ONE WEEK and some other random things

Note: If you are skimming this post - that is completely fine with me - just promise you will read the last bullet point. It will be worth it. I promise. But it's not a giveaway, sorry.

Can you believe today marks ONE WEEK UNTIL SANTA CLAUS COMES? Wow ... December has flown right by (but I say that every month don't I?).

I am glad that our Christmas season has been so extended this year. It seems to make the holidays much more peaceful and relaxing. Last week I was posting about it being Christmas Eve as we were gearing up to spend the weekend celebrating the holidays with the FD's family.

Again, today, it is "Christmas Eve" for me. Tonight E and I will be enjoying our very own Christmas dinner, opening "Christmas Eve" gifts and then enjoying brunch, opening our stockings and doing some other Christmas-y things tomorrow. I'll share more deets on Monday.

On Sunday, we've also got some exciting things planned. Hopefully, we'll get to see the Olympic torch relay, and we'll be heading to my brother's house to celebrate my Dad's birthday and to attend the Christmas program at their church. I am so looking forward to this because I really feel that it is so important to center my focus on Christ during the holidays and although I've been doing some things on my own to achieve this, it is always nice to join together with others to celebrate the birth of Christ.

I will then be gone on Sunday until after Christmas to my parent's house. I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with Little H and helping my mom get ready for all of the family to be home. I will still be reading/posting as much as I can throughout the holidays. If I don't get a chance to "speak" to you, though, have a wonderful Christmas!

Finally, some other random things I feel I must share today:

• Last night, my sweet friend, T, sent a Christmas gift home with the FD for me. Guess what? She got me a Ped Egg! Remember when I posted about this little gadget a few months ago asking for some opinions? I got some great reviews so I was excited to try it. I spent some time grating my feet last night and I was shocked to see how much skin that thing actually collected and the noticeable difference it made on the smoothness of my skin. I was going to take a picture, but then I thought that I would spare you. You can thank me later. I'm going to spend a little more time with my new friend Ped and then I'll post a more thorough review in the new year for those that were interested.

• I read The Lovely Bones for the second time over the past few days. The last time I read it was years ago and I couldn't remember the ending or if I had even finished it - so I gave it another shot. It totally sucked me in! I can't wait to see the movie. I watched the trailer yesterday and it looks A-okay.
  

• Lastly - and quite possibly most importantly - after all the talk over the past few days about getting hippos for Christmas - I spent last night dreaming about hippos. No joke. I'll spare you the details ...BUT... The dream involved three baby hippos, an attempt to drown them in my mother's bathroom sink (cruel, right?), hippo poop on my mother's bathroom counter, a trip to the zoo in Scotland with Katie, an attempt to be rid of the hippos in the monkey cage, a hippo soaring through the air on a piece of celery (?) and a very energetic zoo-keeper ... all in an attempt to make a simple Christmas recipe that called for GROUND HIPPO. Wait, I thought I said I'd spare you the details? I guess I just couldn't. There you have it - a small look into my strange, strange world of dreams.

Happy One Week Until Christmas!