Today is Winter Solstice/Yule. Every year we have the same meal. Somehow we ended up with meat pie and vegetables several years back and that became our tradition. I kind of like it.

Of course, we can’t actually burn a Yule log according to tradition because, you know, we don’t want to burn the building down. Instead we get an ice cream log cake. So our Yule log had caramel on it.

Other than that, I’m glad that today was the shortest day of the year and that starting tomorrow there will be a little more daylight every day.

Apropos of nothing, I just wanted to share this picture of George and Breanna being couch potatoes, eating rice cakes, and watching what was probably inappropriate television, just because it’s cute.

I’m attending the funeral tomorrow. I’m trying very hard not to think about it until I get there. Having more daylight return couldn’t have come at a better time.

This is amazing! Virgin dragon to give birth in holiday season. The komodo dragon has never even mixed with male dragons, let alone mated. She impregnated herself. It’s a fascinating read. Remember the last virgin birth? Hmmm.

Agnes Campbell
September 24th 1914 – December 20th 2006

My grandmother, my last remaining grandparent, passed away this morning. While getting ready to have a bath, she suffered a heart attack. I think we’re all still a little blindsided at this point. At 92 years of age, I suppose it shouldn’t be a tremendous shock, but it just is. Also, it makes it awkward to balance the festive feeling of having two excitable children at Christmas time with the lonely feeling of loss.

I’ll write more tomorrow.

I’m having issues with my email right now. I don’t know if it’s just me or if there’s a Verve problem at the moment (my site is working, obviously). In the meantime, if you have tried to email me since 10 pm last night I haven’t gotten it; you can reach me though at sendanowl at gmail dot com which I realize is a very lame Harry Potter fangirl address, but you know, sue me.

Remember when I posted that picture of the inflatable Santa on top of the inflatable polar bear? Remember I mentioned that there was a house we pass occasionally that is far more enamored of inflatable Christmas decorations? Remember I promised I would take a picture and post it for you so that you can share in the holiday horror cheer?

You’re welcome.

I think the worst part was that in the week since I had last seen it, they ADDED to it. The Santa on the upper balcony and the archway over the stairs weren’t there before. I guess they thought their collection was missing a certain festive je ne sais quoi.

I came home and was very happy to have just a simple little tree with simple white lights and no frightening inflatable crowd on my balcony or front lawn.

As I’m sitting here tonight with some heartburn because I stupidly ate too many cookies, I have to admit I wish I had some AcidCalm, a hearburn and acid reflux remedy. I’ve always been vulnerable to heartburn but ever since my first pregnancy, I’ve gotten acid reflux as well. AcidCalm has done well in clinical studies, showing it’s 99% effective, which sounds like a great percentage to me. It uses nanotechnology to work as well as it does, it starts working quickly, and after anywhere from two to five months of regular use, it can reverse your acid reflux completely. I like the fact that it’s all-natural as I’ve had a very positive experience with natural products to soothe my various ailments. I’m thinking I should definitely give AcidCalm a try.

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First of all, apropos of nothing, I know that pretty much everyone in the free world has already linked to it, but if you haven’t seen Justin Timberlake’s “Dick in a Box” skit from Saturday Night Live, for God’s sake, go watch it now (well, assuming you have an open-minded office or your young kids aren’t around). And then when you’re done, another great, quick video is this one of Stewie Griffin from The Family Guy; that little 30-second video sums up my life with Hayley.

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We’re getting there slowly but surely with the shopping. I still hate doing it; I told George that I think when I was born I was missing that gene that the majority of women have, the one that makes them enjoy shopping. I mean, if you gave me $5000 and set me down in the middle of Best Buy, I’d be very happy to shop for, say a laptop and some mp3 players or something, but generally shopping is not something that I enjoy very much. Add in the crowds at this time of year and yikes. However, it went well today. We managed to get the vanity from Santa, and we also picked up a package with accessories, like a hair dryer, brush, etc. I think she’s going to be ecstatic.

We got Breanna a little farm set with soft vehicles and animals, and it comes with a fold-out playmat with the fields and roads. It will go well with the barn that we already have. We also got her a little electronic tambourine that plays different songs.

Then we were at the grocery superstore and just for fun I said we should peek at the toy department because I know Hayley also wants a Diego Rescue Pack, and that would be good to get her from us. They didn’t have any (bah, I guess we do have to go to Toys R Us after all), but we found Breanna’s big gift from Santa, the Fisher-Price Baby Grand Piano. We didn’t get it right then because we had only brought a limited amount of money, but they had at least seven of them and not many people shop for toys at the grocery store, so I’m sure they’ll still have some in a day or two. It’s going to be perfect; I tried the demo on that site to see what it’s like and just from that Breanna was dancing around the living room and laughing. I can’t wait! As a bonus, that means we don’t have to bother going to Ikea at this time of year for that bead rollercoaster because we’ll have everything we need for Breanna (on top of those gifts both girls are also getting that ball pit, so it’s plenty) and we can get it some other time when we’re heading out that way anyway.

Now we just need the Rescue Pack for Hayley, although we’re also debating the Diego Rescue Center playset, and one other little thing. Plus stocking stuffers. Eep. But we always do stocking stuff at the dollar store so that will be okay.

Hayley’s also getting a really neat present from my mom. I don’t know if it’s the exact model but I think it might be this Cinderella castle, which is really awesome.

As strange as it may sound, I am really looking forward to the fact that I get to assemble all these things for the girls. I always loved that as a kid, sitting at my grandmother’s kitchen table and watching my parents put toys together, putting stickers on them, and setting them up. We never did that thing some people do where anything requiring assembly was done the night before, so it’s a tradition that I enjoy carrying on.

So we’re getting there. One big gift for Breanna, two gifts for Hayley, stuff for our family (but at least we have an idea of what we’re getting them), and stockings. Pajamas for the girls on Christmas eve are done, so that pretty much covers it. We may be down to the wire but we’ll manage it.

I did tell George today that although it’s mildly stressful to wait this long to get everything, in some ways it’s good too. It means less time for me to wait before giving them stuff. I’m terrible with the patience factor. Right now I’m practically bouncing, knowing what is waiting for Hayley from Santa in George’s parents’ garage, and I can barely stand to wait until next Monday to give it to her. If I bought all my stuff in October I’d go nuts. We’ve had the ball pit since November and I am freaking out wanting to give it to them NOW.

So sometimes last minute isn’t all that bad. As long as we can manage to avoid any big ticket items on the 24th, I’ll be okay. I can deal with stocking stuffers the day before Christmas, anything else and I’ll need to breathe into a paper bag.

And for the record, I’m still laughing every time I see that picture of Breanna with Santa.

People keep asking me about PayPerPost, because I guess that with all the stories you find online, it sounds like it’s too good to be true. It’s not. It actually works. So far I’ve made over $30 with a few posts here and there. I currently have $50 coming to me that was already put into my paypal account by PayPerPost and I’m just waiting until Wednesday for it to transfer into my bank account. By writing a handful of reviews for products or services that I feel don’t harm my integrity, I can take that $50 and buy one or two more Christmas presents for the kids. That money is real and it doesn’t take forever to accumulate like advertising services do. All I have to do is pick a product or service that I’m comfortable with, write about it on my site, and let PayPerPost know. They either approve it or they reject it (in all of mine I’ve been rejected once for something minor and they let me fix it and re-submit it immediately, and it was then accepted within 15 minutes). Then you just have to wait a month – sponsors don’t want to pay and have you immediately remove the post, that’s why you have to wait – and then your money starts coming in. I’ve been trying to keep up with posting at least one per day, sometimes two. It’s been a great and easy way for me to make a little extra money. I love it!

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It turns out that there were so many people out today that by the time we got through Breanna’s nap and got out of here, the shopping center was packed enough that it took us 20 minutes just to drive into the parking lot, change our minds, and drive back out. Seriously. We’ll go one morning this week, either tomorrow or Tuesday and get the stuff we need to get for the kids. Luckily, there is another place close to home that isn’t as crazy as the shopping centers are, and we were able to go there for Santa pictures. There was a grand total of one little girl ahead of us so that was fast and easy.

Hayley was really excited and happy to see Santa, but she was also really shy about the whole thing. She was happy to sit and smile though.

At first she was disappointed because she realized after the fact that she had forgotten to tell him what she wanted, but I reminded her that we had sent him a letter (and she got one back from him too) so he already had her gift on his list, so that made her happy. She was also thrilled to get a handful of little candy canes from him.

And Breanna… well. There’s always next year for her to appreciate the joys of Santa Claus. Because it certainly wasn’t this year.

What’s that? You’re laughing at Breanna’s picture and you feel terrible about it? Well don’t worry. I laugh every time I look at it. Just like I laugh at Hayley’s picture from the year that she was 15 months.

I don’t know, maybe it makes me a bad parent, but when I look at these pictures of my screaming children with Santa, I actually feel more sorry for SANTA than I do for the kids.

Ho ho ho!

I’ve never made it a secret that I write sponsored posts for PayPerPost, but it was never necessary to disclose on an individual post basis that I was doing so. Things are changing and as of Monday, PayPerPost writers must either disclose that they have written sponsored blog ads within each post or by displaying a policy that explains some of their posts have been paid for by advertisers.

I have no problem with this whatsoever. Like I said, I don’t hide that I do it, and it doesn’t bother me to state when a post is sponsored. I make sure I pick sponsors that I’m okay with and I don’t write for someone I am negative about if they insist on positive posts. I won’t write up services that help create more spam, for instance. But I will write about calendars, ways to save money, and telescopes because those are all things I can get on board with.

I think it could be an interesting new dynamic to disclose each time.

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