The good news is yesterday turned out okay. Thank you for all your kind comments. My Dad is still alive and happy. They aren’t home yet but so far so good.

I plowed on through with my crazy craft project and Isabel loved it. Yay! I guess it did turn out pretty cute even though it was a pain in the neck when I was in the thick of it. I think most of my pain was just my time constraints. Stupid wintertime lack of sunshine. If I could have taken my time, it probably would have been way more fun. So if you are going to try it, pour yourself a tasty beverage and savor every step. Haste makes waste.

I especially love all the paper boxes. I may have to use them in another craft someday. While I was in the middle of making them, it crossed my mind that it might be easier just to make an extra twenty four and use them as box lids and forget the whole calendar cover page thing. But of course little paper boxes has been done before and well so I had to stick with my original plan.

Bug thought it was cool and really, that’s all that matters. I love having a kid at Christmas time. It’s the best.

The other day we put up Christmas lights on our little patio. I’ve never actually put up Christmas lights outside before. I didn’t celebrate it when I was a kid and when I got older it seemed too daunting of a task. But now that we have a tiny little smidge of a patio, it seemed like just the task for me. Two nails, done.

Plus, I hate the sound protection window panes on my patio. I know why they are there, they block out the road noise from a pretty busy street nearby but I used to live on a highway. That road noise is a mere rippling wave compared to the all the squealing crashes, blundering Harleys and bus air breaks that I used to put up with. Mostly I don’t like the windows because they are always dirty and there’s no way I can clean them easily. Half the smudges are paint splatters from all the times they’ve repainted the place. I guess I could ask the management to clean them but I just feel too high maintenance asking. Everyone else seems to be okay with them. I might as well be too.

So lights fixed them right up. Our patio is so happy and cheery now. I can’t stay stressed out that long. Everything is going to be okay.