Holiday Cheer and Good Times

So last weekend I had Scrapapalooza (as my dh calls it), by scrapping for 13 hours straight at Scrapbook Attack in Beaverton. It was soooooooooooooo fun! I got to get to know Marilyn (aka Melonscraps), a fellow CKMB’er. She was very generous and shared her Cricut with me. She also gave me tons of good technical advice about scrapbooking and was really patient with my endless questions. I am so glad to have made a new friend!

This week at work was so hard for me! My job remains a great struggle for me, but I really try to just be content there. It seems like God has me there for a purpose. And although it’s hard, I do love the 2-year olds that I teach, dearly. They embody absolute cuteness and they have me laughing all day long at the silly, clumsy things they do and say as they try and grow out of babyhood and into childhood. I was given some more responsibility at work this week, which may explain why it taxed my emotions. This situation remains a work in progress for me, but at least I haven’t given up and quit yet! I did cry when I got home from work last night. Anyway, I just couldn’t blog this week, my emotions were too overwhelmed. But now it’s the weekend, and here I am!

Last night was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo fun! We participated in a progressive dinner with some other young couples from church. It started at 6:30 and didn’t get over until about 11:30, due to some murphy’s law-esque mishaps. First we had appetizers, Italian brushetta and cheese and fruit. It went rather smoothly, although Jesse and I left a little early since we realized we hadn’t made anything for people to drink. We frantically ran around the grocery store looking for the ingredients for Shirley temples. We got home and he finished serving up the French onion soup while I made the drinks.

The next stop was the main course, where we exchanged white elephant gifts. That was very funny. A friend’s little girl, who was a newbie to the white elephant tradition, gave away something that she didn’t actually want to give up and ended up stealing it back at the end of the game. We were mostly pretty nice though, and let people keep the things they really had their heart set on. Jesse got an antique knife and I got a pretty 3-tiered wall sconce. Not too shabby.

Then we sat down for a Mexican feast. It was delicious!

By then it was about 10:00 and we still had the dessert course to get to! The couple who were hosting the dessert course realized the wife had forgotten her purse at our house. Jesse went with the husband to get the purse, and the rest of us went over to their house to wait for them. Well, the wife and I got there, and she said, “Oh no! My house keys are in my purse!” We had to get out of the nice warm car and tell everyone as they arrived what had happened. So we all had to wait out in the cold for Jesse and the husband to arrive! To make the time pass, we all huddled together in the middle of the apartment complex and sang Christmas Carols. It actually kept us warm, even me! (I had forgotten my coat at my house after the appetizer course). Then Jesse and the husband arrived and we could all crowd together in their apartment as she served us a scrumptious flourless chocolate cake on a graham cracker crust with toasted marshmallows on top-(her original creation)-aka “Smores Cake”!

The whole evening was such a delight. We laughed much, and just enjoyed the spontaneity of it all, especially the multi-cultural menu. (Which had not been discussed beforehand-obviously!)

So today I had to clean up the kitchen. (All that baked on cheese-ugh it took forever!) Mission accomplished though, and I plan to scrap while I wait for the fedex man, who is supposed to arrive at any time today with my new CUTTLEBUG!!!!!