it so easy to drop give cards to everyone. I started making cards last year - but then I used purchased cards to mail and made a postcard type for the church mail bins. This year I am making cards to mail and a similar post card for the mail bins at church. After Christmas I have to get busy on a scrapbook for DD17. I made one for DD18 last year for high school graduation so while doing hers I gathered photos for DD17 as well - so hopefully this one will go a little faster. I love going through the photos and seeing what sorts of groups I can put together.

Well - I think I am ready for bed. Should have gone earlier as I was awake at 4:15 this morning. It is now 11 pm. DD17 reminded us tonight that tomorrow she will be 17 1/2 years old. Hard to believe she will be 18 soon. DD18 will be 19 next week - she has finals all day long on her birthday -what a bummer! But then she will be coming home for almost a month. She is ready for a break.