Busy Busy Weekend

I've been busy since the minute I woke up this morning and still have a lot to do but I needed a break and here I am. I decided to sleep in this morning since I had a long week and had to work yesterday on my off Friday. Not complaining one bit.
I am so grateful that the extra work has come finally and it's come at a good time too, when everyone really needs some extra money.
I was supposed to work all day yesterday but I had a dentist appointment at noon. I was going to go back to work after my appointment but my supervisor was sending everyone home at 1:30 anyway so she told me not to bother. My appointment went fairly well. I have to get a filling replaced in a couple of weeks but everything else looked good. After that I stopped by my parents house but no one was home. I stayed about a half hour then decided to just leave a note and continued on with my errands. I had to go to the bank and then it was off to the post office to mail a package and pick up some Christmas stamps. I got home around 3pm and had just kicked off my shoes when my son called inviting me to his apartment for dinner. It sounded good to me so I jumped in the shower, took care of the dog and headed over there. It's about a 45 minute drive from my house but I took the back roads to avoid the rush hour traffic. That makes it more like an hours drive but I didn't mind because it was getting dark by then and it was nice driving through all the small towns from my house to his and seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations along the way.
Jessie made a southwestern chicken dish with rice and corn and beans. It was pretty good.
After dinner we watched Flags of Our Fathers, a movie about the guys who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. I really enjoyed the movie even though I don't really care for war movies. This movie held a particular interest, however, because Rene Gagnon, one of the Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima is a cousin of my ex husband's. He was considered a hero at the end of WWII but died a very bitter and sad man. As often happens, the horrors of war are deeply embedded in a soldiers psyche and they have a real hard time accepting and dealing with the death and carnage that they have been exposed to. The photo taken of that historic event made these men heroes and the government promised them a lot of things besides medals and parades, like jobs and celebrity, all of which never materialized in Rene Gagnon's case. He worked at the Chicopee Mill in Manchester New Hampshire after his discharge from the Marine Corps and held a lot of odd jobs. He died a very unhappy man with an alcohol problem.
I left Eric and Jessie's around 10 pm and it was lightly snowing. I took the back roads home again and took my time since it was a little slick in some spots. By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed.

Today was also a busy day. I picked up some groceries first thing this morning and then came home to clean and decorate. I've been at it most of the day. I start to clean one area and then find another spot that needs cleaning, the next thing I know I have several areas partially straightened up but more of a mess than when I started. The tree is pretty much all decorated now. I can't find my porcelain angel that goes on top of my tree so I'll have to keep hunting for it. I am sure I put it someplace where it wouldn't get broken. I just have to remember where.
I've dusted and rearranged my entertainment center so I have my Christmas snow globes and shelf sitters out. I also had to find a place to display my newest snow globe that has blowing styrofoam snow inside it and a working ferris wheel. I decided to put that front and center of my coffee table. I've got a string of lights that I want to put up around the archway that separates my living room from my office area. I also brought out a new fleece blanket with a winter scene on it for the sofa. The dog usually ends up dragging that off of the back of the couch and he crawls under it when I am not at home so I picked one that won't show his white fur so much. (I'm catching on.)
I've wrapped a few gifts and set them under the tree. I wrote out some Christmas cards and got them ready for the mail on Monday. I also wrapped a gift for my friend Anne who lives in Spain so I can get that mailed on Monday too. I received a gift from her earlier in the week and that is also sitting under the tree.
I've got some mac and cheese in the oven now (yes home made not the Kraft stuff) and I am going to finish up here so I can eat when it is ready.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. I will be taking some pics tonight to post at a later date.
Oh and by the way, it got quite warm here today, 40 degrees or so. Not too bad since we barely made it to the 20's most of the week. But I suspect the cold air will be back soon and the weatherman is predicting snow, sleet and freezing rain Sunday and/or Monday. UGH