Ho Ho Ho! No really... you're a Ho!

Sorry for the lack of recent updates... it's been... well... lets just say there are Christmas presents to pay for and I'm earning the extra cash the only way I'm truly talented at.  On the plus side, I did discover that every ceiling in my house is white!!  And that inspired me to do some painting.

No serious.  It really did.

I'll give you a sneak peak at the Christmas presents for my in-laws.  Acrylic on 16x20 canvases:



For PC's sister.



This is actually unfinished.  It's a replica of a vintage bar sign for PC's brother.  I still need to add the text.



This is by far my favorite.  It's a good thing I really love my BIL's wife because if I didn't this would stay at my house and she could visit it!

So yes... I have been very busy... as I'm sure all of you are this holiday season.  When I'm not at my 'real' job, I'm playing full time Mommy to the miniature demon of my loins.  I wish I'd spent more time teaching her about Santa Clause just so I could tell her he can't visit our house this year.

Between juggling jobs, I'm trying to get my craft on and finish up some gifts.  Since PC has taken over the crafting of my FIL's present... I think I'm down to finishing one painting and doing something for my MIL.  That's not too bad considering I get extra time on the in-laws because we celebrate late.

With that being said, I got this hair brained idea to start a new... and EXTENSIVE... home project.  When we moved into our palace a little over a year ago, I had a dream for the small room at the front of the house to be a 'guest room' and 'craft room'.  And in truth, it has managed to serve both purposes most of the time.  But I think it would be more appropriate to rename it the 'whatever-the-fuck-is-homeless room'.  Because from people, to nicknacks, to loose papers... it's just filled up with whatever didn't have a home at the time.  I intend to change that very soon.  The desk (which is broken, never used, and just collecting clutter) is going out.  The over sized monster of a cabinet is going out (probably through a window because of it's utter hugeness!).  All of the crafting things will be contained in the closet which will have a built in workspace.  Then, we'll move the pull out love seat in there with the poker table, a TV and game system.  Thus transforming it into a quaint 'guest/game/craft room'.  Gee... won't that be nice?!  (The answer is 'YES'!)

So WHY would I undertake this endeavor over the holidays?  Well... for one... I'm certifiably crazy!  But mostly, it's because A) the closet is currently void of all the Christmas decor that is usually stuffed into it... and B) the holidays are the slow time at work which means I'll have a few extra hours at home to accomplish the task.

Today, I started by completely emptying the closet, removing the doors and arranging some shelving.  While the closet was empty, I got this hair-brained idea to strip out the ancient and badly peeling wall paper.  Do you know what I discovered?  SIX DIFFERENT LAYERS OF WALLPAPER ON THE WALL!!!  What that means is when I decide to replace the tacky wall paper in the actual room... there will be SEVEN layers on the walls.  Oh how I hate lazy remodelers!!

But alas... I finally gave up on scraping and peeling and did some organizing.  I put a serious dent in the mess monster that was the room... but you can't really tell unless you spent the entire time in there with me.

Still... it's a start.  PC is always telling me to just tackle the mess one little bit at a time.  Which works fine and dandy except for the fact that I usually lose interest before I finish.  I may need a little motivation or incentive to complete it all.  I'm thinking something from the "Oh My Gosh Store" would do the trick *wink*.

But enough of me.  YEAH RIGHT!!  I put that new Christmas spirit header up just for your reading pleasure so you can listen to me rant.

I can't wait for Christmas to be over... why?  Because I think I know everything I'm getting... unless someone breaks out a huge surprise.  And frankly... I'm perfectly happy with all of my gifts.  More importantly, I'm terrible at keeping gifts a secret.  That's why I made PC go pick his up from Lowes 3 weeks ago.  I can't wait for everyone to get their gifts.  I hope they all love them.

So tell me readers.  Do you like the giving, or the getting (doesn't mean you're greedy... I love $2 socks in my stocking!)?  Can you keep it a secret or are you a tattler?  And the one I really really want to know... do you like the surprise or do you prefer someone sticks to your 'list'?  (I prefer to buy it and tell PC to wrap it for me!)

Here's wishing you and your family a

SAFE and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Unless you have family like mine...

in which case, I wish you a SAFE and MERRY CHRISTMAS

and I hope your idiotic family members are singed in a terrible toyshop disaster involving blow torches and a reindeer stampede!