3 days until Christmas!

This month is flying by! Almost Christmas and then the month (and year!) will be over. One more down with an undetermined number to go...

So, I got my grades back for this semester and for the first time, I earned all A's! I really thought that I was going to continue my trend of all A's and one B, but it wasn't to be this time. :) Next semester, I'm only taking three classes instead of 4 like I've done every semester to this point. I'm looking forward to it, but know that the classes I'm taking should also be a bit harder so I'll need to keep focused. If I've figured it all out correctly, I have 3 more semesters to go for my associates degree, and then it's onto a bachelor program. I haven't yet decided where I'm going for that one, but I'm leaning towards one that seems to have a pretty good selection of online classes. That is probably the most important feature that I'm looking for, as I certainly can't go to classes during the day unless it's on the weekends. So, I'm getting there.

I think that we are completely done shopping for gifts and I only have a couple left to wrap. We will be spending Christmas Eve with Shell's best friend and her family, which has become a tradition that we all look forward to. They make a variety of pierogies that are to die for and we always eat too much. We can't help it. Then we're going to have my parents over on Christmas Day for, um... well, we know they are coming but we haven't yet decided what to make. I'm totally leaning towards Chinese takeout, but it's not going over very well. I just want as little fuss and mess as possible. Shell and I are both off on the 26th, and I'm really looking forward to a quiet and relaxing day together.

For the first time in a very long time, I will get to kiss my wife at midnight on New Years. When she was working nights, her and a coworker would split Christmas Eve and New Years Eve and she always worked NYE so that she could be home Christmas morning. With her new position, she is off on Saturday and Sunday nights, but it doesn't matter because her department is closed both days. We have no plans for that evening, just going to enjoy being together. :)

January is going to bring all kinds of good stuff my way. My sister is coming in on the 5th to go with me to the Cirque du Soleil and even though we don't have any plans other than that, it should be fun. She's only here until Monday the 9th, but then my best friend and his boyfriend arrive on the 11th for a week long visit. I will be off all but one day of their stay and I am SO looking forward to that! We don't have big plans for their stay either, but I see lots of games, drinks, food and relaxing, happy moments being had. I hope that the weather isn't very snowy so that we can get out and around with my sister and the boys. Those visits are going to be my Christmas gifts this year. I had them all under my roof last January and although their visits will be separate this year, I am looking forward to them just as much.

December- For Better or Worse

I am seriously overwhelmed. Seriously. Why, you ask? Hm, where should I start?

There is one week + one day left in this semester and although I cannot wait for it to be over, I also need it to slow down. I can't seem to find time to study for my finals, not to mention I'm not sure when I'm going to have time to take one of them. Luckily, my grades are good again this semester, but I certainly don't want to go into these big exams without being prepared.

I haven't even begun decorating for Christmas yet and I doubt I'll be able to until the semester is over. That puts it at the 11th, unless my kids want to do it while I'm studying every night...

I'm getting my top two wisdom teeth extracted on the 16th. Yes, one week before Christmas. We had almost enough left in our FSA account to cover our portion of the surgery and since it doesn't rollover, we were happy to have a reason to use it. I didn't want to have it done while I was juggling school, so I had to choose either the 16th or the 23rd. I had my bottom ones taken out over 10 years ago, but the top ones seem a little trickier since they are really close to my sinuses and because of my "advanced age". Oh, and I'm having IV sedation for it, which is a first for me. All kinds of fun!

The prep for Christmas is just barely ahead of my decorating for Christmas. We're almost done with the kids. They are getting iPod Touches (so they'll stop playing games on my iPhone!) which are on layaway and only need two more payments, tickets to see Wicked which were just purchased a couple of days ago, and school yearbooks which will be ordered right after Christmas. All that's left for them is some stocking stuffers. We had our photos taken a couple of weeks ago and have the CD with our shots, so this weekend we're planning to sit down and finalize our Christmas cards and get them ordered. Our parents are all getting 8x10 framed photos and my grandparents are getting 5x7 framed photos. We are taking Shell's best friend and her girlfriend to see Wicked with us as their gifts, but I'm really struggling with what to get my best friend and his boyfriend. Other than that, we've got some gift cards to buy and that pretty much wraps up our gift giving.

My sister is flying in on January 5 to go with me to see the Michael Jackson Immortal Cirque du Soleil show. I am so excited to see this, especially after downloading the CD. And I'm happy that my sister is going to share it with me. She's only here from Thursday to Monday, so I'm looking forward to spending lots of time just hanging out and being with her.

I've got one more visit coming too, but I can't talk about it yet since it's a surprise and I don't want it ruined. :)

So basically, I've got a lot of crazy for one more week (+ one day) and then getting through Christmas. Piece of cake!