What?!?! An update?

I know, I am such a bad blogger... I'm sorry my lovely blog readers, I've been so busy with Toy Bank this year. We've helped about 80 families (just in my town), that's a lot of kids and a lot to coordinate. This is also Hampton's 30th year of doing Toy Bank, crazy to think that my dad started this 30 years ago and now I am the one in charge. Thankfully things are winding down, and with 2 days till Christmas, I can finally finish up my own Christmas shopping and wrapping. And get ready to celebrate with my family.

Oh wait, I am celebrating tomorrow (Christmas Eve) with my family. The reason for that is I am working a 24 hour shift on Christmas Day. So please be thinking about me when you are celebrating with your friends and family. I am excited to get to spend some family time, but my parents are not as enthusiastic about celebrating. I practically had to beg them to put a tree up. I think part of the reason is that we won't be celebrating on Christmas Day (but my dad was in the fire service, and I grew up around planning holidays at different times). I think a larger reason is that my brother is down in North Carolina and won't be coming home this year. He's in school down there, it's an intensive program, and they don't get any time off for the holidays. I can't wait till the day that both he and his wife come back north and closer to us, so that we all can be together and celebrate. Also I think that now we are older, Christmas doesn't hold the same excitement. I am sure things will change in the next couple of years as both my brother and his wife plan on starting a family and so do Ben and I. Grandkids galore! I am sure.

I am thrilled that I will be getting to spend some time with my family over the Christmas holiday. I am looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to using the massage gift card that H2B got me for our 3 year anniversary gift, I think that would be so nice!

H2B has also taken over wedding planning. It's been great! I feel like it's a role reversal, in that I haven't had much in the way of looking for things, he's been taking care of it all. But he's getting things done and deserves a whole lot of credit!

Weight wise, things have been screwy. I am not able to make a weigh in this week, I think last night was the most time I've spent in my place (awake) in about 2 weeks, all 5 hours of it. I've been living in my car, driving there and everywhere else for Toy Bank. My last weigh in I was down to 300.0 (at Weight Watchers) I did manage to step on my home scale at 303 on Sunday, but now today, I stepped on at 299.6, so who knows, it's just gone crazy. As I said on twitter the other day, I don't like making excuses or start dates, but I am really looking forward to the new year and a new start. I didn't lie when I said one of my end of year goals was to survive Toy Bank, it's a crazy hectic time in my life.

In other random news, I may have a buyer for my "baby" he's growing so big and still so handsome. I hate the idea of selling him (trying not to get attached) but really it's not feasible for me to keep him, a) I have very little experience with training babies and b) resources are tight normally, paying for a horse would just not work for me. The lady that is interested in him lives on the other side of the state and is very interested in Morgan showing. So he'd be put to work doing what he was bred to do. Which would make me happy. She's also agreed to include in the agreement that if at any point in the future she wants to sell him, that I have first right of refusal, which means should my situation change in the future, and he comes up for sale, she would have to offer him to me first.

Well Merry Christmas! I hope you are able to spend some time resting and relaxing. And enjoying some time with friends and/or family. I hope that Santa brings you everything you want and more.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve

Ah, here it is December 23rd and finally my Christmas shopping is done! Now I just have to WRAP everything! Yikes!

I brought Ben's stuff with me to work tonight, in hopes that I can get it wrapped. Which would save me some time tomorrow - oh I hope!

Toy Bank is winding down we are up to 92 families this year. Thanks goes out to the generosity of the community for which I am proud to say that I work for (and my hometown!). That is a lot of children that will wake up with a Christmas who might have gone without. There were many stories on the news about agencies being short with donations, but I was very blessed not to have that concern. In fact we were able to share our toys with Haverhill's agency as well. Which really warms my heart when the help stays local.

I swear though it has been a stressful month for me. More stressful this week. I will be thankful when Christmas day is here and I can sit back and relax with my family. And I will be looking forward to scheduling a much deserved/needed appointment for a massage sometime in the near future. :-D

I feel this holiday came up real quick. Like just yesterday it was Thanksgiving, now Christmas. But I am looking forward to celebrating. With the snow we got the other day, its making it feel a bit more like Christmas.

Merry Christmas to those out there who read this!!

In the homestretch!

It's December 16th... almost 17th... 9 days till Christmas... Toy Bank will soon be over! We are down on donations this year. It has me slightly worried. But I think the larger problem is that with how Christmas falls this year in the calender (on a Friday) its really screwing up with my dates and how toy donations usually come in. So I am trying NOT to think about it and just go with the flow... I'll let you know how that works out.

As a way to unwind and de-stress and NOT think about Toy Bank I've taken a liking to reading blogs and signing up for giveaways and using Twitter as one of those means of signing up for giveaways. I know this has annoyed some of my followers, but really, I need the break from Toy Bank and doing something else is the only way I can turn my brain off Toy Bank and put it on something else. So I apologize, but its keeping me sane...

I will be due for a massage a good long one after Toy Bank this year.

I was able to get away for 5 days and go to North Carolina to see my Brother and his wife. They won't be coming home for Christmas, and flights were cheap, so I thought I would go out there. Its nice out there. Not much to do, but its nice. The weather is great this time of year. Not too hot, not too cold. But I don't think I will take another vacation during Toy Bank, I got too many phone calls and stuff didn't get done :-(. Oh well. I need to be here so I can stay on top of things. It is tougher being in Kingston to run toy bank, but at the end of the season its all worth it. I've encountered several feel-good stories, which outweigh the bad seeds.

I still have some Christmas shopping to finish up (personal shopping!) but thankfully its not big stuff, just little things to wrap up. I am hoping to finish before Christmas... that would be nice.

Louise has been telling me how much Dad isn't in the Christmas mood. It doesn't help that Nick isn't going to be home and that I am only going to be there for the morning before Ben and I take off for his mom's. But Louise and I worked it out that we would do a big dinner (late lunch) on Saturday so that Dad could have his few hours with us and we could celebrate some more. I hope that helps, he's def been in a funk lately. Perhaps a mid-life crisis? Not sure. But I have been trying to make sure I stop by the house and check in with the family.

WW has been going steady. I was up .2 this week, but I am still under 300. Just barely, but still under. And honestly its about the little victories at this point. One day at a time. I think being at WW during the holidays is the best thing for me. The meetings really help keep me motivated. I am just really trying to tread water until I can get through the holidays and Toy Bank.

Ben and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Well technically, I was in NC on the day of our actual anniversary, so we celebrated when I got back. He surprised me with dinner at the Wentworth by the Sea. I had made some comment that I would love to stay and eat there. Well since we went on a Saturday night and I had to work the next morning, we didn't stay, but boy did we eat. Its really a fantastic restaurant. I didn't want to do gifts since it was so close to Christmas. I just asked for a really nice card (which he did deliver on!

Last night I had to take a vacation shift off (night) so that Ben and I could cut down our Christmas tree and we could *finally* decorate our apartment for Christmas! It looks so pretty! I took some pics, I am hoping to post them at some point...

So that is the wrap up of the last week or two.... things are crazy and hectic, but I am trying to enjoy all what I can.

Stuff the bus is over!

Well I survived another year of Stuff the Bus. As predicited Toy donations were down, but cash donations were on par compared to last year. The money that was donated will be used to purchase toys for the children, which can work out since then a) the children can get exactly what they ask for and b) I get to go shopping - which is always a bonus.

So Toy Bank has officially kicked off, The chili cook-off is on Wednesday night. Gotta keep promoting that! Its such a fun night out. I don't even like chili! LOL.

My parents are home, which means I finally got to go back to my own home and spend the night in my own bed! Oh man, that felt so good! I spent the better part of the night cleaning up and squaring things away.

My parents, also brought Nick home with them for a surprise visit. okay, okay, so I knew about it, but still a surprise. Its always good to see him. I miss him so. He's here to visit and spend some time with his best friend. He's also excited for Chili Cook-Off too. Its funny since Nick flies back to NC on Dec 6th and I fly south to NC to see him on Dec 8th. Originally, he wasn't coming up, so I wasn't going to see him at all, so that is why I was going down. But now, it will be good just to take a vacation.

When I come back, Ben and I will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary, holy moly! Who knew! I love my life with him, *its cheezy* but he completes me. I can be myself and not be fearful about it... I am excited to see what the future holds for us.

Personally, on the weight loss front, I feel like a big **fat** lump this weekend. Not only was it Thanksgiving, but also I was SOOO stressed about Stuff the Bus, I wasn't paying great attention to my food intake and what I was eating. On top of that, due to the rotation of my work schedule, I won't be able to go to my usual Monday night meetings at WW. So it will be a few weeks of being out of sorts, but I am hoping to get back on track.

I've been finding some more Weight Loss blogs and reading their posts. Trying to find some inspiration and help in trying to keep it all in perspective.