Time sure does fly sometimes!!

The month of December was just a blur. It seems like just yesterday it was Thanksgiving and BAM it's now almost mid-Jan and I have a hard time remembering what I did in all that time.

I thought today I would share some pictures from the last few weeks.

First is DS #1 before his Winter concert at school:


Both boys on Christmas Eve:


Me and the boys on Christmas Eve:


I did have a big XS finish. I finished my Christmas Flourishes. I had hoped to complete it before Christmas but with the problems with the beads set me back and then I just got too wrapped out in the holidays. But here she is:

Designed by Nora Corbett, Copyright Mirabilia Designs

Here are all my completed ornaments for 2005:


More:


A couple of other finishes:

designed by Jenifer Aikman-Smith, copyright Dragon Dreams designs

and one more that I just finished last night:


It's a Lori Birmingham design and took less than a day to complete. I even sewed it by hand!! It's a bit tiny but I think he is cute.

Not much else to say. Things are going about the same. The holidays were nice. All the gifts were well received. Me and DH have been having fun playing some of the video games we bought the boys(mainly Star Wars Battlefront) and at night after they are in bed we've been playing together which is fun!

He continues to really like his job and it's a good fit for him. The company he got laid off from this past July was sold just before it was to file bankruptcy. DH heard through the grapevine that lots of people were laid off, salaries were cut as well as benefits are not so great anymore(that is one thing I miss they had awesome medical/dental/optical). At the time of his lay off it seemed like the worst thing in the world but I guess it was really a blessing. We are waiting for March when DH get's his first bonus check and we will see from there.

The money situation is still dicey. We've been keeping the house pretty cool and down right chilly over night. We bought everyone a new blanket this year and instead of turning up the heat we put on a sweater, or throw a blanket over our lap. I was sick of being cold until we got our most recent heating bill which covered the month of December when the temps were unusually cold and it was actually $6 less than our bill last year so I guess being chilly has been paying off. We've also been really reminding the kids about turning lights and TV off when they leave the room so I was able to save some money on the electric bill to so I was happy about that. Luckily the boys hang out in our finished basement when they are home from school. It's a well insulated, dry basement so once it gets warm, it stays that way. I also have a little stitching "nest" on my couch where I tend to stitch or watch TV at. I have a small space heater that warms up that area so I haven't been as cold as we could.

I'm still plugging away on my CC, sending them money every month. We did finally have our land line cancelled so I'm not talking to them on a daily basis anymore...THANK GOODNESS for that. I did try to talk to their special collections once again and again their idea of a reasonable payment plan and mine are different and theirs is just out of our reach, especially if we want to eat too. It sucks because if I'm not on a payment plan then the fee's continue to rack up, at this point close to 1/3 of what they say I owe them is all fee's. Still it could be worse and I'll get them paid off eventually, I may be 100 but they will be paid. It's the best we can do.