I can't believe it's been over a month since I last wrote. The holidays seriously flew by! Between a crazy busy work project that my team needed to complete by December 21st and my attempt to compete with Martha Stewart in all things holiday-inspired, I needed to prioritize my to-do list and blogging didn't make the cut unfortunately. I have missed sharing our story however and am happy to be baaaack!
This year I've been working on a high profile technology project that will be going live in a few weeks. We had a big deadline to meet right before Christmas so that meant some long days. There was one weekend that I worked until 1 in the morning after working until 11pm the week nights before that. I definitely burned the midnight oil there for a bit but am happy to report that the deadline has been met and life is going to be a lot quieter now going forward. Phew.
In addition to work, Christopher also celebrated his 7th birthday in early December and I threw him a fun little party at Fuddrucker's with 6 of his friends. I decided to get all Suzy Homemaker on the event and make my own birthday cake complete with fondant frosting. The theme was to be Minecraft and I found cake decorating ideas on Pinterest for inspiration
I spent way more money buying the cake pan, fondant and food dye than I would have if I just bought the kiddo an actual cake. And I definitely spent way more time (hours) making and constructing the cake. But in the end I loved the way it turned out. It's definitely not a professional looking cake but hey, I do the best I can.
Just as we were about to leave for the event though, I found out that I was not the only one who liked this cake. Apparently the dog liked it too. When I was in the other room organizing the goody bags to give out, Christopher started screaming. I come back into the kitchen only to find out that ... the dog has eaten the cake. The cake I labored over for hours! BAD DOG!!
People asked me afterwards if the dog got sick from all the sugar and chocolate and to that I say no but I did notice the next day he was pooping green. That freaked me out a bit until I remembered that he ate the kiddo's birthday cake.
You'd think that I'd learn never to let my dog near treats again but I'm apparently a slow learner. A week later Christopher came home from school with a gingerbread house project that he made in his class. It was super cute and Christopher was so proud of it. I put it into the dining room and pulled the chairs away from the table, thinking that would keep the dog off the table since he's just a little guy. On that front, I was wrong because later on I discovered the gingerbread house on the floor and the dog, yep, eating it. BAD DOG!! Once again though he did not get sick. Lucky me since I certainly wouldn't have wanted to clean that mess up off of my rugs.
The kiddo was heartbroken so we went to Trader Joe's and got a new gingerbread house kit and invited his friend Grace to come over and have a gingerbread house baking party with us. It was fun and the latest creation turned out well. I finally learned to close the door to the dining room so the dog couldn't get in there but the down side to that is that now we can't see it unless we go into the dining room.
I also hosted friends for our annual fondue and cookie baking party. Once again, a super fun day! I made my usual Linzer cookies which turned out sooooo yummy.
Last but not least, I ran my favorite 5K right before Christmas, the Jingle Bell Run, which is a super fun time. Everyone dresses up for the race and afterwards it's a big party with food and drink. I got to see a bunch of running friends I haven't seen in eons and enjoyed the holiday attire as well.
Christmas finally arrived and Christopher who was completely wrapped up in the magic of the holidays, was thrilled with everything Santa brought him. He really enjoyed the day and I loved hosting with a tasty Christmas dinner as well.
After Christmas I finally had some down time and immediately once the adrenaline was gone so was my ability to fight off any sort of infection and I got sick. I've spent the last week battling a really nasty cold and ended up working from home two days earlier this week so I wouldn't get anyone else sick. Everyone I know is sick so it doesn't surprise me that I got sick too. Better now than when all those activities were happening at least.
Now that the holidays are over, Christopher's a lot calmer too, which helps. The kiddo was reeeally wound up all month and that made life a bit challenging. Now he's less stimulated and more relaxed and that makes my life infinitely easier.
So now that I made it through the crazy busy work project and a whirlwind of holiday activities, it's time to slow life down a bit. Later today I go to my friend Kate's house for a post-new year's get together and it will be nice to have someone other than me hosting for a bit. Let her clean her house top to bottom for a change! Haha. No but seriously it's been a great season even if I did go a bit over the top at times. I'm not sure that I would have changed anything if I had the chance to get a do-over so that clearly says something.
On that happy note, merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) and happy new year from the kiddo and myself!
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