I cannot believe it is December 9th. The days are flying by. We spent Thanksgiving in Aruba and had a great time. The weather was a bit rainy to start but improved by day 2. This was our third consecutive year of going to Aruba for turkey day and I have to say, I do not miss out on the turkey dinner at all. It is is great time to go since we don't miss too much school or too much here at the office. Only one of our patients delivered while we were away so that was great! (It could be because the Doc delivered 14 babies in the five days before we left!)
On Friday I was trying to move some things around to make room for the Christmas tree. We have a friend who is American that lives in Aruba. She and her family have decided to return to chilly Boston permanently. She asked us to take home some of their things because shipping is extremely expensive from the island. I brought 6 full suitcases home for her, some containing their wedding china. I bent down to move one of the heaviest suitcases and felt a ripple go up my back. Yes friends, I threw my back out. I do this about once a year and it is brutal! So I spent the weekend on the couch with my friends Toradol and Ice Pack. I am feeling better now, about 70%. Needless to say, there is still an empty spot where the tree was to go much to Madigan's dismay!
Have not done much Christmas shopping either. I think with the economy the way it is it will be a lean Holiday this year. The only thing that Madigan asked for is sold out. She asked for the American Girl doll of the year, Mia. I looked on Ebay but the prices are double what you'd pay at the store and the dolls are expensive enough at regular price. Plus, she barely plays with them so I cannot justify that. Santa sent her a letter yesterday explaining that he is all out of those at his workshop and perhaps she could make some new requests!!
That's all for now, I have been such a horrible Blogger. I will do my best to come up with more to post!!
Yesterday, we were invited to a skating party at one of the families that Madigan goes to school with. They recently built a skating rink and a warming house and wanted to share in the fun. We had a great time! Madigan and I both went to the store to buy ourselves some skates and a helmet. I have not put a pair of skates on since 1984! I did pretty well, did not fall but was not exactly steady on my feet. Madigan hit the ice around 3:15pm and was the last one to get off at 6:30pm. I was very proud of her. She took some skating lessons when she was three but all she was interested in then was the candy machine at the facility. She fell quite a few times but always pulled herself right back up. The property is gorgeous. It is a huge rink with flood lights so the fun can go all night. The warming house has bathroom, changing area with cubbies and a kitchen and living room area to warm back up! The children all had a great time and it was great to meet new people. The snow never stopped! It felt like a Norman Rockwell moment!
On Sunday, we attended our annual get together with my friends. Each year, a different gal hosts except me since I do all the Summer out by the pool stuff. We each bring something delish to eat and we get something little for each of the children to open. This year, the kids were all obsessed with playing Wii. The spiced up Egg Nog was flowing especially for our hostess and her partner in crime! We had a great day and it was great to catch up with everyone. Our kids are all getting older so it is fun to watch them interact as well! We had a Yankee Swap for the adults which is always hysterical. I wanted to do a White Elephant swap where you would wrap up something awful that you already had at home but the gang wanted a traditional $10 swap. I decided to combine the two! I had a lovely plastic blue purse that I got last year from bookclub that I used to hold a sparkly tank top that read "Party Girl" with a margarita glass on it! The real gift was a pair of sterling silver earrings. Another hit was the three foot long pepperoni stick. No one even noticed that it had a scratch ticket taped to it! I opened and went home with this: 
