Merry Christmas Eve!

Big day today: Lots of cooking, cleaning and some shoveling to prepare for the arrival of the in laws. Should be a fun time. I figure I'll have about 15 people in my house. Nuts, but nothing I can't handle.
Eli did all the prep work for me this morning so the cooking should go well. He chopped onions and finely cut a carrot (What does that mean??) and cut up a couple of other skills. My knife skills are nonexistent.
My true skills will be put on display as I clean the house and prepare it for the guests. No one can vacuum like this little lady!!
Last night I bought $50 worth of booze, so that should get us through. Jaci is bringing wine so that will also help.
I promise to take pictures tonight and let you know how it all goes.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Last night I volunteered to host Christmas Eve with Eli's family. I think it's a for-sure thing. Hard to tell with that family.
I'm kind of excited about it, though. I grew up in a house where we were always hosting and it was a lot of fun. My mom is a great hostess, so I learned from the best :) (No, I'm not sucking up, I'm serious).
The best part is that my father in law is making the food. So I'll just have to throw a few salads together. Buy some beer. No problem.
My only concern is that my house is rather small. But it's about the same size as the house I grew up in was, and we were able to stuff people into that place. This was before my parents bought their party-ready pad.
Wow. I'm really falling into this St. Joe housewife stuff with such ease and grace ;)

Home improvements

Yesterday we got our first real home improvement in: a kitchen island. It really made no sense for us not to have an island. We have the perfect space for it and have little storage and counter space in our kitchen. My guess is that our house's previous owner was trying to save money when building.

Anyway, Eli and I decided that we would use our remaining wedding money to put the island in. On Friday I was so excited about it- Christmas was coming early!

It was installed yesterday and it looks great. Looks like it should have always been there.

Also yesterday afternoon I made Christmas cookies and was loving the extra counter space. I also put my pots and pans on roll outs, so I no longer have to dig for what I need.

Here are some before and after photos:

Layoffs

What a week. We had major layoffs at work this week. I kept my job, thankfully. The burrito fortune hasn't kicked in yet so we must remain a two-income household, thank you.
But 10 percent of staff was let go, including a good friend. So it's very sad. Now they're reorganizing, so I'm hoping that will improve things a little. And hopefully some of the stress will go away.
I do have to say though that I of course managed to open my mouth and speak my peace and piss off a bunch of editors. People take things out of context or assume one thing when I meant another. Either way I think I have smoothed things out. Oh well. Everyone has been on edge.
I had today off cause I have to work tomorrow (Saturday). Got some Christmas shopping done and managed to buy myself some new tunes- Cat Power and Eric Hutchinson.
And yes, Cory, this lady still buys CDs. I'm like those people who are in love with vinyl, except I love having a CD instead of downloading songs off the Internet. Somehow it seems more personal to buy the CD.
Oh and in response to a post my sister had on her blog: Please know that when I refer to myself as a St. Joe housewife, my tongue is placed firmly in my cheek.