not even apologizing

I'm going to stop apologizing for not blogging. I'm sure that people are tired of the apologies anyway. Here's what I've been up to-

1) weddings have finally ended (yay!) but last Saturday my company's Board of Director's had a planning retreat - so I was there most of the day. We got done an hour early at 3:30 - so I used that time (wisely) to go Christmas shopping.

2) I am trying to fit Christmas shopping into any free time. I am pretty much done except for Alex and his dad. I tried shopping online a lot this year - that worked out well. Although I learned a valuable lesson. That is, if you buy online for people who are out of town - just have the items shipped directly to them. I didn't think about that until I received the 2.5' wide x 10" high x 3' long box containing the gift for Bret's step-kids at my house. Yeah, they live in Tallahassee - so now I have to get it there somehow. Smart, Shaleen.

3) Baking things. I can't help myself, I love to bake at Christmas time. I tried some new things this year. I covered a pound of pretzels in white chocolate and sprinkles. I also made peanut buttery rice krispies which i rolled into balls and dipped in milk chocolate. I'm going to fill tins with each of those cookies for some friends, co-workers and the majority will go to the teachers at our preschool - they LOVE food and candies.

4) Cleaning my house - about a month ago we fired our cleaning lady and I've yet to replace her. So I have been cleaning a lot more often. Tomorrow a woman is coming to check out my house and give me a price. So today I had to thoroughly vacuum and mop in preparation. I know that sounds crazy. But seriously, my floor was gross, I refused to even walk on it barefoot b/c of the dirt on the tile (caused by the dogs, but mostly Miles). I honestly think that if she saw my house the way that it looked about 3 hours ago that she would charge us more to clean. We only have someone come twice a month - but it's a big help so that I only have to do the maintenance cleaning in between. That means that I usually vacuum twice a week on my own, swiffer once and do a real mopping once a week. If that sounds like a lot of cleaning - you're right. I think in part b/c we just like our house to be clean and also b/c Miles gets the floor so dirty that it is really necessary.

So there you have it - nothing too exciting.