Silver bells....silver bells....soon it will be Christmas Eve....

Nothing like the Christmas Section at Wal-Mart to get you in the spirit.

We had to make a quick run to the evil store for a few things (like a curtain rod to keep out the evil morning light in the bedroom), and the first place we went was the seasonal section. Christmas hadn't really been on my mind lately until the lady who does our children's sermon at church brought it up in the little story she told on Sunday. When she said there was a short 7 or 8 weeks left until the big day, Andi and I (the whole congregation, really) looked at each other with jaws gaping and visions of last minute shopping running through our heads. I know, I know, having shopping come to mind first thing when Christmas is mentioned isn't the greatest, especially while sitting in service, but it's the truth. What are we going to get for Adrien, we asked each other.

Anyway, I'm really excited about the whole thing now. Adrien's slightly older than he was last year, and oh man am I not looking forward to keeping him out of the tree. On top of it, I won't have the added stress of having a four year old foster child living with me (who happens to be my half brother) this year. Man, talk about tight budget: shopping for two kids -- one picky four year old and your own child who is having their first Christmas -- on less than $200. We did it, though, and man were they happy. Adrien got a huge stuffed Mickey Mouse from Santa. He loves that thing still. Just today he made the enormous Mouse give me a high five.

Andi's insisting we not buy anything with Season's Greetings on it. I agree. But I'll steer away from semantics.

So, here I am, anticipating the holiday, waiting anxiously to decorate...and still waiting for that cold weather to kick in. Nothing says Christmas like 80 degree weather and tank tops.

Only in Texas.

One other thing that's been on my mind is the recent time change. It's not so much the numerical time, as it is the day light that goes along with it. Never in my life do I remember the sunrise and sunset patterns to be so out of whack. For some reason, the sun seems to be rising before 6:30am and setting at a modest 6pm. I hate that I am awakened in the morning by the horribly rays of sunlight way before it should be bright out. (Hence the curtain rod we bought at Wal-Mart) And the fact that it's dark at 6:00 is preposterous. I mean, really. The whole thing has made me so incredibly sleepy all the time. On the up side, Adrien's started going to sleep much earlier...which is a huge bonus. But really, I could do without the wee hour sunrise.

Anyone else having that problem?

Hopefully I'll have something more exciting to blog about tomorrow. There's a get together with the mommy group...should be tons of fodder there. This blogging every day is really tiring.