Quick 5

1.  Last Friday was Lee's work Christmas party.  We had a great time last year, and we were looking forward to this year.  They had planned a murder mystery, and those are always intriguing.  (Side note: Lee says he's been to two other murder mysteries and they were both really lame.  He boldly says this, even knowing full well that I planned one of them in college.  Let's forget the fact that it was lame; the point is it's REALLY hard to plan banquets.  So we went to this one with as little expectations as possible.)  I'll spare you most of the many details, but I do have a couple of things to say.  First, the company that put it on was REALLY good.  Very entertaining.  Second, I WON!!  At the end of the night, you had to fill out this form saying who you thought was the murderer, and most importantly why.  I totally nailed it.  They gave us clues throughout the night that we were able to look over, and when I turned in my paper I had no dreams that I would have won.  But then the host read the winning paper and I thought it sounded a lot like what I had written, and lo and behold.  I won a water bottle (lame, but Lee uses it), a bottle of wine (too bad I don't like wine; I gave it to my folks), and four tickets to a comedy club in Denver.  Comedy clubs aren't really my thing, but we're going to give it a try.  Anyway, winning was pretty cool.

2.  The Christmas program was last Sunday and it went off fabulously.  I could not be more pleased with how the whole thing worked out.  The music was great; I watched most of the services and did not get tired of the music once.  The kid part was hilarious.  I'm still a little sad that I didn't let Alaina participate, but it was still fun to watch.  And the drama went off without a hitch.  Seriously, we hit our sweet spot and pulled off all four performances nearly flawlessly.  We rehearsed so much, but I still wasn't sure how it would all go, especially since for the final few rehearsals we made TONS of mistakes due to nerves or whatever.  I just prayed the night before that God would be honored, and would honor all the work we had put into it.  He truly came through for us on that one.

3.  Alaina was able to watch the program, since my parents came to one of the services.  She sat with them through the whole thing.  Three things stuck out to her: 1.) At one point, the angel puts duct tape on the priest Zachariah's mouth.  She of course wanted to know why he would do that.  2.) Another time, I, as the narrator, yell at the angel to "Knock It Off!!"  Alaina pointed it out, and then wanted to spend the rest of the day telling various things (her sister, her toys) to knock it off.  I finally told her that she could only tell people to knock it off when she's a mother.  And 3.) After Mary has told Joseph what is going to happen, she tries to hug him.  Joseph has not come to terms with it yet, so doesn't let Mary hug him.  Alaina was very touched by that moment, wondering why "he wouldn't hug her."  I love that she was paying attention.

4.  I finally got around to making some Christmas treats this week.  I made these lovely little pretzels that I saw on Pinterest.  Super easy.

Pretzels, Hershey Kisses and M&Ms

And super addictive.  I don't think there have been any scientific studies or anything, but I think the addictive properties of these little guys is right up there near chew and cigarettes. 

5.  Today I am going to make Christmas cookies, and this afternoon I am going to let Alaina "paint" them.  I'm so excited about it; she's going to love it. 

Is your Christmas shopping done?