I’ll Be Home For Christmas…

I’M BACK!

This Means:

1)      I no longer have to sleep sitting upright. 

2)      My cough drop dependency is nearly non-existent.

3)      The blankets piled up in the middle of the night are due to preference and not Mom’s Orders

Task #18: Finish Taking Pictures for Gift

            How do you take your parent’s pictures without telling them what you are up to???  You tell me…  I gave up trying to figure out how to tell them to get dressed so I could take their picture without actually telling them to get dressed so I could take their picture.  So I spilled that I needed it for a gift.  I know, I know, major fail on my part.

Task #19: Apply for Student Visa

            Lots of blanks to fill, a painful payment, and click of the “finish” button later… and I was all done with the student visa application! I found out today that it is processed and complete which means….. I CAN OFFICALLY BOOK MY FLIGHT!!!

Task #20: Find Christmas Recipe Ideas

            After some bonding time with the Food Network I have decided to contribute a handsome Pesto Pasta Dish and Bruschetta! Yummm

Task #21: Miracle on 34^th Street

            This is a must!  You just can’t complete a Christmas To Do List without it.  It was sooo good.  Lived up to all its glory and then some.

Task #22: Complete a Packing List

            12 pages equates to one year worth of clothing and whatnots.  My masterful planning is complete.  Now I have the hard part left to do which is to actually pack them.

  

With only a Month Left before Leaving I found out:

1)      I can get my sisters to do annoying servant-like tasks just by speaking the following words: “In a month I’ll be gone for a whole YEAR!...Pleassse”

2)      Finding good deals on flights hurts my eyes, head, and wallet

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas...

Task #17: Pictures Pictures Pictures

102 seems to be the magic number because despite meds, fluids, and rest my body consistently remains at the same temperature.  Consistency is suppose to be a good thing right???

Well, I took a little time out of bed rest to finish this task.  I’m not going to lie…It took some contemplation and much will power to get myself up and ready to go.  

Today’s task was all about capturing and preserving memories.  My mother is always complaining how we haven’t taken “real” pictures of the family in quite some time.  So I decided to take care of this.  I had the siblings dress in their best for a little photo shoot (minus me, though the blood shot eyes, deep set eye bags, and ill stricken face would have made for some humor).

Tomorrow’s task is going to be far more tricky.  How do you get your parents to dress up and take pictures without letting them in on your surprise gift???  Hmmm That is what I will be contemplating tonight.  Until then, I am back to my bed joined by a cup of hot tea and the overwhelmingly satisfying smell of vics vapor rub.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Task #16: Classic Movie Marathon

Being Sick forced me to switch up a few tasks.  So I moved up this movie marathon and pushed back my library adventures.

I spent the entire day with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.  It’s as if Turner Classic Movies knew I would be watching.  So my fellow sickling of a sister and I bonded over packs of saltines and the beauty of a black and white film. 

An Andy Hardy Marathon made this task easy.

I wish everyday life was like this.  Then it would be filled with singing, dancing, quick dialogue, and innocent romance.  Perhaps I should make this happen, and go to the grocery store, dance down the isles, sing to the cashier… Ya, that’s not happening. I’ll leave it to the films.

I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas…

Task #13: Create a Christmas Wonderland Indoors

Task #14: Watch all of the Jurassic Parks Back to Back

Task #15: Plant a Garden

The combination of a fickle wireless connection with that of being ill stricken has prohibited my daily submission of story time into the world of the Blog.

I probably should have seen this coming being that I live in a house currently contaminated by the cold, flu, and strep.  

However, it didn’t stop me from completing my tasks.

#13) I channeled my inner Martha Stewart to dress the table, put some more finishing touches on the tree, and light the room.  It’s ridiculous the amount of fun I had decorating the dinning room.  Thank goodness for the extra boxes of decorations I stumbled upon while organizing the garage.  I will have to figure out how to post pictures to show you my creation muhahaha cackle cackle cackle!

#14) It’s been awhile since I’ve spent some quality time with Jurassic Park. 

In completing this task I found:

1)      My dad and I can still quote most everything. He is the Best Jurassic Park Buddy EVER!

2)      The more I watched it the more I laughed (Unfortunately not during parts that were suppose to be humorous)

3)      The dinosaurs were not like I remembered

4)      Despite the silliness of it all, I still love it

#15) A garden in the Middle of December?!?! Ya, it probably wont grow and even if it did it will be a surprise.  You see, we get these seeds in the mail every now and then and whoever decided to open them up and dump them all together into one drawer…probably not the brightest of ideas, then again, neither is planting a mystery garden during winter.  If it produces anything I will be sure to inform. The task was to “plant” not to “grow” therefore I am crossing this off!

Please have snow and Mistletoe, and Presents Under the Tree…

Task # 12: Wrap Christmas Gifts

I naturally followed my long day of Christmas shopping by a gift wrapping marathon.  My room is an explosion of Christmas paper, ribbons, and bows.  I plan on cleaning up tomorrow.

A week or so ago I saw this Christmas “How To” video. It showed how I could use plain brown paper to wrap the present, but using ribbon, pinecones, ornaments, and foliage could transform the seemingly dull into extraordinarily festive and exceedingly beautiful.

I gave it a go and what I found was this:  I am the reason they make pretty printed wrapping paper.  No matter how many bows I put on my gift just remained boring.  And you could most clearly tell that I had absolutely no clue what I was doing.  It did not come even remotely close to the lovely gifts in the video. 

So what did I do???  I gave up, gave in, took a trip to the store, and bought the wrapping paper.  I have to say that the penguin and polar bear playing in the snow make a more festive gift than my poor excuse for an attempt.

My parents’ gifts were the victims of my trials and errors because I figured they are obligated to love me no matter how poor my wrapping skills are. Luckily by the end I was able to create a decent looking gift!

All I Want for Christmas is You...

Task #11: Buy All Christmas Gifts

Its 11pm and I just got home from a long day of gift hunting.  It's a jungle out there and finding gifts for each family member can be pretty intimidating.  I cannot surrender the details of my purchases for fear that I will give away the surprise.  After all, watching the facial expressions is the best part about gift time!

Walking from shop to shop while carrying bags definitely provided me with my workout for the day.  Today just reinforced my feelings that shopping for girls is much more fun than shopping for guys.  Let's face it, after the age of 6 boys just become difficult to shop for.

Anywho, due to the secrecy of this task, I am going to have to keep this one short.  If you have yet to do your gift shopping I wish you well.  Don't forget to wear comfortable shoes!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas…

Task #10:  Fill out a box of Christmas Cards

Several hours sitting on the living room floor writing Christmas cards left me with a cramped hand, but it was well worth seeing the stack of envelops filled and ready to go.  I have to admit, I had to repeat a few messages because coming up with 50 original things to write....well, that just wasn’t within my brain power’s jurisdiction. 

They are all on their way into the hands of people I've never met.  Complete strangers? Well, I just like to think of us all as distant neighbors.

If I were going to do like Julie Andrews and sing about my favorite things, letters would definitely be mentioned a time or two.  It’s hard to explain the absolute excitement that accompanies receiving mail that doesn’t contain bold print telling me I could win big.  So, the way I figure, if I can potentially make someone’s day or even moment, then my time and ink was well worth it.

So Today’s Findings are as Follows:

1)      I now have the ability to draw Christmas figures like nobody’s business.  Christmas trees, a well dressed snowman, snowflake, you name it!

2)      I can transfer large helpings of chocolate kisses, wheat thins, and fruit snacks from bowl to mouth with ease.  I could be a magician the way I make them disappear.

3)      When purchasing pens from the dollar store, don’t expect them to be long lasting