The Shafferland Shuffle

Merry Christmas Eve! Happy birthday to my niece! Clearly, lots to celebrate today. :) Hope you are having a happy (and safe, if you're in a snowy place!) Christmas weekend.

Here's a peek at our week leading up to Christmas...

* Last Sunday we visited our home away from home: the hospital. Ryan's mom was in for a few days and we stopped to see her for a while. When we got home, we pretty much didn't leave Mo for the rest of the day. Phoebe came to spend a few hours with her, and I don't think she was overly brokenhearted that it was lay-on-the-couch-and-be-lazy day.

* Monday I got a fun surprise in the mail! There's a new magazine that I've signed up to contribute to, and my first issue came! Fun seeing my name in print, even if I haven't officially been published with them yet. That night, we took Ryan's student out for dinner (he's had a clinical student for the past few weeks) and then I came home to knock out some writing before I went on my own version of Christmas break.

* On Tuesday, I went to the staff Christmas party for the school where I've volunteered this fall. It was a fun party - and an unexpected present for me! On the way home, I stopped to get Ryan a latte as an apology for my stressed-out-over-Christmas demeanor the night before. And then I got back on track and wrapped more gifts so I didn't have to stress anymore!

* Wednesday night was our date inspired by the letter X, which included a trip to Indianapolis for shopping, dinner, and aa Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. We had great weather and had a wonderful time seeing TSO together for the first time. (Obviously more on this later.)

* I spent most of Thursday assembling Christmas gifts for Ryan's siblings, and when I was done, they were kind of a sight to behold. (I'll tell you more about them sometime. A year's worth of family dates in binders! I had to do a little baking and thought for a minute my oven was on fire, but then I remembered the oven just steams while it's on. I am still not used to that! Other than that, it was a curl-up-with-Braeya night.

* Friday night was Ryan's mom's birthday party, and on our way to the restaurant, we made the mistake of getting groceries with the rest of the county. ;) The party was fun. Dinner with the fam, and Ryan's sister had also invited our good friend Shawn and his kids, so when dinner was over, we joined up with them for a trip to DQ for Blizzards. FUN!

* Yesterday was our first family Christmas for the season. Christmas with Ryan's mom, step-dad, and siblings. Christmas at the cabin! As always, it looked lovely, the food was delicious, and it was fun watching the kiddos be all excited about their gifts! :)