Blogger's Advent Calendar - The Toland's

Ever hear the old saying "A Day Late and a Dollar Short"...? Well, that seems to be a way of life for me. I was so sure I was scheduled for the 15th, that I didn't even bother to look until tonight at work.....only to see that I was really scheduled for the 14th!!


That seems to be a theme for me this year. The kids and I literally put our Christmas tree up last night. And with the crazy hours both Mike and I are working right now, it's been really hard to get into the Christmas spirit. But we are trying!!

This year, I took the girls to the Festival of Lights in East Peoria. It's really beautiful. They have all sorts of floats and light shows set up in a park and you drive through it to look at the lights. Then we went and visited Santa. The girls told him what they wanted for Christmas (so at least now I know what to get!!) Then the 3 of us went out for dinner. It was a great Girl's Night Out!














OK....traditions. In the Toland household, we actually kind of fly by the seat of our pants. There aren't a lot of "traditions" we really have. We go back and forth between families for dinner, but we always spend Christmas Eve with Mike's parents. It's nice because I usually spend the latter half of the evening doing the whole "Santa" routine with wrapping presents and putting them out under the tree for the kids. I'm really going to miss all that when the Santa experience is over. Right now, it is still magical....at least for the girls.

But Christmas Eve is nice. We always have dinner and cookies and warm hot chocolate with the in-laws. And the once-a-year viewing of Christmas Vacation. Sometimes, I think the Toland's and the Griswald's have a lot in common!! It's a quiet evening before the Big Day....and it's one that I will always treasure.

I'll leave you with a clip from Christmas Vacation!!



Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

The Sunday Salon - It's the Holiday Season!

It's been a couple of weeks since I participated in The Sunday Salon, so I thought I would post today. I can't believe it's Thanksgiving already. Where has this year gone??? Time is certainly marching on, isn't it? Since I'm working this holiday, we are not able to go home to visit my family. And my in-laws are spending Thanksgiving with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. To say that Mike and his brother don't get along is an understatement. I know it's hard on his parents, but for us it's much easier if we don't spend the holidays with them. It just makes things flow a little smoother. So it looks like I'm cooking for us this year! Normally, I don't mind. I like to cook. With me working so many hours, it would almost be easier just to order a pizza!! But I promised the girlies we would do this thing right, so it's turkey and all the trimmings for us. And they are pretty excited about it. I guess we'll give it a go.


I'm hoping to take them to see Twilight on Tuesday. I've been looking forward to it ever since I read the book. I hope it lives up to the expectations.

Another event I'm looking forward to this year is the Book Bloggers Christmas Swap. I participated last year and had a great time!! Hosted by Nymeth and Dewey, this is a chance to play "Secret Santa" with a fellow book blogger. I mean, really. How much fun is it to get presents? Last year, the wonderful Carl was my Secret Santa. He got me a wonderful book, some chocolate, but most importantly, had some trees planted in my name!! It was a very cool present, and it meant alot. By the way, it's Carl's birthday, so hop on over to his blog to wish him a great one! This year's Swap looks likes it's shaping up to be just as fun!!

Also for the holidays and the blogging community is the Blog Advent Tour. Hosted by Marg and Kailana. This is a chance to get a peek into the holidays of other bloggers. Each day, a blogger or two will post about something that is meaningful to them about the holidays. It's a great chance to find other blogs that are of interest to you....as well as getting a leg up on that ol' Christmas Spirit!! There is still time left to join in the fun!!

On the reading front, I've been pretty lax. I just haven't had the time...and I'm kind of in a slump right now. I just finished up the second book in Karen Chance's Cassandra Palmer series, Claimed by Shadow. And I'm still plodding my way slowly but surely through The Lost Diary of Don Juan (this one isn't really my thing. Interesting, but just not grabbing me). I need to find a book that really sucks me in. Any suggestions??

Anyway...that's it for me. Happy Sunday and Happy Reading!!