Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Head Above Water


I am still here...life has just gotten in the way of posting.  Business is brisk with two weeks left until some downtime and our regular life just seems so busy as well.  In the past 9 days:

Hubby left yesterday and returns late tonight on business trip #2 this month.  He is exhausted but we have no clients booked until afternoon so hopefully we both get to sleep in a little. We have signed 2 more contracts since I last posted!  He will leave on the final business trip/family trip of the year one week tomorrow - we still have a couple of large projects to finish before then but we are on track.

The rain stopped on Saturday long enough for us to decorate the outside of the house.  We usually only put up the white lights we have had for years but hubby decided he wanted more this year so we invested in 5 strands of blue lights for our tree - we managed to decorate it with a ladder and a long pole contraption that hubby rigged up.  This is in honor of 2 of the kids spending Christmas with us - that hasn't happened since before hubby was divorced as even when we lived in Alberta we only ever got to see them on Christmas Eve, never Christmas day.

I managed to decorate the inside of the house and even went over to my Mom's this afternoon to help her put up her tree.  All decorating is now complete - all I have left are Christmas cards, a tiny bit of shopping, wrapping and baking.  Good thing because I am bone tired :) I hope to get the cards done this weekend to be mailed Monday which is plenty of time to get them to my relatives in the USA.

The Christmas party for the company I used to work at that we have been invited to is this Friday night.  Fortunately last week I found 2 pieces of clothing to go with a skirt that I already own - at the thrift store of course for a grand total of $9 so now I am looking forward to our night out with my friends.

Other than that there has been house cleaning/cooking/thrifting/dog walking and various other duties that make the last 9 days a distant blur.  The upside of all this activity is little time to grocery shop, therefore it looks like I still have over $100 in the grocery budget with only two days to go - woohoo!  Life should slow down soon but in the mean time don't worry if I don't post, I am here drinking amaretto and making cookies between work projects.



19 comments:

  1. Of every sentence in your post - and I read every one - my FAVORITE was the last!!! You are so dear! And real!
    Congrats on business going well! That's important!
    We are in the throes of decorating and it is NOT for the faint of heart! However, as we do this, the weather is warm and our French doors are open. NOT even ONE frost night so far!!! Weird. I do love a little cold weather!
    Have fun at your party and dont forget a pic of you in your outfit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Linda! We might get our first snow this week - normally looked forward to here except hubby flies on Wednesday and me on Wednesday so I hope that doesn't screw things up here.

      Delete
  2. Sounds like the good busy. Self employment is not for lightweights so happy yours is successful.Take care and enjoy your in between times.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely not for the faint hearted, that is for sure. Thanks and you too!

      Delete
  3. I love your blue lights! We finally got rain after not having any for over 40 days. It was warm and balmy yesterday. Pretty weird. I put up the tree (no ornaments yet though), a lit garland on the mantle and two small lit trees on either side of the front door outside. Cookie making will happen when I'm off for Christmas break.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like you are feeling a lot more Christmassy than last year - so glad things are better.

      Delete
  4. Biscuits and booze, you're my kind of woman.
    Glad business is going well.
    Yay to finding party wear cheap! x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh I remember those Christmas's when I was working and trying to get everything done. I was in healthcare so we never closed-I always worked Christmas Eve evening so had to be sure I was good to go as far as family Christmas was concerned. We have family for Christmas this year-first time all together for some time. I'm going over the top with decorating-fortunately I have a great stash built up and if I run out there is always the charity shop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I almost always worked Christmas Eve day when I was working, really glad we don't have to anymore. Tons of great things at the charity shops - see my next post!

      Delete
  6. You are really going to love your down time. So hard to believe it is December tomorrow. Great job on the blue lites, very professional job.

    ...now I need to buy some Amaretto.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am a bad (or good depending on how you look at it) influence. Fortunately Mexican liquor stores are amazing and you likely can get it there.

      Delete
  7. Love the blue lights! Your business results are amazing. So happy for you & your husband - you guys have really built up a huge amount of business in a short period of time. Make sure you also get an opportunity to rest. Sounds like you have that planned in the upcoming weeks. You need that time for your physical & mental battery recharging. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. It is a busy time of year. Our friend who lives across the hall in Bellingham invited us for Christmas dinner (we always go south to spend the holiday with her). that means I'll only cook for Christmas Eve. That's usually a simple buffet of finger type foods. I already got my Norwegian goat cheese for Christmas morning to go with raisin bread. I used to make Yulekaga fruit bread. Maybe I'll try again this year since we have to go south a bit early so I can visit the dentist. - Margy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yummy, that fruit bread sounds great. I don't mind cooking at Christmas, I just pace myself and have done enough turkeys now that they generally come out good. Not sure what we are having for Christmas Eve yet though, kid #2 is flying in that afternoon so probably something easy.

      Delete
  9. I'd love to see a photo of your outfit! It is such a busy time - I don't know how I did it when I was working! I'm glad you give yourselves a couple of weeks off - one of the benefits of working for yourselves :) Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No photos were taken but fun was had by all (maybe too much fun). We need a couple R&R weeks, that is for sure. Can't keep going at this pace

      Delete
  10. The house looks beautiful despite you guys being so busy! I have a pile of clean laundry to clean, a fridge to clean, it's sad I'm awaiting the end of an event today (probably 11pm) so I can go home and deep clean and fold clothes, haha. Ah, time to myself ;)

    Good luck keeping on top of everything!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It's funny how sometimes cleaning your house when you are busy actually makes you feel better :)

      Delete