Almost Christmas Season!!!!!!

Could I have anymore exclamation points?!?!?!?!?!?
I love Christmas. LOVE. Never watched the movie but I feel like this is what they meant in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Minus the Jamaican vacation and sexual exploits. Okay, so maybe nothing like it. What I mean is that my life is really fantastic right now. Perfect, no, but I need for nothing and am very happy and content.
I am so excited for Christmas! I can't wait to decorate. I will say this, though. I never took it for granted but it was pretty awesome to work from home. No wasted time commuting to and from an office and maximum use of time by being able to fit in chores here and there. It's a lot harder getting home stuff done not having that added benefit of a home office. But it's a give and take because I really like my office mates and my career opportunities are brighter now that I work in a regular office. Anyway, back to my main point.
I have to clean house before I feel I can decorate. *sigh* And, for the first time in three years, I will not have our family holiday cards mailed out the day after Thanksgiving. Dammit, that one really hurts. it's not so much lack of time as it is bad scheduling. I thought we would be able to use photos from our vacation but they didn't work out. So we scheduled a local photographer whom we really like. Unfortunately, Her next available appointment was a month out which is the week of Thanksgiving. And we won't get the photos for another week or so which really pushes back the holiday cards because those take a couple weeks to get and then for us to mail out. I estimate mid-December, hopefully. But it's OK. With a toddler and two pups, gone are the days when The Man can take the photos himself. Not only was that very economical ( can't beat free!) but it was comical, as well. He would pose us and then run to his spot, sometimes tripping and often times sweating from the many trial and errors. Of course, he would also have to chuck something at the camera so pups and baby wouldn't stare at him after he ran to his place in our photo. Ah, memories. He took the holiday card photos in '08, '09 & '10, bless his heart. Before then, we used an engagement photo and, in '08, we had included a photo from our wedding. These cards mean a lot to me, if you couldn't already tell.
Yup, I'm the gal who listens to Christmas music as soon as radio stations play it. And now, thanks to Pandora, I start in the beginning of November instead of having to wait for the week of Thanksgiving to get my Jingle Bells & White Christmas! Hope you have a great holiday season:)

So THIS is what they meant when they say, "Cute as a bug!"

The Bun's first Halloween.
Well, her first time trick-or-treating. Technically, this is her 3rd. Her first Halloween, she was fresh out of the oven. Her second, she couldn't walk. So here she is, on her first trick-or-treat outing.