Tonight's Ten; or in other words "randomocity"

1. I got out the Christmas decor this morning, and slowly put things up here and there around the house. Although, it's feeling a little forced this year. I think partly because we still don't have snow on the ground, and it just doesn't feel very wintery or Christmasy. It's just a little over three weeks away though. YIKES!

2. I am not looking forward to all the stuff H & D will acquire over Christmas, especially on the heels of two family birthday parties and a huge (27 total) friend birthday party for Holland. I seriously don't want her to have that much stuff, and I think this year she was totally overwhelmed. I have found a couple of partially opened packages that have just been abandoned in random places. This says something. I am really struggling with how to handle it. We have bagged up bags and bags of stuff to donate, and other bags and bags of stuff to toss. It just keeps coming though, and the worst part of it all is that I feel like she doesn't have a sense of appreciation for things. Everything is RIGHT NOW and JUST BECAUSE so when she does get a "special" gift she doesn't quite know that it's special. I've got to come up with a plan, but I'm not sure what it's going to be. I am totally open to suggestions!

3. I have five photo shoots scheduled this weekend! Yippee. I kinda feel like my friend, Mary, except that she schedules 5 in a day!

4. My "Faces of Hope" calendar is finished and ready for order and delivery! We have 1000 to sell so if you are interested in buying one or giving one as a gift, please let me know! I will personally deliver it to you, or put it in the mail! I am pretty proud of the whole thing, but I must admit it was the drive and passion of my friend, Holly, the founder of the ISAAC foundation, that motivated me. I had offered to do something similar for another group in the area and there just wasn't any enthusiasm about it so I let it fizzle. I'm so glad that I did because for one, I am a much better photographer now than I was then, and for two, I really, really believe in what the ISAAC foundation is doing and I am so glad to be a part of it.

5. Dylan is going to be 18 months old tomorrow. My Oh My! Where does the time go?

6. I received an email yesterday from someone who found my bedrest blog after doing a google search. She wrote to me about her situation and told me how encouraging my blog had been. She thanked me for telling my story so candidly and leaving it out there for others to read. It was so refreshing to hear that people are still benefiting from that whole ordeal of mine! I have received quite a few emails and messages over the last year 1/2 from people who have stumbled upon Bedrest Boutique, and I continue to be shocked at their responses. It's nice to be reminded that we may be touching lives even without realizing it.

7. For the last four years, the bottom of my Christmas tree has just been a wreck! Holland has taken ornaments off and put them back on again since she was a toddler. Last year, she was a little more elaborate in her taking them on and off as she would work them into her "stories" that she continuously creates and narrates. I would find the ornaments in random places interspersed with princesses, stuffies, and playmobil figures. I was looking forward to this year being a little different, and hoping that I could talk Holland into leaving the tree be, but I forgot about Dylan. So I guess the cycle begins again.....

8. I'm so excited for Zag basketball! They are ranked number 5 this week after winning the Old Spice Tournament and beating Tennessee. I felt somewhat like a traitor when I cheered for them instead of the VOLS, but I'm realizing more and more each year that my southern roots are getting shorter and shorter.

9. Holland was playing "baby Jesus" tonight which meant she was Mary and she and Joseph were having a baby. She informed me that she had the baby all swaddled up, although she wasn't using a boy baby, she was using a girl baby instead. When I peeked inside the swaddling clothing (actually a swaddled furry, winter hat), she had a groovy girl playing the role. I didn't say a word!

10. Facebook is a crazy,wonderful, weird, and freaky world of long lost connections. I had a message this week from a boy that I went to a prom with twenty something years ago! I didn't know the boy, but he was from a local preppy all boys school and I thought it would be cool to say I had gone to the "McCallie Prom". I was a hostess in a restaurant and this boy and some buddies came in one night and were having dinner. They were kinda flirting and he wrote a check the box note on a cocktail napkin asking me to go the prom. I'm pretty sure I said no that night, but must have given him my phone number anyway. Needless to say, I ended up at the prom with him. We didn't dance a single dance. I think we walked around the grounds of the facility for a few hours and then left early. I am afraid I was a terrible date. (who am I kidding? I KNOW I was a terrible date). I have often felt bad about the whole deal. I was so totally shocked when he sent me a message this week. What a crazy cyber world we live in. So, I did reply to his message and I even embedded a sincere apology. I don't totally get the facebook etiquette thing though - so now what happens? It's too weird, really it is.