My Holiday Ruby Tuesday

We didn't get holiday cards done this year.  We didn't put up a Christmas tree.  But we did take a few minutes to dress up our home on the outside.  Happy Holidays!

To view other Ruby Tuesday photos, click here.

Quality Time

Diva is spending the week with her Gramma, my mom.  Normally she'd be sleeping here tonight, since I don't have to work, but I'm so far behind on things I told her we could have a sleepover on another weekend. I really need to catch up on my housework and get my medical bills in order before tax time.  This week and next will be crazy busy at the office so this weekend was my best chance.  It's hard for me to say no to Diva, especially  now.  Spending time with that kid is my favorite thing to do, and I feel like our play dates have been too few and too far between lately.  We both need some quality time together.

With that in mind, when Diva called me after supper to ask me to take her to see the holiday lights at a local park, I didn't have to think twice.  Fifteen minutes later I was bundled up and on my way.  We drove through the display, then parked the van and walked through it.  Of course we had to stop for some hot chocolate, as we do every year.  The only problem with that is, every time I tried to take a photo of this kid, she had the cocoa cup in her face:

It makes me just a little sad to see this little girl, who used to have to be lifted into Santa's sleigh, now climbing in easily on her own.  At least she still believes in Santa, though I'll be surprised if that's still the case next Christmas.  Ah well....for now, she's still my little girl.

Holidazzle

Walker is a December baby.  Our first year together, I planned a birthday weekend for him that became one of our favorite holiday traditions.  We take a couple days off work and head to Minneapolis for a long weekend.  We like to stay downtown, and we always attend the Holidazzle.  If you've never lived in a cold climate (or maybe if you have), you might think we're nuts to stand outside in December, at night, to watch a parade, but it's so pretty and we have so much fun.  All you need to do is dress in layers and grab a hot drink and you're fine.  It only runs about thirty minutes.  Jack Frost can't even find you in the crowd in that amount of time.

Last year, we lost my beautiful Aunt Henrietta to cancer the weekend before our getaway.  Honestly, at that point I didn't really want to go.  But my brother and sister-in-law were bringing my nephews up, and we didn't want to miss their first Holidazzle experience, so off we went.  And I'm glad we did.  We spent some time with my Aunt Nade while we were in the city, we had some great conversation on the drive, and we were able to step away from the sadness for a bit. 

This year, it's just not going to happen.  I have radiation treatments every weekday until December 23rd, and I'm too sore to ride in a car with a seat belt on for that long.  Even with a pillow between the belt and my chest (thank you, again, Janine, for that suggestion - it really helps!) I think it's too long.  Add to that the budget busting medical bills and the case is closed.  We're staying home.

Since I won't have Holidazzle 2010 photos to share with y'all, here are some of the floats we saw in 2009: