We survived!

1 down, 1 more to go! We survived Thanksgiving! We got brave. Mom and Dad closed on a house in Gainesville, VA (outside DC) on Tuesday so... being the wonderful daughter and son-in-law that we are, we drove a Uhaul full of furniture up there and helped them move out of the rental and in to their new house. Now that doesn't sound to bad but think... 10 hours in the car with a 7 month old! The trip up there wasn't bad but coming home.... hmmm..... what word can I use? AHHHHH! Maggie was fine the first 4 hours but then we reached the point that we are sooo tired that we can't even go to sleep and cried the last 2 hours of the drive. Not fun. But, To mark this momentous occasion- WE GOT OUR FIRST TOOTH! It is through the gum and coming up the rest of the way. As soon as I can I will get a pic posted. So needless to say- I am home today trying to get back to a normal schedule today while Bucky is at the game. GO TIGERS!

Shopping for Christmas

We have set a Christmas budget. We have a $50 per person allowance. It seems like a lot but it is shocking how little you can actually get for that amount. I guess my visions are skewed from growing up in a family that never looked at a price tag. I am one of those that can walk in a store where everything is $25 dollars except for one $200 item and that expensive item will be the only thing I like and/or want. Well, my taste are going to get simpler. I have already stayed under budget for 3 people on our list! (Found a code online for 20% off on one of items which gave me a few extra bucks). Even with that budget Christmas is going to cost us more than I would like. I wish there was some way to get around buying everyone a present. My family has been relatively small until the past 3 or 4 years so the idea of drawing names is not received warmly. I have thought about making gifts but the fear of the reactions of certain family members stop me. The sad part of all this is.... what are Bucky and I getting for Christmas? We have told everyone to give us $$... why? Because we want a new fridge. Ha! I want to see Santa but a white side-by-side under our tree. Mom said that was no fun because we wouldn't have anything to open but I told her we would. We would have two doors, side-by-side to open. Aren't I a smart one?

Voting

I will be the first to admit that I didn't spend as much time research the candidates and their platforms as I should have. I didn't even know about the 3 amendments that were on the ballot until I got in line today but what I did do was take the time to look at my voter registration card and double check where I was supposed to vote. What worries me is what I witnessed today. After standing in line for a little over an hour today, I reach the "check-in" table. The people in front of me had joined the line at the same time. They were at the wrong precinct. We only passed like 5 signs on the way in that said the precinct number and location. Why does this worry me? I know I was not as informed as I should have been. I did not look at all the facts but I was informed enough to know that my registration card tells me where I must go to vote. If you were not informed enough to pick up on that little bit of information, how informed of a decision are you making about who is going to run our country? If you can't read the section on the card in your hand that says "Vote at:...." followed by the address, what kind of facts are you basing your decision on? Enough procrastination- back to my project. Joy.

Halloween

We had a great first Halloween! Spent lots of time with the fam and only changed outfits a dozen times. Maggie enjoyed dressing up it seemed!