Holiday Week

I worked Tuesday and Wednesday this last week. On Tuesday afternoon, I realized that there were only three full work weeks left in the year. "Oh, you are kidding me?" I actually said that aloud. Nope, I checked the calendar again and it's true - THREE WEEKS!

I have to get ready for January, for sending the books at work to the accountant, I have to get IFTA done... and about a hundred other things too! One Hundred!? I looked at my notes and to-do lists in OneNote from last January and February and realized that 100 things really isn't a stretch - there are 88 things on my January/February to-do list. I told my boss about the few weeks left until zero hour and told him I was getting ready. I got a thumbs up.

????????

Really?

On Wednesday, I began wrapping up financial stuff for the month of November and left the office at one. Then I blew off the rest of my day talking on the phone and watching movies. I should have been doing homework. I didn't.

Thanksgiving Day came and I made mashed candied sweet potatoes that were so good, even I ate them - and I hate sweet potatoes. I also made cranberry sauce from scratch that gelled in the refrigerator overnight - I like it runny, so lesson learned: add more water! There were also creamed peas and green bean casserole. Nothing I took to Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmothers house was low fat or 'healthy'.

Much to my mothers delight, I refrained from speaking to my aunt who is a racist and a bigot.

After dinner at my grandmothers, we stopped off at Rob's grandparents house. We talked, they played cards (I don't play) and everyone (but me) had pie. I was just too stuffed and didn't want to risk real pain.

We got home around eight and started to relax.....

And then it happened.

The shit always hits the fan on holidays. No pun intended. There were no feces involved, thank heavens.

The toilet got clogged and we couldn't clear it. The stupid thing has had something stuck in it for over two years; something we could never get out and we couldn't identify.  Rob decided to take the toilet out and put the snake in from the bottom to try and clear it but couldn't get the toilet off Thursday night so we left it until Friday morning.

So Black Friday came and we found ourselves at Lowes buying a new toilet. It's cheap. It's white. It's clean. It's new. I love it. Except that we had to replace the shut off valve and it's leaking. Our house is a never ending nightmare and I can't wait to get out of here and rent something. I don't want the responsibility anymore. At least not for a little while. When we buy again, maybe we won't get stuck with a money pit.

And the toilet? It was blocked by this. Well, not the whole box, just one of the trays they go in. I guess it fell in the toilet, sank and got flushed. And YES, I broke the toilet to find out what was in it.

So now I'm down $98 and I have a beautiful new (CLEAN) white toilet in the master bath.

Today I had the Meeting of the Moms. We were at Starbucks for four hours planning and enjoying each others company. We are looking for a place that will allow us to bring in the soda and maybe some snack food to supplement whatever catered food we have. All of the catering companies around here bring in cans of soda rather than 2-litre bottles and charge $1-$2 each. Well, with a guest list of around 175, that could add up pretty quickly - especially with the kids.

Tonight Jake called me and asked if the GF could come to Christmas at his grandmothers house with us. I told him I didn't mind and I'm sure Grandma wouldn't. He said it was okay with the GF's mom as long as he could go to Christmas Eve dinner with her family. None of this is a problem for us so it looks like the kids are sharing holidays already. They are also planning to go to the same college, along with several of their best friends. They've all been accepted so now it's just a matter of graduating and figuring out how to pay for all of it. Yeah, not looking forward to that, but we'll do what we have to.

Meal Plan for the coming week.

• Thai Spaghetti with shrimp
• Beef Stew
• Pork Loin Roast with mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach
• Pork Chops
• Orange Chicken with rice
• Chicken Piccata
• Turkey with mashed potatoes

I don't like pork but my family does so I'll try it.