the pros and cons of today

Let's start with the good, shall we?

I got round 1 of my baking done yesterday.  Woot!

Ellie likes to help some though, so I thought I would save gingerbread to do with her next week.

Cookies for Santa, perhaps.

My husband walked in with a HUGE bag from Anthropologie this week, put it in his closet, and told me not to peek.

Just knowing it is in there makes me happy.

Did I ever mention how much I love that man?

My Christmas shopping is done.

I have 4 more presents to wrap and I will be done with presents altogether.

Can I get an Amen?

I am pretty sure a basement date is happening this weekend.

My favorite kind of date.

Yesterday I got 9 Christmas cards in the mail.

It was a tremendous mail day!

Christmas cards are one of my favorites things about Christmas.

My mantle makes me happy this year.

Simple. Simple. Simple.

Now, the not so good.

Someone won't stay out of the Christmas tree.

Someone is ruining it.

Someone is leaving little kitty claw marks in all the presents.

Someone is scattering ornaments all over the house.

But I am not naming names.

 I have approximately 235 little messes like this around my house.

These little messes bug me to no end.

Here we have constuction paper to make a name tag for the teacher gift, very last minute this morning,

a random cat toy,

a dolphin puzzle that Benjamin brought last night,

and a filthy ipad, who's sole job righ now is to play Michael Buble's Christmas album.

I have to go to the grocery today.

Yuck and gag.

We seriously have no food in the house.

Ellie's lunch today was embarrasing.

But what's even worse, is that I don't really know what I am planning for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning meals, or what I am taking for Christmas at Paiges, so this is just a "get us by" trip.

You know, bread and milk, some fresh fruit, and enough meals to last us through the weekend.

I don't like "get us by" trips.

They seem so pointless.

I finished my book and nothing on my shelf looks appealing.

Which means I am not reading a book right now.

This is not okay, people.

I have 26 loads of laundry to do.

Ok, not really, but there's a lot.

I still don't understand how my teeny tiny family makes so much damn laundry.

All that baking means we have my favorite cookies in the house.

Hello spritz and snickerdoodles.

Some people might consider this a pro.

However, did you know a  double recipe for snickerdoodles calls for 2 sticks of butter and a cup of crisco?

Combine that with the spritz cookies and I used 8 sticks of butter yesterday.

Yeah.

Hello expanding backside.

Thank the holy mistletoe, most of it is going away.

And Ellie's room.

I have given up on this space in my house.

It is perpetually messy.

I have decided for all concerned, it would be better to just let it be.

For now.

Happy Friday Friends!