Peg’s Journal

With Christmas fast approaching, the kiddies and I busted out our holiday decorations from the garage. Earlier this week, we put up a wreath on the front door, decorated our $6 faux tree, and hung up our stockings.

The kiddies were beside themselves with excitement. They had so much fun hanging ornaments. It was funny the way they kept clustering ALL the ornaments along the bottom of the tree (their point of view), or on the same branch.

Every evening, when I switch on the Christmas lights, they stand there and admire the tree. It’s the sweetest (and the most quiet) five minutes of the day! HAHAHA!

We’ve been busy getting back to our routine. It always gets thrown off after a trip away from home. Summer’s been going to bed really late every night this week (regardless how early she wakes up). She has boundless amounts of energy at night, and hits her peak at about 10-11pm. It’s crazy. I’ve been losing my battle with the neverending piles of laundry and mail. On top of all that, I caught something. Having already got the flu shot, I’m hoping it’s just a slight cold, but it’s too early to tell. I’ve just been feeling really tired and congested, and starting to cough a lot.

Goodness….*whistles*….I can’t believe November is already over.

It’s been over 3 months since my last NorCal visit. It’s easy to get caught up with my life here and not realize how much I miss NorCal until I’m there. After all this time, it still feels like “home” to me. The minute I get on 101 from Pacheco Pass, there’s a sense of comfortable familiarity. Not so much my surroundings, but a feeling inside of me. And of course, reuniting with my family and friends always fill me with so much happiness.

Like always, our NorCal trip was full of fun, laughter, food, friends, and busy-ness.

Thursday:
- visited Rudy at the cemetary
- lunch and shopping with family
- our traditional Thanksgiving Hot Pot dinner
- hanging out till “midnight madness”

Friday:
- swent shopping at 12:00 to 3:30am. Fighting the crowds at the Gilroy Outlets in 30 degree weather. Sheer craziness!
Note to self: NEVER do that again!
- lunch with family
- Happy Hollow
- hung out with Levi and Vanessa
- shopping
- dinner with family

Saturday:
- brunch with family
- hosted a Barrette Party….which turned out to be a great success. But I could have cared less if I had not sold a single hair clip. It was just a great excuse to get together with friends, and meet new ones. It was great to see Amy again and to finally meet Manny and Naomi. I was very grateful to Rich and Millie for driving all the way down from Davis, and being able to meet baby Joli (who totally stole my heart). I was most excited to meet Jodie and her family…being a fan of her site for years, it was cool to see them in person. I hope I didn’t come across too creepy. It was hard to contain my excitement, and I think I was grinning like Nancy Reagan. hehehe
- hung out and had dinner with friends

Sunday:
- packed and drove home. We stopped by the Gilroy Outlets on the way and did some shopping. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as “Black Friday” and we scored on some great deals! *thumbs up*
It took us 6 hours to get home…not bad.

All in all, our trip was awesome. I only wished Sis, Chris, Amanda, and Marisa were there. *sniff* We missed you guys!

After 8 hours on the road, we finally made it to my parents’ house. 8 hours!!!…that’s our longest drive yet. The last time a trip to/from SoCal took 8 hours, I was a kid…squished in the backseat of our family ’78 Ford Fairmont with my sisters and grandmother…going 50mph max.

I have so much to be thankful for….a wonderful husband, my sweet and silly children, the best parents in the world, loving sisters, awesome friends, good health, a comfortable life, and a positive perspective.
Really, what more can a person ask for?

Wishing you all a fun and safe Turkey Day! *gobble gobble*

We had a good weekend. No big plans…just played it by ear (for a change).

We spent Friday night hanging out with friends (dinner and karaoke).
Saturday, we had lunch and shopped. Aric never ceases to amaze me with his patience and ability to peruse places like Michael’s and JoAnn’s for hours on end (helping me pick out ribbon, no less). Then I attended a “Trinket & Treasures” party at a friend’s house…picking up a sap bucket and a white antique washed wire napkin holder. Tres shabby chic! Saturday night, we took the kiddies out to dinner and then to the buck-fifty theater for a showing of “The Ant Bully”. Unlike restaurants, Summer can sit incredibly still and quiet at the movies.
Sunday, we ran some errands, had lunch, then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening visiting the in-laws. My father-in-law is looking and feeling much better.

I forgot to take pictures over the weekend. But here’s a clip of Ashlyn, entertaining herself during the car ride to her grandfather’s house. If you watch “Little Einsteins” on Playhouse Disney, you’ll know what she’s singing (the intro to the show)…otherwise, it just sounds all gibberish-y. hehehe

*YAWN* Today was such a looooong day. I spent 6 hours walking aimlessly at South Coast Plaza. It would have been great if I wanted/needed to shop….but my car was being serviced at Sears, so I was stranded. The kiddies and I hit up every kids’ store, busied ourselves with crafts at Santa’s Village, and rode the carousel. Despite all that, the kiddies weren’t happy. Summer was really cranky and Ashlyn was really restless. She kept saying, “We’ve been here, like, forevers! This is sooooooo booooooooring!”
It was exhausting.

By the way, I *heart* the show “Heroes”! Love love love it!