TGIF

Finally. I have been waiting for this day since Monday! It's so hard to believe that today is the last day of November already. Where did the month go?

My plan today is to get my butt in gear and get the Xmas decorations out. I still have the Thanksgiving ones on my porch. Oops. We finished painting the living room and patching the windows. I remember when we bought this house thinking how exciting it is to own a new home (this one was built in 1999). We are the second owners. Having a newer home isn't at all that great. Our first house was built in the 1950's and it was solid and sturdy. This one they must have slapped together. We've already replaced the A/C two years ago, the pool has been resurfaced, one of the bathrooms needed a complete shower remodel, and the windows are leaking (we have no idea why). Steve spent all last week, chiseling out the damage and redoing them. The he recaulked outside and inside. So, if this doesn't work, we give up. We are slowly prioritizing what we have to redo. Next on the agenda is to paint the exterior and new some new tile. I have a tile entry that has these fine hairline cracks. A few weeks ago, I was sitting here at my computer and I could hear them cracking. At first I was considering replacing the carpet with hardwood, but who knows what will be under the carpet when we pull it up. I may have to stick with carpeting and just have them focus on correcting the problem of why the tiles are cracking. They are also cracking in my kitchen and master bathroom. You can even hear the hollow spots under the tile.

Two weeks from today, we head off to our annual Very Merry Christmas party at Walt Disney World. Woo Hoo. I so need to get out of Tampa for the day. I just need a break. Unfortunately, we are only going for the party. The schools changed their schedule so the kids this year go all the way up to December 21. Last year they got out December 15. There was some big deal about "Christmas" and "Holiday" breaks with some groups so the district just did away with them. So, we are only going up Friday night and coming home on Saturday. The kids start their exams on Monday.

I've been slowly getting my Christmas shopping started. It's not so fun now that the kids are older. I miss buying them toys and clothes. I don't even attempt to buy them clothes. So, I've picked up a few things and they will just get gift cards. Elizabeth loves Starbucks so she will get one of those, Greg loves Moe's (it's a Mexcian restaurant and he and his friend always go there), and Emily will get a gift card to the movie theatre down the street. They'll still get other things too. I do still get to buy toys for Mark. He loves Spongebob so I have gotton him a few Spongebob items.

Well, off to get my day started. One more kid to get out the door. Have a great Friday.